I saw that there wasn’t really a good resource for climbers - whether experienced or beginner, here in Taiwan, so i decided to make one(today is launch day):
Try it out – you can find out about climbing in Taiwan like how to get started, where to go, what you need, etc.
Rock climbing is a really cool sport- you can get into it as much or as little as you want and its definitely a much more fun way to stay in shape than running on a treadmill or pushing weights around. The best part is that climbers are a friendly open-minded bunch, and there is a pretty lively expat community that climbs.
The site is non-profit and not designed to make me money - it’s for your benefit and to suppport the taiwan climbing community.
You don’t have to be strong since climbing isn’t really a brute force sport — it depends a lot on technique. A lot of children and women are very good climbers as well.
If you have a fear of heights you can try bouldering, which is a lower, but still very challenging and fun type of climbing. And I do know a few people who got over their fear of heights… by climbing!
I just like it as a sport because it challenges you physically but mentally as well, and the climbers I’ve met have generally been some of the coolest people i know.
Rock climbing is a really cool sport- you can get into it as much or as little as you want and its definitely a much more fun way to stay in shape than running on a treadmill or pushing weights around. [/quote]
I wonder how many calories you burn climbing up a 10 meter high fake indoor mountain. Probably the same as walking up 3-4 flights of stairs. I have a sneaky feeling a half-hour run on a treadmill would be about 1,000 times more beneficial if keeping in shape is the goal.
Rock climbing is a really cool sport- you can get into it as much or as little as you want and its definitely a much more fun way to stay in shape than running on a treadmill or pushing weights around. [/quote]
I wonder how many calories you burn climbing up a 10 meter high fake indoor mountain. Probably the same as walking up 3-4 flights of stairs. I have a sneaky feeling a half-hour run on a treadmill would be about 1,000 times more beneficial if keeping in shape is the goal.[/quote]
Yea but are you going to meet anyone running on a threadmill in your house?
As for the height aspect… it would be nice if Spock is next to you with a rocket boot…
But the idea is repeated climb, and also rock climbing is more about building muscle, not burning calories. Gaining muscle actually burns calorie as it increases your baseline metabolism (it is the amount of calorie you burn while in a coma, any activity other than sleep burns more calorie in addition to baseline)
The 3m stuff at LZS Gym is done without rope and is called bouldering - it’s surprisingly fun. If you go to Xinyi sports center’s bouldering gym you can boulder up to about 14ft(almost 5m). 14ft without a rope to keep you from hitting the ground is quite high and pretty thrilling.
If you really want pure height you should go to Y17(NTU Hospital station)12m, or Neihu outdoor wall（15m)
In terms of exercise, Bouldering(very low climbing) is a kind of anaerobic exercise with effect similar to weight training and will build your muscles and up your resting metabolism as luthiers mentioned.
Vertical climbing is in between anaerobic and aerobic and will definitely burn some calories.
Climbing may not be as “efficient” for burning calories as running on a treadmill. However, after 2 hours of climbing I still want to go again. After 10 minutes on a treadmill i want to shoot myself. With exercise consistency and fun trumps pure efficiency, so I’m sticking with my suggestion of climbing as good for fitness.
For women, if it’s any incentive, I’ve noticed that older women at my climbing gyms are still in really good shape - as in I’ve seen 40 year old women that I, a 26 year old guy, would date. Come to think of it - that’s a good incentive for guys to come to the gym as well
I’ve found a few links for climbing walls around Tainan, but I can’t seem to find anything that denotes a real gym of any sort. Do you have any info on Tainan? It looks like good fun to get into.
