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Gymnastic wall bars (also known as a gymnastic ladder, Swedish ladder, Swedish wall or as stall bars) were invented at the beginning of the 19th century by the Swedish teacher
Per Henrik Ling Pehr Henrik Ling (15 November 1776 in Södra Ljunga – 3 May 1839 in Stockholm) pioneered the teaching of physical education in Sweden. Ling is credited as the father of Swedish massage. Early life Ling was born in Södra Ljunga, Småland ...
who, when suffering from
arthritis Arthritis is a term often used to mean any disorder that affects joints. Symptoms generally include joint pain and stiffness. Other symptoms may include redness, warmth, swelling, and decreased range of motion of the affected joints. In som ...
, realized the therapeutic potential of wall-bars exercise. With the support of the Swedish king, Ling founded The Royal Institute for Gymnastics, where he taught
gymnastics Gymnastics is a type of sport that includes physical exercises requiring balance, strength, flexibility, agility, coordination, dedication and endurance. The movements involved in gymnastics contribute to the development of the arms, legs, shou ...
as an art, which later became the working system across all of Europe. He later invented the
vaulting box In architecture, a vault (French ''voûte'', from Italian ''volta'') is a self-supporting arched form, usually of stone or brick, serving to cover a space with a ceiling or roof. As in building an arch, a temporary support is needed while ring ...
. With the arrival of immigrants in America, the wall bars were quickly adopted in the USA. Gymnastic wall bars are a multi functional device, made of
lamellar A ''lamella'' (plural ''lamellae'') is a small plate or flake, from the Latin, and may also be used to refer to collections of fine sheets of material held adjacent to one another, in a gill-shaped structure, often with fluid in between though s ...
beech timber. They can be manufactured in different sizes, from the recovery, for children, up to the double, which may have a size of 2.50 x1, 70 m. The parallel bars are made of beech or maple wood and commonly number 7, 14, or 16 pieces. The top bar is extended further than the other bars to facilitate exercises where the user hangs vertically. The bars are 40 mm thick and oval shape. An incline board or pull-up bar can be attached to the bars. For spine disorders such as scoliosis, it is advisable to consult an orthopedist before performing any exercises at the wall bars.


Uses

The wall bars have many uses and are widely used in gyms and schools. They are used simply for climbing and for coordination skills, particularly in primary school education. They are also used by more advanced gymnasts for resistance training, flexibility training or abdominal exercises. Gymnasts can hang from a higher bar with their back facing the bar and perform abdominal exercises, or hang facing the bar to stretch their back. Wall bars are also useful for parkour training. They provide several different heights to jump to and provide an area from which to jump.


References


External links


Exercises on the wall bars

How to install wall bars
{{Authority control Gymnastics apparatus Swedish inventions 19th-century introductions