A couch potato considers indoor climbing

Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share
1

I’m usually one of those people that doesn’t really see the ‘point’ to exercise. You know, why run when I’m not trying to escape from a mountain lion, why lift things I don’t need moved, etc. I’d like to be a bit more active, but I’ve struggled to find something that keeps my interest–I really can’t stand being bored for worthy reasons. Telling me I should stick with something because it’s good for me is a surefire way to make me drop it. :stuck_out_tongue:

Recently a group of friends splurged for a few hours on a tree-based obstacle course. There was a lot of climbing and navigating weird crossings and zip lines, and I had the time of my life despite pulling every muscle I have. Apparently, clambering up to stupid heights while messing with karabiners doesn’t set off my brain’s ‘this is pointless nonsense’ signals, and I want more.

Obviously, I can’t travel to a remote obstacle course every week to get my exercise, so I’m starting to look into indoor climbing. For any of you who’ve done it, I have a couple of questions:

  1. What kind of spend is a total rookie looking at, when it comes to equipment and training? Will you have to buy your own equipment or rent it? Is this something I’ll need to invest lots of money in?

  2. Can you start climbing with pretty pathetic upper body strength? The obstacle course had a mix of climbing and vertical obstacles, and you could use a mix of upper and lower body strength to get along. My legs are fine, but my arms are a bit weedy and I’m not a skinny dude. Should I try to build up my strength somehow before even attempting to do this?

  3. In case I’m being a complete idiot about this climbing thing, what other non-team, non-competitive (if you don’t want it to be) sports would appeal to someone who likes “gear” and a little risk and hates being bored?

Thanks!

2

Believe it or not, I’ll suggest Taekwondo. Or pretty much any martial arts training. Your biggest opponent is yourself and it is NEVER boring!

Yes, I am a little biased: 27 years of training will do that. But I’ve never been bored.

3

Climbing gyms are fun and it’s great exercise.

Expenses - most gyms will have rental equipment but if you go more than a few times you’ll want to purchase your own gear. Minimum stuff would include:

a. Harness - you can get a perfectly good one for $50 or so.

b. Shoes - critical to get a pair that fits properly and that’s hard to judge because climbing shoes fit differently than your sneakers. Rent a few pairs to see what works for you, try a lot of stuff on at your local store, ask tons of questions. Ill-fitting shoes will make your feet hurt, can result in lost toenails, etc. You can spend anywhere from $80-$150.

c. Chalk bag and little carabiner to fasten it to your harness. $10-$15 total.

d. Locking carabiner and belaying device (most likely an ATC or equivalent) - this is important safety gear; the belay device is a little metal gadget that you will attach to your harness with the locking carabiner and you use it to belay (handle the safety rope) for your partner who is on the wall. Neither one is expensive:

Example ATC, under $20: http://www.rei.com/product/471034
Locking carabiners, $10-$20: http://www.rei.com/search?cat=8000&cat=4500079&cat=4500680&hist=cat%2C4500079%3ACarabiners^cat%2C4500680%3ALocking+Carabiners

I preferred the “spring loaded” locking 'biner, they’re a few dollars more than the screw-type. The difference is that the spring-loaded type automatically lock, the screw-type has a little sleeve that you have to remember to turn manually. Both work.

Training - any gym will get you comfortable with the basic safety skills, they may have an introductory class for a nominal fee. You’ll learn how to safely tie in and how to belay another climber, check that all your gear is properly fastened and so on. It’s really simple stuff, learn to do it well. Then you start climbing. They’ll give tips to beginners.

  1. Yes. You will develop a ton of strength but you’re going to be using muscles that you’ve probably never used that way before. A lot of climbing is balance and lower-body strength, in addition to gripping strength.

Expect your forearms to be sore the first few times. Do not be surprised if you get “sewing machine leg” while climbing - your calves will be getting a lot of work and it’s common to see beginners start to have a funny leg spasm while on the wall, it looks like your foot is involuntarily tapping up and down rapidly.

