How to Climb a Tree - Great Technique Tips For Fun and Fitness

Unless you are a tree cutter or tree surgeon, chances are that you don't climb trees all that regularly any more.

Unless you are a tree cutter or tree surgeon, chances are that you don't climb trees all that regularly any more. There was a time for most of us when climbing trees was considered one of the best ways to pass time and get some excitement, but these days the majority of us are too old and achy to want to spend our time that way, and would probably attract too many weird looks if we were to spend all day climbing through the trees.

Climbing trees though is actually a great way to build muscle and to burn calories, and it can still be a lot of fun. If you want to make more of your garden and increase your strength, balance and agility... here we will look at how you can do so by climbing trees.

Choosing Your Branches

When climbing trees you are of course going to treat branches as rungs, handles and footholds. This then means though that you need to be able to choose branches that aren't going to break as soon as you place any weight on them. How do you do that? Well one important method is to always place your weight at the base of the branch - in other words right where it meets the tree. This is the strongest part and the part least likely to break.

Another tip is that sometimes bendy branches can be your friends and if they're thick enough they're unlikely to break. You can climb up these long ways, or alternatively they can be used simply to hold on to to help you balance and to provide a back-up if you should slip.

Technique

When you're climbing a tree you want to make sure that you spread your weight as much as possible at all times. This will prevent your arms from tiring out, while at the same time making each branch less likely to break. If you can be holding onto two branches rather than one - then do.

Another point when climbing trees like this is that you should try to lean back into the trunk of the tree when climbing. In other words, rather than hanging completely down, you want to place one foot on the tree trunk while hanging on with one hand. This will help you to catch your breath and at the same tie reduce the chances of the branch breaking.

Empty Patches

The biggest challenge when climbing trees is getting past the parts where there are no branches. Here one option is to use the bark of the tree as finger and foot holds. Of course this is a little dangerous as there's a chance the bark may come loose. Again spreading your weight as much as possible can help here, as can reaching round behind the tree trunk for added support if it's narrow enough. The thinner the toes on your shoes the more easy it will be to dig your feet into the bark and use it as a foothold.

While climbing a tree can be a lot of fun, tree cutting is best left to the professionals. Click here to hire them for your garden!

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