Rope climbing

It is unlikely that there is at least one more ancient exercise in the whole world than climbing or climbing a rope. It is not even so much about a sports discipline, the first mention of which dates back to the first century AD (it began to become widespread in Europe in the 16th century), but about the ways of movement of our distant ape-like ancestors, who for many centuries used similar movements, overcoming various obstacles in the wild. Today we will tell you about the correct rope climbing technique in CrossFit.

In the fifties of the last century, the world record for rope climbing was set - American Don Perry climbed a 20-foot rope (just over six meters) in 2.8 seconds. Of course, rope climbing techniques have evolved many times over the years. Today there are three main techniques for performing this exercise: in 2 doses, in 3 doses and without legs. Our article today will focus on how to learn rope climbing and how this exercise can be used in CrossFit.

Also today we will look at the following aspects related to rope climbing:

1. Rope climbing techniques.
2. What is the use of this exercise.
3. Rope climbing techniques.
4. Typical beginner mistakes.
5. Crossfit complexes containing this exercise.

Basic rope climbing techniques

There are three main methods of vertical rope climbing:

• in two steps;
• in three steps;
• without legs.

They are called basic, because all other methods are essentially derived from them, only the technique and manner of performing the movement are slightly modified. These varieties originate in military physical training, where they are safely performed to this day. In addition to military training, a special provision for rope climbing is provided in the TRP standards. In addition, the rope is an integral part of the training of sports gymnasts, many elements are practiced with its help.

The three above options are the most basic, athletes of almost any level of training can begin to study them, if there are no serious contraindications associated, first of all, with the muscular motor skills of the hands. There are several more advanced rope climbing, such as legless climbing with additional weights, legless climbing with jumping movements, or climbing with only one hand, but they are recommended only for physically and functionally trained athletes. An inexperienced athlete simply cannot cope with such a serious static-dynamic load and runs the risk of injury.

What is the use of rope climbing?

Climbing a tightrope (especially in a way without using legs), the athlete works out a huge number of muscle groups (lats, rhomboid and trapezius muscles of the back, back deltas, biceps and forearms), trains strength endurance and explosive strength, increases grip strength. The abdominal muscles and the muscles of the neck also carry a static load. Our agility and coordination also increase, a huge number of small stabilizing muscles are being worked out, which are difficult to use when working with free weights or in simulators.

Working with the weight of our own body, we do not create an axial load on our spine, and also do not overload our joints and ligaments.

The rope climb gives us a great opportunity to work out almost all of the large muscle groups in our torso in a fairly short time - in just a few sets, which is why this exercise has gained immense popularity in CrossFit.

In functional training, we perform climbing in complexes, which increases the effectiveness of our training and brings the necessary variety. For people who are fond of martial arts, the skill of rope climbing will also be extremely useful - well-developed hands and forearms will allow you to more easily perform various throws and grips, will help you feel more comfortable and confident when fighting on the ground.

In addition to the above, hanging on the rope for a long time is a kind of isometric load on the arms, which will lead to microtraumas of your tendons, after the restoration of which you will feel a good increase in strength in the pressing and traction movements. But remember that as with any exercise, all these benefits are only achievable with proper technique. Choose the technique in which you do not feel any discomfort, work out this movement to automatism and move on to studying more complex variations.

Rope climbing techniques

There are several types of rope climbing techniques. Let's examine each of them in detail:

Rope climbing in three steps

1. Starting position: the athlete firmly holds the rope with his hands and feet (toe of one and heel of the other leg).
2. Push off the rope with your feet, bend them and grab the rope a little higher in the same way.
3. Without releasing the rope with your feet, alternately rearrange your arms higher and repeat the movement.

Rope climbing in two steps

There are two methods of rope climbing in two steps.

First way:

1. Starting position: one hand is fully extended and grabs the rope above the level of the head, the other hand is held at the level of the chin. We grab the rope with our feet with the toe of one leg and the heel of the other.
2. We push off with our legs and try to pull ourselves up on the arm that is located above.
3. With the other hand we intercept the rope higher, at the same time we tighten our legs and take the starting position.

