The Bachar ladder is a form of rope or metal ladder used as a training device by

rock climbers Rock climbing is a climbing sports discipline that involves ascending routes consisting of natural rock in an outdoor environment, or on artificial resin climbing walls in a mostly indoor environment. Routes are documented in guidebooks, and o ...

to improve upper body strength. Named after noted

free solo Free solo climbing, or free soloing, is a form of rock climbing where the climber (or ''free soloist'') climbs Solo climbing, solo (or alone) without Climbing rope, ropes or other Rock climbing equipment#Protection devices, protective equipmen ...

ist

John Bachar John Bachar (March 23, 1957 – July 5, 2009) was an American rock climber. Noted for his skill at free soloing, he ultimately died during a free solo climb. A fitness fanatic, he was the creator of the climbing training device known as the Bac ...

, Bachar ladders typically consist of

PVC Polyvinyl chloride (alternatively: poly(vinyl chloride), colloquial: vinyl or polyvinyl; abbreviated: PVC) is the world's third-most widely produced synthetic polymer of plastic (after polyethylene and polypropylene). About 40 million tons o ...

rungs joined by webbing or cord to create an unstable structure similar to the

ratlines Ratlines () are lengths of thin line tied between the shrouds of a sailing ship to form a ladder. Found on all square-rigged ships, whose crews must go aloft to stow the square sails, they also appear on larger fore-and-aft rigged vessels to ...

of a sailing ship. However, unlike ascending ratlines leaning inward using one's legs for upward progress and arms for steadying, the Bachar Ladder is typically hung at an overhanging angle of 20-45° and climbed from below using only the arms. Whereas the

campus board A campus board (or pan Güllich) is a training tool that has been widely adopted by sport climbing, sport climbers to improve their plyometric performance and led to dramatic improvements in climbing technique in all rock climbing disciplines. The ...

focuses more on powerful, sometimes far-reaching movements, the Bachar ladder differs in that it swings slightly when it is being climbed, requiring the climber to use more core tension to maintain stability. For athletes who have practiced pulling movements using only fixed or stable points, the Bachar ladder can improve the strength and efficiency of climbing/pulling movements. It produces greater engagement of core musculature, benefiting shoulder stability, improving

motor unit recruitment Motor unit recruitment is the activation of additional motor units to accomplish an increase in contractile strength in a muscle. A motor unit consists of one motor neuron and all of the muscle fibers it stimulates. All muscles consist of a num ...

when pulling and

proprioception Proprioception ( ) is the sense of self-movement, force, and body position. Proprioception is mediated by proprioceptors, a type of sensory receptor, located within muscles, tendons, and joints. Most animals possess multiple subtypes of propri ...

. It could present an increased risk of

elbow The elbow is the region between the upper arm and the forearm that surrounds the elbow joint. The elbow includes prominent landmarks such as the olecranon, the cubital fossa (also called the chelidon, or the elbow pit), and the lateral and t ...

and

shoulder joint The shoulder joint (or glenohumeral joint from Greek ''glene'', eyeball, + -''oid'', 'form of', + Latin ''humerus'', shoulder) is structurally classified as a synovial joint, synovial ball-and-socket joint and functionally as a diarthrosis and m ...

tendon/ligament injury for users who are inexperienced or lack proper pulling mechanics such as poor shoulder

range of motion Range of motion (or ROM) is the linear or angular distance that a moving object may normally travel while properly attached to another. In biomechanics and strength training, ROM refers to the angular distance and direction a joint can move be ...

References

See also