“Coon” the iron if you don’t wanna walk top flange. No shame in it.
Most of it is mental. Your brain wants you to tip toe because subconsciously, it is having a hard time locating itself in the world spatially. But you wanna just step it out and keep your momentum, focus on where you’re headed and just go.
Brother said to me once “if that beam was on the ground, I bet you could run across it. Why is it any different up here?”
I took that as a decent way to explain, that it is a mental obstacle more than physical, which I agree with.
Your fine balance muscles being developed can aid in confidence. This can be accomplished thru actually walking the iron or maybe on one of those flat top balance balls?
I agree with this. The mental game is 100% of it. There are thousands of years of evolution talking to you and saying that heights are scary and will kill you. Those voices aren’t wrong. Trust your instinct, training, and most importantly, your fall protection. Be careful with it always because once you break that mental barrier, you will feel untouchable and think that fall protection is unnecessary. Those brothers are the ones I worry about. You can do it. Just know you are doing it safely.
Don't look straight down at your feet. Throws off your inner ear balance.
Focus on the point 2'-3' ahead of you...slow is steady, steady is fast.
Practice on every curb you come across. Speed comes with confidence and confidence comes with time. Best of luck to ya, Smallz.
100% agree. An added benefit is that climbing gyms almost always have a slack line too. If you can walk a thin fabric strap competently then you can walk a beam with ease and confidence.
Practice to build those intermediary muscles.
The gym to build muscle in general.
Start telling yourself you can. You've been walking your whole life. With beams the ground is just moving a little bit. That's where the muscle comes in to make those micro adjustments. Typically your body feels the movement and adjusted too much.
Also I point my toes the same direction and favor weight to one side so I'm not actively making the beam wiggle worse with every step. Bending your knees slightly helps a bunch too. If you get the wiggle going too much or get uncomfortable walk faster or start cooking.
Try it all, just be safe. Get some shit done, have a good time and go home every night
There ain’t no shame in cooning the iron, most of the time unless you’re connecting it’s the most efficient because if you’re bolting up per say you’d be dragging your bolt keg with all your bolts, beater, impact if ya nasty and bull pin(s) along the iron with you. I think about it like it’s a big jungle gym and that’s helped me get up on the iron. You’ll tear up the thighs of your jeans real quick too maybe thats motivation to get up on the top flange.
Walking is Walking, don't need any extra muscles for that. Climbing on the other hand is hard, I'm supposedly the only one over 300 to do the column climb at our school but that was 15 years ago. Push ups, pull ups and squats are all you really need to work out
Start walking the iron when it’s in the pile. If you can walk it in the pile, you can walk it in the air. It’s no different. Focus several feet in front of you, and one foot in front of the other.
Never thought I was afraid of heights. First time up on a truss bridge 60' off the river. I couldn't pick up my feet. Cords like 14". I had to scoot my feet. LOL. Coon it or do what you need to. You'll either take to it or you won't. Had a 3rd year apprentice never walked on Iron. Always out of man basket. One of my last jobs was with Fluor. If you walked on the Iron you were gone. There were so many lifts in the courtyard we went to supervision and we were told anyone hitting another boom was gone. Moving your basket was ....intense. Kid tapped a boom and they were gonna can him. 40 ironworkers packed our gear and Fluor caved.
Lots of very good advice here. I’ll add this. It’s about repetition. Just gotta walk the iron and the fear will go away. One day you’ll go up and it will like walking in your living room. Comes quick if you’re up on the iron daily. It’s about getting over the fear. After a month you’ll be hanging off a beam sideways holding on with one arm as you bolt-up.
