Price: $149 on the monkii bars website
Pros:
Makes fitness more accessble, all but eliminates excuses for not exercising, size, portability, programming creativity, convenience in terms of where they can be used, you can incorporate traditional gymnastics moves into your training, dual attachment points for added exercise variety/creativity, completely unique concept in the category, amazing customer service, high quality free content on the site, multiple color options, work very well across a wide variety of users/fitness levels, let you workout anywhere, build materials, incredible stability demands, made in the US, very detailed instructions as to how to set them up, very good YouTube channel
Cons:
There's a learning curve with set up, adjustments take practice to do them smoothly, a colored tip at the end of each line would be nice to decrease set up time (yes, #1stWorldFitnessProblems), your 4-year-old daughter may may lose faith in her daddy because he can't do a lot of the things pictured on the monkii bar YouTube Channel.
"Daddy, can you do that?"
"No honey, daddy can't."
"Why not? Look how strong that guy is."
Who Should Buy Them:
I bought mine during their Kickstarer campaign. Fitness enthusiasts of all levels, boutique fitness facility owners, endurance athletes, outdoor enthusiasts, hikers, those who exercise at home, people who don't want to go to the gym, frequent travelers who want to keep up with their workouts, those looking to take the core strength challenge of suspended body weight training to the next level, trainers who do in home appointments or work with clients outdoors.
What if you could spice up your next trail run, mountain bike ride or hike with some core strength training? What if there was a way for frequent travelers to keep up with their fitness programs with something that only took up the space of two medium flashlights in their luggage weighing no more than a pound each?
And did I mention the two handles housed everything you need to build total body strength and access to a pair of free training manuals containing 130 exercises?
What you'd have are "monkii bars," an incredibly portable versatile piece of fitness equipment from The Wild Gym Company, LLC out of Boulder Colorado.
This new take on suspended bodyweight training makes fitness much more accessible (across all ages and ability levels), and all but eliminate the excuses as to why people can't workout.
You can do any exercise that can be done with a TRX, Jungle Gym XT or training rings, and then some to be honest. They make "the world your gym" allowing you to workout anywhere.
How do they stack up against current offerings in their category? Should you choose these instead of a similarly priced competitor?
Who better to tell you than Dan Vinson, former Georgetown Hoya Lacrosse player, wilderness ranger and one of the men behind the monkii.
What are monkii bars?
"monkii bars are the most portable, lightweight and sexiest workout device you're going to use," says Vinson.
The bars are 8" long, made out of aerospace grade aluminum handles encased in hard maple wood (black, light or dark). You also get four silicon end plugs in your choice of Jungle Green, Electric Blue or Light Grey. Once you pull the plugs off is when you see this piece of equipment begin to set itself apart from rest of the suspended herd.
Inside of each handle is an 18' Spectra line (which includes a free replacement program and great customer service) with a friction lock adjuster that will support users of up to 220lbs and take a beating to the tune of 1000lbs of max force per set. The line is also offered in multiple colors allowing you to match your plugs to your line, or go with your favorite color combo.
You get their "Setup Anywhere Guide" with each pair of bars as well as recommended workout locations. You can also purchase additional plugs, the "monkii branch" door anchor accessory, extra Spectra line in your choice of three colors as well as additional workouts.
Vinson and fellow founder David Hunt wanted to create something that filled in a gap between using a TRX and gymnastics rings that could be used anytime, by anyone, anywhere, (emphasis on the last point with the more scenic, the better).
"Rings are more cumbersome as an on the go piece of equipment, and a TRX makes it harder to do things above the bar," says Vinson. "We wanted to create an ulra-minimalist product to be as simplistic as it was effective."
Vinson said they wanted to build something that felt as good in the hand as it did to use, was asthetically pleasing and gave consumers a good value for their fitness dollar. It was something meant to be a location based training tool that allowed "the world to be your gym."
"We wanted something that promoted a fitness lifestyle, instead of a regimented segmented approach," says Vinson. "Something more congruent with our evolutionary roots vs just a fitness hour."
There is also a natural, almost primal, vibe about them that makes you want to find the nearest forested area for your next bout of exercise. You almost feel guilty if you aren't doing them justice by using them indoors.
"We wanted the where to exercise to be as much of a factor as what you did once you got there," says Vinson.
Are they the perfect piece of equipment? No, but I feel they are one of the most unique fitness equipment ideas that have come around the bend in quite some.
They are incredibly versatile, can be used as a sole workout modality or a supplement to your current fitness program. I like mine quite a bit (as do my clients) and it is a fitness purchase I'm glad I made.
For more information on how to monkii around with your fitness, additional workout ideas or to pick up a set, click here.
A huge thank you to Dan Vinson for taking the time out of an insane schedule to talk as well as David Hunt for providing the images for the post.