Vertical Limit

Push the limit with wall climbing 

I always have had a fascination with outdoor activities or other challenging sports. I had bungee jumping, sky diving, and mountain climbing on my bucket list for a long time. But somehow till recently, I managed to do so. I started to do wall climbing last November, and it is pretty fun. It was not that hard at the beginning, in my first time trying I think I did it adequately. I followed the instruction and capable climb all the training for one and a half hours.

However, later that night I slowly felt pain in my upper body, especially my arm. Gosh, it was aching, and that made my sleep uncomfortable. Also, I made a mistake by trying to climb for the first time on Sunday. Because on the next day, I felt unenergized about going to work, and the pain lasted until the next three days. And if I think about it, I was not doing stretches before the class, which doubled the pain. 

Well, it was a rookie mistake lesson well learned. So the coming weekend I prefer to climb on Saturday. Thus, I could relax a bit the next day. My third climbing was probably the best yet so far, I was attending the class on time and the instructor was really helpful. He did encourage me to be better and gave this friendly vibes which made my technique improve.

Learning the technique little by little

Talking about wall climbing technique is more about using feet rather than hands strength. But since I am a beginner, I intended to use more arm’s core and made my arm always in pain after class. When I climb I was so focused on achieving the next grip by moving my arm for dear life, but it was wrong. I should give a little push with my feet then I will reach the next hand grip easily.

Now it has been two months and I am still working on it. Moreover, to boost my arm durability I started to do upper body exercises with a dumbbell and use hand grippers strengthener for a daily workout. In the past, I did not pay too much attention to my upper body because I did not find it necessary to simmer it down.

I also did another weight lifting workout to muscle up a bit, and have a more toned body to escalate my endurance. I still did my workout routine, but rather than having a walk, nowadays I did exercise at home with Chloe Ting’s help from her YouTube program.

My last climbing session was pretty intense, I did level up, and the difficulty also stepped up. It was hard, yet my body movement improved. I was more relaxed and started to get the vibes. In my earlier days, I was in a rush to finish the session, and get me tired faster. Especially when I reached the top grip I got cold feet because of the height. My mind soared. I was afraid of falling and anxious to continue to the next.

I recalled one of the instructors yelling at me, to jump if I feel don’t have any strength left. They had a thick mattress at the bottom. Well, it is easier said than done, but after a few attempts, I successfully overcome this feeling of falling and just let it slide down. I am a survivor! ^_^

Looking good with calloused hands

Despite obtaining a toned body, the unpleasant part of wall climbing is getting calloused hands. I always had dry skin; a calloused one made it even worse. However, It makes me appear stronger and more adventurous.

Currently, I am attending the class once a week due to my work schedule. Since my house and the office are located far from the climbing studio, I can only have classes every weekend. But I hoped this year I could attend more often, once I got a new job. There are my two tops on the 2023 resolution. Fingers crossed, I can accomplish this.

And Happy New Year! We’ll see a brighter future since the COVID restriction has been lifted little by little.