If you’re someone who’s ever said, “I just haven’t found a type of exercise I actually enjoy“… this one’s for you.
Emily recently shared an old school report, one that gave her less-than-glowing feedback in Physical Education. To be fair, she just hadn’t actually attended many of those classes.
Fast forward a few years… and she’s the founder of Indirock, Southend’s first bouldering gym and one of the few female climbing gym founders in the UK.
Why are we sharing this?
Because it might give hope to anyone who’s ever said, “I don’t like the gym,” or “I just haven’t found a type of exercise I enjoy.”
We’ll be honest: bouldering is exercise (and an Olympic sport, at that).
But it has a way of feeling like so much more.
At its heart, Indirock is a community hub. Whether you’re a seasoned climber or completely new, it’s a place to feel welcome, make friends, and be part of something bigger.
You’ll see V8/V9 climbers clapping when someone tops their first V2.
You’ll meet people who’ve never climbed before, who came to watch a comp final, saw someone fly through a paddle dyno, and thought, “I want to try that.”
You’ll find kids in our Youth Squad and people in their 60s walking in saying, “I wanted to try something new today.”
There are no rules.
We don’t often “sell” bouldering as a form of exercise, because for us, the core of it is something deeper.
So if you’re someone who still says, “I don’t like exercising,” or if you’ve signed up for countless gym memberships only to lose motivation after the first week, maybe give bouldering a try.
You might end up opening your own climbing gym one day, just like Emily did.
