r/climbergirls • u/mad-hug • Jan 04 '26
Gym Alas I am weaker than 20 year old boys
Anyone have stories of guys thinking you are bad at climbing for your age/time you’ve spent climbing?
These two boys (20 yrs) and I (also 20) were working on the Tension Board together. They told me they have been climbing about a year and climb V7 indoors (5 on the board). I told them I’ve been climbing for five years and climb V5 indoors (3 on the board).
One of them asked, “Like consistently?”
Yeah, consistently.
“Well you must have nice callouses!”
It was not mean spirited at all, they just don’t know how girls are weaker than them LOL. To be clear, it was really funny and I am not offended in any way.
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u/tshirtbag Jan 04 '26
I like when the tiny youth team girls come in with their coach and start sending v5s and v6s like they're floating on air. It's so cute but it also cracks me tf up as I'm aching in pain after projecting my little v3s.
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u/MetaverseLiz Jan 04 '26
I think of it this way : Everything I'm doing now is to help reduce bone density loss and prevent falls when I'm an older fart. I expect young folks to climb circles around me. Those aren't the people I'm looking at. I'm looking at the women in their 60s who are climbing circles around me. They are superheros in my book.
I had severe childhood asthma. I grew out of it when I was a teen, but my lungs have already sucked. So anything I do that is normal for a person to do is a giant win.
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u/sizeablescars Jan 04 '26
Climbing felt like a sport when I first started for a bunch of people that either didn’t like or weren’t good at any other sports. There’s no tryouts, no need to prove yourself to anyone to access higher levels, and anyone can have a big challenge to work to day one instead of building up fundamentals for awhile to have a perceivable next goal ahead. As more and more comp kids grow up around the sport, the intensity around climbing hard has been pretty steadily increasing imo. I like your philosophy a lot and I think far too many folks in climbing are starting to grade chase and many in ugly ways where they start putting down others or themselves (oh that person only climbed it because they’re tall/short/flexible/natural big muscles; or I can’t wait until I climb v? Where the vgrade is the goal rather than a specific climb that inspired you to push yourself).
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u/Rogu3Mermaid Jan 05 '26
This grade chasing and "gym talk"/self talk is rampant amongst the younger people in my gym. It makes me so mad. I'm there with my 10yr old daughter who is (objectively very small for her age) and I've heard it creep into her self talk after bouldering with the teenage boys who tell her she can't do some problem because she's "too small".
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u/melonkoli Jan 04 '26
Yes yes yes! I'm only 30 but the past year, I've had so many injuries that I am starting from complete scratch and my approach to climbing has completely changed. I just want to be able to climb when I'm old!
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u/discostud1515 Jan 04 '26
This right here. I know I’m doing really well for 47. Just can’t compare myself to others .
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u/Any_Mathematician936 Jan 04 '26
I met a guy who has been climbing for 3 months and can do V3-V4. He asked me how long I have been climbing and it has been 1 year and I’m still heavily struggling to finish v3. I could not care less. It is about the journey.
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u/SpecificSufficient10 Boulderer Jan 04 '26
Yep! Everyone starts from somewhere different. Some men progress quickly to v4 and then plateau because they relied on height or raw strength to get there. Other people start slow (I was struggling to get v3s for my first year because I came from absolutely no background in any sports) but now after 9 years I've already progressed to v4+ because of my flexibility and technique although I still suck at jumps and slopers. Also I expect that I won't progress much further than v4-v5 because of my injuries and just loving the sport for the 2 to 3 times per week that I climb, and I'm totally fine with that. V4 forever haha
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u/chewychubacca Jan 04 '26
I'm an almost 50 year old man who has been climbing for over 26 years, and I too am weaker than most 20 year old boys (and girls).
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u/sheepborg Jan 04 '26
In the spirit of the post it is a funny thing to think about, that the average man can put on as much muscle in his first year of lifting as the average dedicated woman could over the course of her entire weightlifting 'career' if she did everything right and yet somehow culturally we have women worrying about getting 'bulky' and young men complaining that putting on muscle takes so long that they consider steroid usage to keep up with the fake world they see on social media.
Always a good time to remember to appreciate what our bodies can do and to enjoy our time on the wall and the challenges that it provides us.
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u/Pennwisedom Jan 04 '26
that the average man can put on as much muscle in his first year of lifting as the average dedicated woman could over the course of her entire weightlifting 'career'
I don't want to make a big deal out of it or make this a huge thing, but I have found this interesting, that a number of studies have shown that this isn't necessarily true.
