Word: Clamber.

clamber

[ klam-ber, klam-er ]

verb (used with or without object)

1. to climb, using both feet and hands; climb with effort or difficulty.

noun

2. an act or instance of clambering.

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           Mike’s arms burned and his legs ached. His breathing came in ragged gasps and his face was covered with sweat. He had no idea how he was supposed to keep going, but he did. He reached up and grabbed another outcropping and forced his leg to move in a way he thought should be impossible in order to get a higher foothold. He forced his body another few feet closer to the top.

               Then he made the single greatest mistake a climber can make. He looked down. He felt his eye twitch. He had barely made it ten feet off the ground and he was already exhausted. Not only that, but his animal hindbrain kicked into full panic mode. His conscious mind knew he was perfectly safe. He was properly harnessed in a way that even if he fell, he would be lowered at a snail’s pace. And even should something happen, the floor was covered with soft matts that would keep him from getting seriously hurt. But that did not help his lesser mind. That part of him insisted he was a hundred feet off the ground and would die instantly if he fell. It then further insisted that since he was so tired, he would fall if he tried to go any higher.

               Then came the cheers and jeers of his so-called friends.

               “Come on Mike, get your fat ass up that wall!” Cried one of them.

               “You can do it! You’re almost there!” Another shouted.

               He glanced to one side and saw a girl who had to be in her late teens scramble like a monkey up a wall that was considerably harder than the one he was attempting. On the other side, he saw a man his age dangling off a wall with an overhang. And here he was, struggling to get up the easiest of beginner walls.

He once again asked himself why he had chosen this particular method to try getting in shape. It had to be the worst possible option. He could have just gone jogging or something. But no, he had to be bold and go wall climbing. He had thought that as long as he took it slow on a beginner wall, he would be able to do it. And now he was suffering for his arrogance. He was paying for it in humiliation and exhaustion.

It would be so easy to just let go. Just let himself be gently lowered to the ground. It would all be over and he could chose something better for his weight loss. Something that did not make every muscle in his body ache and his brain tell him he was going to die horribly. Something a little closer to the ground.

Then he turned back down to the people who were either cheering for him or heckling him. The people he had brought to bare witness to his success. He had told them he would climb this wall. He had damned near promised it. He had broken promises before, but never intentionally. He never set out to do that, it simply happened due to outside forces. And he would not let that trend end.

He took a deep gulp of air, filling his burning lungs. His hands trembled as he raised them towards the next handhold. And Mike continued to climb.

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Yeah, maybe wall climbing isn't the best way to go about losing weight? I'm no doctor, but it seems like if you're just starting out, something a little easier might be better. I guess it also depends on how out of shape you are going in as well.