Possibly The World's Most Grueling Sport: Tower Running

Calisthenics and bodyweight strength training advice for older athletes.
What’s the most intense sport? Tower running, or competitive stair climbing is a definite contender! I recently competed in a race to the top of the US Bank Tower in Los Angeles. It was unbelievably difficult. I thought I would crush it - at least in my age category. Instead I got crushed by people a lot older than I am!
Contents of this video:
0:00 - What’s the most intense sport?
1:30 - My stair running cred
3:12 - What’s the tallest building?
4:04 - My experience in the race
6:45 - Do it just for fun!
7:36 - The world’s top-ranked tower runner
8:33 - The effect of age
11:02 - My excuses
12:50 - You should try it!
Some tower running organizations:
www.towerrunning.com
Tower Running UK: towerrunninguk.com
Tower Running USA: towerrunningusa.com
Towerrunning Association of Singapore: towerrunning.sg
Malaysia TowerRunning Association: towerrunningmalaysia.com
TowerRunning Mexico: www.towerrunningmx.com/
Facebook: TowerRunning USA
Hashtags:
#OlderAthlete #FitOver50 #AgingWarrier #Calisthenics
#BodyweightStrength #BodyweightFitness #TowerRunning
#StairClimb #CompetitiveClimb

[@seanmckinney9959]

Brilliant video

[@danielhartman423]

Enjoyed the video and commentary. I did my first tower climb in Seattle’s Space Needle which isn’t as high as the USB. Won the 60-69 age group by almost 1 minute (time was 6:19) but this was a week after doing a r2r2r crossing of the Grand Canyon so I was in good shape and found hiking up mountains is also good training for tower running. Agree it is totally exhausting! Prepping for another run up the Columbia Tower in 6 weeks. Should be interesting. Thanks again for a great video

[@The_Aging_Warrior]

Thanks! And wow - that's a great time for the Space Needle! It seems to be a little more than half the height of the US Bank Tower. 60-69 age group - that's impressive!

[@MrSwac31]

Comp boulder climbing amd speed climbing are good contenders too ^^

[@rogerstarz]

nice overview

[@The_Aging_Warrior]

Thanks

[@JKBOA5]

Great video and superb narrative as always... but isn't it also risky for people like with 50+ year old hearts?

[@The_Aging_Warrior]

Hmmm... Yeah, you're probably right. I guess I should've put in a disclaimer or something. On the other hand, you never hear about old people dying during marathons and stuff. I don't know how dangerous it actually is.

[@JKBOA5]

@@The_Aging_Warrior disclaimer not required, was just thinking aloud! Some valuable ideas in there for 50+ people like me, on trying tower climbing, and anyway I won't be anywhere close to elite level. Our responsibility to know our threshold levels and work within those I guess

[@Mojoworkin]

My heart is much older than 50 years and my doctor is in awe. I remember you at the starting line. I did it twice that day, my 2nd time was faster. My fastest time in this race was 14:20 a few years ago.

[@Mojoworkin]

As a towerrunner since 2001, and a world-ranked TR "elite" since 2015, I disagree that body type/muscle mass, upper body or lower is essential. Of course, many of the top-ranked towerrunners are teeny tiny wispy people, but take top athletes like Germany'sThomas Dold (who won the Empire State Building Run-up multiple times) or the USA's Alex Workman. Those two are very muscular and very solid. Most women towerrunners are on the extra-light side but there are exceptions as well. You are correct that it helps to have a tall building to train. Nothing prepares you like running up a continuous set of stairs. There are athletes besides Charles, who have done well despite not having that kind of access. No matter what, Towerrunning is definitely one of the most demanding sports that exists. It has had a hard time getting back to the level it was at before the pandemic. The only race in a building left in LA out of the 3 that we once had is now the US Bank, and the two we had in San Diego are no longer. I "retired" in 2018 and did the USB last year "for fun." Great video though...check out the profile in which I am featured on CNN's "FitNation" website www.cnn.com/2016/04/22/health/stair-climbers-empire-state-building-fit-nation/index.html and "thanks" for outing my age ;-)

[@The_Aging_Warrior]

Wait... Are you Lisa? I couldn't tell from your channel, but that's who the article is mostly about. If so: very sorry for 'outing' your age. I found it online, so I figured it was public in principle. Hopefully it was clear that I meant everything I said to be complementary. And of course I'm talking about age because I'm getting kind of old myself, and I'm interested in aging and sports performance. About the body type stuff: maybe I overgeneralized. It certainly seemed to me that people generally had very small (albeit muscular) upper bodies. And in talking to Charlie, it seemed like losing weight was key to getting faster. Of course, you need a lot of muscle in your legs... But anyway, I'm glad you liked the video. I was hoping to promote the sport, but considering the number of people who've watched it so far, I'm not sure it'll do too much good :)

[@Kawamata123]

@@The_Aging_Warrior Thomas Dold is 5 foot 9 and weighs 157 pounds. He has a muscular upper and lower body. Most elite tower runners probably have a smaller build.

[@jamiesheridan4895]

Great video. I registered for a climb recently. Do you have an email I can reach out to?