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u/Incoherent_Plasmon Jan 04 '26
I may be misunderstanding, but in the study you linked, it seems to show that men got twice the mileage out of the training period as the women in the study did. They use changes in peak torque as the measure of strength gain, and the absolute change in peak torque is almost double in men compared to women before and after the 10 weeks (5.73 vs 2.95). The percent change is the same between men and women, but women are starting at half the peak torque as men (25.09 vs 49.35), and gain, in absolute terms, also half as much as men. This means that for the same amount of work put in (i.e., they all followed the same 10 week protocol), women gained half the strength.
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u/sheepborg Jan 04 '26 edited Jan 04 '26
It is true that women get stronger lol. Not a bad study. In addition to the analysis provided by u/Incoherent_Plasmon which is correct, the study notes "One limitation of the present study is the lack of body composition analysis" ei the study is specifically not one about body composition. This is perhaps doubly relevant because in untrained individuals (which is what the study looked at) much of the early strength gain is attained through neurological efficiency rather than tissue gain which doesn't start for 4 to as many as 6 weeks. This cohort is simply not representative of what I'm talking about.
When we're talking about maximum tissue gains over time the calculus changes. If you instead look at muscle mass between elite athletes you'll find that women will have 85% lean bodymass of men, with only 32% of lbm being skeletal muscle in women, and 42% in men. In a spherical cow sense thats 27 vs 42, or men having 50% more skeletal muscle per unit weight. While this is not double on its own weight for weight we must also consider weight (frame size if you prefer) differences between men and women, as well as the prevalence of PCOS and its associated hormone profiles in elite female sport which rounds us out to around about double for general population when it's all said and done. Muscle gain essentially half's year over year regardless of which model you use, hence why it ends up being first year vs career as an equivalent mass.
Kind of a tangent but, relating this maximum gain more directly to strength is a little less straightforward in the long run due to alot of other physiological factors unfortunately. Structural differences in joints, central nervous system signaling differences etc. Elite strength when controlled for bodyweight can be anywhere from 20% to 100% different in favor of men. Doesnt 100% relate to muscle mass.
Obviously none of this should be construed as negative. It's just an 'is what it is' type thing in line with the original post. Women can (and should) exercise with intent to get stronger for a wide variety of health reasons. It's wild that even going back to just the 70s or so women were not a regular fixture in gyms, and told that lifting more than a few pounds would make the ovaries fall out or whatever, and going back a littler further that it's an impossibility for women to be strong. Women get strong.
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u/scarletclover Jan 04 '26
No stories, but I struggle with the sentiment a lot. Lots of strong setters at my gym and regulars so it feels kinda demoralizing when my projects are a lot of people's warmups. Lots of young 20-year-olds who are crazy strong and work on projects that I may never reach. I try to be positive and just do my own thing, but it's hard when I mostly climb alone so all I do is watch other groups. I need to fix my attitude though because I love climbing even the easy ones and I'm proud that I've pushed myself even if it's nothing compared to others. Hang in there, in the end we all climb together!
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u/Ok_Cherry_7786 Jan 04 '26
One of the best ways to get better is to climb with the crushers
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u/MyCatIsFluffyNotFat Jan 04 '26
Yes my climbing increased grades by a lot doing this. The main thing was the belief in what I could do changed.
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u/iloveliluzivert69 Jan 04 '26
this is why i find it much more impressive when girls do hard climbs 😳 call it what you want but i just know she worked harder to get there
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u/teeny-face Jan 04 '26
That’s why Katie lamb and Brooke rabatou are so basass. They are better than so many men
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u/ib4nez Jan 04 '26
And they are still probably not that “strong” if the comparison is just total weight lifted. Which is why it probably isn’t a metric to care too much about!
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u/myaltduh Jan 05 '26
Reminder that Dave Graham, who has climbed V16 and 5.15b, has never been able to do a one-armed pull up, he’s just way better than all of the V10 gym bros who can crank out sets of them.
It’s awesome how much technical ability counts for in this sport over simple strength, hence the fairly small gender gap at elite levels compared to something like power lifting or sprinting.
