Rock-climbing

So I have mentioned it in the past but I wanted to continue with posting about some activities that are available to most everyone that support and active lifestyle, are fairly affordable (unless you get hardcore than anything can be expensive) and a load of fun.

So here is rock-climbing!

I love it so much after going just a couple times indoors I went out and bought my own chalk bag and shoes etc. It's a blast and depending on what climbing you do you work a huge array of muscles from your legs and toes to your forearms and fingers, And many things in between, back, shoulders, and abs obliques and glutes as stabilizers.

It's great fun indoors and can be done lightly over a few hours for a nice toning workout or can be a way to really shred your muscles and have a killer workout. The best part? Everyone can work at their optimum. There is never a point where you can do every route, and even when you get to a difficult level it doesn't mean intermediate courses aren't still challenging, it's just that they don't require as much focus or dedication to conquest. And your peak one day maybe more or less than the last. It always changes and old routes revisited are always great. 

Because of this you can go with someone who climbs a 5.6 (virtually a ladder) and someone who climbs a 5.12 (the hardest basically anyone but the pros can do haha) and all leave with a great sense of accomplishment from conquering your personal hardest. 

Not to mention there is so much mental fitness required, planning strategy, and you have to understand how your body works. Rock-climbing is one of those things people see and think "it's all arms" then they try to do it that way and get blasted after a 5.7 then they realize "it's all legs" and can knock out a 5.9 outta no where. 

Personally I am at a 5.9 level and have yet to attempt a 5.10. My goal is to get my first 5.11 by the fall.

Anyway here is a vid of the man Chris Sharma doing his thing on a 5.14. And for those of you that don't know rock-climbing ratings that basically means "Must be a gecko to climb"