Build a Rock-Hard Body

Unlike most gravity-challenged physical pursuits, rock climbing gives you an intense, full-body workout as well as the satisfaction of achieving a giant goal—literally, reaching the peak—in a single day.

“By constantly engaging your back, arms, hands, core, and legs, climbing builds stamina, endurance, and strength,” says John Cross, a trainer at Sugarhouse 24 Hour Fitness in Salt Lake City. Plus, the views generally rock. Use these in-the-gym tips to speed your ascent.

Before You Climb
Three upper-body exercises rock hounds love from climb-savvy Cross:

1. Bar hangs:  Build grip and arm strength by hanging from a bar.  With your elbows locked, keep hanging—periodically switching your grip—until exhaustion. Start out with short hangs of 15 or 20 seconds. Do three sets.
2. Two-fingered pullups:  To build back strength, do pull-ups. Prepare to grasp a bar with the palms-out grip you’d use for a normal pullup, but only wrap your index and middle finger of each hand around the bar and secure them with your thumb. Work up to three sets of 10 to 12 pullups. If you need to, start out on a lat pulldown machine using light weight to gain strength.
3. Deadlifts: For full-body strength training, serious rock climbers often add this Olympic move to their workouts to work the back, core, legs, and grip. It’s a serious power move in which you squat down, grasp a barbell on the floor, and lift it to knee-height while standing up. It can injure your lower back and neck if done with imperfect form, so have a trainer demonstrate and guide you through a few sets. Start light and work up to three sets of eight to 12 reps.

Climber’s Paradise
There are thousands of breathtaking climbing sites around the globe, but these U.S. spots are among the finest and most accessible.

• Rocky Mountain National Park, Colorado Boulder or climb in a beautiful alpine setting. “It’s like The Sound of Music out there,” says Michael Moelter of USA Climbing, the leading national organization for competitive climbing. (www.nps.gov/archive/romo/visit/park/climbing.html)
• Hueco, Texas A bouldering dreamscape in the desert. (www.rockclimbing.com/routes)
• Red River Gorge, Kentucky You’ll think you’re in a rain forest. (www.redriverclimbing.com)