Climber's Mobility: Hips, Ankles and Shoulders with a Dowel

A mobility sequence aimed at the joints that limit climbers most: open hips, ankles and overhead shoulders. Each student finds their stiffest link and writes it down for the session.

How to play

1. Dynamic frog: on all fours, sit the hips back with knees wide, 10 slow reps (2 min).
2. Dowel behind the back: trunk rotations and dowel pass-overs, narrowing the grip little by little (2 min).
3. At the wall bars: put a foot on a hip-high rung and bring your hips toward the wall, 5 per leg (2 min).
4. Ankle to wall: knee forward without lifting the heel, comparing right and left (2 min).
5. Each student picks their stiffest drill, does one extra set and writes one sentence on what they noticed (2 min).

Rules

• Slow moves, no bouncing.
• No pain: stretch yes, sharp pain no.
• Keep the dowel in your own space, away from anyone's face.
• Only raise the foot to the rung if the standing leg is solid.

Variations

Adaptations

• Limited lower-body mobility: do the shoulder part seated and the hip part with the foot on a low bench.
• Shoulder injury: swap the dowel for arm swings in a pain-free range.
• Students who compare themselves: measure against yourself only, never against others.

Learning goals

• Mobilize hips, ankles and shoulders for a clear purpose.
• Identify your own mobility limit.
• Connect mobility to footwork on the wall.

Equipment for a class of 25

• dowels: 28
• wall bars: 10

Teacher tip

No dowels? Broom handles or a taut jump rope work fine. The usual mistake is bouncing in the frog stretch; cue them to breathe and stay there.

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