Are you looking for a fun activity to do on the weekend with friends or family? Rock climbing is a good one! It requires use your strength to pull yourself up to the top of a wall.

My boyfriend, Stew, and I went to an indoor rock climbing gym this weekend, to do something different. I've done it a couple of times and absolutely love it!  When you climb the walls, you have your harness, rope, and somebody to belay you during your climb.  There are rocks that along the wall where you must step and grab onto in order to climb.  Some rocks are easy to grip and others require more strength in your divi flexors (Finger flexing muscles).  

There is another climbing option, which we tried as well, called Bouldering. This is a free climb, without the rope and harness - the wall is shorter, and the idea is to climb up to the top and to the side of the wall if you can.

This activity is a challenge to your body, where you must trust your arms and legs to guide you and get you to the next level. It is appropriate for both children and adults.

This is a great full body activity that puts stress on some muscles you may not have even thought of strengthening.

Forearms - your wrist flexors play a big role in this activity for gripping and pulling yourself up.

Finger flexors- you have to grab and hold on to the rocks somehow. The flexor digitis, flexor pollicis brevis, etc.,  do a lot of work during your climb as you grab and hold onto the rocks.

Biceps- these arm muscles are engaged when your elbow is flexed. In order to pull yourself up, you need to have flexion in your elbow.

Quadriceps- as your legs push your body up to the top on the wall, you have to extend your legs.  When doing this, the quads are activated.

Calfs- your soleus and gastrocnemius are the muscles involved in toe raise exercises.  While rock climbing, you tend to stand on the rocks with your toes in order to help lift yourself to the next level. 

Core- your back is also engaged in this activity. In your upper back you are using your Latissimus Dorsi, Trapezius, and Rhomboids. As you pull your arms from above your head to below your shoulders to help guide your body upward these muscles are engaged. 
Your abdominal muscles act as stabilizers during the climb.

For my nephews 12th birthday I took him to a trampoline park around my area.  What a great place for both children AND adults. This place will turn any adult into a child! I don’t know about you, but growing up, I always dreamed of having a trampoline - but I never got one.  Now they have parks for this funtastic activity! Oy Vey! THE BEST PLACE EVER!

There is a foam pit, where you can jump into (do flips, turns, dives, and other crazy tricks you can think of.), there is a basketball area, with three different size nets (you don’t have to be 6’ tall to dunk here!); there is a dodge-ball area for kids; and not to mention the big trampoline field (here is where they have hundreds of small and wide trampolines together to make one big jumping arena.  Not to mention trampolines on the walls so you can literally bounce off the walls.)

This is definitely a family fun park that everyone can enjoy, and you can get LOADS of physical activity in for the day.  Sky zone had advertisement around the whole area about their aerobic trampoline classes, which seems like a unique way to exercise.  I think I may try it out with some friends for a girls night.  

This is a total body work out.  Jumping around is a fun cardio activity that will really get your heart pumping. It is definitely an activity that will increase your cardiorespiratory endurance.

The main muscles being worked here are in your lower extremity and your core. Your arms are also being worked with the jumping movement (especially if you know any fancy gymnastic tricks.) However, they are not the targeted muscles.

The targeted muscles are going to be your gastrocnemius in your calf muscles - because jumping is an explosive movement. Your hamstrings, quads, and gluteus maximus.  And your Abdominal muscles and back muscles.

This past weekend my boyfriend took me ice skating.  We went to an indoor skating rink around Cherry Hill, NJ and had a great time.  There were so many people out that day, and you could tell that everyone was having fun.  As we were skating around the rink, there were a few figure skaters taking lessons in the middle of everyone.

Watching these individuals, I realized how amazing this sport is.  I can only do the basics when it comes to skating (Skating forward, with no fancy tricks.)  Watching these athletes skate backwards, spin, do leaps, and skate on one leg, had me in awe.  The amount of time it took for them to practice their moves, the amount of core and leg strength they have, and their flexibility is impressive.  There were young kids, I would say around the age of 7, showing us up as well while we skated in circles around the rink. I wasn't mad though, just astonished by the talent these people had.

Ice Skating is a really fun activity to do with close friends.  It’s something different, and a great winter activity to get you off the couch and moving.  If you’ve never been before, I would suggest trying it out.  You don’t need to be a figure skater to go out and enjoy time on the ice. 

If you are like me and are not a figure skater, don't worry, we are still putting our bodies through work while we skate around in circles. The main muscles that are working during ice skating are the core and lower extremity muscles.

With the core muscles, we have our abs and back muscles being strengthened as we keep ourselves up and balance.

With the lower extremity muscles, we are working our quads and thighs the same way as we would when walking (these muscles are used during knee flexion and extension.)  Our calf muscles (specifically the gastrocnemius) is working as we push through the glide for an explosive movement forward.

[If you are standing properly on your skates (avoiding ankle inversion and/or eversion) you are also strengthening the muscles around the ankle joint whiling maintaining balance.]