The first time I really felt strong on the pole, was when I got my head around using a forearm grip to climb. It’s amazing. You have so much more strength in this grip than you think you do.
I have only recently started using a forearm grip as my go to-climbing grip and I love it. You can make the easiest move look amazing by climbing or lifting into it in a strong, controlled manner.
When you’ve got it, you can easily take your legs off of the pole to bring them up and climb again, without using up too much energy. You can pretty much use it for any move. I particularly like using this to go into a Remi Sit, or any seat for that matter.
How To Find The Grip
Before you try it, let me just say – you may get a bruise from this! Shocking I know! If you do bruise, give it a rest and come back to it when you don’t have a bruise. You will get used to this one quite quickly (hopefully!)
- Face the pole.
- Place your dominant hand high on the pole, keeping it straight. Pull your shoulders back and down, and use your arm muscles to pull, rather than hang.
- Place your non-dominant hand on the pole at about face height. You want the thumb to be closest to the ceiling and the back of the hand facing out to the side. (i.e. If you’re using your left hand, the back of the hand is towards the left hand side)
- Keep your non-dominant hand where it is on the pole, but let the hand adjust naturally as you move your arm in step 5.
- Bring your non-dominant elbow straight back, away from the pole so only the hand is touching the pole. Take this elbow across, past the opposite side of the pole. Your arm should now be diagonally across the pole, with the ulna (bone from pinkie finger to elbow) and surrounding muscle pressing in. Keeping this grip, bring your elbow closer to the pole, so your arm still crosses the pole, but is closer, almost hugging into.
- Pull with the top arm, and push in with the bottom arm. You can slightly move the forearm higher or lower until you feel more comfortable. You should not need to move this too much, if at all.
- Start to slowly lift up your legs one at a time, and then hold them both off of the floor, keeping your core tight. Bring your legs down to the floor as slowly as you can.
- Now try the other side 😀
There You Have It!
Luckily this one isn’t too technical – but you will need to keep practicing until it feels strong. Make sure that the elbow does not slip off of the pole.
Get used to the feeling of it when you are on the floor, and build up to climbing when you feel more confident.
What are you waiting for? Let’s give it a go! 😀
