Guys, put your hands together for both Chris and TC for their recent Atomic Dog editorials about the T-Man life. Both of these guys have summarized so much of what we strive for and how we live.
On a related topic, for my son’s fourteenth birthday my wife and I gave him two gift options: drive an hour to an Old Navy store and we’d shop for clothes for him, or he and I could go 45 minutes to an indoor rock climbing gym and wail away in there, then to the supplement store where I’d buy him a case of MRP packets. Guess which one he chose?
That’s right, rock climbing. If you ever have the opportunity to engage in this type of workout, I highly recommend it. This was my first time, and I was unprepared (in that I’d done back/hamstrings/calves the night before), but it was a blast. Bob and I spent two hours on the bouldering walls, and within twenty minutes each of our forearms had blown up to double in size, and our hands were so tired it was difficult to grip anything.
We’re not sized right for climbing (we’re each 213# right now, and most climbers are much smaller and wiry), but the workout for the entire body was incredible. Within an hour our shoulders, arms and legs were all worn; after two hours we were on the floor, exhausted but happy.
Think of the cross training benefits: coordination, stretching, overall strength, essential grip strength, and balance. Give a rock climbing gym strong consideration for a change of pace, especially if you live in a northern clime like I do (Wisconsin). But take the day prior off from the gym!
