@verretor Lord of the Rings
@pete There’s actually a gymnast that is known as “Lord of the Rings”: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zBmy9JWyCS4
You’ll notice that he’s quite short. Ring specialists are never tall. I’m 5’9”, almost 5’10”. Too tall to be a ring specialist.
@verretor ha, that name totally doesn't surprise me.
Gymnasts are amazing. I nearly took gymnastics as a kid. But I was too shy back then. I really should have.
@pete My mother didn’t care when I told her I wanted to do gymnastics as a child. I did acrogym later and I actually gave classes but that’s more like circus stuff.
@Corydoras @pete Government keeps closing gyms here. I also like rock climbing but I haven’t practiced since the first lockdown.
@Corydoras @verretor Parkour is a lot scarier than climbing. I used to do what was basically traditional parkour as a kid before I even knew about it (there was a large boulder breakwater near me). If I did it now I'd be taking pretty big risks, as falls are so much worse when your fat...
OTOH, even as a kid I made almost no mistakes.
I've tried climbing a few times and liked it a lot. I'm cheap though so I've never worked myself up to investing in the memberships/gear.
@Corydoras @verretor Climbing is unusual, because it tends to either be very safe, or deadly. It's fairly uncommon for people to even sprain ankles climbing, especially with top rope. OTOH I've seen someone fall 30ft due to a belaying mistake - had they not been in a padded gym, or had just fallen awkwardly or on someone, they'd have been killed instantly. Fortunately the thick padding the gym had installed left them with nothing more than a sprained back.
@Corydoras @verretor In terms of top-notch climbers, I think the majority are late 20's to early 30's, with men and women being represented about equally.
But as for who you actually see at gyms, it's a really big age range. It's not uncommon to see people who look like they're in their 60's and even 70's climbing in gyms, both men and women.
It's a sport where intelligence can make up for being weak and fat. I would know... 😂
@Corydoras @verretor See, that you've seen any injuries is a sign that it's more accident prone than climbing. :) Indoors, I've yet to see someone even break a bone. Plenty of overuse injuries though...
@Corydoras @verretor Yup. Knowing your limits and respecting them is absolutely key.
It's notable how outdoor climbing really advanced after the top-tier climbers started training grip strength and similar outside of climbing itself: you just can't push your limits actually doing climbing. So you're leaving potential strength on the table that you can achieve at the gym on a hang board. Unfortunately, at some point you have to train to failure to advance.
I definitely think parkour could be more like climbing, where you have an older crowd that focuses on intelligent and precise movements rather than just big death drops, but it has a such a reputation as a sport for dumb kids.
@Corydoras @verretor You're right, turns out grip strength does peak in your 30's for both men and women: https://theconversation.com/what-your-hand-grip-says-about-your-strength-through-life-35063
I didn't actually know that!
Though I wonder if climbers have the same peak? I started indoor climbing when I was 15 or 16, and climbed trees much earlier than that. I'm sure that must affect how your body develops.
@Corydoras @verretor Those teenagers aren't entirely wrong either. You can take much bigger falls if you don't weigh much. It's the same thing with gymnastics: much easier to start to learn big moves when you're a little kid.
@Corydoras @verretor If rescues weren't so challenging, and filming so difficult, cave exploration could be the "precision parkour" sport. Caves tend to be chock full of obstacles. Hell, Canada's third deepest cave is literally a 500m deep pile of boulders on about a 30° slope.
But alas, screwing up has such high consequences that "high contact" movement like sliding down obstacles and "belly flopping" up them often makes more sense.
@Corydoras @verretor And to be clear, that's just talking about indoor climbing. With outdoor climbing - especially stuff like trad climbing where you install your own (removable) anchors as you go up - intelligence, courage, and planning matter even more.