So you wanna get out and get active, but you’re tired of
just running or hitting the gym? Check out these sports to spice up your
routine, and maybe you’ll find one that really gets your heart goin’. You never
know ‘til you try!
What? Just
because it’s called “rock climbing,” doesn’t mean you have to scale the Grand
Canyon. In fact, you don’t even need to go outside in the heat (although you’ll
get nice and sweaty anyway). If you’ve ever seen a climbing wall with
brightly-colored handholds in gym class or at a special event, that’s what
we’re diggin’ for an exciting way to spend a summer afternoon.
Why? Rock
climbing is a super way to work out your entire bod all at once. You’re
obviously using your arms to pull yourself up, but you’ve gotta put in lots of
leg muscle to push up, too. Your core will tone up over time, and you’ll
discover muscles that you didn’t know you had. Even your brain gets a workout
because you’ve gotta constantly search for the best path up each wall. The best
part is that climbing provides an awesome cardio challenge and will help ya
stock up on lean muscle.
How? There are a
couple different ways you can climb at indoor gyms. First, you can belay, which
is when you strap yourself into a harness that is attached to another person on
the ground, who is called the “belayer.” That way, if you slip off the wall,
the belayer stops letting out the rope so that you don’t fall to the ground. In
order to belay, you have to go through a short how-to and safety session the
first time you hit the climbing gym. If you wanna skip all the ropes and the
instructional session, though, you can also try bouldering. Bouldering is when
you only climb short walls with thick crash pads below. The trick is that you
climb without a harness, so you’re totally relying on your bod to get up the
wall.
Where? There are
tons of indoor climbing gyms around the country, from California to Maine to
Texas. Just use Google to find the one that’s closest to you. And remember that
if you’re under 18 and plannin’ on leaving the ‘rents at home, you’ll need a
signed release form to climb.
Fun Facts: People
have been scrambling up mountains just because they could since the late 1700s.
But even before that, they had to hike over mountains just to get from one
place to another, considering they were a li’l short on planes, trains and cars
back then. So nobody knows exactly who was the first rock climber, but now, the
sport is becoming popular both indoors and outdoors as a way to take brains and
bods to their limits.
Have you ever been
rock climbing, babes? What’s it like?
BY CARRIE RUPPERT ON 7/19/2012 12:00:00 AM
POSTED IN sports, get outside