The new Nike Free 5.0 Trainer

Recently, I've been thinking more and more about my fitness. While my lungs and legs can carry me for about an hour, and I can shimmy up a few walls at VauxWall, I still feel that I'm struggling.

Running can be torture on my joints, feet, and calves. Climbing on my shoulders, arms, and core.

It's not enough just to keep running and to keep climbing, I need to improve the muscle strength and flexibility required for both activities.

That's where training comes in. Something drilled in to me pretty hard at a Nike NFL fitness camp last year. It was only a couple of hours, but boy do those NFL guys work hard on every single muscle needed for the game.

With the launch of the new Nike Free 5.0 Trainers, Nike are at their best again, not just advertising the shoe, but introducing it in the context it was designed for.



This video with Rory McIlroy, for instance, is a great example of the sort of fitness work I'm looking to do more of. Focus on core strength, focus on balance, focus on posture, focus on flexibility.

I'll let you know how I get on.

Hidden London | VauxWall, London

We all get stuck in our routines, even those of us who live in a city like London. It's especially true when it comes to exercise. The same circuit, the same weights, the same reps are all easy ruts to fall into, yet very difficult to climb back out of.

I first considered going climbing instead of the gym while training for Tough Mudder. I was running and gym-ing almost every day, growing increasingly bored and finding myself stuck at a certain level - the old exercise plateau.

Fortunately for me, at about the same time, VauxWall opened all of ten minutes down the road.

Built within a couple of the archways beneath Vauxhall railway station, VauxWall is a bouldering centre - basically, climbing without ropes, with a large crash mat to fall on, should you need it. I haven't so far...luckily.

It's good fun, very tiring, and a great workout for your arms, legs, and even your lungs. It is a little daunting, seeing people hanging from blocks no bigger than a penny, but even in the short time I've been going, I've improved and moved up from the basic blocks to the (ever-so-slightly) smaller ones.



In the New Year I'll be making a regular weekly visit to VauxWall. I'm not going to grow the necessary hand calluses without it!

Liked this piece? Check out my review of Tough Mudder, London South!

p.s. All images taken from the VauxWall website gallery (and do not feature me).