Rope climb workouts are unique in their capacity to build great overall strength, coordination and improve your performance for many other exercises.
They help you to build arm, back and core strength, as well as develop a much stronger grip and increase your stamina.
Rope climbing is also a great way of improving your agility and proprioceptive skills.
Moreover, it is also good fun to hang above the floor and play the monkey for a while!
7 Rope Climb Workouts
1. Rope Climb Workout from Thuri Helgadottir
4 Rounds
- 10 Parallette handstand push up (deficit of choice)
- 20 Over the box jump, 24/20″
- 4 Rope climbs
- 60 Double unders
- 8 (squat) clean @ 85/60kg (185/135lbs)
“I did regionals style rope climbs (rope high off the ground) because I like to monkey”
This endurance workout will demand strength from your whole body, starting with your arms and core with the parellete handstand push ups, then your legs with the box jumps and ultimately your upper and lower body combined with the rope climbs.
2. Regionals Rope Climb Workout
10 min cap:
- 21 Thrusters @ 95/65
- 3 Legless Rope Climbs
- 15 Thrusters
- 2 Legless Rope Climbs
- 9 Thrusters
- 1 Legless Rope Climb
This couplet is pretty brutal, especially considering the low volume of reps, you’ll have to go fast throughout as there’s nowhere to hide.
Scale down to a lower weight for the Thrusters and perform the rope climbs assisted by your legs if the RX version would take you over 10 minutes to complete.
3. Rope Climb Workout with Running
3 Rounds:
- 400 m Run
- 15 D-ball Cleans 100/70
- 3 Rope Climbs, 15 ft
4. Workout from Sara Sigmundsdottir
10 Rounds:
- 1 legless rope climb
- 15 Wall balls
Legless rope climb workouts can be deceiving, especially when combined with movements that tax similar muscle groups.
Pace yourself well for this workout, as the later rounds are sure to get hard.
5. Ropes and Calories
For time:
- 10 Rope Climbs, 15 ft
- 100/80 Cals, Assault Bike
- 5 Rope Climbs
- 50/40 Cals, Bike
6. Rope Climb Workout from Emily Abbott
5 Rounds:
- 3 legless Rope Climbs
- 10 chest facing wall HSPU
15 secs rest in between
“I started to fail the last round so I did some negative descents. #160lbs”
7. “Glen”:
For time:
- 30 Clean & Jerks, 135lbs
- 1.6km Run
- 10 Rope Climbs
- 1.6km Run
- 100 Burpees
The “Glen” Hero WOD was first posted on the CrossFit Main Site as the workout of the day for Friday, October 12, 2012. Find out more about the workout’s history here.
Read more: 9 Challenging D-Ball CrossFit Workouts to Build Strength
