Gymnastics ladder - a great base for whole body training. Raising your legs while hanging is often thought of as the only exercise you can do on this equipment but its really not. This versatile equipment can become the center of your home gym and can be a great, flexible tool for training multiple muscle groups.
You just need space
If you are wondering where to start equipping your home gym, consider a gymnastic wall bar. With the right knowhow you can use it for many strength, endurance and stretching exercises. This is one of the most popular multifunctional devices we sell with the added benefit of not taking up much space after training. With only a few additional pieces of equipment such as TRX tapes, a bar or even an exercise rail, you can complete a full training session for all muscle groups from your own home.
A securely attached ladder allows you to perform many exercises that require precision, e.g., isometric exercises involving the stretching of individual muscle groups. Toe raises in a standing position, sideways abduction of the straightened leg in the hip joint and keeping the gluteal muscles in tension. You can feel like you are doing a ballet class - full control over your posture and deep muscles tension. If you work at home on a computer or in an office, a stepladder can bring relief to your strained back at any time. Just walk up, grab the bar and hang. Your spine will immediately feel better.
Also look for inspiration on parenting sites. The gymnastic ladder is a very popular piece of equipment for children and is recommended by physiotherapists. Be warned, some of the exercises can be pretty hard. Are you up to the challenge? Take a look:
- A bicycle or a scissor hang – nvolves hanging freely from the ladder (the back is adjacent to the bars), we lift straight legs as if we were aiming for abdominal tension and then we simply make a ‘pedaling’ motion in the air or you can try horizontal or vertical scissors. It is important we try to hold these as long as possible.
- Pendulum – Adopt the same position as in the previous exercise with your back next to the bars. Next, swing sideways keeping your legs straight and together. There are also a couple of variations we can do with this exercise. Option one - the hips are next to the ladder and we only rock with our legs. Option two – we increase the movement by swinging from the hips. It is important to note, that even with these variations your back should be next to the ladder and you core should be always tensed.
- Walk-up with your feet – lie on your back in front of the ladder, knees bent, feet on the first rung. We slowly walk up with our feet to the highest possible position and the hips and buttocks are lifted from the floor keeping our belly are tightly taut. Ideally, we should only be in contact with the floor via our shoulder blades and with our neck and head. Hold the muscle tension for as long as you can and then go back down. Repeat this several times.
A ladders perfect use - warm-up
Before you start training, it is important to warm up your muscles and joints. Ideally, with the use of a ladder. Here are some simple exercises ideal for warming up:
- Alternate leg swings in a standing position while holding the ladder bar at chest level.
- Push-ups in a standing position with your hands at shoulder height.
- Squat, holding on to the ladder bar.
- Stretching exercises – Place one leg forward on the bar and bend down to try and touch your toes.
- Swing your legs over the floor.
There are so many possible combinations you can do with a ladder
- Ladder plus… bar
- Ladder plus… a bench
- Ladder plus… dip-bars
- Ladder plus… gymnastic bands or TRX tapes
After installing the chin-up bar, you can expand your training further with exercises for the back, stomach, and arms. Choose a bar with several grips to guarantee a variety of training options. Many bars come with a punch bag holder adding another great training option.
If you attach a bench to the ladder, you can perform exercises ideal for targeting the abdomen (an oblique bench as sit-up) or the chest (heels in a negative position).
The dip-bars attach to the ladder allow you to perform exercises great for the abdominal muscles, chest, and triceps (push-ups on the dip-bars).
All you need is a few training bands with different resistance levels, and you can perform even more exercises for your arms, shoulders, legs, and buttocks. Just by mounting them at different heights you can expand your possibilities thanks to TRX straps, which you attach directly to the ladder or to the chin-up bar.