Everything You Should Know About Battle Rope Workout
Saravanan "Sharu" Hariram
May 12, 2022
Saravanan "Sharu" Hariram
May 12, 2022
With the increase in sedentary lifestyles, the chances of fostering various lifestyle health conditions are significantly increasing. Rope training has gained popularity with fitness enthusiasts, trainers and professional athletes. People have been using them for intense calorie-burning workouts. Exercises, such as battle rope workout, require less time and have increased the sedentary population’s interest as it targets multiple muscles simultaneously. A battle rope workout is fun, effective, and can help you burn a lot of calories.
A battle rope workout is low-impact but involves high-intensity training using ropes. It allows you to strengthen muscles, improve cardiovascular endurance and burn a lot of calories, all at the same time. John Brookfield designed battle rope training in 2006 in his backyard. The battle rope training regimen is for fitness goals such as increasing strength, power, and muscular endurance..
According to ACE studies, battle rope workouts caused most muscles to contract at or above the 40% MVIC threshold (maximum voluntary isometric contraction). The muscles must be contracting above 40% MVIC to gain strength. As a result, the study concludes that battle ropes are ideal for cardiorespiratory or muscle strengthening. It is performed alternatively with high-intensity exercise followed by a low-intensity or complete rest.
The battle rope is simple but helpful fitness equipment. It is easy to maintain, use, and keep. Besides that, they don’t need a ton of space and can be rolled up just like a jump rope for easy storage. A 10-minute battle rope workout can help you burn up to 100 calories, based on your weight.
Material is your most important consideration. You have essentially three material options when buying a battle rope:
Poly Dacron is a synthetic rope made from polypropylene and Dacron fibres. Dacron provides strength in the outer braid, while propylene provides a lightweight core. Propylene used for the body reduces the rope’s weight, makes it lighter, and reduces the cost of the rope. The main benefit of poly dacron is that it doesn’t shed. Price is the easiest way to tell between cheap and good poly dacron.
Manila is an organic fibre made from hemp. These ropes tend to shed tiny fibres making them not suitable for indoors. Also, they get misty when they get wet. Manila has a higher cost than Poly Dacron rope. Manila ropes are also 10% to 25% more expensive than comparable poly dacron ropes.
There are three standard lengths of battle rope, i.e., 30-feet, 40-feet, and 50-feet, with 1.5-2-inch thickness. The length of the battle rope depends on the available space. The most famous battle rope lengths are 50 feet, 40′ and 30′, respectively. The 2 inch ropes are 35% larger than the 1.5 inch ropes and require a firmer grip to maintain and control the battle rope.
The intensity of battle rope workouts varies by changing rope length, thickness, wave velocity, amplitude, anchor position, and muscle mass used. It is best to start with a lighter and shorter rope which is usually 3 metres long and 3.8 cm thick. As one gains strength, longer 6-9 metres length and 5cm thickness ropes are ideal. To target different muscle groups, performing a variety of battle rope exercises is essential.
Some of the battle rope workouts one can follow are as follows:
Battle ropes training can help building muscular strength, enhancing athletic performance, and increasing cardiorespiratory fitness. It improves the stability of both the upper and lower body. It is also an excellent alternative to cardio exercises. Some of the other benefits are as follows:
Regular training with battle rope workouts can improve grip strength, stimulate the aerobic energy system, work on targeted muscle groups, and help lose fat. Ropes create a dual force dynamic effect; one uses the force of gravity and the force created by rope waves to amplify and improve physiological response.
High Intensity Interval training burns 25-30% more calories than other individual forms of exercises such as weight training, running, and biking. Battle rope HIIT is perfect for boosting your workout efforts as it increases the heart rate, breathing rate and energy expenditure. Battle ropes can also be combined with other traditional body weight exercises such as squats, push ups, lunges, and triceps dips etc., for added fat loss benefits.
As discussed, the battle rope is a part of the HIIT workout. Several studies have shown that HIIT increases the metabolic rate for hours after exercise. Even after completing your workout, your body burns out more calories than usual. It boosts your BMR(basal metabolic rate). BMR means how many calories your body burns if kept in complete resting mode. And a higher metabolism means more calorie burning when you are even at rest. Higher metabolism can also shift the body’s energy derivation towards fat than the carbs.
Battle rope training can increase the ability of the muscles to use oxygen. This in turn increases the oxygen consumption in the body. Following a 20 minutes of battle rope exercise 3-4 times per week for 4-5 weeks, can improve oxygen consumption by up to 9%.
Battle ropes are known for their strength-building and cardio benefits. Battle rope exercises do not make muscles get too much load at once. Rather, it works on creating continuous tension in the muscles. Research has shown that adding battle rope exercises into sports training improves athletic performance. For example, an eight-week study of basketball players has demonstrated significant improvements in speed, jump height, core endurance, and shooting accuracy. It also increased aerobic capacity and upper body strength.
A battle rope workout is an excellent way to lose weight and gain strength. It helps in burning extra calories and enhances the metabolic rate. It decreases body fat, heart rate, and blood pressure and may help in lowering blood sugar and improving insulin sensitivity as well. The best part about this workout is that you can do it almost anywhere as it is adaptable at home and gym. However, start slow and steady. You might jump into potential injuries without adequately warming up beforehand.
A. Each exercise requires a maximum of 30 seconds with 30 seconds to one-minute rest before moving on to the next one.
A. Battle rope workouts help in burning overall body fat – including the belly fat, by increasing oxygen consumption, heart rate, breathing rate and metabolism. It also helps in strengthening the upper body and the core
A. Battle rope workout increases upper body strength and promotes fat loss while simultaneously increasing muscle endurance.
A. Yes, a battle rope is a helpful exercise to gain a little bit of muscle mass, lose fat, tone existing muscles, and build muscle endurance. They provide optimum results when performed correctly.
A. It depends upon your fitness goal. Ten minutes of battle rope daily is good for building strength. Though there are no rules for how often one should follow a battle rope routine, doing high-intensity workouts can lead to injury. Hence, it is best to do them on alternate days.
A. Yes, using battle ropes at home is fine as you can do them anywhere, be it gym or home. They are also relatively easy to install and can coil up out of the way when not in use. However, you will need a fair amount of space to perform the exercise as the rope requires extension from the anchor when in use.
A. Battle ropes are lower impact workouts. Hence, it will help build muscle endurance, power, and strength in the body. With an appropriate low calorie, high protein diet one can get ripped as well.
A. Battle rope workouts mainly engage upper body muscles such as the shoulder, upper and lower back, arms, and core . When performed with jumps, squats, and lunges,it can become a proper whole body workout.
A. It depends on the thickness and length of the rope. For example, a 1.5-inch 30-foot battle rope will weigh around 16-18 lbs (7-8 kgs), 1.5-inch 40-foot battle rope will weigh around 22-24 lbs, (10- 11 kgs) and a 1.5-inch 50-foot battle rope will weigh around 27-29 lbs. (12-13 Kgs)