Get advice from people with experience on how to most efficiently use your strength - your legs are extremely strong already so depend on them, using your arms for balance. You won’t be pulling yourself up with your arms like doing chinups and there are ways to move that keep your arms extended (as opposed to bending at the elbows) which helps keep you from tiring out your upper body as quickly.

  1. Scuba diving? Juggling?
4

Climbing (correctly) is done mostly with your legs. That’s not counting climbing under shels of course but your finger strength will prevent that at first anyway. I used to climb alot and highly recomend it. There will be a break in period when you develop hand and finger strength but lots o fun after that.

You should be able to rent equipment fairly cheaply until you decide whether you want to keep it up. You can also get good prices on used equipment (don’t buy used rope obviously) if you are lucky. Lots of luck.

5

I’m getting this wild vision of Chumley from Pawn Stars scaling a rock wall.

thanks I need a good laugh to get me through the morning. :wink:

6

With ANY kind of rope climbing it important to get the right gear and have somebody show you how to use it properly. Its not hard to do right when you know how, but it is also easy to do wrong if you don’t and seriously hurt or kill yourself. So, for awhile, going to any indoor gym to get experience and supervision is probably a good idea.

I don’t consider climbing gear particularly expensive, though I couldnt give you todays prices. One good thing is the stuff doesnt wear out very fast, so once you have it, your good to go for a long time. I suspect 500 dollars would get you started and at the 2000 level you’d have enough to do a lot and it would last you for years. Like ALL gear related hobbies, its VERY important to get friendly with an old pro, cause its way too easy to spend money on overly fancy expensive stuff, or, even worse expensive but the WRONG stuff for what you are trying to do that you won’t even need or want to use.

For most climbing, if you are doing it right, you are using your leg muscles way more than your arms.

Playing with ropes and carabiners and knots and other mechanical widgets can be great fun. At some point you might want to look into tree climbing. Its a new up and coming sport. I know someone who actually went to Atlanta? to go get trained in climbing trees with ropes and gear. The good thing about tree climbing is availability. Cliffs, mountains, and caves can often be hard to come by or off limits to use. Trees are pretty easy to find and use by comparision. And yeah, you make look at a tree from the ground and think “meh, that aint that high”, but the first time you go out and climb one on your own you are going to look down and think “shit, its higher than it looked”.

Another sport you might want to look into is paddling. While whitewater is a blast, paddling down any old creek can be fun too. If you go on a long trip, its a nice all day low level workout (particularly your upper body). But you get exercise loading and unloading your boat and gear, dragging your boat over or around obstructions…and it just gets you out and away from the house, the yard, the tv, the computer, and the phone. Its a very relaxing hobby. And it can be pretty cheap as well. You could probably get a simple plastic boat, a decent paddle, a life jacket, and some other assorted stuff for 500 or less. And this stuff doesnt really wear out either.

But again for any possibly dangerous or expensive activities, DO search out a local club. It is so much easier to do it the right way if someone is showing you how. And if you can’t find a club, find a good forum on the internet.

Good luck.

7

I think you’re talking about prices to get a bunch of outdoor gear, where you have to place protection as you go along, which means buying your own rope, lots of carabiners, wedges, cams and whatnot.

For an indoor climbing gym the OP won’t need any of that, just harness, shoes and belay device.

8

Yes, I was talking about having EVERYTHING you need. If its JUST what you listed its probably more like couple hundred dollars (for nice, but not extravagant stuff). And I guess why I was bringing up the everything you need part was because I would imagine the hourly fee’s for indoor gym use would add up quickly, as opposed to you and a few friends playing with your own stuff out in the woods. And if you have all your stuff, know how to use it, and have somewhere to go you don’t have to pay the gym fees anymore. Its been my experience that renting most stuff gets rather pricey in the long haul with any sports gear. But, again the OP should definitely hang around the gym and get instruction and experience first.