So in fitness fanatic news, I have been doing more rock climbing recently. There is a climbing gym near me that has a pretty cool layout, including a kid-free zone for adults to boulder about without any little monkey distraction. Don’t get me wrong, I love kids. But watching them scale a wall that I can’t get up just makes me feel bad about myself.
Climbing is an efficient upper body and core workout, whether or not you’re in a harness or just bouldering (climbing without an attached rope, usually on shorter walls and over a padded mat, aka a crash pad).
I’ve been getting pretty bored with free weights and TRX—my other go-to upper body workouts—so climbing has been a great deviation. Climbing also increases the strength in your hand, which is important on its own (see this Finger Fitness stuff) and some peeps also think healthy hands directly correlates to a healthy brain! Also, I do it with a few of my girlfriends so we get to turn it into a social event, and it’s a much healthier social gathering than the traditional booze benders.
We get to spend 2-3 hours just talking, which makes me feel sort of bad for the climbers around us, and also very grateful of the adults-only rule. There is no privacy in a climbing gym, and last weekend a handful of innocent bystanders became privy to a very detailed play-by-play of a girlfriend’s encounter with an extremely aggressive trouser snake…
Also, dudes, why do you climb with no shirt on? So many of the guys in my gym start taking off their shirts after 10 minutes of semi-active climbing. It is NOT hot in the climbing gym, and you’re NOT sweating. Although I am enjoying the eye candy, I automatically think you’re a bit of a tool for unleashing your bod in a communal space. No need, my friend.
Do you climb? How do you keep from getting bored with your fitness routine?