Finally, after months of busyness, my wife and I got to visit
Climb Central Manila to check out their latest systems in indoor wall climbing. I was first introduced to this sport by a good friend and one of my influences in the sports climbing world back when I used to frequent
Power Up Pasig during the late nineties, which he started and operated for several years until it closed.
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| Climb Central offers various levels of difficulties... |
During those times, climbing was my regular workout regimen. When Power Up Pasig was no longer operational, I also became busy with work, which led me to become less active. Thankfully, that was the time when the running culture was starting to grow. So I started running to keep in shape. Eventually, I started to
run barefoot and eventually conquered longer distances. By that time, I considered myself a seasoned athlete in the running community.
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| Me, checking out the auto-belayer device... |
Over the years, I acquired a lot of knowledge about the sport and learned about the importance of cross-training and its effect on the overall strength of runners. Although many runners are either in to gyms for weight training or circuit training, in which I also had the opportunity of trying, neither of which made a traction to my preference.
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| Primo is giving me a refresher course in belaying... |
Climb Central Manila is by far has the widest climbing area among
indoor wall climbing gyms today. The facility offers a wide range of difficulties for kids as young as six years old to seasoned climbers of competitive levels. For people who are just beginning to test if they would like this type of sport, there are climbing areas that will allow you to complete very achievable routes that give novice climbers a sense of accomplishment.
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| Ruth is trying out the bouldering wall... |
One thing I like about sports climbing is the diversity of physical movements. This is so unlike weight training where an individual is limited to two directions of motion on repetitive action, making it a very boring workout for me. That also goes for running on a treadmill like a hamster, compared to running on the open road. In climbing, a person targets multiple goals. First, you need to climb up to the top of the rope. Second, you need to work on all four extremities to climb, third you need to work your way up while finding the best combination of hand and foot holds, testing your wit and flexibility. Last, but not the least, is battling the laws of gravity and the fear of falling, while enduring the intensity that builds up as you stay longer on the wall. It is simply a full work out of both body and mind.
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| Getting a hang of this auto-belaying... |
While most of the climbing gyms require a climbing partner as the belayer to work on the rope as you climb, Climb Central features state-of-the-art self-belay devices that allow climbers to go up without the aid of another person as belayer. These mechanisms work similarly to the car seatbelt which automatically controls the shock-load of a fall then gradually descends a climber back to the ground safely. These self-belay lines are designed for those climbers visiting the gym solo, and for those who plan to do an endurance workout.
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| Ruth and Thea Cuerdo with couple of Climb Central's regular climbers... |
For fitness enthusiasts and seasoned athletes, climbing can bring a different kind of cross-training that optimizes all body parts while achieving a significant fat burning and cardio vascular work out. Runners will find this a different kind of cross-training regimen to build power and endurance needed to cover more distances in their discipline to achieve their overall fitness goals.
Climb Central is located Greenfield District, Mandaluyong City. You can reach them at Tel. (02) 734 8883, info@climbcentral.ph. FB page: https://www.facebook.com/climbcentralmanila.
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