Description:

Straddled Rope Climb takes standard rope climbing to the next level. In addition to the upper body workout you receive from climbing the rope, maintaining a straddled position activates the hip flexors, quads, and abdominal muscles as well.  Because the feet are not used when climbing, ensure that you are completely comfortable with legless rope climbs before attempting.  To scale, perform tucked rope climbs or standard rope climbs.

Process:

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

• engage lats and bend elbows to ascend the rope
• when the feet leaves the ground, straddle the legs so that the rope is between the legs
• 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