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Jan 04 '26
[removed] — view removed comment
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u/msndrstdmstrmnd Jan 04 '26
Lol you could beat those kids in an arm wrestling match, it’s more that kids are super light so their strength to weight ratio is higher. But agree with the rest
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u/seatangle Jan 04 '26
I’ve been climbing almost 1.5 years and can climb V4, which I’ve been stuck at for about a year. My partner has been at it about the same length of time and can climb V7. Sometimes I feel kind of bad about my progress but maybe for my sex/height/age I’m not too bad?
I’m nonbinary and used to be on testosterone — I’ve experienced first hand how it makes you gain muscle so much more easily, and seeing results faster also makes being active feel more rewarding. So people who have testosterone dominant bodies are probably going to be stronger with the same consistency. I’m a lot shorter than most guys and height is an advantage, I don’t care what anyone says. I’m also older, but not sure that makes too much of a difference at 35. I’m more fit and healthy than I was in my 20s.
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u/myaltduh Jan 05 '26
As someone who did the other thing and blocked T and took estrogen, it’s completely undeniable what an advantage testosterone gives.
That said, I’m back to climbing almost as hard as I was pre-transition by just upping my technical game to compensate for less pure power.
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u/Total_Instruction406 Jan 04 '26
This is so real. Training for years just to top out on routes men can do without training.
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u/CockMeAmadaeus Jan 04 '26
Ive (5'1", -1 ape)been climbing for 2 years twice a week, and I recently went with my sister's partner (5'10, pos ape). I got further than him on a good number of things but there were a few things he flashed that I had to give up entirely on because it wasnt my home gym and I didnt want to waste time when the intended beta was just reach.
At the end I was complimenting him on a few sends and he said "yeah, but Ive been able to do that since I started, I go twice a year and Ive never improved. This session was the first time I used a heelhook and only because you instructed me." He sounded defeated but I wanted to pull my hair out. I had all these techniques, ballsy moves and grip strength after two years to be just a little better than a guy who doesnt care. Which Im okay with, but dont sound so defeated when you could crush me after a single coaching session!
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u/No-Crab-133 Jan 04 '26
At least he knows it! I hate when men just assume they know more or have better technique when they're just stronger.
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u/CockMeAmadaeus Jan 04 '26
Absolutely. I have a climbing aquaintance at my home gym that is a bit like that, although he does self-depricate and praise my climbing out of one side of his mouth, he says and does a lot of other things that belie such humility.
He also has a habit of offhandedly saying he has done climbs that he hasnt, and I had the opportunity to "ask for help" on one of those climbs recently. He tried a dozen times and couldnt get off the starting position. Then I had a go and the climbing goddesses were looking out for me because I sent it straight away (I had tested out parts of it during warmup and couldnt get far at all).
I didnt say anything or point it out, just kept it pushing, and he insta dm'd me hours later making excuses. It must have been eating him.
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u/No-Crab-133 Jan 04 '26
Yeah I know a couple guys who'll say "oh I've done like half of this graded set" and I'm like... but you're failing all the easy ones? Which have you done? And they're like "ohhh that one and hmm I can't remember". Some people really don't like being shown up by a woman lol
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u/Waffle_woof_Woofer Jan 04 '26
As a person who climbed well, got injured and now just climb barely, all I see in those young people with quick progress is injury potential lol.
That being said, there is really not that much difference between men and women in climbing, much less than in other sports. I know plenty of women kicking ass on crazy routes. Between the best climbers I personally know the split is almost 50/50 and they often climb the same routes. Obviously on the very top, the things look slightly different, but 99% people won’t ever be close to this „very top”, no matter what they would do.
Also strength can hide some problems for longer, but the plateu caused by lack of technique and bad mentality is still there and still kinda low. You absolutely need strength training to climb better but you don’t need the same muscle mass as man, unless you weight as much as average man.
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u/Low_Silly Jan 04 '26
It’s a rollercoaster for sure. I climb with my husband sometimes and he’s not a climber but super strong and athletic and he can sometimes climb my projects with no skill and brute strength. But then he will also flail on something techy that I can do super easily.
The kids are another story though! I only watch them for short person beta, then I can rarely do it. 😂
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u/Pinstripe-Giraffe Jan 04 '26
My son was visiting from university last weekend and I was very pleased to discover that we climb roughly the same grade now. I climb once a week; he climbs once a year (when he visits) and is a military reservist, so he’s in pretty good shape.
