Wood chin-up bar???

[hannahsmom]

DD's new gym requires conditioning at home which includes chin-ups, legs lifts and chin-up holds. We have a chin-up bar, but dd has a very hard time hanging onto the metal bar. In gym, she can do 10 chin-ups without coming down, but she can't make it past 2 or 3 on the metal bar. Is anyone aware of whether you can purchase just the wood bar, like they have in the gym? I've read that the bars are 1.5 inches in diameter and that is the same size as the brace that holds our metal bar, so I just need the bar. Before anyone asks, no, my dd does not do any skills on it. I won't even let her swing on it. It's strictly to do conditioning.

 

[gym4life123]

I don't know where to get a wooden one. Is their a playground near you? If so maybe she could go the conditioning on a bar (monkey bars) at the park. Would it help if she wore gloves on the metal one (it's only conditioning so there shouldn't be any risk) that way her hands are holding onto a different surface. Winter gloves/mittens might work best because they have the grippy rubber stuff. Why doesn't she like the metal bar, has she said? How long would the bar need to be?
Do you mind sharing the conditioning that she is required to do with us? (What she does and how much) Thanks.

 

[Kiwi]

In our gym the men's bars are made of metal and are thinner than the women's bars. Some of the girls train on the men's bars at times. I don't think the women's bars are actually wooden, I think they're made of fibreglass.

 

[gym4life123]

I think that the womens bars are made out of fiber glass, and then covered in wood.

 

[triptwister]

Check for round wood hand rails at places like Lowe's or Home Depot, or lumber supply stores, or home supply stores. This type of wood is an economical option. You can cut the rail to size.

Or search on line for single rail bars...
click here...http://www.nragymsupply.com/gymnastics%20AAI%20Elite%20uneven%20bars.html

Other options include metal conduit, or metal fence rails, or iron pipe, or galvanized pipe. All economical options.

 

[nevertooold]

We made a doorway bar out of pvc with an old broom handle shoved in the middle for stability. Was not slippery and didn't cost anything.

 

[hannahsmom]

Thanks everyone! I guess I didn't realize they weren't wood...they just look like that from a distance. As for why she doesn't like our bar (BTW, it's metal)...she's loves it and I have a hard time keeping her off of it, but her hands slip when she's trying to do the chin-ups and leg lifts and then she spends more time readjusting her hands than just doing the exercises. I will look into the PVC idea.

 

[mumoftwogymnasts]

We have a metal chin up bar and ds has the same problem. He uses a pair of fabric garden gloves that have little plastic/rubber dots over the fingers and palms, they work really well and were super cheap. Stops his hands from getting as sore as well.

 

[Kiwi]

Maybe you could stick some grip tape onto the bar, I mean the sort of thing they use for the handles of tennis rackets, hockey sticks and that kind of thing.

 

[gymnut1]

We did that and it worked. We bought a stick on grip for a tennis racket (a leather type one) cut in in half and wound half round where each hand came. It has worked very well.

Before that my dd wore palm guards which helped but she got fed up putting them on just to do a few leg lifts so the grip thing is a much better solution.

 

[cher062]

We wrapped our son's bar with duct tape to prevent that slipping. Worked like a charm.

Duct tape is the cure all wonder fix it LOL

 

[hannahsmom]

I bought the grip tape (from tennis rackets) last night and put it on. It works really well! Great idea! She was able to make it through each set of her bar conditioning without coming down to reposition. I'm not sure how long it will last, but it's a cheap fix even if/when it does wear out. Now she wants to be on the bar all the time....can't win, can we?! haha