Description:

Rope climbs have been utilized by athletes for centuries as a way to develop upper body strength.  At one point in Olympic history, rope climb was even a gymnastics event.  Rope climbing builds superior lat muscles as well as grip strength.  Ensure that extra caution is taken when climbing as height creates the possibility of injury.  Legs may be used as a support system during the ascension and descending phase.  Scale by performing standard pull ups.

Process:

• begin at the bottom of the rope with hand over hand

• engage lats and bend elbows to ascend the rope
• as you pull up, release the bottom hand and place it above the top hand and repeat
• ensure that you alternate arms with each step to build even strength
• to descend, reverse the process that was used when going up, taking extra caution to ensure that you do not slide off
• to descend, extend elbows and release top hand to place it under the other hand
• increase the difficulty during the ascension phase by increasing the distance between each hand