Do you remember this exercise in physical education when you were little? Rope climbing is also part of classic military training . This exercise is excellent for testing and improving your physical condition. Rope climbing was even one of the events at the Olympic Games!

Particularly intensive training for the upper body, knowing how to climb
the rope can save you in many situations.

How to climb the rope?

There are several methods to adopt a good technique for climbing a rope. The biggest difference between each technique is the use of your feet.

Whichever method you use, you should always start by jumping to catch the rope at the highest point possible. This allows you to get ahead and gives you some leeway to position the rope between your legs.

Technique from gymnastics

• Tighten the rope between your feet, reach out for a better grip, one hand at a time, and pull yourself up.
• Loosen your grip with your feet to allow the extra rope to pass through, then tighten the rope with your feet and reach for your next grip.

S-wrap technique (Army)

• Let the rope go around your right leg, then wrap it around the outside of your right foot and under the arch of your foot. Pluck the rope against your right foot with your left foot. You should be able to stand on the rope with a minimum of grip.
• Pull yourself up on the rope with your hands and hold your position. Unroll your feet and raise your legs before restoring your footing and standing back up on the rope.

Bud Technique (Navy Seals)

• Let the rope fall outside your right foot, then under your arch. Pluck the rope against your right foot with your left foot.

• Pull up on the rope with both hands, then establish your grip with your feet. Stand up and repeat.

Discover our pack dedicated to military training . Physical exercises are to be carried out for 7 weeks to make you a real war machine!

Muscles involved in rope climbing

To climb the rope, many muscles are solicited. The base being to be a minimum good in cladding. Indeed, the sheathing will improve the transmission of force from bottom to top, thus facilitating the climbing of the rope.

For this, practice some abdominal exercises and do dynamic plank exercises. The main muscle that works when climbing the rope is again the back. That's because when you pull your arms up to quickly climb and reach the top, you're using one of the biggest muscles in your body, which always comes in handy when it comes to pulling.

To improve your strength in your back muscles, you can train pull-ups (our dedicated pull-up training program is ideal for this ) or perform indoor exercises like rowing or deadlifting.

Finally, the last major muscles engaged when rope climbing are the biceps. These small muscles come to assist your back during any pulling exercise.

The legs are also used for this exercise, but it's not so much their muscles that could work in your favour: it's more their agility. Your flexibility and agility in your lower body will help you propel yourself higher and handle the rope with your feet to help you climb.