Again from the archives.  June 26th, 2012.  These ladders are rad.

So about a week ago [Or two or three] I posted an article on my new toy. However due to some engineering issues I had to wait a week before I was able to really start crushing out some training on the ladder. So today I am throwing out some of my favorite exercises that are geared towards static strength, one arm pull-up development, and super low lock offs. While this has some obvious cross overs to the various climbing disciplines that I dabble in there is a bunch of fun stuff here for anyone looking to work on there one arm pull-up or lock offs.

So lets start there. In training the oh so coveted one arm pull-up I always suggest that people start with one arm lock offs [assuming they have a bunch of other basics down already]. Even if someone has very few pull-ups under there belt I always suggest that the addition of static holds will do the most for drastically improving strength in a short period of time. There is actually some half decent science behind this particular gem, but given that I can’t find the journal articles for them I am simply going to run off of my own experiences as an athlete and coach. Static movements, be they crosses, planches, bottom squats, or lock offs have the greatest potential for developing maximal recruiting capacity [And yes, I know that ballistic loading, and explosive movements do cool stuff] while minimizing any gains in mass.

So yielding to a lock off on the way down the ladder is a great way to start pushing that one arm pull-up forward. Hand in hand with that I am working a really low lock off in these videos, as the goal is to be able to hold a lock off much lower down my body, and in a far more awkward spot… because when we climb we are rarely presented with perfect hand placements for the moves we are doing. Of the other two items I put forward, the one arm climb is a lot of fun, and a great training tool to get in the habit of doing more than the one pull and then collapsing. For while one one arm pull-up is a great feat to accomplish, it is exponentially easier than trying to pull a second or third once you have already loaded that arm fully.

Then the last item. A lock off, high reach, and then a switch. Ideally I would be reaching past the higher rung on these pulls, however the notion of reaching and holding that reach for a couple second count is what we are really gunning for. Again this puts the body under tension for a lot more time, works the core muscles like crazy, and has a tendency to be a bit more like the way I climb… wherein I spend a lot of time reaching around and hoping I get a hold that seems like it is worth holding onto.

Anyways. Give these a try. Once I can trust the repaired rung I will toss up some more of the explosive and fast pulling stuff.