This Girl Can Climb

In the sprit of my new years resolutions and the nations current obsession with the 'This Girl Can' campaign I thought I would share my favourite sporting activity, rock climbing.

The easiest kind of exercise is the kind that doesn't feel like exercise at all. For me, finding an activity that's fun and something I really enjoy is the key to sticking at it.

I tried rock climbing as a kid and fell in love with it right away, however a lack of a climbing centre near to where I grew up meant that I didn't get a chance to get into it properly until I moved away to university. It wasn't until my final year that I even realised there even was a climbing club at my university, but as I soon as I did I got myself signed up.  That was 7 or 8 years ago now, and I've not looked back since.

I try to go climbing at least once a week, most of my climbing is done at an indoor, Manchester is lucky enough to have 3 climbing centre with another new one due to open later this year. I enjoy bouldering, top roping and lead climbing, and each type of climbing offers different physical and metal challenges which continue to push and motivate me .

Climbing can burn somewhere between 500 - 900 calories per hour. That's pretty good going for an activity that I don't even consider to be a workout.  I go climbing with friends so it's much more of a social activity for me. Climbing is a great all round activity, you get a cardio workout but it also uses so many different muscles in the body - arms, legs, core, back, chest, shoulders. I can easy knockout a 4 hour session too, I'm not climbing constantly for that amount of time obviously but I definitely commit more time to it than a normal gym visit.

Since I started rock climbing regularly I have become a lot stronger, leaner and toned, and I noticed these benefits a lot quicker than I did when just doing weights in the gym. I know many women who are scared of bulking up too much, climbing is an ideal exercise to ensure your muscles only become toned and not too big.

I've notice rock climbing becoming more and more mainstream these days, which makes it much more accessible. Climbers are all really friendly too, it's such a social sport, so don't feel intimidated to give it ago. And if you needed any more convincing... climber boys are HOT (I'm dating one so could be slightly biased!)