Climbing exercises are fantastic for back and grip strength, but can be tough to find a good place to do them in a regular gym.
And while this is likely going to be more of a home gym exercise setup, if the gym isn't busy and you like to mess around with a unique setup and movement, give it a try. It really works well! You will absolutely get some looks if you do.
The setup is simple...it's a regular Olympic bar leaning about 80 degrees up against the chin-up bar/top cross-beam of the power rack.
I've got two bands (small/medium) just looped in half around the side cross-beams with the ends of the bands looped around the end of the bar. This stabilizes the bar from both directions.
With the bands on and the bar leaning about 80 degrees, it's actually a pretty stable setup. I found I was able to climb pretty aggressively without the bar moving much at all.
The 80 degree lean of the bar is better than full vertical as it does it make it more functional for doing the exercise because it keeps your body away from the bar so you're not dragging yourself up the bar as you climb up or down.
Then it's just a matter of hand-over-hand climbing up the bar and back down.
I kept my legs off the bar, knees bent 90 degrees. I found this to be the most "comfortable" way to do the climbing.
When I got to the top "thick" part of the bar (which does challenge the grip more), I did a short pull-up to the top, then came back down, staying off the floor at the bottom.
Climbing is a primal movement pattern and chin-ups and pull-ups are normally the closest thing we get to it. It's incredibly effective for developing grip and hand strength, back strength, upper arm flexor strength and core strength.
And if you don't have access to a climbing rope, this is actually a very good option, even as weird as it looks. The setup is solid and very effective. And if you start to lose your grip, all you have to do is set your feet down.
Another great climbing style exercise is the Ninja Bar Two Bar Climbing method.
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