> I think it's one of the perfect sports/activities for programmers
I think it appeals to programmers for a lot of reasons...there's an element of problem solving, it's beneficial to be skinny and almost everyone only competes against themselves.
But there's another hidden benefit to programmers that you'll only discover as you get into it. When I started climbing, I was beginning to feel RSI-type pain in my wrists. My computer ergonomics is pretty terrible and I was starting to investigate ways to improve that in the hope that my pain would subside. 2 months into climbing, all that research into how to improve my posture stopped. My pain had completely subsided and I can now spend my 8+hrs/day using the worst possible posture with no ill effects.
For me, I've discovered that RSI injuries are not about doing one thing too much. Instead, they're about not doing other things as much. Climbing exercises and strengthens my wrists in so many different ways (slopers, mantles, crimpers, cracks, etc) that no amount or poor habits can compromise the benefit I get from ~6hrs/week of climbing.
This benefit isn't unique to programmers, but since we spend a large percentage of our time at the keyboard, it's definitely applicable to us.
I think it appeals to programmers for a lot of reasons...there's an element of problem solving, it's beneficial to be skinny and almost everyone only competes against themselves.
But there's another hidden benefit to programmers that you'll only discover as you get into it. When I started climbing, I was beginning to feel RSI-type pain in my wrists. My computer ergonomics is pretty terrible and I was starting to investigate ways to improve that in the hope that my pain would subside. 2 months into climbing, all that research into how to improve my posture stopped. My pain had completely subsided and I can now spend my 8+hrs/day using the worst possible posture with no ill effects.
For me, I've discovered that RSI injuries are not about doing one thing too much. Instead, they're about not doing other things as much. Climbing exercises and strengthens my wrists in so many different ways (slopers, mantles, crimpers, cracks, etc) that no amount or poor habits can compromise the benefit I get from ~6hrs/week of climbing.
This benefit isn't unique to programmers, but since we spend a large percentage of our time at the keyboard, it's definitely applicable to us.