Rope Climb
How to do the Rope Climb with correct form, the muscles it works, and where it fits a training plan you actually stick to.
Lats
Biceps, Forearms, Mid Back, Shoulders
Other
How to do the Rope Climb
- 1
Grab the rope with both hands above your head. Pull down on the rope as you take a small jump.
- 2
Wrap the rope around one leg, using your feet to pinch the rope. Reach up as high as possible with your arms, gripping the rope tightly.
- 3
Release the rope from your feet as you pull yourself up with your arms, bringing your knees towards your chest.
- 4
Resecure your feet on the rope, and then stand up to take another high hold on the rope. Continue until you reach the top of the rope.
- 5
To lower yourself, loosen the grip of your feet on the rope as you slide down using a hand over hand motion.
Log it, see it on your body.
Every Rope Climb set you log feeds Ascend's anatomy heatmap, so your lats volume is visible at a glance, and counts toward your bodyweight-strength tier.
More lats exercises
Rope Climb: common questions
What muscles does the Rope Climb work?
The Rope Climb primarily works the Lats. It also recruits the Biceps, Forearms, Mid Back and Shoulders as supporting muscles.
Is the Rope Climb suitable for beginners?
The Rope Climb is an intermediate-level exercise. It's best once you've built a base of general strength and movement control, beginners can work up to it.
Is the Rope Climb a compound or isolation exercise?
The Rope Climb is a compound exercise, it moves multiple joints and works several muscle groups at once, which makes it efficient for building overall strength.
How do I do the Rope Climb with correct form?
Grab the rope with both hands above your head. Pull down on the rope as you take a small jump. Follow the full step-by-step above for the complete movement.
Log your Rope Climb sets, free.
Waitlist members get TestFlight + Play Store internal-track invites and a founder badge on their profile.
The app is free. Club adds the coach, leagues and analytics.
Core tracking stays free forever, the climb, streaks, logging and your league tiers. Club is for when you want the full coach, worldwide competition and the depth, at about the price of one coffee a month.
14-day free trial · no card to start
| Free | Club | |
|---|---|---|
| Tracking, the climb and streaks | ||
| Per-set logging, PR detection, wearables | ||
| Muscle-league tiers | ||
| The AI coach | nudges | Full conversation |
| Worldwide leagues and challenges | , | |
| PR projections and deep analytics | , | |
| Unlimited crews | , | |
| Themes, export and higher AI limits | , |