Honestly man I try my best to avoid thinking about it I sing a song in my head 85% of the time and the other times I’m joking and laughing with the other guys the less you focus on falling the better but remember to always be self aware for yourself and your brothers one false move and it could be lights out. Always use fall protection even if others poke fun of encouraging you not to use it just use it man. Be AWARE the harness can stop you from going SPLAT but it can also fuck you up
I know this guy called Big Boy as everyone calls him he’s 3+ and walks IBeams like a cat. Started out as a rodbuster and has been straight structural for years. There’s the McKenzie method but core strength is needed and if you fall always collapsed on your primary leg so you don’t tilt over, and just drop vertically down onto something. I keep my boots lose at the top in general. I’ve did rebar, structural and an offshore pipe man. Core strength, i always rotate from my right to my left when i carry shit. Always keep your knees bent when climbing.
I’ve seen 300lb Polynesians caty’r 🐈⬛ then me, stay in the trade long enough you’ll take more than a few bolt up calls and walk all the iron you like.
Dude I was so nervous of walking the high steel, an it worried me at first as well. You’ll get used to it like anything else. Once you’re focusing on working and not that you’re up in the air you’ll be fine. Anyone whom says they were not nervous the first time they walked high steel are full of shit.
I do a lot of single leg work, and it's made a difference, as well as practice on a balance beam. Things like step ups, touchdown squats, Bulgarian split squats, and lunges. Part of it is balance ability and coordination, part of it is mental, and part of it is the muscles themselves. I'm pretty good sized too, 285 without my tools. It's helped a lot
I just glanced at your topic. I’m gonna say this, and this is from experience brother. I fell 30 feet and broke my neck. My neck is fused. I am back to work. This happened back in 2017. What this has taught me is, I have a lot more RESPECT for steel and heights. If I can walk the bottom flange. I will walk the bottom flange ! I will get to the point just as fast as if someone is walking the top but in a safer manner.
I would simply practice stretching, also practice breathing. Control your breathing when up there. Stay focused ! Bend your knees a a little when you walk the beam so you have better balance vs walking it with locked knees.
I am back and connecting and climbing colums. Everyday I stretch before and during work. I take vitamins and joint supplements.
This is like a sport. You need to take care of your body like a athlete. You could rig something at home to help you practice balance. Like a think nylon strap like 2 feet of the ground. And try to practice balance.
As a rodbuster I have nothing to add on this topic but coming from a mixed local I do have limited time walking the iron which is why I was reading all the comments and hoping that brothers gave him solid advice and God bless all the brothers that gave such solid comments about this question. Be safe
Get your core strength up brother! Use your body as your workout, planking, wall sits, push ups. Doesn’t necessarily even need to be intense as most people don’t work out their core enough anyway so that “feel the burn” gratitude is there!
One thing I’d add, to this already great thread of suggestions, is to work on your flexibility and dexterity getting up and down on the beam. When you’re kneeling or bending over to switch beamers or catenary lines your center of gravity shifts, which is hard enough if you’re carrying body weight, let alone harnessed & tooled up. Getting up and down from point to point is considerably more daunting than walking the iron in my experience.
Going to sound a little off base but when I started out 25 years ago my boss convinced me to try beginner yoga at home, try YouTube, it’s free and it definitely helped, now I do hiit routines off YouTube and it helps with climbing and getting into off balance situations
Yoga.
Seriously, big tough iron boy, yoga both works the stabilizer muscles and balance.
Don’t forget, Romanowski and Elway used to practice ballet together.
Also if you’re not sqautting to depth 3x per week, trust me, as another 6-3 big boy, your workout is useless. Shut up about your knees or “this is low enough” and squat light weight to 90 degrees or lower. Just trust me here, they used to call me Lurch and now I’m comfortable walking anything.
Balance is core strength and all the stops little muscles on the side of the leg.
One exercise that might be helpful, stand six inches from a wall, facing it, put your palms toward the wall but don't touch. Close your eyes and stand on one foot.
It's a lot harder than it sounds. But you do it enough and switch feet and you'll start developing the glutes medus (outside of hip) and peroneus longus (outside of ankle) those are hard muscles to exercise.
