Battle ropes · Bodyweight
How to last longer on battle ropes
How to work a battle rope without just flailing, the ladder from twenty seconds to continuous minutes, and how to train it in intervals.
The movement
How to do one properly.
Every rep the same shape, so the numbers mean the same thing on day thirty as on day one.
- 1
Feet shoulder width, knees bent, hips back a little, one end of the rope in each hand.
- 2
Make waves from the shoulders and elbows, the rope travelling in a line towards the anchor.
- 3
Keep your chest up and your stomach braced; the rope moves, you do not.
- 4
Breathe to the rhythm of the waves rather than holding it.
- 5
The work is the time under the rope. Count minutes, not waves.
The way up
How to last longer on battle ropes
Rung 1
20 on, 40 off
Twenty seconds of waves, forty of rest, eight rounds. Learn the wave at full effort.
Rung 2
30 on, 30 off
Same rounds, less rest. Ten rounds is five minutes under the rope.
Rung 3
Continuous minute
Alternating waves without stopping. One minute, rest two, three rounds.
Rung 4
Slams and side to side
Change the wave every twenty seconds. Harder than it reads.
Battle ropes are intervals by nature. Two or three sessions a week of eight to ten rounds, and shorten the rest before you lengthen the work.
Grip and shoulders go first. If the waves lose height, the round is over regardless of what the clock says; small waves are rest with extra steps.
How it is counted
On the board, however it got there.
No watch counts battle ropes, so nobody's does. Say it out loud in the app or type it in, and it lands the same as a synced session.
Worth 10 points per minute in the app, so a challenge can weigh it against anything else you count.
Questions
Asked about battle ropes
How long should a set be?
Twenty to thirty seconds of full-height waves is a real set. Past a minute almost everyone is making ripples, not waves.
How are ropes counted?
In minutes of work. Log the time you spent under the rope, not the rest between rounds.
Does it count from my watch?
No watch counts battle ropes, so nobody's does. Say it out loud in the app or type it in, and it lands the same as a synced session.
Is it free?
Yes. The athlete app is free: logging, challenges and every guide on this site. Coaches pay for their workspace; the people they coach do not.
Other exercises
Everything else we count.
Push up
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Pull up
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Squat
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Plank
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Sit up
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Dip
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Burpees
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Lunges
How to do more lunges
Jumping jacks
How to do more jumping jacks
Skipping
How to skip rope longer
Extensions
How to do more back extensions
Running
How to run further
Cycling
How to ride further
Swimming
How to swim further
Rowing
How to row further
Steps
How to walk more steps every day
Hiking
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Football
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Basketball
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Tennis
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Dancing
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Yoga
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Do more battle ropes.
Let someone see it.
Get the app, log what you did or let your watch send it, and hand your friends the code.