Battle Ropes

Battle Ropes for triathletes
I know sounds weird why would an endurance athlete who spends most of their time swimming, biking and running even consider a new approach.
I shall tell thee!
Firstly what are battling ropes?
This type of training is not new but has seen a new introduction and thought process over the past ten years with it re starting in America.

The ropes come in various sizes, predominantly 25mm and 45mm with lengths of 5m, 10m and 25m and weigh 7.5 and 20 kg.
Benefits of battle rope training include
The benefits of training with the ropes is that it is just isn’t a conditioning tool, this piece of equipment will work every muscle you have including some you didn’t know about.
One of the big benefits is the development or enhancement of power endurance It is essentially the ability to apply maximal force, at maximal speed, for a maximal amount of time. This requires a huge demand on the energy systems in the body, burning a huge amount of calories and improving strength and fitness.

 Power endurance – the ropes increase all over power by working the whole body as a unit

 Low impact Minimal stress is placed on the joints, with all the force applied through the muscular system.

 Athletic Performance. Trains the neuromuscular system to apply force that begins at the core and extends through the extremities (both arms and legs) - a must for improving performance.

 Calorie Burner. Burns just as many calories as sprinting, high-intensity interval training and heavy resistance training

 Killer core workout. Works the core not just the abs, remember the core goes from hip to shoulder diagonally across the body front and back and down to your knees front and back thus it ensures that by both applying power from the core and stabilizing and bracing spinal movement.

 Builds functional strength. The body is worked as an integrated unit rather than in isolation.

 Psychological training. This will push your boundaries because it burns as soon as you start and you need to push through the burning to reap the benefits.

 Easy to use from novice to elite levels and once you can’t hold them anymore just drop and go!



Using the ropes
Ensure the rope is wrapped around an anchor point, and you hold it at the very end of the rope's length. Then using a whipping or circular motion with your arms, you create what's called a “wave”, which requires a huge metabolic demand to maintain in the rope.
There are four basic exercises which are commonly used and are standardized throughout the world.

The Wave- create continuous waves as a double or alternate wave

The Pull- by copying the action of a skier you pull the rope towards and the side of you, again to one side or alternate.

The Slam – basically like a wave but slam the rope downwards to the floor every time you lift.

Jumping jack- the same as a bodyweight jumping jack but use the ropes.

These exercises are great for athletes of all sports; however we have developed a few to further the development and power of triathletes especially for the swim.

Corkscrews- similar to a wave but ensure the rope rotates in a continuous manner in a circular motion, both can be done as one rope, singles or alternates and ensure you go the opposite direction.

Hi-lo’s- you need a bosu for this as well or a mat, Slam in the standing position then drop on to the bosu and conduct another slam.
Front crawl- lie on a bench face down with the ropes in each hand and execute alternate waves with straight arms and kick your legs at the same time as if swimming front crawl.

Back crawl- lie on a bench on your back with the ropes in each hand and start alternating the ropes in a wave like motion kicking your legs.

Butterfly- lie on a bench face down and execute corkscrew motions with the rope change direction each set. Legs moving in a dolphin kick motion.

The best use for the above is a metabolic session so we employ a 30 second work rate followed by 15 seconds rest, repeat for five minutes rest 1 minute and move to the next exercise or repeat the same one.

Get them ropes moving!