While rock climbing isn’t one of them, it’s still worth the effort.

Rock climbing is a dangerous sport that you should prepare for properly; it’s not a good idea to scale the nearest cliff on a whim just to see what it’s like.

But rock climbing offers so many advantages; the views are beautiful and as an exercise it can’t be beat.

If you’d like to give it a try, follow these steps to do it safely:

Learning to climb can be great fun for the entire family.

• Traditional climbing, in which you place your own wedges and supports to climb up a rock face.
• Sport climbing, in which the supports are pre-placed.
• Indoor climbing, which is usually sport style and is a good option for beginners.
• Bouldering, in which you climb a large boulder instead of a cliff or a mountain.
• Ice climbing and solo climbing without supports, which aren’t recommended for beginners.

Learn about the basic rock climbing gear. At minimum, you’ll need:

• Climbing ropes, which attach you to your support mechanisms.
• Climbing harnesses, which wrap around you and attach to the rope.
• Belay devices, which help keep you from falling.
• Climbing carabiners, which fasten ropes together or to your various pieces of equipment.
• Passive protection, which also help to support you as you climb, but don’t move or expand.
• Active protection that you attach to the face you are climbing by inserting into cracks an expand to support you as you climb.
• Climbing helmets and rock climbing shoes, which are essential to climb safely.

As you might imagine, all of this equipment can get expensive fast. Your best bet to try out the sport is to go to an indoor climbing center or sign up for a beginner’s class. In both cases, all of the equipment will be provided for you and you’ll also have assistance with your first few climbs to make sure that you’re safe. Once you’ve gotten the basics down, you can decide if you want to invest in the equipment and move on to some outdoor climbs with low ratings (5.0 to 5.4 are beginners’ level).

You should be in good physical shape before you attempt to rock climb. When you climb, you’ll use muscles that you never knew you had, and you will probably be sore after your first few attempts. Don’t go into a climb when you’re injured or sick; not only do you increase your chances of further injury, but you also won’t enjoy it as much.
 

Either way, your golf score can improve if you only take the time to implement some golf tips from the pros.

Golf is a game of precision, and a few minor changes can really make the difference in your game.

Lowering your golf score is 90 percent mental - get your head straight if you want to hit the ball even straighter!

Consider the following tips to shave a few points off of your golf handicap.

• Practice. The unfortunate reality is that you’ll never be a good golfer without putting in some time on the links. And make sure to practice all of the aspects of the game. Good putting will do you no good if you can’t get onto the green, and good drives won’t do you any good either if you can’t make the hole.
• When you’re practicing, try adjusting your stance to see if that improves your control and power, since even a difference of a half an inch can improve your play. Try standing a little closer or further away from the ball. Try placing your feet a little further apart or a little closer together. The ideal stance recommended by experts is a good place to start, but you may need to adjust it slightly to maximize your play. Find out what works best for you, and just as importantly, what doesn’t work.
• Golf rounds are usually about two-thirds putting and one-third driving, so working specifically on your putting will give you the highest yield in terms of improving your golf score.
• Consider taking a course or two from a certified PGA teacher. There are some common golf swing problems that you can learn about from books and magazines, but nothing takes the place of a lesson from someone who can look at your stance and correct your golf swing on the spot.
• Whenever you can, get out on the golf course with good golfers. Watch players with low handicaps and try to learn from their technique. Watch what clubs they select and how they handle shots to help improve your approach.
• If ball control is a problem, shorten your swing a little. If you hit the ball as hard as you can every time, it’s more likely to go wild. But a shorter golf swing allows for greater control.
• Have your clubs evaluated. Your stature and your swing may be working at odds with your clubs, and a certified professional can help to make sure that they’re working together to make you the best golfer possible.
• Make sure that you eat before you hit the golf course. A lot of early morning golfers are in such a rush to get out there that they don’t eat a thing before they leave. But you need fuel to help you concentrate and to improve your power. The shakes aren’t going to help your control; ward them off with a complex carb and some protein. It’s also a good idea to drink some water so that you’re not dehydrated.

Adding a modest gym at home increases the likelyhood that you will work out regularly!

