King of sports

Climbing - King of sports by Dr 8a Björn Alber

Chicken Island roof were Björn got some physical and mental challenges bolting together with Henrik Bolander (below).

It seems like 85 kg Dr 8a is focusing on staying in good physical shape.

Western civilisation is folding in on itself as we are destroying mother earth with fossil fuel burning and other pollution. But even more important we are killing of ourselves. For almost 100 years now we have increased our lifespan a couple of years each generation, and in the mid 90's we were living on average 10 years longer than people  in the late 18th century – but we were already becoming more sick than before and staying sick for a longer period of our lives.

Heading out first has now set new records : the generations that are now in their 20's are expected to live shorter lives and being more sick than their parents. Why is this, and why is climbing the answer to our problem? Well, most of us are suffering from lack of physical and mental challenges. More than 50% of illness and early death is directly connected to the lack of physical and mental challenges that have been essential the human evolution. The physical challenges of early human life put high demands on our cardiovascular system, muscular and skeletal system as well as triggering endorphins, adrenalin and a host of hormones, that kept our systems functional.

The absence of these physical and psychological demands is turning our bodies and minds weak. Of course people are eating a lot of high energy, low nutrient food but it is the absence of physical work that really turns us fat and (for a while) lets us get away with it. It isn’t heavy work that leaves most elderly people weak and immobile with joint pain and absent minded – it is the lack of physical strain. It is not only too much food and tobacco that provokes heart attacks, strokes, diabetes and worse,  it is – you guessed it – the lack o frequent  bouts of longer periods of physical challenging work. Depression is killing more and more people besides taking joy and meaning out of their lives –– physical activity prevents and cure this (to a certain extent)! Many people are starting to realize this, a small number (far too small) of them are even trying to do something about it. The problem is that many recreational sports and activities are either too monotonous, to injury prone or plainly puts too little demands on the human body (e.g. golf) for this activity to be helpful.

Imagine a sport that would need for you to be active and eat healthy to be light enough to make you able to perform in it, imagine a sport that would put a moderately high but long and steady demand on your cardiovascular and energy delivery systems, imagine a sport that would need for you to be proportionally strong and agile with a full range of motion in all joints, imagine a sport that put you in, seemingly, life and death situations that would trigger your beneficial hormones inclusive of antidepressants but at the same time not really putting you in mortal danger, a sport that doesn’t need for you to consume enormous amounts of fossil energy to participate, imagine a sport where you could be performing a the highest level after you've turned fourty and in to your fifties, where you could be chosen performer of the year at eighty! Imagine rock climbing!

Sure there are risk with our sport and we do travel and thus consume fossil fuels but on the average we are taking less mortal risk and consuming less than the overeating, smoking, car riding everywhere, sedentary citizen of our western civilization and we sure keep ourrselves a lot healthier and more content with life. So the next time some wiseguy tries to get a crack at your risky pastime – stick a copy of this article in their hands  and go on living like a king – go on rock climbing!

Carpe diem – seize the day in your hand

Björn Alber

MD sports medicine PhD training Physiology