Sponsored By:
Tired of failing rigs on race day and losing precious time to penalty loops, burpees, or multiple attempts? While it's possible to work on grip and hanging skills without access to a rig, there's no arguing that specificity in training of having a basic rig setup will go a long way on race day!
Note: Although the options in this blog are DIY, I do recommend spending a bit of money on some rings as you will see some variation of these in almost any OCR you participate in (I have seen that there is a way to create your own makeshift rings, but I've never done so myself). The first pieces of rig equipment I bought were 4 rings (around $60) from a local fitness equipment store.
Basic Must Haves:
-Rope or nylon straps -Carabiners
-Pullup bar or other structure to hang grips from
If you have a permanent setup at home and are not planning on moving your rig pieces (or don't mind the hassle of trying to untie knots that have gotten very tight) you can attach your rig hold with something like polypropylene rope:
If you want to have more ease when switching around your rig configuration (or even taking these out of the house and attaching to a football/soccer goal or outdoor pullup bar, consider getting nylon looped straps (Amazon, Home Depot) and Carabiners, both with a high working load (lbs):
If you have a pullup bar (or rig at your Crossfit Box) you can then attach your rig grips and work on nearly unlimited configurations by changing the order of your grips a well as experimenting with different vertical/horizontal gaps.
Nunchucks
Nunchucks are some of the hardest grips to maneuver through in a rig. These can be made for under $25.00 by getting supplies from your local hardware store.
Supplies needed:
-1x ~2 inch x 48 inch wooden dowel (made 4 Nunchucks) -4x Thread Screw Eye
-Gorilla glue -Drill and saw Steps: -Measure/mark your dowel into equal length pieces. -Cut each piece (sand end pieces if needed) -Match drill bit with size of Screw Eye, drill holes in each dowel. -Add Gorilla Glue to the drilled hole and add Screw Eye -Let sit for 24-48 hours
Ninja balls
Ninja balls are also be some of the harder grips to successfully maneuver in a rig. These can can be made extremely cheap if you have old baseballs/soft balls lying around. If not, you can buy these for 5-10$ each at stores such as Canadian Tire or Walmart. Supplies:
-Eye bolt with nut, desired length or climbing rope -Baseball(s), softball (s) -Drill Steps: -Match drill bit with size of Eye Bolt. -Drill a hole through entire ball (note: will smell like burning rubber) -Either use an Eye bolt with nut, or if doing this on a budget: pass a rope through the hole and make a big enough knot so that the knot does not come through the drilled hole when in use.
Ropes
There are many different options for making your own ropes. Some athletes will use old towels/rags. I simply used old martial arts belts (as seen below), which made training even harder as the belts are quite thin. If using belts or long towels you can add legless rope climbs to your rig work!
With these basic rig tools you'll be able to work various aspects of your grip as well as spatial awareness and build your "Rig I.Q," that is "knowing how to get through a particular rig/route with quickness and with ease." I recommend modifying your rig setup every 1-2 weeks (or longer if you are working on a particularly challenging setup) in order to continually progress and challenge yourself with harder setups.
Looking for ways to improve your grip and rig skills? Click the link below to check out our 1 on 1 personalized running and OCR training plans and let us put together a training plan to increase your rig completion rate.
Have question about our training plans or building your own home rig?
Send us an email: outlawocr@gmail.com.
Comments