Most of the tried and true equipment you use at the gym is made of iron—but if you want to torch fat, boost your metabolism, and sculpt your muscles, ditch the weights and pick up the ropes!

Battle ropes were originally used as a training method for American football players and Mixed Martial Arts fighters to enhance endurance. This effective and simple means of improving conditioning has since spilled directly into the exercise mainstream across the globe. But it's not just because using them can make you feel like a warrior—they’re super effective for total-body conditioning.

Although the ropes’ original intention was to build endurance…and it does…battle ropes also provide a full body workout; with a range of movements and exercises being used in a short space of time, you can attack every part of your body with battle ropes just as well as you can during other full body methods of training. The end results of consistent heavy rope workouts are: toned muscles, burned fat, and increased power, strength, and flexibility.

Both a cardiovascular and a strength-based exercise, whipping the ropes around will burn twice the amount of fat than you would slugging away at long-duration cardio (ie. treadmill). If you think about it, fat is burned through building muscle. You won’t build much muscle running on the treadmill for prolonged periods of time. But thrashing these heavy ropes propel your heart to its maximum rate while simultaneously increasing muscle mass, resulting in pure metabolism-boosting magic! Studies show that you can burn 112 calories in just 10 minutes!

There’s no two-ways around it: Battle ropes look fierce. But these thick, heavy length ropes can be brought into your training routine with confidence. So stop nervously eyeing them up from the other side of the gym and start your fitness battle with the ropes.

EXERCISE 1: ALTERNATING SPEED WAVE

1. Stand with your feet at shoulder-width distance in a quarter-squat, holding one end of the rope in each hand.

2. Rapidly lower and raise your right arm to about chest height, causing a wave motion throughout the rope; repeat on the other side for one rep. Continue for 15 total reps.

EXERCISE 2: GRAPPLER TOSS

1. Stand with your feet at shoulder-width distance in a quarter-squat, holding one end of the rope in each hand with a thumbs-up grip.

2. Bring both hands up and overhead, then down to the right side of your body, ending at around mid-thigh height.

3. Repeat on opposite side for one rep. Do 15 total reps.

EXERCISE 3: THE WAVE

1. Stand with your feet at shoulder-width distance in a quarter-squat, holding one end of the rope in each hand.

2. Rapidly lower and raise both arms simultaneously to about chest height, causing a wave motion throughout the rope. Your goal is to be explosive from the hips and keep the wave in a continuous motion, adds Prairie. Continue for 15 total reps.

EXERCISE 4: JUMPING JACK

1. Stand with your feet at shoulder-width distance, holding one end of the rope in each hand.

2. Rapidly jump your feet out to the sides while simultaneously bringing the rope up and out overhead, as if you were doing a jumping jack.

3. Slam the rope down while bringing our feet back together for one rep. Do 15 total reps.

You will see the most benefit from these exercises by going hard from beginning to end and maintaining a high level of intensity throughout each motion. If you feel the burn, you’re doing it right! This burning sensation means you are enhancing strength, toning muscles, and burning away the fat. As you build strength and improve conditioning, you can gradually increase the length of your rope workout.

Training with battle ropes is also an excellent way to improve your mobility.  It’s been well documented that dynamic battle rope movements can help to increase the range of motion in your joints and they can be incredibly effective for increasing mobility in everything from your hips, knees, and ankles to your wrists and shoulders when incorporated into a normal workout regimen.

Working with battle ropes can also help you to build stability, especially exercises in which your feet are planted firmly on the ground throughout the movement. The force you generate when you slam the rope is eventually returned to you, which requires you to maintain your stability throughout the exercise. Over time, training with battle ropes can help you to build a more sound and supportive stance, helping you to develop more stability in both your upper and lower body with regular adherence.

And on top of everything else, working with battle ropes can also help you to develop your mental fortitude. There’s no getting around it…a battle rope workout is tough; as little as 30 seconds at a time of intense effort can be enough to set your lungs, along with every muscle in your body, on fire, no matter how experienced you are. When you’re first starting out, just making it to the next 30-second exercise block can seem impossible, let alone making out of the entire workout alive. But after you’ve conquered the challenge a few times, you’ll be overwhelmed by a sense of fulfillment that will keep you coming back and over time, you’ll notice that what once felt impossible, is no longer all that daunting. 

Regularly working with battle ropes can help you get comfortable with pushing yourself harder and further than you thought possible, which, at the end of the day, can help you to build a kind of mental toughness that extends far beyond exercise.  

Ready to give it a try? Both Success Studio locations have battle ropes just waiting to be slammed, thrashed, and whipped around! And our trainers would love to help you get started on them! After you give it a go, let us know what you think in the comments below.