Rock-climbing to test your fitness
GEORGE TOWN: The only way to know what you are made of is to test yourself.
That seems to be the invitation of the 6.8m-tall rock-climbing tower of Great Eastern Life in Star FitForLife Penang 2017, the largest health and wellness fair in the northern region.
The tower offers three sides for visitors to scale and ring the bell of victory at the top, but getting up there is a journey of realisation for many about their physical state.
Of the hundreds seen scaling the walls, many were trying rock-climbing for the first time.
“It was so tiring! I couldn’t believe how much strength is needed,” administration executive Sandy Ng, 26, said breathlessly after trying the beehive wall.
Live Great rock-climbing wall team leader Mohd Fandi Hamid said the tower offered three walls of differing difficulty levels.
“Rock-climbing is about having strong hands and optimum body weight. When you can scale the walls easily, it’s a proud achievement,” he said.
At the three-day fair, which opened yesterday, other Live Great partners in Great Eastern Life’s pavilion offer a plethora of health and wellness products and services.
Gleneagles Penang is giving free bodymass-index, blood pressure and glucose tests, while at the Vista Eye Specialist counter, which offers free glaucoma, cataract and vision tests, a long queue was spotted on opening day.
BMS Organics and Idealite are offering a wide range of healthy food and supplements, while two X-Box Kinect 360 game consoles give visitors a chance to flex their arms as they slash and kick targets in games like Fruit Ninja and Shape Up.
Many could not resist buckling on skates of stainless steel blades to try the skating rink made with a polymer surface that lets them experience ice skating.
“For first-timers, it might take them about half an hour to begin gliding but if they know roller-blading, they can hit it off almost at once,” said Live Great partner, Like-Ice! Asia managing director Sufian Sevestrean.
Live Great is Great Eastern Life’s wellness movement, offering health and wellness guidance from experts, health tools and apps, exclusive workshops and events.
It also gives exclusive offers from regional partner establishments to policyholders.
Great Eastern Life is the event partner of Star FitForLife Penang 2017.
The fair, organised by Star Media Group at Spice Arena, Relau, boasts 40 exhibitors showcasing the latest and bestselling health and wellness products and services.
Nestle Omega Plus is the official wellness sponsor and its pavilion offers carnival games for fair visitors to grasp how cholesterol can be lowered with plant sterols called Acticol, found in all of the brand’s products.
There are also nurses at the Nestle Omega Plus pavilion to give visitors on-the-spot cholesterol level checks.
The fair opens from 10am to 7pm daily. Admission is free.