[padikpanther]

This is for people like me who intend to stay fit but are no more interested in going to the gym for various reasons – distance, time, bored of the routine, investment vs returns, returns not quick enough, not so encouraging crowd – the list could go on and on…

What I’m sharing over here are NOT my inventions. But each and every routine which this post will display gradually, is what I’ve experimented with and learnt through trial and error (the process is still on). Needless to say these routines have their own share of aches, pains, pulls, strains, but believe me there’s immense satisfaction once you get into the groove.
All the routines are easy and convenient enough to be done alone, but I personally prefer doing it with friends as good workout partners double up as fierce competitors as well as great motivators when the chips are down.

I take this opportunity to invite you all to share your own experiments/experiences of the routines you follow/practice. I had set the following criterion –
• It’s new/different [variety is always good ]
• It’s effective
• It’s economical [time and Vitamin M wise]
• Can be done alone (or without much assistance. Having training partners is always good, but need not be a pre requisite).
• It’s easy to learn and do.

[padikpanther]

Part I-

Battling Ropes

History - Mr. John Brookfield is a pioneer of strongman training. While people were at the gym maxing out on bicep curls, Mr. Brookfield was busy ripping full decks of cards in half with his bare hands! 60 decks in 60 seconds to be precise! He was always on the prowl looking for creative, unconventional ways to build superior strength and stamina. Mr. Brookfield is a total machine when it comes to being creative with strength training, which is why he is the “Godfather” when it comes to the infamous Battling Rope training!

BATTLLING THE ROPES
If you could only use one training tool to cause the biggest metabolic impact, it would be battle ropes. Battle ropes are one of the best ways to increase overall work capacity that provides an intense muscle shredding workout that can be incorporated into any workout program.

Power endurance is an extremely demanding task on the body. 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 is the “holy grail” of athletic performance — so why not train like an athlete and reap the same benefits.

The Benefits of Using Battle Ropes
1. The Workouts Are Fast
Not everyone has hours to kill at the gym. One needs to make the most of your time by getting in a quick, yet efficient workout that works out all muscles and not make me feel like I should have done more. There are some days where I only have 20 minutes to get in a quality session.

2. Melt Fat Like A Maniac
If you’re doing a work out with your battle ropes, you’re going to burn a ton of calories. This is something that simply wouldn’t happen on a leisurely jog.

3. Build Muscle And Burn Fat Simultaneously
Today who has time for the old style of training where you lift weights for 60-90 minutes, then chug along on the treadmill for another 45 minutes to get your cardio work in? Before you know it, that’s almost 2 ½ hours down the drain. With battle ropes, you can kill two birds with one rope. Mix in short bursts of maximum heart rate battle rope undulations and not only will you build the muscles in your shoulders, biceps, and core, but you’ll simultaneously burn the fat around the muscles as well. What’s the point of having muscles if there’s a layer of blubber over them. Battle ropes are one of the most efficient ways to push your muscles and metabolism to another level at the same damn time.

4. Get Outside!
Why would you confine yourself to a crowded gym when you can breathe in the fresh outdoor air at a park, terrace or even your society parking? Not only do you get to enjoy the sun (or moonlight), but you can also get your recommended dose of vitamin D.

5. Take Them Anywhere
Battle ropes store easily in a small duffle bag, and even the biggest battle ropes are only about 30 lbs. I don’t necessarily recommend flying across the country with 50 feet of rope, but my point is that battle ropes are one of the easiest pieces of equipment to transport. They fit easily even in a hatchback. If you want to get a workout even when you are vacationing and have even a little bit of space, battle ropes are probably going to be my first choice.

6. Keep It Fresh
With treadmills, elliptical machines, and stair-masters, there’s not much variety in the workouts. The only thing you can really do is change speeds, or maybe go backwards. A simple YouTube search for “battle rope workout” will give you enough ideas to last your entire life. You can easily do a different workout 3 times a day for the rest of your life. This is why I like battle ropes. I always change the amount of reps, the set/rest duration and mix in countless moves to keep the body guessing. There’s no reason to ever repeat the same battle rope workout.

7. A Toddler Can Set Them Up
Have you ever tried to set up cardio equipment from scratch? With battle ropes, all you need is an anchor point like a telephone poll, railing, or even your workout partner’s foot and you’re good to go right out of the box. You can literally get in to shred mode within 2 minutes of opening your battle rope box.

8. Low Impact/Big Results
Although battle rope workouts can be intense and brutal, you can tone them down to any fitness level. Whether you’re just starting out or recovering from an injury there’s a battle rope routine that can benefit you without pain or discomfort. Because the workouts use your body’s natural range of motion, you don’t have the negative restrictive aspects of common weight machines. There are also different weights of battle ropes so you can start light, and build up as you get stronger by choosing a longer length, a larger diameter, or a combination of both.

9. Work Multiple Muscles At The Same Time
With battle ropes, you can instantly change from working both your legs and shoulders, to working your biceps and abs. That’s four different muscle groups in one set. Throw in some squats, lunges, or lateral shuffles with your upper body moves and you’ll be tapping out in no time.

