I don't have a strong upper body.
While I've always been known to be relatively sporty, most of the sports I excel in require much from the legs and little from the arms (rollerblading, running, biking, soccer, etc).
So I wasn't exactly looking forward to visiting the Super Block Boulderhall (Bouldering Gym) with some of my family.
I'm really glad I did though!! =D
While bouldering is done without any safety ropes or harnesses, there is a thick safety mat covering the floor to soften your landing if you slip or jump off the wall!
Proper climbing shoes and a bagful of chalk help to increase your grip on the stones, and a sociable atmosphere fills the gym. More experienced climbers are more than happy to give friendly tips on how to navigate a route if you're stuck. Sometimes, they even join heads in assessing a given route!
It's also a great mind and body workout, as each route presents a 'problem' for you to solve in order to get to the top! =)
We rented climbing shoes and a chalk bag and assessed the walls. The routes up are color-coded. Green stones mark out a route on the lowest level , yellow the next lowest, and black mark out the most difficult routes.
You can see that the stone sizes and grip-possibilities decrease significantly, the higher the level you get!!
There are markings on the wall to indicate where your hands should grasp at the beginning. The goal is to place both of your hands on the top stone of the same colour, without touching any differently-coloured stone!
I quickly discovered that one uses a lot of leg pushing power during climbing, so my weak arms and shoulders were not too big a hindrance!! Each of us managed to conquer both green and yellow levels!! =)
We made a number of cool videos, but haven't figured out how to upload those yet. =(
The boys managed one or two blue routes!
I certainly didn't have the reach!!
After two hours of climbing, everyone in our group started to feel the energy leaving their arms during climbs. We made our way home for lunch. I whipped out some hand lotion in the car and everybody welcomed a few pumps!! The lotion really helps to soothe the friction burns obtained on our unseasoned hands!
I'll probably be experiencing deep aches across my shoulders and forearms tomorrow, but I can't wait till the next time! =D
How was your beautiful Sunday?
The #BeautifulSunday contest is run by my fellow Singaporean steemian 
He's a really cool dude, and he's even funding the contest from his own pocket. So join the contest, or send his initiative a donation. Your contribution will go a long way into injecting more colour into this community every Sunday! :))