Buzz
Monkey bars were tough when I was a kid. This week, I gave them another go—older, stronger, and with more muscle than back then. And guess what? They're still as challenging as ever.
As part of this month's playground fitness challenge, I took some time to research monkey bar techniques and gave them a try. Here's what I learned:
Your grip is crucial
Monkey bars can be a real challenge for your hands, especially when they are designed for children with smaller hands. If the bars are narrow, it can be quite painful to hang from them, making your hands feel the strain more than any other part of your body.
People who practice on monkey bars (such as for Spartan races) often do grip-strengthening exercises to develop their forearm muscles. However, if you're simply trying to tackle some monkey bars as an impromptu workout, the only thing you can do about your grip is to hold on as best as you can.
And don’t forget to bring a towel! If it’s been raining or if there’s dew on the bars, they can become very slippery, making it even harder to hold on.
Give swinging a try!
If you have excellent upper body strength, you might be able to pull yourself across each bar. But for most people, the best approach is similar to rock climbing: conserve your energy and avoid using more strength than necessary.
It's fine to take a few swings back and forth on the first bar to get the motion going. Once you're comfortable, try to establish a rhythm. Although I'm not a pro when it comes to monkey bars, I found it helpful to swing back, move forward, and grab the next bar. Repeat this back-and-forth motion until you feel steady, and if you're tall enough to get a strong swing, you may even skip bars entirely.
The bars can also be used for a variety of other exercises.
If you can't quite manage to swing across yet, don't worry. There are still plenty of other exercises you can do using the bars. Here are a few suggestions:
Grip the bar and hang. How long can you hold on?
Hold onto the bar and lift your knees toward your chest. This targets your core! Try doing it on each side for an extra challenge.
If you have nearby equipment, step up until your shoulders are level with the bars. Grab hold and slowly lower yourself down. This negative pull-up is a great progression towards mastering full pull-ups.
