Yes, it does! The benefits from bouldering definitely transfer into all forms of climbing. As the saying goes, the best way to train for climbing is to simply climb. Therefore, you can incorporate bouldering into a training routing to improve your overall performance.
Things like power and finger strength are also maximised by training through bouldering. Essentially, by varying your normal routine you will inherently use antagonist muscles which will improve your overall skillset.
How Does Bouldering Help With Sport Climbing?
One of main problems for climbers is falling on the crux of a route. Often times, this is due to a lack of power. Furthermore, practicing a difficult aspect of a route is time consuming and it is hard to get enough reps in. This is were bouldering flourishes.
If you are able to find a similar route in a bouldering gym, then you can practice the crux over and over. This will mean you can easily get your reps without dangling on the rope for hours on end. Not only is this helpful, it is also a lot more fun!
It is not only the physical aspects of bouldering that help with climbing. Your mental game is also vastly honed. You need to be precise in movements, dynos also help your hand-eye coordination.
In general, the variation from bouldering does make you a better climber. It provides that little extra to your all-round game that you would otherwise be missing. It is also time-friendly, and allows you to train efficiently, and also alone.
Does Bouldering Make You Stronger?
Bouldering is the highest intensity based form of climbing. It naturally strengthens your muscles throughout your body. Just like with sport climbing, expect your core and back to be worked heavily. Bouldering is explosive in nature, meaning your muscles react differently to endurance based climbing.
The power required for many bouldering moves means that your muscles will naturally grow. Ever noticed how ripped gymnasts are? Well, it is a similar process here. It is claimed that bouldering is the most gymnastic style of climbing, and it shows.
Although you can use other training techniques to improve strength, such as pull-ups or using one of the top hangboards, bouldering simply provides a natural and relevant workout to climbing.
No Friends? Go Bouldering!
Ok, we are not being mean, but like this reddit post alludes to, sometimes you don’t have a partner to go sport climbing with. This will always be a great advantage of bouldering, just as we at TopBouldering always say: you don’t need anyone but yourself!
Of course, you still need some gear such as bouldering shoes, and chalk, but that is literally it! The world is then your oyster. You can go for as long as you want, and you do not need to rely on anyone. Of course, if you want your main style to be sport climbing, you should not solely boulder as you will lose endurance, but a little bit will not harm.
To summarise and answer the question, does bouldering make you a better climber? The simple answer is yes.