Fitness - Bouldering

One of my new hobbies to help with toning and building muscle is bouldering. If you don't know what that is ( I didn't at first) it's basically rock climbing without any ropes. Before you panic, you don't climb that high up so it is still safe to jump down from a certain height! Bouldering requires strength, balance and flexibility ( some of the foot placements are tiny!); you have to wear particular shoes to help you use the tip of your feet to balance on some of the rocks. Bouldering also makes you use your mind a lot, figuring out where to put your feet, how to twist or position yourself and ultimately how to get to the top. Essentially each climb is a route to the top where you touch both hands to the top rock and then you get yourself back down. Most routes are not a simple straight up and down - they are all like little puzzles for you to solve. You have foot swaps, using the wall alone for balance, climbing in the ' cave' ( like climbing upside down on a roof) climbing sideways, on an incline - there are tones of possibilities! If you are in Manchester you should absolutely check out Rock over climbing where I go. They change up a route/colour every week so you can't ever get bored. At the moment I am still on the easiest routes which there are purple with black dots and the orange ones but I am testing myself by doing some on the incline. It can seem quite hard and daunting at first watching everyone climb up with ease and men hanging around with one arm but after a few weeks I feel a lot stronger. I try to push myself on some inclines to give myself a challenge and now watching the other climbers just inspires me to get to their level. Bouldering is a great activity to start in a group and so far everyone we have met is lovely and willing to help you figure out a route if your stuck. Being a shortie I have struggled to get to the top of some routes and struggled to do others as it's hard to reach some of the rocks - cue some serious height envy. I think once I have more confidence I can take a 'leap of faith' and trust myself to get to those hard to reach places. My only downside is there is some seriously painful hands after a session as mine haven't built up any hardness so my hands are so sore after an hour or two - make sure you have some good hand cream at the ready! Have any of you tried bouldering or rock climbing?  ciao x Keep up to date with my latest posts by following me! :)
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