Building a Salmon Ladder

Up For a Challenge? Try One of These.

by Scott Andrew Bird
Filed in : DIY
Tags : bodyweight, climbing, conditioning, kipping, obstacle course, pull-up

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A Salmon Ladder is one of those things I'd almost forgotten about until I saw the ads for the television series Arrow, where he's putting one to work. I'd love to build one for the home gym here (or more likely, the backyard) - but how? There are a couple of basic approaches.

I'll detail those in a minute, but first, a spot of history :

What is a Salmon Ladder? How Did It Come About?

Think of a Salmon Ladder as an extra challenging pull-up variation, with a little kipping and plyometrics thrown in. The video below will show you exactly what it is.

As for the origin : as far as I can tell, the first time a Salmon Ladder was shown to the world was in competition 18 of Sasuke (shown in many countries as 'Ninja Warrior'); held in Spring 2007. The course was greatly modified following competition 17 (which was considered 'too easy' by some), and a number of new obstacles - notably the Salmon Ladder - were introduced.

To give you a taste, here's the Salmon Ladder being tackled admirably in a later Sasuke competition (Sasuke 27) :

As you can see, it's a fairly simple idea; though certainly a challenging obstacle. In fact, the first time it appeared in a Sasuke competition, only 50% of the entrants succeeded in negotiating it.

Building Your Own : A DIY Salmon Ladder

As I mentioned above, there are two basic approaches to construction your own Salmon Ladder. Let's take a look at each.

Solid Pins

As with the original, this version has solid pins. If you fall off, you fall all the way to the mat/water/ground below. Hopefully not too far.

The construction itself is quite straightforward. If you've ever built an outdoor chin-up bar, it's a similar idea. A bit of video will take you through it :

Moving Pins

An alternative is to use pins which lift up when you ascend, but lock in place once you've past them. The video below will show you what I mean :

Very interesting idea.

Final Thoughts

I'd love to build my own Salmon Ladder - probably outdoors, and probably using ideas from the above videos. How about you - is it something you've ever used, built yourself or seen in action somewhere?

If it is, drop us a link in the comments below : I'd love to check them out. DIY Salmon Ladders.

Scott Andrew Bird is a writer, photographer and a guy who just loves this stuff. He's been at home in front of a computer for more years than he cares to remember (OK, 31) and is now making amends for years of many mistakes noted in the De-constructing computer guy articles (part 2) on T-Nation.

Stalkers may wish to track his every move via Twitter or Google+; everyone else is cordially invited to hop over to his online home. Enjoy.

Like this? Check out some of their other articles :

• Görner the Mighty
• Gymchat 238 - Fitness Business Strategies (Matt Palfrey)
• Looking At : Week Ending Mar 2, 2014

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Echo Point, Blue Mountains. During the past week we've discussed a number of great links; on Google+, Twitter, Facebook and so on. Here are a few of my favourites.

Matt Palfrey.UPDATE (5 Mar 2014) : Unfortunately a connectivity issue got in the way of this one, so we've rescheduled it for Monday (full details below). Apologies for that. Scott If you've been involved with the fitness industry for any length of time, chances are you've thought about setting up your own gym. Perhaps you've already got one. Either way - how do you promote it? Attract new customers? Learn about what works, and what doesn't? This week we'll be discussing this area in detail, answering all of the above and a whole lot more. Joining us is Strength & Conditioning Coach Matt Palfrey, together with Personal Trainer (and Strength Athlete) Josh Hewett. Fantastic. NB : We'd love to hear your questions and comments. If there's a particular subject you'd like Matt and Josh to address, just swing by the event page for this Gymchat (during the discussion itself) and jump in the Q&A. And if you'd like to point your friends/colleagues to the discussion, just use the 'share' button at the top of that page. The more the merrier.

Echo Point, Blue Mountains. During the past week we've discussed a number of great links; on Google+, Twitter, Facebook and so on. Here are a few of my favourites.

Thanks again to everyone who watched and sent in questions for the discussion Gymchat 237 - Old-Time Strongman Training [with 'Physical Culture Renaissance Man' Logan Christopher, joined by Personal Trainer (and Strength Athlete) Josh Hewett] - much appreciated. If you haven't seen it yet (or simply want to go over a particular point again), here's the entire video.

Logan Christopher.Old-Time Strongman Training - Phonebook Tearing, Frying Pan Rolling, Kettlebell Juggling and a whole lot more. Love it. They're certainly uncommon areas: how do you train for them? What are the benefits of these approaches? What sorts of equipment is involved? This week we'll be discussing the entire field of Old-Time Strength in obsessive detail. Joining us is 'Physical Culture Renaissance Man' Logan Christopher, together with Personal Trainer (and Strength Athlete) Josh Hewett. Fantastic. If you've got questions/comments for Logan or Josh, just swing by the event page for this Gymchat. And if you'd like to point your friends/colleagues to the discussion, just use the 'share' button at the top of that page. The more the merrier.

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Thanks again to everyone who watched and sent in questions for the discussion Gymchat 236 - Programming for Strength vs Hypertrophy [with Strength Coach Jason Paris, joined by Personal Trainer (and Strength Athlete) Josh Hewett] - much appreciated. If you haven't seen it yet (or simply want to go over a particular point again), here's the entire video.

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