Health Horizons : FITNESS : Zing Time : Some physical fitness activities go beyond just staying in shape--they exercise the mind as well.

David Morrow looks back on his dreary New England childhood and recalls: “At age 14, I was a short, fat, pimply-faced kid with a ‘kick-me’ sign on my back.” This sorry teen-ager grew into “just another out-of-shape smoker with a high-pressure job.”

Today, at 32, the physical, psychological, and spiritual aspects of Morrow’s life have blossomed--dare we say merged --in the Southern California sun.

On weekdays, Morrow the fitness freak works 12-hour days as a personal trainer at Sports Club/Irvine. On weekends and holidays, David the thrill-seeker “bags peaks,”--a mountain climber’s term for scaling the summits of mountains such as Mt. Whitney in the Sierra and Chekoong Ri in the Himalayas. Finally, David Morrow the “spiritualist” preaches his meditation-based gospel--”A Life in Balance: Living Stress Free”--to health clubs and corporate groups around the Southland.

Yes, Morrow’s conversion to a vital lifestyle was dramatic, and yes, his taste for action is extreme. But if progressed to the point where you pedal your bicycle to work two or three times a week, paddle around the ocean in your sea kayak on weekends, and yak with friends and loved ones about how much fun it all is, you--like Morrow--have embraced the three most popular theories in today’s health and fitness scene.

* The “lifestyle” theory--that you must marry fitness rather than just fool around with it.

* The “journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step” theory--the idea that if you want to tackle something as emotionally daunting as “establishing a whole new lifestyle” you had better break it down into a series of safe, non-intimidating steps.

* The “if it ain’t fun, rewarding, exciting or spiritually meaningful, you probably won’t stick with it” theory--that maybe we should ignore the artificial distinctions between recreation, fitness, exhilarating adventure, and inner peace and just go for whatever delivers the most fun, whatever makes us feel best about ourselves over the long haul.

Sound “holistic?” Sound “New Age?” Not really. Neither of those passive impostors offer anything exciting enough to get the adrenaline pumping through our bodies nor physically active enough to set those “good-feeling” endorphins coursing through our brains.

As rock climber Peter Mayfield of City Rock Gym puts it: “What attracts people to my (indoor rock climbing wall and fitness facility) is that everyone who works out there has this gleam in their eye about something other than a Stairmaster.”

It’s true: moderate exercise laced with the riveting excitement of sports like rock climbing, kayaking, hang gliding, and bungee jumping creates a powerful motivational stew--especially for those of us whose internal boredom monsters constantly rear their ugly heads and hiss: “This fitness stuff is tedious! Let’s go do something with some ZING!”

Rock climbers, kayakers, hang glider pilots--even bungee jumpers, believe it or not--get most of the rewards of traditional fitness activities: post-workout glow, performance satisfaction, and altered states such as “runner’s high” or “zoning.” But thrill-seekers also enjoy dramatic exposures to earth, water and air, plus the bizarre distortions of time, space and gravity that you experience only when you scale a vertical rock wall, plunge past a growling rapid, swoop through thin air in a hang glider, or dangle at the end of a mightily stretched bungee cord.

The penalty for all those pluses, of course, is physical risk. “The one school of thought tells us that risk-takers are self-destructive,” says Newport Beach psychologist Kerry Delk. “But more and more credence is being given to theories that say the process of identifying, confronting, and managing physical risk--in the name of exceptional fun--is both empowering and healthy.”

With that encouraging thought in mind, let’s take a look at some of the obvious, and not-so-obvious fitness benefits of rock climbing, kayaking, hang gliding, and bungee jumping.

Rock Climbing

If you’re a beginner who wants to climb for fun and fitness, and would like to climb higher than you’d care to fall, you should limit yourself to professionally supervised “technical, top-rope free climbing.” As such, you will scale near-vertical rock slabs and vertical rock faces while safely attached, via rope and harness, to a solid anchor at the top of the climb and a fellow climber at the bottom. Your “belayer,” as this person is called, plays a critical role in your climbing workout. He or she will “catch” your fall within a few feet--should you make a mistake and come off the rock.

Physical Fitness Benefits: Rock climbing develops strength and endurance, especially in the legs, arms, and fingers. Stretching to maintain flexibility and avoid injury is an important part of rock climbing. You will also learn a great deal about the human mechanics of leverage, balance, and the precise application of muscular force. Rock climbers typically run, cycle or use cardiovascular climbing machines (Stairmaster, VersaClimber) for aerobic training. They guard against muscle strain and injuries to joints, tendons, and ligaments by not climbing more than two days in a row and by backing off when their bodies tell them to.

Mental Fitness Benefits: Climber Roy Haggard of Vertigo Inc. in Lake Elsinore says: “Rock climbing is an endless stream of hypotheses with black and white results--in the silence of the moment you are forced to think each move through and then you either make it or you don’t. It’s one of the few things you can do that will give you immediate validation of your decision-making powers--and that boosts self-esteem and provides terrific incentive to continue.”

Spiritual Fitness Benefits: City Rock Gym’s Peter Mayfield says that rock climbing “is all about the simple human joy of moving up.” Also, the top of a hard climb is a great place to thumb your nose at the force that eventually nails us all--gravity.