10. Partner Up
I always prefer to train with a work out partner. It keeps me motivated, accountable, and prevents me from doing cheat reps. With battle ropes, you can easily have 4 people working out with one rope. Using a simple interval rotation, your rest periods become your partner’s work period. Rotate around in a circuit and before you know it, there will be 4 sets of arms that are exhausted, and 4 sets of abs that are that much closer to being exposed. Get a partner (or 3), grab your battle rope and take your training routine to the next level.

In short the benefits are as follows:

• Low to no impact on the joints which is important for longevity.
• Burns as many calories and elevates heart rate just as much as sprinting and running.
• Allows for continuous power output where other tools have a clear stop and go or easy and hard part during the movement.
• Involves the entire body.
• Works the core muscles in ways that few other training tools can by both utilizing your shoulders, hips, and abs and also forcing you to brace your core and stabilize your spine during explosive movement.
• Builds functional strength.
• Safe to use. Just drop them when you can’t go any more.

Battling Ropes are commonly used in 2 different ways - Velocity or the Wave system and the Pole system

Velocity or Wave Subsystem training involves creating and sustaining velocity by maintaining continuous waves in the rope.

Pole Subsystem training is designed to enhance strength and endurance by pulling the rope around a pole using different positions and pulls.

The Workout
Follow the Battle rope complex workouts below and feel the difference after just one workout! Each complex progresses in complexity.
Start with complex #1 and continue to complex #2 and complex #3 with minimal rest between complexes.

Battle Rope Complex #1: Perform the complex for 2 rounds keeping the 10 seconds rest between rounds
- Double Arm Slams: 20 seconds work; 10 seconds rest
- Double Arm Waves: 20 seconds work; 10 seconds rest
- Alternating Waves: 20 seconds work; 10 seconds rest
- Lateral Waves (Snakes): 20 seconds work; 10 seconds rest

Battle Rope Complex #2: Perform 2 rounds keeping the 10 seconds rest between rounds
- Jumping Jacks: 20 seconds work; 10 seconds rest
- Claps: 20 seconds work; 10 seconds rest
- Hip to Hip Slams: 20 seconds work; 10 seconds rest
- Circles (simultaneously): 20 seconds work; 10 seconds rest

Battle Rope Complex #3: Perform 3 rounds keeping the 10 seconds rest between rounds
- Rope Slam to Burpee: 20 seconds work; 10 seconds rest
- Side Shuffle with Alternating waves: 20 seconds work; 10 seconds rest
- Broad Jump & Slams w/ Bunny Hop & Double Arm Waves: 20 seconds work; 10 seconds rest
- Chops with Alternating Lunge Jumps: 20 seconds work; 10 seconds rest

Sample workouts.
Alternative 1:
Single waves. 20:10 (20 seconds on, 10 seconds off) x 2 rounds
Double waves (both arms creating the same wave) 20:10 x 2 rounds
Reverse lunge with single waves 15 reps x 2 rounds
Wide squat with double waves 15 reps x 2 rounds

Alternative 2:
Double rope slams (pull the ropes up high and slam them down) 20:10 x 2 rounds
Lateral single waves (standing at 90 degrees to the wave - both left and right sides) 20:10 x 2 rounds
Star Jumps with rope pulls 15 reps x 2 rounds
Lateral double waves (standing at 90 degrees to the wave — both left and right sides) 20:10 x 2 rounds

Alternative 3:
Moguls (shift/jump from side to side as you perform single waves) 20:10 x 2 rounds
Jump Slam (jump up and down as you perform double waves) 20:10 x 2 rounds
Crossovers (make horizontal waves by crossing your arms over both left and right) 20:10 x 2 rounds

Sample Video:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MNVU...ature=youtu.be

[GTO]

Thread moved from the Assembly Line to Shifting Gears. Thanks for sharing!

[Latheesh]

Good, most of these body movements look like a daily routine of a rural Indian farmer :-)

[Amarendranath]

If I'm not wrong these are a part of conditioning. Also known as the predator conditioning. Thanks for sharing!! Pretty useful!

[Octane_Power]

Originally Posted by padikpanther

What I’m sharing over here are NOT my inventions. But each and every routine which this post will display gradually, is what I’ve experimented with and learnt through trial and error (the process is still on). Needless to say these routines have their own share of aches, pains, pulls, strains, but believe me there’s immense satisfaction once you get into the groove.

Thanks for sharing. These ropes are nowadays also used by conventional body builders and lifters and athletes for what they call "conditioning of muscles".

Since, you have also mentioned the point of saving time, I think CrossFit is quite effective, since the workouts are not more than 30-40 minutes and they include all sorts of compound movements and explosive exercises like box jumps, snatch etc.
I have several friends doing it since quite some time and they are insanely strong; those bulked up gym guys can't even come close to their fitness levels.

If one wants to keep it brief and see excellent results I will say look no beyond than these exercises, definite results and sureshot strength gains. :
Deadlifts, Squats, Clean and Press, Push-ups and Pull-ups(which advances to muscle-ups).
Next, running is very very important and also swimming if possible.
Finally, once a week you can incorporate conditioning.

