Jungle Gym

Lifeline USA Jungle Gym.

Ok, this is one of my ultimate favorite pieces of equipment. I attach mine to the garage entry door. Just place the red stopper over the top of the door and shut it. Done. Then adjust your straps; higher is easier, the lower your handles the harder the exercise.

I use it for many exercises, many body parts. It’s extremely effective for your back! I start with pullups on my pullup bar. (I sometimes attach the Jungle Gym to the pullup bar) After I max out on pullups, I start with body rows on the Jungle Gym with the handles set very low, near the floor.

Then when I max out on those, I immediately raise the handles a foot and do some more rows, this time, changing the grip to underhand, or parallel. Key is to change your grip on every set, making it wider, or twisting motion, or higher on your body etc to activate different back and lat muscles. But I don’t stop there; I keep raising it a foot and varying the grip/motion for a few more sets for a total of around 5! That’s actually just 1 super set. Do 3 with other body parts in between.

They are also highly effective for Rear Flies which are great after rows. Keep your arms straight without bending them too much. Crunch your back muscles at the top. Since you’re not using your biceps for this back exercise, you’ll need less “weight” so you’ll have to raise the handles. You’ll see.

Want to make your lats explode? Do some Lat Rows or “Roll Outs” ^. Facing away from the door and keeping your arms straight, grab the handles and raise yourself upward by moving your arms at the shoulders down toward your waist. These would be ideal right after the above mentioned flies.

For the chest, I do pushups the same way. Supersets of around 5, while raising the handles every set so I max out again and again. Keep the straps above the shoulders to avoid the straps rubbing against your skin.

The Jungle Gym will add some heavy lifts to Arms Day. After using the Triceps Blaster and Biceps Bomber for barbell curls, I do body weight curls on the Jungle Gym. Similar to rows with your body facing upward, but try not to move your upper arms so much as to activate the lats. We’re trying to build the biceps, so only curl the forearms toward your shoulders. Again, the lower, the harder.

You wanna make your triceps burn like crazy? After two sets of tricep exercises like Skull Crushers and Overhead BB extensions, I get into pushup position on the Jungle Gym and, just like the bicep curls, I push down with my forearms while keeping my upper arms extended upward near my head. Try not to rotate the arms at the shoulder for this one as well, since we want the triceps doing all the heavy lifting. Burn, babies, burn.

It also kicks ass for abs. ^ Placing your feet in the straps and your hands on the floor in a pushup position will allow you to alternate between pushups and body curls (yes, pushups also work the abs as long as you don’t let your body sag. In fact, curl your body a bit by raising your butt). Body curls will be like knee lifts on the Power Station or ab straps. Extend your legs, then bend your knees and bring them up to your chest. Even harder than that, are Wedges or “Pike Ups”:

Like body curls, but keep your legs straight, and lift your butt way up high in the air. I do these first, then the less-hard, bent knee body curls. You can and should do Mountain Climbers with these as well (high paced alternating knee raises to your chest)

You think we’re done? We can’t forget legs. I use these to train for Pistols. Pistols are one legged deep squats. These are nearly impossible for almost everyone but the fittest. Grab the handles and use them to assist the single leg when lifting your body. Don’t use your arms too much;  you want the leg to do most of the work since you’re trying to strengthen each leg to eventually be able to lift you from a deep, sitting squat all by itself. Don’t let your knee go past your toes to avoid a knee injury.
The guy in the video is doing them pretty fast to add some cardio. Do them slowly to build muscle and really make your legs burn. I do 3 sets of each leg back to back since one leg’s resting while the other’s working. These definitely make your legs and butt sore!

Product Features:

  • The unique unstable design challenges you to adapt and stabilize yourself, forcing you to use core sets of muscles.
  • Quick adjust mechanism allows different levels in seconds.
  • Make pushups and dips tougher, but much more fun!
  • Amazingly effective for rows and pullups.
  • Lightweight and portable. Take and use it anywhere.
  • Nylon webbing is super strong; will never tear under normal use.

Compare to TRX for $199, or even the more complicated and not very portable Gravity Bar at $60.

Only $49.99. Buy the Lifeline USA Jungle Gym here!

There’s also an XT version with deluxe, more comfortable grips. It’s also separated into 2 straps so you can place them apart; ideal for pushups and dips. But the regular version is really all you need. I attach mine to my pullup bar to widen them up, but mounting it on the door works great. And the XT costs twice as much. However, if you’re used to “the finer things in life” then by all means, get the XT. Find it on Amazon for $99.

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