Top 5 Battle Rope Exercises for Strength Building

Battle ropes- these thick and heavy ropes, when first suggested as a fitness tool by John Brookfield, got immediate attention and popularity among athletes and fitness enthusiasts. People who keep looking for muscle-building exercises must’ve stumbled upon battle rope exercises. But deciding which ones to give a try and which ones not, could be challenging. We’ll tell you the top 5 battle rope exercises that you can perform for strength and muscle building.

What are the battle rope exercises?

Battle ropes have been used since ancient times for different purposes, but recently they have been labeled as the most efficient strength-building tools. They work every muscle group of the body including arms, shoulders, glutes, legs, traps, and core muscles. These exercises are performed by creating movements in the thick battle rope with your arms in various dimensions. These ropes are first anchored with a pole or tree or anything stable, and the hanging ends of ropes are then used for exercise purposes.

Benefits of the battle rope exercises

If you think these exercises only offer strength building of your body, then you must be mistaken. These exercises work on each muscle group while giving your body some major health benefits.

• Works as a full-body workout
• Improves our cardiac and respiratory health
• Improves athletic performance
• Increases the rate of fat burning
• Strengthen the core of the body
• Strengthen upper body muscles
• Improve speed and agility
• Improves balance and coordination

Top 5 battle rope exercises

There are many variations in the battle rope exercises that you can follow but these 5 exercises are the most common and beneficial ones and can be performed by both beginners and pros.

1. Waves

This battle rope exercise is a famous one as it workouts your biceps, shoulders, forearms, and core muscles, simultaneously.

1. Hold the battle ropes with a neutral grip (palms facing each other).
2. Stand in a quarter squat position while keeping your back straight.
3. Now start creating waves in the rope using all the muscles in your arms.
4. The waves could be alternating waves, up and down waves, side to side waves, squat waves, alternate side lunge waves, drum solo waves, shuffle waves, hop waves, and in and out waves.
5. Create waves in the rope with as much speed as you can.
6. Keep creating waves for 30 seconds and then take a rest for 30 seconds. Resume after that.

2. Slam

These exercises are designed to work the muscles of your upper body like triceps, biceps, abs, back, and pecs. There are variations in slams, but you can follow these basic steps to perform a basic slam rope exercise.

1. Hold the battle rope as mentioned previously.
2. Maintain a good body posture.
3. Now slam the rope down on the ground with full force. It should appear as a power slam.
4. Perform one set for 30 seconds and take rest for an equal time. Repeat it for a total of 10-15 minutes.

3. Circles

To get more out of the battle rope exercises, circular motion can be followed during these exercises. It works great for postural muscles, along with arms, shoulder, and upper chest muscles. If you decide to add squat to the battle rope circle exercise, then it can also work on the lower body muscles, by adding resistance to it.

1. Hold the battle ropes while keeping your posture straight.
2. Move out one arm and try making a wide circle with a rope.
3. The circles could be clockwise (outward circles) or could be anticlockwise (inward circles).
4. You can also move half the circle clockwise and half anticlockwise to gain the benefits of both inward and outward battle rope circle exercises.

4. Fly Whip

These are other popular movements in the battle rope workout routine. These movements are challenging for the whole back of your body. The whips fly from delt muscles to chest muscles. These waves are made in the horizontal direction.

1. Grab the battle ropes while keeping your posture straight and your elbows a little bent.
2. Squat a little bit down and whip the rope from each hand one by one in the outward horizontal direction.
3. Then move back the ropes in the inward horizontal direction to start again.

5. Grappler throws

This kind of battle rope workout strengthens whole body muscles with a major focus on the shoulder, neck, lats, forearms, biceps, and triceps. To perform this workout, follow the steps.

1. Hold the rope in both of your bands while keeping your body a little bent in the forward direction.
2. Bring the end of the ropes closer to your chest level and start navigating the rope in a pivot and flip motion (swing the battle rope from one side of your body to the other).
3. Keep navigating rope for 30 seconds followed by a rest period of 30 seconds. Repeat as much as you can.

Safety Tips

Learning and following the steps of exercises alone won’t make the difference if you will not keep these tips in mind before and during the battle rope exercise routine.

• Always warm up before performing these exercises.
• Start slowly and improve the pace.
• Maintain the fluidity and smoothness of the workout.
• Do not exert yourself and only use the size of rope your arms feel comfortable with.
• Work on your exercise form before anything.
• Add variety to your battle rope exercise routine.
• Engage your core muscles during a workout.
• Do not forget to breathe.
• Always take up the right guidance before starting the battle rope exercises.

Conclusion

Battle rope exercises might not prepare you for the battle but will surely fight your unnecessary fats to keep your body strong and healthy. Keeping these exercises in your daily or weekly workout routine will bear long-term results in terms of bodybuilding. But if it gets too much for you, you can always look for alternatives for battle rope exercises.