Denton County Living Well Magazine November/December 2016 | Page 48

Get Fit Sailing,
Cycling, and Climbing By Melanie Hess

E

ver feel like you’re losing your mind? Not like going crazy, like losing that keen sense you once had
or those strategy skills that led to so many victory
claims.

The reality is, bodies and minds do not function the same
once they’ve passed their prime. However, that does not
mean people should settle for subpar either. In fact, it’s
easily possible to simultaneously hone tho se physical and
mental skills through activities most people enjoy.

“I love rock climbing because it’s constantly changing,” he
says. “It’s a sport you can’t win. You can only try to improve.”
A Life-Altering Cycle
According to BrainHQ, even a simple switch from running
to cycling can help get the brain in better shape, no doubt
it’s not bad for the knees either.

Dallas-Fort Worth residents have detailed a few ideas to
help complete this quest.
Rock Climbing (aka Growth Climbing)
According to Kyle Cinskaes, avid rock climber and head
coach for Team Texas, sports like climbing are natural brain
games that work the body, too.
Cinskaes describes his instincts for the sport as primal.
“Humans were meant to climb,” he says.
A nearly three-decade rock-climbing veteran, Cinskaes explains one of the reasons he’s stuck with the sport for so
long was what he explains as the million benefits to climbing.
“Climbing is good emotionally, obviously physically, and
mentally beneficial,” Cinskaes says.
It’s the challenge, the puzzle, of navigating each specific
step that intrigues Cinskaeas and fellow climber Caillin
Murray.
Murray, one of Cinskaes’ assistant coaches, notes that in
addition to training the body and the brain, climbing also
builds character.

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Warren Casteel fondly remembers biking as a child to deliver newspapers. However, it wasn’t until his early 40s,
overweight and looking to make a change, that he and his
wife took up cycling again.
“I had a sedentary lifestyle,” Casteel explains. “My wife
and I had started camping and we liked spending time outdoors but it was hard being out of shape, so my wife went
down and bought us a few bikes, and we just loved it.”
Now both in their mid 60s, cycling is a central part of their
lives.

“It’s a lot of mitigating fear, so you really have to work on
pushing yourself out of your comfort zone,” Murray says.
“The physical part is almost the easy part.”

“Our group of friends, the majority are from cycling,”
Casteel shares. “It’s a great method of fitness. I am 63, and
my wife is 66 and we can both ride 30–50 miles easily.”

When she overcomes obstacles that build her self-esteem
in the gym, it translates to a boost in her overall emotional
health.

Casteel even recalls friends who are in their late 70s who
still ride regularly and says it’s normal to ride constantly
and consistently into one’s 80s.

As for Cinskaes, it’s the dynamic nature and mental challenge that continue to draw him to the sport.

“Riding is also naturally social,” Casteel says. “Often, you
go on group rides and it’s quiet, so you can talk.”

DENTON COUNTY Living Well Magazine | NOVEMBER/DECEMBER 2016