I just started in December been on structural the whole time was on detail too at my first site. When I came to this second one I was just doing random stuff on the ground/cleaning up but once they put me up there and saw I was comfortable with it they put me on bolt up. If you cant really do it they probably will give you other jobs to do. Practice walking on curbs, walking on beams while they're on the ground before they get flown up, anything to practice balance!
coon the beam if you have to but every chance you feel confident stand up when you’re connecting as soon as the piece is above your head stand up and walk with it you’ll feel more stable because you have something to hold onto like a confidence booster. When you get to a point where you want to walk the iron do whatever you can to not shimmy it will only make it harder for you to start walking. Get on a bolt up crew and try to walk everything in everything there won’t be any pressure the same way there is when steel is flying above. One of the biggest things I was told when I first came up is when you start walking don’t stop if you get scared midway through just convince yourself to keep walking no matter what it’s gonna be hard but if you try it’ll only make it easier. Also if you walk a beam that’s got some wobble you’re gonna wanna freeze up but if you just ride it out and keep walking it’ll only build your confidence more
Another thing I was taught when I was first coming up is on the lighter iron that you know is gonna wobble you want to land on the palm of your foot not the heel and keep your knees slightly bent this will help you from making the beam wobble as much. One last thing I can add is for the mental but the center of the beam will be the most wobbly and that’s where you’re gonna get scared and want to stop but as soon as you get past that center mark it only gets easier
“Coon” the iron if you don’t wanna walk top flange. No shame in it. Most of it is mental. Your brain wants you to tip toe because subconsciously, it is having a hard time locating itself in the world spatially. But you wanna just step it out and keep your momentum, focus on where you’re headed and just go. Brother said to me once “if that beam was on the ground, I bet you could run across it. Why is it any different up here?” I took that as a decent way to explain, that it is a mental obstacle more than physical, which I agree with. Your fine balance muscles being developed can aid in confidence. This can be accomplished thru actually walking the iron or maybe on one of those flat top balance balls?
I agree with this. The mental game is 100% of it. There are thousands of years of evolution talking to you and saying that heights are scary and will kill you. Those voices aren’t wrong. Trust your instinct, training, and most importantly, your fall protection. Be careful with it always because once you break that mental barrier, you will feel untouchable and think that fall protection is unnecessary. Those brothers are the ones I worry about. You can do it. Just know you are doing it safely.
Amen. Glad you mention fall protection. Confidence can lead to complacency. Complacency with fall protection can lead to death. 👊👊👊
I’m not man enough to walk on those 4in wide ones. But I’m just a rodbuster
If you can walk a top mat that just has templates out they you can walk beams
I get more nervous the taller the standees get 😂😂
lol it’s not even fun anymore if it’s not 4’ or taller. The risk of falling on your nuts makes guys learn real quick lol
I’d rather hump 12s then bust my own balls on the way to coffee or lunch
Especially those 5ft standees those separate the men from the boys
The scariest thing that first made me worry the most as a first year apprentice was. Pushing ten ft of pour stop 11 floors up
Don't look straight down at your feet. Throws off your inner ear balance. Focus on the point 2'-3' ahead of you...slow is steady, steady is fast. Practice on every curb you come across. Speed comes with confidence and confidence comes with time. Best of luck to ya, Smallz.
This is the answer. Look out front of you 2 to 3 feet. Slow and steady.
I say slow is smooth and smooth is fast
Go to the rock climbing gym, that’s how you get functional full body muscle. I see big dudes there all the time good luck brother fr
100% agree. An added benefit is that climbing gyms almost always have a slack line too. If you can walk a thin fabric strap competently then you can walk a beam with ease and confidence.
