Battle Ropes and Powerful Strength Training You Can Do With Them
Imagine that you are clapping, swinging, pulling and moving a huge, large rope, and then in less than a minute you can feel your arms, lungs and body burning. Fighting ropes are as cool as they sound, and they are a new and challenging twist on your fitness routine .
The steepness and novelty are not the only reasons we talk about these ropes. Battle rope workouts challenge your stamina, strength and overall fitness andburns a lot of calories . Take a look what I mean:
From the video, this looks like grueling arm training (which it might be), but actually a lot of things are going on here: I keep my whole body, including my core, resistant to pulls and pulls. skipping rope to control movement. I also force my entire body, including my wrists, forearms, ankles, hips and shoulders, to move rhythmically with the waves that I create. It doesn’t look like a big deal, but it takes a lot of energy and coordination to keep the ropes in motion for more than 30 seconds, let alone to keep pace.
Believe me, battle ropes are needed not only for flashy workouts. They help develop grip strength and muscle endurance, and are also an excellent form of cardio.
Where to find battle ropes (or how to make your own)
I first encountered combat ropes many years ago in a small boutique gym, but in recent years I have seen them with surprising regularity in commercial gyms. I saw them stretching out the other day at my local 24/7 fitness center. If your gym doesn’t already have outdoor fighting ropes, try asking the gym staff. Sometimes they are, but they are stored in a warehouse, because battle ropes are easy to misuse.
Most ropes are usually 40-50 feet long and are made of very strongpolypropylene , manila, or nylon. Most of the ones you can buy are made from polypropylene or manila: polypropylene rope is more versatile and withstands bumps outdoors or indoors; Manila filaments will wear out much more with use, so it is best to save them for outdoor use.
Battle ropes also vary in thickness, from 1.5 to 2.5 inches, and in weight. Unsurprisingly, heavier, thicker ropes make your workout harder. If you are new to battle ropes, the 50ft 1.5in rope is a good starting point: you will get a crazy challenge from the start and still give yourself room to grow in them even as you get stronger. You can buy training combat ropes online at stores like Onnit and Perform Better . However, they are not cheap and will cost you at least $ 150 on average.
For a much cheaper alternative, you can get by with anold garden or fire hose (the latter of which is explained in the Buff Dude video above); or buy a lighter 50-foot rope and tape the ends to form handles. You can even justuse a sheet if you want to give up the rope but still want to simulate a workout.
Awesome exercises to do with battle ropes
The aforementioned video from Onnit Academy will show you how to properly place your battle ropes. Before you start twisting them willy-nilly, make sure you have plenty of room . The rope itself must be completely untied from an anchorage point such as a pole, lamp post, tree, squat rack, or some other very secure and heavy object, but you should still leave the rope a little slack. To make sure it is securely attached, wrap the rope twice around the anchor point.
When you’re ready to rock, all you have to do is learn a few basic moves. Of course, the correct form comes first. The video above, Warrior Sciences: Self Defense and Athletics , is about good technique. In every combat rope exercise, you should always tense your core muscles, leave a slight bend in your knees as if you were sitting on your back, and keep your back straight and “shoulder blades down.” At the same time, keep your weight centered and stable, and fight with the whip and rope pull as you work out. This is all part of the problem.
Double wave
Holding the rope ends in each hand, stand shoulder-width apart and keep your knees slightly bent. At the same time, raise both hands up to about shoulder level and swing them down as if fanning something to create waves with the rope.
Remember, this is not just a hand movement; you have to bounce up and down to move in sync with the ropes and keep the waves under control and stability. The smaller the waves, the more force and speed you have to apply, and the harder it is.
Variable wave
As with the double wave, stand shoulder-width apart and grasp the handle with each hand. This time, raise one hand up to start a wave on one side, but as you lower that hand, raise your other hand to do the same. Continue to quickly raise and lower your arms alternately. It takes a little more coordination and extra effort to stay stable and avoid wobbling from side to side. Think of pulling the rope upward as if you were trying to flip a pancake in a frying pan.
Power strike
The power slap is a good next step when you get comfortable with the double wave.
Much of this pleasure will come from synchronizing your body movements with the ropes. This means that when you raise both arms to shoulder level, your entire body should also rise. Then use the downward momentum and all your strength to slap the rope hard and repeat. During this exercise, you can keep your feet on the ground or do some sort of light jump squat to gain extra leverage, speed, and power. You can also try alternating power strikes.
Snakes on the floor
Stand with feet shoulder-width apart. This time, you will crouch slightly, keeping both ropes to one side and low to the ground. Then swing them from side to side, creating what looks like slithering snakes sliding side by side on the floor. If you like, you can make alternating snakes on the floor if they don’t get tangled.
Jumping jack
It’s easier: hold the ropes and jump as usual. The ropes just add extra weight and keep you steady so you don’t get pulled by the ropes.
Of course, these are just the basics. Many of the more advanced rope exercises are simply modified versions of them. Once you feel confident in your coordination and skill level, you can addside movements, lunges, squats and jumps for a whole new challenge. Don’t worry if you don’t move right away or if you feel out of shape. Battle ropes do this to almost everyone. Do one exercise at a time. If you want to tie multiple exercises together, this workout will look like this:
Combat rope training usually lasts about 20 minutes. They are short, sweaty, and intense, just like high intensity interval training (HIIT). In fact, you can treat combat ropes the same way you treat HIIT training, which means that the training itself is based on a given work-to-rest ratio . For example, you can do double waves, power strikes, jumping from a springboard, or any exercise with a battle rope, each for 20-30 seconds and rest for 30-40 seconds, about 4-5 sets.
All in all, these workouts are designed to complement your regular fitness regimen, whatever it may seem to you. Best of all, they are less efficient than sprint intervals and still offer a fantastic way to get in shape without distracting too much of your time.