Second way:

1. Starting position: hands are located at the same level just above the level of the head, one is located immediately below the other. We hold the rope with our feet in the same way - with toes and heels.
2. Push off with your feet, grab the rope with them a little higher, pull yourself up, intercept the rope and hang on straight arms.

Rope climbing without legs

1. Grasp the rope with both hands, one should be slightly higher than the other, bend your legs a little or bring them out in front of you.
2. While maintaining the position of the legs and body, lift up, alternately changing arms and engaging the broadest muscles of the back and muscles of the forearms.

© Jale Ibrak - stock.adobe.com

This video demonstrates various rope climbing techniques:

If you have just started doing CrossFit and are not yet ready for rope climbing, begin training with an approach exercise: pull up the tightrope with your hands, starting from a seated position. At the same time, the legs do not work, but only rest their heels on the floor. As soon as you have risen as high as possible and fully straightened your knees, start going down again, while the movements should be harmonious and monotonous, palms should be at the same distance from each other. This will help you understand the biomechanics of movement and improve the strength of your hands and forearms.

In order to make this exercise easier for you, and to improve rope climbing, you need to separately perform the elements that make up this exercise. Pay special attention to the strength of the grip: practice hanging on a rope, on a horizontal bar and on a towel suspended from a crossbar, - this will strengthen your hands and forearms, and your own weight will not feel so heavy when climbing a tightrope.

Learn to do pull-ups on one arm, this will greatly facilitate the process of learning rope climbing without legs. Lift up with extra weights and other latissimus exercises to build your strength.

Once you have mastered at least one method of rope climbing, make this process more extreme - try to climb the rope as soon as possible, without resting between sets. So you will increase your strength endurance and overall physical potential of your body, and more difficult climbing options will be given easily and naturally.

Video tutorial for beginners, lead-up exercises:

Common beginner mistakes

Below are the main mistakes inexperienced athletes make when learning this element. They do not contain anything particularly traumatic, but deviations from the correct technique will make it much more difficult for you to learn this already difficult exercise. These errors are not so much technical errors as deviations from the generally accepted rules of rope climbing, so I do not recommend to bypass this information.

1. The athlete grabs the rope not with his feet, but with his hips. You are unlikely to be able to squeeze the rope with your hips with enough force to balance comfortably. Use only the above method - the toe of one foot and the heel of the other foot.
2. Do not wear gloves while rope climbing - it will not save your skin from the appearance of calluses, do not believe this myth. In addition, your grip strength will develop much more slowly when using gloves.
3. Don't jump off the ropeespecially if it is fixed at a high altitude. This is perhaps the only time where you can get serious injury. If you land unsuccessfully, you can injure the ankle or injure the metatarsal bones of the foot, which can knock you out of the training process for several months.
4. Don't slide down the rope. Yes, of course, it's faster this way, but the painful sensations on the skin of the palms will hardly allow you to do a few more approaches.
5. Remember to use magnesium, this will improve the grip of the palms with the rope and reduce the risk of opening the palms at the most inopportune moment.

Crossfit complexes

The main rope climbing technique used by athletes around the world in CrossFit is without legs. Of course, there is a certain logic in this: the more difficult the exercise, the more effective it is. It is this version of rope climbing that requires the athlete to maximize concentration and dedication, especially if it is necessary to perform it within the framework of the complexes in an explosive manner and with a minimum interval of rest. However, if your training does not imply consistently good results in climbing without legs, you can replace this method with one that you do better.

Below are a few complexes, by performing which, you can check whether you are so ready for really hard functional training. Extreme load on all muscle groups, a very high level of intensity. Remember to warm up thoroughly before performing these or similar complexes.

Watch the video: Get Faster At Rope Climbs with Brent Fikowski (December 2024).