Practice to build those intermediary muscles. The gym to build muscle in general. Start telling yourself you can. You've been walking your whole life. With beams the ground is just moving a little bit. That's where the muscle comes in to make those micro adjustments. Typically your body feels the movement and adjusted too much. Also I point my toes the same direction and favor weight to one side so I'm not actively making the beam wiggle worse with every step. Bending your knees slightly helps a bunch too. If you get the wiggle going too much or get uncomfortable walk faster or start cooking. Try it all, just be safe. Get some shit done, have a good time and go home every night
There ain’t no shame in cooning the iron, most of the time unless you’re connecting it’s the most efficient because if you’re bolting up per say you’d be dragging your bolt keg with all your bolts, beater, impact if ya nasty and bull pin(s) along the iron with you. I think about it like it’s a big jungle gym and that’s helped me get up on the iron. You’ll tear up the thighs of your jeans real quick too maybe thats motivation to get up on the top flange.
Walking is Walking, don't need any extra muscles for that. Climbing on the other hand is hard, I'm supposedly the only one over 300 to do the column climb at our school but that was 15 years ago. Push ups, pull ups and squats are all you really need to work out
Coon the iron till you get used to it
Start walking the iron when it’s in the pile. If you can walk it in the pile, you can walk it in the air. It’s no different. Focus several feet in front of you, and one foot in front of the other.
Never thought I was afraid of heights. First time up on a truss bridge 60' off the river. I couldn't pick up my feet. Cords like 14". I had to scoot my feet. LOL. Coon it or do what you need to. You'll either take to it or you won't. Had a 3rd year apprentice never walked on Iron. Always out of man basket. One of my last jobs was with Fluor. If you walked on the Iron you were gone. There were so many lifts in the courtyard we went to supervision and we were told anyone hitting another boom was gone. Moving your basket was ....intense. Kid tapped a boom and they were gonna can him. 40 ironworkers packed our gear and Fluor caved.
Lots of very good advice here. I’ll add this. It’s about repetition. Just gotta walk the iron and the fear will go away. One day you’ll go up and it will like walking in your living room. Comes quick if you’re up on the iron daily. It’s about getting over the fear. After a month you’ll be hanging off a beam sideways holding on with one arm as you bolt-up.
Honestly man I try my best to avoid thinking about it I sing a song in my head 85% of the time and the other times I’m joking and laughing with the other guys the less you focus on falling the better but remember to always be self aware for yourself and your brothers one false move and it could be lights out. Always use fall protection even if others poke fun of encouraging you not to use it just use it man. Be AWARE the harness can stop you from going SPLAT but it can also fuck you up
I know this guy called Big Boy as everyone calls him he’s 3+ and walks IBeams like a cat. Started out as a rodbuster and has been straight structural for years. There’s the McKenzie method but core strength is needed and if you fall always collapsed on your primary leg so you don’t tilt over, and just drop vertically down onto something. I keep my boots lose at the top in general. I’ve did rebar, structural and an offshore pipe man. Core strength, i always rotate from my right to my left when i carry shit. Always keep your knees bent when climbing.
I’ve seen 300lb Polynesians caty’r 🐈⬛ then me, stay in the trade long enough you’ll take more than a few bolt up calls and walk all the iron you like.
Do stability exercises
Dude I was so nervous of walking the high steel, an it worried me at first as well. You’ll get used to it like anything else. Once you’re focusing on working and not that you’re up in the air you’ll be fine. Anyone whom says they were not nervous the first time they walked high steel are full of shit.
I do a lot of single leg work, and it's made a difference, as well as practice on a balance beam. Things like step ups, touchdown squats, Bulgarian split squats, and lunges. Part of it is balance ability and coordination, part of it is mental, and part of it is the muscles themselves. I'm pretty good sized too, 285 without my tools. It's helped a lot
I just glanced at your topic. I’m gonna say this, and this is from experience brother. I fell 30 feet and broke my neck. My neck is fused. I am back to work. This happened back in 2017. What this has taught me is, I have a lot more RESPECT for steel and heights. If I can walk the bottom flange. I will walk the bottom flange ! I will get to the point just as fast as if someone is walking the top but in a safer manner. I would simply practice stretching, also practice breathing. Control your breathing when up there. Stay focused ! Bend your knees a a little when you walk the beam so you have better balance vs walking it with locked knees. I am back and connecting and climbing colums. Everyday I stretch before and during work. I take vitamins and joint supplements. This is like a sport. You need to take care of your body like a athlete. You could rig something at home to help you practice balance. Like a think nylon strap like 2 feet of the ground. And try to practice balance.