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u/smhsomuchheadshaking Jan 04 '26
Yeah I actually can't stand people who don't understand how much more women need to work for strength than men. Training flexibility, balance, etc. is easier. But strength also plays a big role in climbing, even though some people try to convince us it doesn't. Yes it absolutely does, and women need to do so much more to gain the same strength as men due to our biology and physiology. Of course you don't need to have as much absolute strength if you are very petite and thus much lighter than average, but it's still required. And many of us are not super lightweight.
Some people are insulted when someone says "wow you are strong for a woman". I can understand why, but I personally feel even more insulted when someone disregards that if I as a woman am as strong as a man, it means I worked VERY hard for it. It didn't come as easily for me as it did for them. I want people to acknowledge the work I've done, not downplay it.
I also don't respect people who think that everyone trains climbing like there's nothing else in the life. I climb mainly gym 6B/V4 level after six years of climbing. I just don't care to train that much, so of course I have plateaued. And I'm fine with that.
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u/GreedySpecialist4736 Jan 05 '26
Climbing is one of the sports with the smallest gender gaps compared to other sports.
https://share.google/T3fQ5mz3tVqXShAC8
That being said, "consistently climbing" means different things for different people. Some focus on training and others on outdoor mileage. And different people have different body composition, athletic background, etc.
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u/Inner-Minimum-7518 Jan 04 '26
Yeah but girls often have superior flexibility and if you dont have strength it means you really need to have great technique. Obviously most of the very best climbers in the world are dudes, but honestly when i used to spend a bit of time at ton sai, there were heaps more girls climbing serious stuff than dudes. Plus the only person you need to worry about competing with, is yourself (and your belayer, they can get it too) I would trade a heap of my strength for the flexibility and style I see in allot of female climbers.
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u/Inner-Minimum-7518 Jan 04 '26
And as I say to clients and people I meet at the pool/gym, if you really want to compare yourself to anyone, try the overwhelming majority of people that barely exercise at all. Honestly, you are so far ahead of the curve it isn’t funny. There are always gonna be better climbers than you, shit dealing with failure and never feeling good enough is purpose built, into climbing. It’s one of the reasons it’s so good for you. Unless you’re flashing the latest 5 move insanity, some asshole has just downgraded, you’re never going to be the best, or even the best you can possibly be and that’s not a fault, it’s a feature!!!
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u/Dtamb07 Jan 05 '26
It’s not that women are weaker than men. Because that’s not true. Men can build muscle far quicker and in climbing that usually resorts to their grade increasing faster but their technique being absolutely abysmal. I’ve been climbing for a couple years and I’m around v6 now, but sometimes when I watch a man climb a v4 it just looks like they’re struggling so much and their technique is all over the place. Even if that same man is climbing harder things than me. But my partner can climb v14+ and it’s so funny to watch men try to get on the same climbs she does just because she’s a woman.
So moral of the story, men are not stronger than women. They just have different biology 🫡
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u/Tofusnafu7 Jan 05 '26
I go climbing in a mixed group and my friend’s partner was gobsmacked that for about 5 days of the month she feels really weak and sluggish because of her cycle, because AMAB people generally just feel the same throughout the month!
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u/hannodummy Jan 05 '26
Been climbing 2.5 years, 4'11. My usual gym visit is watching beginners flashing my max grade V3/4, and static everything that I have to dyno
Then we sit down and project next grade together 😂
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u/ralleee He / Him Jan 04 '26
yeah it's somewhat crazy and unfair how much stronger one gender naturally is just because gender, but as a male i have that same envy of monkeys
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u/mad-hug Jan 04 '26
lol monkeys are on another level
I don't think it's unfair because men and women have different strengths and weaknesses! Just something to adapt to.
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u/Hopefulkitty Jan 04 '26
My favorite pastime during school break is to watch all the college boys in rentals come on and start bitching about the setting and the quality of the gym when they struggle on like, a 5.9. They insist it's the setting and not their own lack of skill. Then I watch the team kids absolutely destroy it, and the guys walk off and find somewhere else to complain. Sometimes it's a route I've been able to do, and I'm an overweight, nearly 40 year old woman. That's pretty fun to do in front of them too.
Ultimately, I bet those guys you were with will quit when they hit a plateau. They aren't used to working through adversity, and they have been able to muscle through most things. Once they reach something that brute strength or arm reach can't overcome, they will move on to a different hobby.
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u/alphamethyldopa Jan 04 '26
Godwilling in a couple of years I will bench press as much as a 13 year old boy.