Perhaps you have an infant at home, and you’re itching to lose the baby weight, only your gym won’t accept children under 18 months in the childcare program. Maybe gyms intimidate you; or you can’t stand the sight of so many people in spandex, or you can’t afford the fees.

Whatever your reason, your only choice is to exercise at home. You have a little space, but fancy exercise machines are expensive.

Do you really need to spend a fortune to get a workable home gym? The answer is no. Follow these tips to create a nice home gym and stay in shape on a budget.

• Measure your doorways. Exercise equipment is hefty, and it’s not necessarily going to fit through narrow doors or around tight corners. Make sure you know how you’re going to get it inside.
• Measure your space, and allow for sufficient clearance around each piece of home gym equipment. Think about the range of motion for each activity. For example, if you’re using a rowing machine, you need clearance on each side to get on and off, and you also need sufficient space to pull your arms back.
• If you’re working with a small space, the reality is that smaller spaces are better served with smaller pieces of equipment. If you splurge on one large cardio machine and don’t have room for anything else, you’ll probably get bored pretty fast. You’ll also save money by thinking small.
• Think about what kinds of exercises you like, or if you’re just starting an exercise program, think about what kinds of physical activities you enjoy. For example, if you like to go dancing, you might enjoy cardio dance DVDs.
• Carefully weigh the benefits of mirrors and televisions. On one hand, a mirror can help you to check your form, and televisions can help to make the time fly. On the other hand, it’s easy to become more concerned with how you look in the mirror or what’s going to happen next in your favorite reality show than with the quality of your workout.
• Make sure your home gym allows for both cardiovascular and weight training. Most people focus on one or another, so you see a lot of gyms loaded with free weights and nothing else, or a series of cardio machines without a weight in sight. A balance of the two is the ideal recipe for fitness. Consider these cost-effective cardio and weight options:
  • Cardio: Jump ropes, step benches, and Bosu balls are all relatively inexpensive tools that can help you to get your heart rate up and keep it there if you don’t have the space for a cardio machine.
  • Weight training: Consider investing in a set of resistance bands or dumbbells. The stress is on the word “set.” You want to be able to choose the right weight or resistance to make each exercise fatigue your muscles, and you want to be able to increase the difficulty as you get stronger.
  • Also consider a medicine ball; they’re terrific to work the core.

It may not come as naturally for people, but you can learn to master the downward dog yoga pose!

But after about five seconds of shaking wrists and hands that keep slipping off your yoga mat, you realize that it’s not as easy as it looks.

Still, downward dog is worth learning. It tones and strengthens your entire body and can also help to alleviate back pain. It’s also one of the most common yoga positions you’ll see in classes and DVDs, so it’s worth learning how to do it right.

A perfect downward dog is within your reach if you follow these simple tips. Try implementing them one at a time and watch your down facing dog gradually improve.

1. Start on your hands and knees. Your knees should be right below your hips, and your hands should be just above your shoulders with your fingers spread out. Curl your toes under.
2. When you exhale, lift your knees up off the floor. At first, your leg muscles will probably be tight, so don’t force the pose right away. If your heels don’t naturally drop toward the floor, or if the pose feels tight, slowly “walk” your legs. Keep your feet still, but alternately bend and straighten each leg like you’re walking in place. After a few stretches, you should feel much looser. If your heels still don’t touch the floor, you can put a rolled up towel under them. And if you’re a beginner, there’s no shame in learning the pose with bent knees and straightening them when you’re ready.
3. Push your thighs back and straighten your knees without locking them (again, the rolled towel trick can help you with this until you have the hang of it).
4. Let your head hang between your straight arms, or if it’s more comfortable, look at your belly button. It’s tempting to let your shoulders hunch up toward your ears, but the position is much more comfortable if you pull them down. Concentrate on maintaining a long neck. Again, if you’re a beginner, you can put a block under your head for support, although some people don’t find that very comfortable. Also, rotating your upper arms out can help to release the tension in your shoulders.
5. One problem that many people experience is slippery or shaky hands. Generally, this is caused by not shifting your weight far back enough. Try lifting your pelvis a little higher, causing a slight arch in your lower back. This will move your center of gravity backwards, helping to keep your hands still.
6. As with all yoga positions, don’t forget to breathe!
7. To come out of down facing dog, bend your knees toward the floor and come back to a kneeling position.