Kayaking

Whether you do it on a river, ocean, lake, or bay, kayaking is the most efficient, most personal form of boating known to man. With some structured practice of basic paddle strokes and easy-to-learn water rescue techniques, you can learn enough about whitewater kayaking in two days to get you down a moderate rapid under professional supervision. And just four hours of sea kayaking instruction is enough to get you out stroking with friends on an inland bay.

Physical Fitness Benefits: It’s obvious that kayaking is good for arm, chest, and shoulder muscles. What’s not so obvious, according to sea kayak pro Dough Schwartz of Southwind Sports Resource in Tustin, is that it also offers great exercise for the abdominal and lower back muscles. “Just sitting in a kayak you use your abdominals to keep your body in proper alignment for paddling, and the twisting motion of paddling develops strength and flexibility in your (abdominal) obliques and your lower back,” Schwartz said.

Schwartz and Tom Moore of Sierra South agree that with a little creativity and self-discipline, kayaking is a reliable low-impact cardiovascular workout. “When I concentrate on paddling hard and steady I get a good aerobic workout,” Schwartz says. Moore says that whitewater kayakers who want to work up a huff do sprint workouts between rapids, practice “rolling” technique, and “play” in whitewater surf for hours on end.

Kayakers typically run, cycle, or climb for a lower-body workout. They avoid muscle strain through a combination of slow warm-up and stretching exercises. They avoid overuse injuries and traumatic injuries through proper paddling technique.

Mental Fitness Benefits: According to Roy Haggard, who climbs as well as kayaks: “A whitewater rapid is an extremely loud, forceful and chaotic environment. Kayaking teaches you how to sort through an incredible sensory overload, focus on the important variables, then react quickly before it’s too late.” According to Joanne Turner of Southwind Sports Resource, sea kayaking along the coast, in surf or caves, offers the same mental challenges as whitewater kayaking. “In the open ocean you don’t have to react as quickly, but, with ocean currents, and large-scale weather considerations, you definitely have to think further ahead,” Turner says.

Spiritual Fitness Benefits: “Kayaking teaches you to work with--not against--forces more powerful than yourself,” Haggard says. “No amount of strength on your part will overcome the power of the river (or the ocean) if you put yourself in the wrong place at the wrong time through poor judgment or poor technique.” Haggard’s friend and fellow climber/kayaker Tom Moore puts it this way: “Rock climbers can say they are the flow, but when you kayak, you’ve got to accept it: you’re just a small part of the flow.”

Hang Gliding

The best introduction to hang gliding is a half a day or full day bunny slope lesson followed by a high-altitude tandem ride. During the bunny slope session you will work up a huff running on flat ground while learning the skills necessary to fly, by yourself, just a few feet in the air. During your 10- to 50-minute tandem ride you will have plenty of time to relax and enjoy the swooping sensations of unpowered flight.

Physical Fitness Benefits: Hang gliding training requires a little bit of running. Flying a hang glider also gives you a teensy bit of arm and shoulder workout. The most important physical lesson of hang gliding, however, is that it really highlights the importance of body awareness and relaxation.

Mental Fitness Benefits: The first lesson of hang gliding is: relaxation equals control. Your mind controls your body and your body weight controls the speed and direction of a hang glider. The glider goes faster if you shift your weight forward, slower if you shift it rearward, right if you shift right, and left if you shift left. If you’re tense, you won’t know exactly how your body weight is distributed, nor will you be able to shift it around smoothly. When you hang glide the connection between relaxation as a state of mind and relaxation as a condition of the body is complete. And the reward is complete control of your destiny in thin air.

Spiritual Fitness Benefits: Joe Greblo of Windsports International in Van Nuys says: “Hang gliding satisfies much more than my need for fun and excitement. It dives right into my deep-rooted need for power and freedom--the things my dreams are made of.”

Bungee Jumping

What you’ve heard is true. Bungee jumping is a multiple-climax unnatural act--one that will leave you gape-mouthed and puckered, dangling at the end of a yo-yo string.

Physical Fitness Benefits: Only one--You’ll be so happy to be alive after jumping bungee that you’ll probably want to run out and do more of what you already do to stay in shape, more of what you do to assure that you’ll live long and prosper.

Mental Fitness Benefits: Bungee jumping offers a dramatic opportunity for you to distinguish between real and perceived risk. Although bungee jumping looks like certain death from almost any angle, an objective investigation of the nuts and bolts of the sport will convince you that it is really no more life-threatening than a roller-coaster ride. Although there have been no deaths of bungee jump customers in California (one instructor died when he didn’t hook in properly), the key to your safety is to select a licensed operator.

Believe it or not, the same California state agency that licenses elevators, ski lifts and amusement rides also licenses bungee jumping operations: the amusement ride and ski lift section of the elevator unit in the division of occupational safety and health of the California Department of Industrial Relations.

Spiritual Fitness Benefits: Damnation and salvation! Bungee jumping is like quick back-and-forth visits between heaven and hell. To the extent that there is spiritual value in knowing you’re going to die, then realizing you’re going to live (six or seven times in less than 30 seconds!), bungeejumping is one of the most life-affirming things you can do.