Via Begin2Dig : Rope Climbing in the Legion

Over the past seven years this site’s amassed an enormous amount of content. To help you find the highlights, I’ll be taking an occasional wander through the archives.

We first looked at Rope Training (in this series) almost 3 years ago. While the basic idea is very much the same, a couple of new exercise variations have cropped up since then.
Here’s another look at this wonderful form of training :

• Weighted Rope Jumping
  First up, a rather unusual exercise (this was specifically for a World Record attempt, but the basic idea is sound). Grab a weight vest, ankle weights or your training partner :
  
  
• Short Power Rope : Rope Circles
  Here’s a simple way (but a whole lot more challenging than it looks) way to put a short length of rope to work.
  
  
• Bulgarian Bag Rope Swings

  Grab a Bulgarian Bag, Kettlebell or anything else with a bit of weight. These are downright fun.
  
  
• Rope Climbing Technique : The Cinch and Pinch
  If you’re just beginning your rope-climbing journey (or are ready to start), here’s an essential piece : the way to climb a rope using the ‘Cinch and Pinch‘ technique. Beautiful.
  
  
• Rapid Rope Climbing
  Once you get comfortable with your technique, you may like to consider something like this. A little speed work.
  
  

Further reading

Want more? Take a look at these :

• Jumping Rope for Conditioning (Al Kavadlo)
  This is a great way to ‘get you in to shape‘ quickly. And as a bonus, it’s a whole lot of fun.
• An Overview of Velocity Training (Frank DiMeo)
  A great introduction to the Battling Ropes. Superb system.
• Beginning the Rope Climb (Scott Andrew Bird)
  Looking for even more of a rope-climbing challenge? Try mixing it with other gymnastic skills, like this.

• Which ones to get?
  The equipment’s pretty simple. For climbing or dragging, a length of manilla rope is fine. These are typically 1.5″ or 2″, and in varying lengths. Your available space is the main consideration here.
  Personally, I use rope from a local nautical supplies place. I’ve also heard good things about those available from Monkey Bar Gym.
  For things like the Battling Ropes, a kit is probably the best solution. These typically contain both the rope (capped) and instructions in the form of a DVD. Perfect.

There’s also an incredible array of articles and videos on this site. Use the search box at the top of each page, or send me an email.