About a year ago, I stated that I believe rope climbing is the best calisthenic exercise for developing the grip. After several months of not being able to climb, I still believe that. Rope climbing brings into play the most rudimentary form of mental conditioning. You have to keep going even when you're tired. If you lose your grip, things get dangerous. Rope burns could be the least of your problems. The fall you suffer if your grip fails could be disastrous. So, your mind is going to fire signals to your muscles to contract at full power at all times.
Obviously, this makes rope climbing a pretty advanced exercise. If you're afraid of heights, then you might want to modify this one by climbing a shorter rope. So what if it's only 8-9 feet height? Just climb it 3 or 4 times continuously, starting at a seated position. If you want to do the real deal, then I think that you should be able to do 15 pull-ups without an issue before attempting rope climbing.
I think that it's such a fun exercise because it feels so primal. It's an exercise that lets you get back to your primate roots and build up some ape-like strength in the forearms, biceps, and back. Sometime in the near future, I'd like to get my hands on a 3" diameter manila rope and climb up that. That's more than twice as thick as my current rope so I'm currently training by doing pull-ups on my 1 1/4" folded into quarters so each hand has to grip 4 strands of the rope. The 3" rope is quite investment but it should give you a pretty good idea about how much faith I have in the benefits of rope climbing.
3 comments:
Yeah I love climbing the rope. I find it really hard to motivate myself to do pullups, but climbing the rope feels like playing instead of exercise. If your rope is thin try tying it so that two braids come down, then grip them like a single rope.
I think I'm going to try to get a rope and start climbing in my garage, although it's really low. Where do you rope climb?
Did you read the blog? Forklifts!
Other than that, garage rafters, trees, cranes, or any other structure that is at least 8' over my head. I grabbed a telephone pole a while back and I want to stick it in my back yard for a rope climbing station.
Hey, make your garage work for you! If you have to climb it 4 times in an L-sit, then that's what you have to do. It's still hard work, even if it doesn't look as macho!
Good luck,
Justin
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