KEY POINTS:
If I could have any super power, I'd want Spiderman's ability to scale tall buildings using just my hands and feet.
Now I've found a way to make that wish come true.
Auckland deep-tissue masseur Chris Toal is the brains behind Bodywall, a new stretching and workout apparatus aimed at athletes but also used by mere mortals.
It looks like an ordinary wall, but is tilted (at varying angles depending on your skill and determination) and is covered in a Velcro-like material.
Pull on high adhesion gloves and shoes and you'll stick to that wall like, well, a spider. Almost.
Scaling this wall is far more challenging than it looks.
Your hands, feet and weight must be perfectly positioned or you topple off. It takes time and effort to get it right - hence the workout.
As well as letting you relive the jungle gym days of your youth, climbing is very good exercise.
It builds strong joints, muscle tone and enhances coordination while also relieving tension and helping loosen any sore joints or strained muscles.
Once you have your technique down, you'll get a full body workout. You can train at any angle to work every limb as well as your all-important core muscles.
As a test, I tried sticking my fists to the wall about a metre apart then pulling my hands together while doing push-ups, before repeating the exercise while trying to pull my hands away from each other. Each targets different muscles and because my hands didn't move at all, my arms worked much harder.
For my next trick I'll try the reverse - doing press-ups with my feet on the wall. Toal has programmes to assist strength and speed training for different sports, including rugby, boxing, golf, tennis and skiing.
He's even developed a selection of clubs, racquets and balls which attach to the wall and can be used to train with.
The idea is to freeze your position as it would be when you pass the ball or take a shot, so you feel exactly what you would when you're on the court or field.
This helps improve that action and gives an awareness of body position.
The wall is also great for stretching - an essential part of any fitness programme because it protects against injury and improves performance.
Stretching on the wall requires much less effort - as the wall is supporting you, there's no tension in other muscles. It feels more effective than what you might achieve in yoga or pilates classes.
Toal says by sticking to the wall and letting it hold you in place, you can let your own bodyweight stretch you out.
It's especially good in targeting specific muscle groups and stretching hard-to-reach places, such as between your shoulder blades.
Originally designed for use as a rehab tool, Bodywall is also an excellent apparatus for reducing injury as well as rehabilitating existing injuries.
For more information, visit www.bodywall.com
- Detours, HoS
