I was in a lull. Motivation gone. Rain, storms and the cold made the couch and a cuppa so much more frikkin’ alluring than runners and a rain jacket. My daily sessions were brisk, short walks and yoga. My body didn’t even want that though! I had a bit of a scare and fainted during a mat session the other night. It went a little something like this – downward facing dog, to full cobra, turn on my back and push up to full extended back bend and wake up in savassanah completely unintentionally and no idea where you are. Erm, not ideal!

So when my sister came down on the weekend we decided to mix things up, do something fun and active. So off we headed to mini golf! Sweat and burn here we come, right? Well we got a little distracted on the way and had a complete change in plans. An indoor rock climbing facility has just opened in my little suburb and I was uber excited to have a looksie. 

When we walked in it was a little overwhelming. Every square inch of the gym was covered in walls and ‘those rock things’ (I will be down with the lingo eventually, I promise). The first step was getting geared up. Our $30 entry fee got us all our equipment hire plus an unlimited day of fun, no time limits at all on how long you can stay climbing (or in my case plunging to near death). We got all strapped up and put on our spiffy climbing shoes and awaited the scary, but completely necessary, safety talk and instruction session. It’s such a frightening thing to put your safety completely in another person’s hands – especially your sister with whom you fight constantly and they have threatened you with your life in the past…

But psychosis behind us, we were ready for a day of funnnnnn! And fun it was. I have never ever laughed so hard in my life. I think it was because my body was quite weak and tired after a few hours that I became completely delusional, or maybe it was the elusive endorphin kick of the workout, but I was laughing so much pretty much the entire time. And as for a workout? Yes it was! My upper body, which resembles the strength of a noodle, struggled during the climbs. It was such a tough concept to utilise the strength of my lower body to compensate for my upper body’s lackings. But I have never been so thankful for my chunky, powerhouse legs. They propelled me up and up and never gave up – thanks lower limbs!

So what are the benefits of rock climbing?

+ 2946kJ an hour burn for women.
+ 3683kJ an hour burn for men.
+ Muscular endurance – climbing for extended periods definitely challenges sustained muscle firing – pow pow!
+ Power – utilising muscle strength to leap from and on the wall
+ Strength – particularly in your back, shoulders, abs, fingers and arms
+ Flexibility – right hand blue, left leg red and right leg all the way over therrrrrre. Yoga prowess definitely came into play!



Blessings from my sore gluteus maximus x