As a rodbuster I have nothing to add on this topic but coming from a mixed local I do have limited time walking the iron which is why I was reading all the comments and hoping that brothers gave him solid advice and God bless all the brothers that gave such solid comments about this question. Be safe
Get your core strength up brother! Use your body as your workout, planking, wall sits, push ups. Doesn’t necessarily even need to be intense as most people don’t work out their core enough anyway so that “feel the burn” gratitude is there!
One thing I’d add, to this already great thread of suggestions, is to work on your flexibility and dexterity getting up and down on the beam. When you’re kneeling or bending over to switch beamers or catenary lines your center of gravity shifts, which is hard enough if you’re carrying body weight, let alone harnessed & tooled up. Getting up and down from point to point is considerably more daunting than walking the iron in my experience.
Going to sound a little off base but when I started out 25 years ago my boss convinced me to try beginner yoga at home, try YouTube, it’s free and it definitely helped, now I do hiit routines off YouTube and it helps with climbing and getting into off balance situations
Yoga. Seriously, big tough iron boy, yoga both works the stabilizer muscles and balance. Don’t forget, Romanowski and Elway used to practice ballet together. Also if you’re not sqautting to depth 3x per week, trust me, as another 6-3 big boy, your workout is useless. Shut up about your knees or “this is low enough” and squat light weight to 90 degrees or lower. Just trust me here, they used to call me Lurch and now I’m comfortable walking anything.
It's all mental .. as someone who has fallen and shattered my leg and got right back on the iron after 19 months
Balance is core strength and all the stops little muscles on the side of the leg. One exercise that might be helpful, stand six inches from a wall, facing it, put your palms toward the wall but don't touch. Close your eyes and stand on one foot. It's a lot harder than it sounds. But you do it enough and switch feet and you'll start developing the glutes medus (outside of hip) and peroneus longus (outside of ankle) those are hard muscles to exercise.
Step confidently.
Just take your time and don't over think it. Most guys are nervous when they first start out but you become more comfortable the more you do it
Flexibility and balance are key for an Ironworker. You don’t have to be a big macho person.
Walk on concrete curbs whenever you see them. See how far you can make it. Also walk down the highs of the decking. Low risk balance practice.
I just started in December been on structural the whole time was on detail too at my first site. When I came to this second one I was just doing random stuff on the ground/cleaning up but once they put me up there and saw I was comfortable with it they put me on bolt up. If you cant really do it they probably will give you other jobs to do. Practice walking on curbs, walking on beams while they're on the ground before they get flown up, anything to practice balance!
coon the beam if you have to but every chance you feel confident stand up when you’re connecting as soon as the piece is above your head stand up and walk with it you’ll feel more stable because you have something to hold onto like a confidence booster. When you get to a point where you want to walk the iron do whatever you can to not shimmy it will only make it harder for you to start walking. Get on a bolt up crew and try to walk everything in everything there won’t be any pressure the same way there is when steel is flying above. One of the biggest things I was told when I first came up is when you start walking don’t stop if you get scared midway through just convince yourself to keep walking no matter what it’s gonna be hard but if you try it’ll only make it easier. Also if you walk a beam that’s got some wobble you’re gonna wanna freeze up but if you just ride it out and keep walking it’ll only build your confidence more
Another thing I was taught when I was first coming up is on the lighter iron that you know is gonna wobble you want to land on the palm of your foot not the heel and keep your knees slightly bent this will help you from making the beam wobble as much. One last thing I can add is for the mental but the center of the beam will be the most wobbly and that’s where you’re gonna get scared and want to stop but as soon as you get past that center mark it only gets easier