If you’re looking for tips on how to climb a rope, then you’ve come to the right place! The rope climb is becoming more and more common at Crossfit gyms and OCR/Spartan Races around the world. So it’s also becoming an important part of a lot of athletes training plans. But where to start? How about rope climbing technique! Below I’ll go over the three most common techniques using your legs/feet. Covering both their advantages and disadvantages and including a video tutorial for each.
Let’s take a look!
How to Climb a Rope – The Three Different Foot Locks
THE FAST J HOOK
The fast J Hook is the quickest and most efficient method of using your legs to help climb a rope. Using the least amount of rope to body contact it relies on rope leverage by guiding the rope pinched between both feet with the rope forming a J. The downside to this method is also that by using the least amount of contact, you have a much high risk of losing contact and slipping. Make sure to hold on tight with your hands too. This is the method you will see all Cossfitters and Pro OCR athletes using and is the method I recommend learning first.
How to do the Fast J Hook Rope Climb
Reach one foot under the rope to pull the rope up around the other foot creating a J. The pin the rope between the top and bottom foot tightly. This creates a platform for you to hold your weight and push off of.
THE CLASSIC J HOOK (NAVY SEAL STYLE)
Both secure and quick the traditional J Hook was developed by the Navy Seals as a alternative to the S-Wrap (shown next). This original J-Hook method is essentially the same thing as the the Fast J-Hook with the exception being you run the rope on the outside of your body.
How to do the Secure J Hook Rope Climb
In this method you will hook your dominate foot around and under the rope to pull the rope up keeping it to the outside of your week leg. Pulling it up and then pressing down with the other (wee side) foot pinning the rope between your feet.
THE S-WRAP TECHNIQUE
When learning how to climb a rope the S-Wrap is often one of the first techniques people are taught. It’s considered one of the more secure foot locks. Utilizing the most amount of contact to create friction between rope and body. It’s also the technique I would use if I was climbing a rope in the outdoor in a life or death situation. So it’s worth learning.
How to do the S-Wrap Rope Climb
For the S-Wrap you will wrap your leg around the rope a full 360 degrees. Let the rope is cork screwed around your lower leg and rest it over the top of your shoe.You then step your free foot on top of the foot with rope resting on it. Clamping the rope down between the feet to give yourself the ability to use your legs.
