In the hot phase of the corona pandemic, fitness equipment for at home was very popular. Gymnastic mats, kettlebells, pull-up bars, small weight benches, cross trainers or the classic ergometer were bought new or taken out of the basement and dusted off for the workout. Slightly bulkier than dumbbells
Basically, a rung or climbing wall is nothing more than a very wide ladder. The (eight to ten) rungs do not have a rectangular cross-section, but a round or oval one. Why? They are used as a kick when climbing and as a grip when playing or exercising. Wall bars are usually not free. They are attached to a wall or the ceiling. More on that later. Most climbing walls are designed for room heights between 200 and 240 centimeters and are made of wood. Some manufacturers use metal and steel. Classic wall bars are offered in the basic version, i.e. without attachments or accessories. Important: Many models come in two parts and are placed on top of each other on the wall. If you spend a little more money, you get the wall bars in one piece and a bit more stability for the more euros invested.
It doesn’t matter whether it’s just the children or adults who want to let their legs dangle: A wall bars must be mounted securely on a solid and, if possible, load-bearing wall. This works best with adequate fastening material. First check whether the wall bars come with dowels and screws. This is not always the case. Mounting brackets are usually included in the scope of delivery. These should be attached to the wall first. Use screws with a thread size of at least eight millimeters (M8). Make sure you have suitable wall plugs, a hammer drill and high-quality (masonry or concrete) drill bits on hand. Fix the wall bars at at least six points. For walls that consist of two parts, four brackets (two at the top and two at the bottom) should be screwed on.
Some wall bars are additionally secured with two cross braces at about the height of the bottom and top rung. This also has the advantage that the distance between the rungs and the wall of the room is slightly larger and the rungs can also be gripped more easily by adults. But the same applies here: It is better to screw slightly longer screws into the wall.
The fun factor on a “naked” wall bars is rather medium. Children can’t do much more than climb up, let their legs dangle and boldly jump down again. But just a soft gymnastics mat that is best foldable for reasons of space (such as this model from BenchK) already increases the fun factor by a few points. Even more fun is provided by accessories such as a slanting board that smaller children can use as a slide, a horizontal bar or pull-up bar for dad that can be flexibly attached, a climbing rope (with or without gymnastic rings) or a rope ladder for the whole family. All accessories can usually be attached and removed again in no time at all. Some manufacturers also offer their wall bars directly with various accessories.
When attaching climbing ropes, rings and climbing holds, however, be sure to bear in mind that children’s room furniture such as bunk beds or similar cannot be reached when swinging, jumping and romping around. Especially with climbing ropes and swings, the range of motion is very high. Important: Pay attention to the maximum load of the gymnastics wall specified by the manufacturer. As in climbing gyms or bouldering, the same applies to the climbing frame in the children’s room: never two people on the wall. Climbing on top of each other is even more dangerous on wall bars than in large climbing gyms. In addition, smaller children in particular should not climb a gymnastics wall alone.
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Important: Before buying accessories, make sure that the parts (e.g. the horizontal bar) can also be securely attached to the wall bars. The rungs sometimes have different cross-sections and diameters.
When the kids are tired of climbing and hand-hanging, it’s time for the parents. For adults, a wall bar is a simple but very versatile piece of fitness equipment. And here are the top three exercises to start spring fit
If you want to buy a wall bars for yourself and the children, you should consider a few points in advance. Most have to do with the important issue of security. Here are five important criteria to think about before purchasing an indoor jungle gym:
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