Things to Know Before Visiting a New Jersey Climbing & Fitness Gym

Climbing gyms are quite popular these days. Not only is it fun, but it will also help you achieve that body goal you’ve always desired.

Watching someone climb may make you think it is a piece of cake. We hate to break it to you, but it is not as easy as it looks. Your first time in a climbing and fitness gym may be an intimidating and daunting experience. But trust us it will only be a matter of time before you are a professional at it. However, to ensure your transition from amateur to pro is a lot faster, you must know what to expect even before you appear in the gym. 

Therefore, in this article, we will be discussing some of the important things you need to know about a climbing gym before you even enroll. 

Let us get right into it.

1. Preparation

The first thing you need to do before you even go to the gym is to ensure you have comfortable clothes for the occasion. The cloth you choose must be flexible and comfortable enough for you to be able to move and stretch your limbs. In case you have not gotten the drift yet, avoid jeans. Also, trim your fingernails. They do not have to be too short, but they should be short enough for you to comfortably keep your grip. 

2. Equipment

At the gym, you would have to rent shoes and a harness. You might need a chalk bag as well. 

Putting on the harness should not be an arduous task. The harness is designed to have two leg loops, 1 waist loop, and a loop for the belay. All you must do is put your legs in the harness’ leg loops, pull the harness to your waist, and then tighten the straps. A perfect illustration of how to do this is how you put on your pants. 

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The belay will be attached to the loop that is in front, so ensure you wear the harness with this loop facing the front. You could watch this video if you need a visual representation of the instructions. 

Wearing the harness for the first time may feel a bit weird (you may feel like you are wearing a diaper). But after walking around for a while, you may not even remember you have them on. 

Wearing climbing shoes may even feel weirder than wearing the harness. The shoes may feel too small. While this may be uncomfortable, it should not be too uncomfortable that it becomes painful. 

The shoes are supposed to be as snug as possible, so the climber feels the wall when they climb. This would typically help them grip the holds better. 

You can put on socks with the shoes when you start climbing. But as you become better, your climbs would get more advanced, and the footholds would become thinner. In this case, the contact your foot has with the shoes becomes important. Therefore, you may need to ditch the socks. 

The chalk is also especially important for first timers. It helps to keep moisture on the hand at bay and would also help you maintain a good grip on the handholds. While chalk can be underutilized, overusing it may be an issue as well. 

3. The Technique

Unlike other activities or sports, you do not need to know the movement patterns before you start climbing. What you need to do would come to you intuitively as you look at the handholds. Your body would know just how to move. However, some persons often put the whole climbing in their arms while forgetting their legs. This is not right as the activity should be more on the feet. 

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4. The Ropes

Conclusion

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