Monkey Bar Training (Help)

**DeeryTheDeer** · 10-07-2011 11:58 PM

My new obsession is to gain the ability to swing on monkey bars, but I'm pretty out of shape at this point and it's fairly miserable just to hang from one bar at the kids playground in the park (I go when nobody else is there, I wish there was an adult monkey bar gym somewhere around here). I don't dare take one hand off. I've started to do a strength training regimen of mostly shoulder, chest and elbow reps, but what hurts most is just my hands on the bars, even on gym equipment to pull stuff down. How can I reduce or eliminate pain and blisters on my hands, and strengthen my body to do this stuff? I guess the same strength training I need to do pull-ups (not sure if they even have a bar for that at my gym, or maybe they do)...

I want to at least be this good...

And my fantasy (the video that really attracted me to this stuff) is this:

How cool would it be to travel around like that? Effortlessly?

Of course they're specially evolved for that, but still. Maybe in my lucid dreams (if I can even sustain a lucid dream).

**Darkmatters** · 10-08-2011 12:21 AM

I'd recommend working out with dumbbells and a barbell, and you should probably also wear sports gloves, like bicycling or weightlifting gloves. Maybe not while you're lifting though, do that barehanded to toughen them suckers up a little.

I live near the woods, and since I was a kid I discovered that doing outdoorsy stuff that actually gets your hands dirty seems to toughen them up quick. Maybe yardwork, like raking leaves (good tie of year for that coming up!) or dig a trench around the house or something... ok, maybe not that.

Work actually makes you a lot stronger than exercise does, but it needs to be the right kind of work. Though weightlifting or pullups etc are also a great form of cross-training in addition to something like raking or digging. Also be sure to strengthen your core - abdominals and back muscles.

Haha, that 2nd video is awesome!! I want to see a video of you doing that by this time next year!

**Zhaylin** · 10-08-2011 06:20 AM

hehee, the second video reminds me of my childhood

When I was a kid I lived in the trees and the monkey bars. I don't remember ever having blisters, but as Darkmatters suggested, I tended to practically live outside and especially in the woods.
I don't have any recommendation though. I just wanted to wish you the best of success

Looks like a fun undertaking!