Climbing: Raises heart rate and improves cardio-respiratory fitness, as well as developing excellent stamina and muscular endurance – this intensifies as the difficulty of the routes increases. 5 stars
Bouldering: Climbing short routes – also known as problems – close to the ground and without a rope is often shorter but more intense, as boulderers search for problems to push their bodies to the maximum. 4 stars
Thrill factor
Climbing: Exhilarating, and you often have to overcome fear to make daring moves – this intensifies as you learn to place equipment into the rock to support your weight on the rope, instead of being top-roped. 5 stars
Bouldering: Boulderers rarely climb above 4-5m, but it’s certainly high enough to feel the thrill of climbing without a rope, alongside the rush of completing a difficult problem successfully. 4 stars
Strength
Climbing: Develops a lean, muscular body from top to toe: it recruits the arms, back and shoulders, but a skilled climber will also use their legs to push themselves up, rather than rely on their arms to haul. 5 stars
Bouldering: While using similar muscle groups, it often involves a greater concentration of dynamic moves (ones that require explosive power) and can rely more on the strength of the upper body. 5 stars
Grey matter
Climbing: A climbing route can be a puzzle with many different answers, working your grey matter hard, especially as you climb more difficult grades. 4 stars
Bouldering: Although bouldering is shorter, problems will often present more complex challenges that require great technical and problem-solving abilities. 5 stars
Injuries
Climbing: A padded crash mat and spotters soften falls, but injuries can include sprains and strains from landing badly after a fall or jumping off, or from overuse of the fingers, wrists, arms and shoulders. 3 stars
Bouldering: Safety equipment reduces injuries, but the most common are from overuse of the fingers, wrists, arms and shoulders, plus cuts and bruises if you fall when above a piece of equipment you’ve placed. 3 stars
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