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Indoor Rock Climbing Rocks Every Muscle In Your Body
By Christina | July 14, 2009
Today, I took my kids indoor rock climbing for the first time. Not only was it a great family activity, but it was physically and mentally challenging for all of us. This wasn’t one pseudo rock wall that you find at an outdoor festival. We went to a serious indoor rock climbing place with over 30 courses to choose from, varying in difficulty from semi-easy to just plain ridiculous. I’m talking scaling the ceiling here.
The fantastic thing about rock climbing is that people of all ages and fitness levels and abilities can participate simultaneously. My fitness philosophy has always been that every workout should include cardiovascular endurance, muscular strength and endurance, balance, and flexibility in order to be a complete workout. Rock climbing not only possesses these qualities, but adds to it agility and mental toughness as well. Few workouts challenge all major muscle groups like rock climbing does. Your core is engaged the entire time and your back, shoulders, arms, and legs are majorly targeted. One of the misconceptions of rock climbing is that it is all upper body strength. The truth is rock climbing is all about leg strength as well. Strong legs enable you to make it to the top way before your arms give out.
Rock climbing is also like a chess match. There is visualization and strategy involved for determining the best way to make it up the wall. There is also a strong mind/body component. You need to know at all times where your arms are in relation to your legs and to almost feel your way up the wall instead of overthinking it and psyching yourself out.
When we arrived at the indoor climbing place, my son who is extremely athletic, had reservations about even participating in the climbing because he is afraid of heights. It was something to watch as his confidence built throughout the day of his ability to make it up the walls in spite of his fears. By the end of the day his physical being prevailed over his mental trepidations and he was climbing to heights he never thought possible.
Unlike a day at Chuck E. Cheeses, rock climbing left my kids sweaty, sore, challenged, and most importantly proud. One of the take away lessons of rock climbing is if you can make it to the top of a grueling climb and ring the bell signifying “You did it!” then maybe some of the things you fear on a day to day basis aren’t so insurmountable as well. My kids were cheering each other on, high fiving each other, and feeling that they were on top of the world. It didn’t matter that it was only the top of very high rock walls and not the top of Mt. Everest.
Topics: Exercise |
