PERSONAL HEALTH : Indoor Exercise Regimen Is Cliff-Hanger for the Bored

Are you so bored with your exercise routine that you could climb the wall? Hang on. And don’t forget your rope.

Indoor rock-climbing walls will be the next attraction at Southern California gyms, industry insiders say.

The gigantic fiberglass walls come complete with realistic craters, grooves and hand holds. Look for them somewhere between the exercise bikes and the aerobics studio within the next six months, says one manufacturer who’s closing a deal with a local gym.

A natural spinoff from the skyrocketing popularity of outdoor climbing, indoor walls are already popular in some Washington and Oregon health clubs. And club owners hope the indoor versions will add spice to workouts and draw in rainy-day aficionados.

But Southland athletic stores are getting in on the action, too. Go Sport in Glendale, for instance, installed a 16-by-16-foot fiberglass climbing wall soon after opening late last year. Experienced climbers can test shoes and other climbing gear; novices can sign up for lessons, reassured by the cushy floor mat below.

“When we have a climbing class, it draws a crowd,” says manager Mark Erwin.

How does climbing stack up as exercise? “You can derive definite improvement in muscular strength,” says John Duncan, associate director of exercise physiology at the Institute for Aerobics Research in Dallas.

That’s the upside.

Here’s the downside: The amount of time spent in isometric contractions required to pull yourself up, Duncan says, “might be long enough to provoke an abnormal rise in blood pressure for people with hypertensive problems or heart disease.”

When it comes to safety, though, indoor climbers might have a toehold over outdoor types. Despite improvement in equipment and increased emphasis on proper instructions, climbing injuries have increased along with the sport’s popularity. Compared with 25 years ago, one climbing club reports three times as many injured climbers, and one study found twice the number of climbing-related deaths a year.

But no one has even been hurt seriously on an indoor wall.

Sleepy-Time Tape

Widespread debate over the ill-effects of sleeping pills has spurred some insomniacs to search for other slumber routes such as self-help tapes that teach relaxation skills and the fine art of healthy sleeping. Growing numbers of sleep tapes are sold through book stores and mail order.

These self-help tapes can work, concludes an Australian researcher.

In a study of 159 otherwise healthy insomniacs ages 23-60, David Morawetz, of La Trobe University, compared self-help tapes, therapist-led treatment and a control group. His conclusion, published in Behavior Therapy, found the self-help tapes work for insomniacs who weren’t on sleeping pills. But insomniacs on sleeping pills slept better if they supplemented their self-help tapes with professional assistance.

Michael Stevenson, a sleep disorder specialist in North Valley Sleep Disorder Center in Mission Hills and a consultant for a self-help tape for insomniacs, agrees. “As insomniacs withdraw from sleeping pills, the insomnia worsens,” he says. The best self-help tapes teach insomniacs how to relax and how to associate the bedroom with pleasant, rather than negative thoughts.”

Out With the Lens

Nearsighted swimmers won’t do back flips over this advice: Remove your soft contact lenses before hitting the beach or pool.

Though lenses can provide some protection from chlorine irritation, a growing number of contact lens specialists worry that swimmers not only risk lens loss but increase their chances of infection from floating microorganisms--even in chlorinated pools.

Prescription goggles are the best bet for nearsighted swimmers, says Dr. Carolyn Begley, assistant professor of optometry at Indiana University in Bloomington.

For those stubborn wearers who won’t leave their lenses pool side, Begley advises: “Put four to six drops of pool water in each eye to make the lenses stick.”

Not everyone agrees with Begley’s unorthodox advice. Says Dr. Jay Schlanger, a Los Angeles optometrist: I wouldn’t advise putting pool water in the eyes. There’s a potential for infection, however small.”

But swimmers use Begley’s method should disinfect their lenses after swimming, but not right away. Wait 20 minutes or so to let the lenses stop sticking, Begley advises. Removing them too soon could damage the cornea slightly, increasing the risk of infection.