How to Climb Over a Trellis With Monkeys
When I was little, monkey bars were quite tough. But this week I tried them again, older, wiser and more muscular than I had that day. And you know what? They are still very, very heavy.
Since we are doing a fitness challenge on the playground this month , I spent some time reading the monkey bar tips and tried it. I must report the following:
Grip Matters
Monkey grips are harder on your hands than any other part of your body, especially if the bars are thin because they are made for small children’s hands. It hurts to put on weight because of these things.
People who train monkey bars (for example, for Spartan races ) train with a special grip to strengthen the muscles of the forearms. If you’re just jumping onto the handrails for an impromptu workout, there is little you can do with the grip other than hold on tight.
Oh, and bring a towel. If it is raining or if there is morning dew on the grates, then it is slippery!
Try to rock
If you have really great upper body strength, you can try literally pulling yourself from bar to bar. But for most of us, the best strategy is the same as for climbing : conserve energy and not use more muscles than necessary.
It’s okay to do a few back and forth movements on the first plank, just to get the movement going. Then try to find your rhythm. I’m not an expert in monkey jumping, but I’ve found it to be effective: turn back, turn forward and grab the next bar, turn back again, and then turn your other hand forward to the next bar. If you have long arms and swing really well, you might even be able to skip the barbells.
Use bar for other exercises
Can’t roll over? This is fine. There are other parallel bar exercises. Try it:
- Hold on to the bar. That’s all. How long can you hang there?
- Hold on to the bar and bring your knees up to your chest. This is a great ab exercise! Do the same on both sides.
- Use nearby equipment to get your shoulders level with the bar. Grasp it and slowly lower yourself to the ground. This is a negative pull-up and a great stepping stone to real pull-ups.