It should be an overall thing, including strength increasing movements, cardio, stamina increasing and if you are aiming then bodybuilding also.

-Bhargav

[padikpanther]

Originally Posted by Latheesh

Good, most of these body movements look like a daily routine of a rural Indian farmer :-)

Yes Latheesh, and probably thats the reason they are so effective...

Originally Posted by Amarendranath

If I'm not wrong these are a part of conditioning. Also known as the predator conditioning. Thanks for sharing!! Pretty useful!

Amarendranth, bulls eye, very much similar to predator conditioning..

Originally Posted by Octane_Power

Thanks for sharing. These ropes are nowadays also used by conventional body builders and lifters and athletes for what they call "conditioning of muscles".

I have several friends doing it since quite some time and they are insanely strong; those bulked up gym guys can't even come close to their fitness levels.

If one wants to keep it brief and see excellent results I will say look no beyond than these exercises, definite results and sureshot strength gains. :
Deadlifts, Squats, Clean and Press, Push-ups and Pull-ups(which advances to muscle-ups).
Next, running is very very important and also swimming if possible.
Finally, once a week you can incorporate conditioning.

It should be an overall thing, including strength increasing movements, cardio, stamina increasing and if you are aiming then bodybuilding also.

-Bhargav

Bhargav/Octane Power - fully agree with each and every single word of what you have mentioned. Having done that in patches I was looking for something different when I came across this around 15 months back. I still do most of the things you have mentioned + one day of the week dedicated to soccer. Battling ropes is in addition to that.

[brraj]

I am into Cross fit training program.

This is what i follow on daily basis other than sundays.

- Everyday i break my own reps record and slowly keep improving weights.
- As its mix of most of the exercises which is done with very short breaks(30 sec), Before training i do take a fruit/energy drinks/milk etc or else i will not be able to complete 45min workout.
- Beware battling ropes is fun as well as exhaustive workout program, A 45 min of cross fit workout will be exhaustive unlike gymming.
- I do have a personal trainer to plan my daily workout and to keep me motivated till i complete the reps.
- These days i am very careful as to what i eat, I am following 70% paleo diet.

[sukhoi]

Originally Posted by padikpanther

Part I-

Battling Ropes

@padikpanther - Thanks for sharing this. Recently came across battle ropes on the internet and when searched on TBHP, came across this thread.

One question though, from where can we procure battle ropes in India. A quick search online seemed to indicate that this is quite an expensive piece of equipment almost 19K for 2" diameter 30 feet long rope on amazon.

Checked a few local sports shops but they did not have this item in stock.

Did think about buying ordinary rope and doing a DIY to put together a battle rope but not sure whether that would turn out to be effective or not. If I understand correctly, the ropes need to be of a certain weight as well to offer some resistance and make for a good workout.

Any suggestions / inputs?

Cheers,
S

[padikpanther]

Checked a few local sports shops but they did not have this item in stock.

Did think about buying ordinary rope and doing a DIY to put together a battle rope but not sure whether that would turn out to be effective or not. If I understand correctly, the ropes need to be of a certain weight as well to offer some resistance and make for a good workout.
Any suggestions / inputs?

@ Sukhoi - What I did to procure the ropes: (I started with one with a lesser diameter and then graduated to a more handful one, length remaining the same in both the cases) -visited the local shops which supply ropes especially for construction material e.g. the ropes which are used for a 'zula' which traditional painters use to lower themselves while painting the exterior of a building and/or visit the neighbourhood cricket ground, check with the ground staff as to from where do they procure the rope to mark the boundary line and you will find the shops which offer the ropes you are looking for. I got mine for 1800/- and 2400/- rupees respectively (the prices are roughly 24 months old). Hope this helps

[quickfox11]

Hi All,

The purpose of this thread is to share Sports/Fitness facilities that allow one time bookings to use them with friends and family members, but are not very popular, and/or are not easy to find through Google searches.

To start with, I am looking for facilities that have Swimming/Squash/Badminton/Lawn Tennis etc in Pune, areas being Koregaon Park or Kalyani Nagar.

I was using facilities of The Royal Club in Kalyani Nagar for swimming, which also had Badminton and Lawn Tennis courts which could be booked on hourly basis. Unfortunately, they are shut now since almost 2 months for renovation.

I have been searching for a similar place for a long time but no luck. I often see people with rackets in my area but too shy to ask. Hope someone can help here.

Note to mods: I tried searching the forum with keywords like "fitness", "sports facilities" etc but did not find a relevant thread. If there are some specific posts about it, please guide me to it. If the thread seems irrelevant to this forum, but you know any such place, please please DM me while you delete it.

[condor]

Kind of off the beaten path, but in terms of age.

TN Police officer becomes Mr Tamil Nadu- at the age of 50

https://www.rediff.com/news/special/...u/20220211.htm

Inspector Stephen Jose, of the Courtallam police station:



His story can be an inspiration to many who want to be fitter, and remain healthy as the years go by.