Christine Webb, Your Health and Fitness
Rock climbing develops skill, concentration, and not to mention some pretty strong arm muscles.
"It beats hitting a normal gym, where you are pumping iron all day," said Paul Cahill, one of a growing number of Americans hooked on indoor rock climbing. "You come in here and basically see where your goal is to finish."
"It is a little intimidating," admitted Greg Perry, the owner of Atlanta Rocks, an indoor rock climbing gym. "Most people come in and look up, and don't know what to do first."
The first step is a safety lesson and equipment check, followed by the mental and physical challenges and health benefits of scaling those increasingly difficult climbing walls.
"When you are climbing, you are using your body, but not necessarily breathing real hard during the process. So you can work up a sweat, but not the same type of sweat you will get from running or biking," Perry said.
Some other benefits to climbing: It can improve your flexibility and hand eye coordination, not to mention you also get that exhilarating feeling of such an accomplishment climbing that wall.
Click here to find indoor rock climbing gyms in Florida.
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