How to Master Battleropes
22nd Jun 20
Battle ropes are huge in modern fitness routines. They are seen everywhere from in the gym to social media, and understanding the best tips on how to use them is always the first step in making them work for you. To do that, we’re here to help.
Although battle ropes may well come across as a little bit daunting, in reality, they are just full of untapped potential ready for you to use. No matter what your fitness goal is, understanding how to use them properly and effectively can truly take your fitness to new heights, and you’re in the perfect place to get that done.
Whether you’re using them as a finisher for your full body workout or even a full workout session of their own, it doesn’t change anything either. Using them for just 10 minutes can actually burn off more calories than running, cycling and even skipping! But before we get ahead of ourselves, let’s break things down. Battle ropes can help you with everything, after all.
Want to move fast? Jump to the right section below.
Building Strength
Strength training is one of the more common uses for a battle rope. There is a considerable number of different ways you can use the ropes for strength training, but there are a few moves, in particular, that stand out, especially for the upper body. You can adjust the difficulty of these strength exercises too by changing the slack of the ropes. The tighter they are, the easier the exercise.
Best Exercise: Power Slams
Power slams are essentially a form of plyometric training. You have to use all of the explosive power in your twitch muscle fibres to slam the ropes on the floor with as much power as you can. Performing this exercise regularly will increase your overall strength.
Building Endurance
Training to boost your general performance is just as important as training to boost your strength. Changing up the resistances and the movements you use in the battle ropes increases stamina in other muscle groups as well as your stamina in general. So give movements like circles or crossovers a try, and this will help to imporve the muscles in your shoulders and upper chest!
Best Exercise: Alternating Waves
A popular exercise when using a battle rope is the alternating wave pattern. This is an up and down movement, like the power slams, but alternating the ropes instead of moving them together, as the name suggests. This will help stop you from putting all of the power you can into the ropes, but still give you a healthy strength boost. In addition to this, it will also give you more of a H.I.I.T. workout and help increase your stamina the more you do it.
Cardio Training
Strength is clearly the main theme here, but there is more than one use for a battle rope than building strength. Battle ropes can be used to build up your cardio. A lot. Squats, jumps and stepping can be done with a battle rope, giving you a much more effective cardio workout. To do this, try movements that use other muscles than just your arms, so your whole body is burning calories throughout the exercise.
Best Exercise: Shuffle Waves
Shuffle waves are a good and effective use of a battle rope, and provide a good cardio workout. Similar to the above exercise, the ropes must move in alternating waves so that you can still get a enough upper body involvement, but also add side stepping thoughout. This means that your legs helping you to alternate the waves as you move the ropes up and down. Moving also means that the resistance of the ropes varies, meaning that the more you step the less work your arms will have to do. All of this works towards a fuller, more successful workout.
No matter what your fitness goal is, there is always room for you to fit using battle ropes into your workut routine. You could even create a whole new workout based around battleropes and what we have talked about above. The best way to use them is to put the exercises you would like to do into a circuit format. This way you can make the most of your time and energy. Even the inclusion of Tabata like techniques can be useful here for some serious calorie burning.
Before beginning any exercise or nutrition program, consult your physician, doctor or other professional. This is especially important for individuals over the age of 35 or persons with pre-existing health problems. Exercise.co.uk assumes no responsibility for personal injury or property damage sustained using our advice.
If you experience dizziness, nausea, chest pain, or any other abnormal symptoms, stop the workout at once and consult a physician or doctor immediately.
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