Can YOU brachiate?

[khatty]

To teach your child to brachiate the Doman book suggests all the adults in the home brachiate.  In teaching your child to use the monkey bars, did you also use them?  If so, how did you teach yourself to brachiate?  How far/long could you swing?  Are there any good resources out there to help me learn?

So far I can do 3 rungs but I don't seem to be making any progress.

[MummyRoo]

Although I know the theory of brachiation from Doman's books, I can still only manage 2-3 rungs

Unfortunately the brachiation bars at the local park are far too big and high for me to use with my son, and I can't afford any for my home (in money or space!) so we aren't doing any brachiation.at the moment

I would guess that practice and using momentum rather than upper body strength should help you get better. It might also be an encouragement if you don't improve much and your child can do better than you

[Tanikit]

I certainly could as a child, but know I'd have more trouble now than I did then. I think upper arm strength as a function of my body mass has decreased with age. I have a feeling all adults would be beaten by their children if they have not been practising regularly.

[Korrale4kq]

I did today. Just 1 round on the monkey bars. I am guessing about a dozen of them. I am done. I got callouses on my hands.

[kmum]

I can! ............but not as well as my 4yo!

[carpe vestri vita]

Ha! I cannot At All. I can hang and that's about it.

Zed does fine with monkey bars though. My husband has shown him, and when we go to the park, I cheat. I walk under the ladder but sway so my upper body moves as if I could brachiate. It seems to have tricked the little guy because he thinks monkey bars are the best part of the park.

If you can find good role models have them do it, and if not, fake it.

[mum2tiger]

I am sorry, I could help but laugh when i read the thread. I was imagining all the mommies going to the park after reading this and try to brachiate.

I tried a while back and I can't. Hmmm, maybe I'll try again soon and risk being laughed at by the kids. Maybe I'll go when no one's around.

Cheers ladies

[melodym37]

What is the Theory behind Brachiating? I dont get it? Is it just to build upper arm strength?
An what age are you suppose to start this... our little guy is only 5 months old

[stargirl396]

My husband and I and our 12 yr old can brachiate and I am teaching the 4 yr old. The point is manual competence - opposing thumb and fingers to be able to write well, play the violin, etc. and respiratory excellence - brachiating builds the chest (lung growth/ability) and shoulders.

[khatty]

Stargirl396, Did you always know how to brachiate?  Or did you have to relearn/reteach yourself?  And how did you reteach yourself?  I am in reasonable shape, not overweight, I do a bootcamp once a week, and I have some arm muscles from lifting 2 kids all day, but I can NOT seem to brachiate.  I keep trying but I can't swing more than 2 rungs before letting go and my arms hurt.  I have been at it for months and I just don't feel I am making progress.  Any ideas on how to learn?

My kids also don't seem that into brachiating, and I worry it is because they see me struggle to do it.  Suggestions are appreciated.  Thanks.

[TmS]

Brachiation is a whole body event. From the fingers right down to the feet. Any inactive muscles (by active I mean switched on, not tense, but actively supporting the body as opposed to being in a relaxed state resulting in floppiness) will make brachiation more difficult.

Often people who are struggling to brachiate have forgotten to involve the core and posterior muscles.

The lats should be firmly braced to support the shoulders. Avoid allowing yourself to sink out of your shoulder joint, you want a nice long neck, if you feel your shoulders up around your ears you need to pull up and support more.

Legs that are too floppy will swing ineffectively and create a pulling effect in directions against the motion of travel. This wastes energy and also increases the required energy for each transition.

If the core (mainly abdominal) muscles are inactive the back is likely to become loose, even arch. making activating your lats almost impossible and causing the legs to hang backwards creating a backwards pull when you want to go forwards.

The longer you hang on each bar the more difficult the transition to the next. Think of riding a bike on a steep hill that goes down and then dips back up. If you start at the top and build up speed as you dip up you have enough energy and momentum to move easily up the hill with only a slight gear change. However, should you stop at the bottom and start again you would have immense trouble, require far more energy and need to start down in the low gears. Think of what effect that has on the workload of your legs and the type of muscle movement it creates, often jerking and explosive not smooth and fluid.

Feel the speed of your swing and match your arms to compliment the motion.

Hope that helps. If you are able to describe any particular feelings within your body during brachiation I may be able to give you a more specific and helpful answer.

[stargirl396]

TmS, that was very great detail on the body mechanics of brachiation. I didn't know I could brachiate, once we made the indoor ladder, we all tried and were successful. It might help also that I had purchased the Evan Thomas Institute's teaching booklet through the Gentle Revolution Press (IAHP), and read it and learned that the most important thing was to maintain swinging momentum. I had also built some ability by just hanging on a horizontal bar when my youngest was at that stage too. How long you can hang just stationary, and how well you can build up a swing while just holding on are helpful starters before starting the actual brachiation. And yes, I can do it but it is work, and I don't do it often. My hands get really tired and sore. Even my parents who are in their upper 50s hold onto the rungs and play around sometimes, but I get worried they will hurt themselves. It's all just a lot of fun to have the ladder around though. 

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