Done A 20 Foot Rope Climb
July 20, 2011 Filed in: CrossFit
"That is a babe. She makes me feel kinda funny, like when we used to climb the rope in gym class."
--Garth Algar (as played by Dana Carvey in 1992's Wayne's World)
Once in a while, CrossFit.com posts a workout of the day with rope climbs. Unfortunately, in our house, we don't have more than 15 feet of clearance in our gym space and Planet Granite doesn't have a rope. Consequently, I had never had the opportunity to really do rope climbs before. On another awesome trip to San Francisco CrossFit, I got the chance to do it. They have their ropes hanging from the back stairwell of Sports Basement in the Presidio. Thanks again to Carl Paoli and Kelly Starrett.
I was a little nervous about doing this because I had not done it before, but because I know I can do a fair number of pull-ups, I felt I would still be okay if I had to muscle my way up to the top.
Unfortunately, there was a truck parked next to the rope I wanted to use, so it was a little distracting when I had to climb it. I hopped on the rope.
I trapped the rope between my feet.
I extended my body and moved my arms up the rope.
From there, it's just a matter of repeating those steps.
With a little practice, I know I could do this much faster. There are a few different ways to wrap the leg around the rope to get a better grip (like the Russian Wrap and the Spanish Wrap), and I think it would be cool if I became more proficient in doing that. It's definitely an empowering experience to be able to climb a rope that high and to not rely so heavily on just my arm strength, but I do feel like I need more experience with rope climbs.
This is a pretty unique functional movement and one I'd like to get more familiar with. I was definitely winded after I came down from the rope but it was so gratifying to touch the top!
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