Welcome to the Get Fit Guys' quick and dirty tips to slim down and shape up.

My name is Brock Armstrong, and I'm the Get Fit Guy.

Rock climbing has climbed in popularity over the last 20 years.

Many people think that it'll someday ascend to the heights of outdoor activities such as jogging and fishing,

which, based on research by the Outdoor Foundation, are the two most popular outdoor activities in the United States.

Indoor rock climbing is said to have started in the United States in the early 1980s when outdoor rock

climbers started building training walls in garages and warehouses. And according to a 2010 outdoor

recreation participation report, approximately 6,148,000 Americans, or 2.7% of the population over the age of six, were participating in rock climbing

activities, such as bouldering, sport climbing, indoor climbing, traditional climbing, and mountaineering.

So, why is it so popular?

Why do people do it, and how can you get started?

Well, first, let's look at what makes a good rock climber.

Muscular strength and endurance in rock climbing has always been measured in the forearm, the hand, and the fingers,

via a thing called dynamometry, which is a measurement of force and power.

But interestingly, when absolute hand strength was assessed in a study called the physiology

of rock climbing, they found very little difference between climbers and the general population.

But when we look closer, we see that most elite rock climbers are quite small

in stature, with pretty low body fat percentage and body mass. So when their hand strength was

calculated in relation to the body mass, the elite climbers scored significantly higher.

According to that same study, at its core, rock climbing is simply repeated bouts of isometric

contractions.

So, based on that, they went on to test grip endurance using both repeated isometric contractions

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