Building a Salmon Ladder

Up For a Challenge? Try One of These.

Scott Andrew Birdby Scott Andrew Bird |

Filed in : DIY
Tags : , , , , , ,



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.


You Might Also Like...


The Rotater
The Rotater.
Brilliant device. If your shoulders aren't quite as flexible as you'd like, grab The Rotater. Love it.
NB : For a complete list of everything we use and recommend, swing by the reviews area. And of course the Straight to the Bar Store. It's all in there.

To learn how to put it to work, swing by the Guides area.


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

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, 33) 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, Google+ (particularly the Straight to the Bar Community) or Facebook; everyone else is cordially invited to hop over to his online home. Enjoy.



Like this? Check out :

Muscle-Up Progressions

Time for your first.


Blast from the Past : Getting Over It - Chin-ups & Pull-ups

Making the most of the chinning bar.


Kipping Pull-ups

Sometimes a straight line isn't the fastest way to get from point A to point B.




Of course, if you enjoyed these, I'd highly recommend grabbing the Strength & Fitness Newsletter. Delivered weekly, and absolutely free.

(there's also a Daily Update, if you're looking for an even larger dose of training-related goodness.)

NB : If you'd like to write a guest post for Straight to the Bar - I love hearing how other people are training - get in touch. If you've got a fitness competition or seminar coming up, add it to the calendar.

Look forward to hearing from you.


Over to you. Leave a comment below, or send us a tweet :


blog comments powered by Disqus
Straight to the Bar Strength Kit

Are You as Strong as You Could Be?

Grab the Straight to the Bar Strength Kit.

Training Guides, eBooks and of course the Strength & Fitness Newsletter. Absolutely free.