Sep 22, 2020Guide to Maximizing Battle Ropes
Looking for a new total upper body exercise to incorporate into your strength and conditioning routine? Take an extra look at battle ropes and the benefits it can bring.
Though they may look intimidating at first, battle ropes are a great conditioning activity that focuses on one’s shoulders, arms, back, and chest.

Specifically, battle ropes target the deltoids and arms, but also benefits the brachialis, biceps, triceps, infraspinatus, teres minor, trapezius, and abdominals, according to a recent article on FitnessVolt.com.
In the article, Fitness Volt provides a step-by-step instructional on how to properly maximize the effectiveness of battle ropes exercises.
- Hold the ends of the ropes and allow for a decent amount of slack but not too much.
- Get into an athletic stance with feet roughly shoulder-width apart, knees slightly bent, torso bent slightly forward, and keep your head straight looking forward. Also, make sure your core is tight.
- Keep your arms about shoulder-width or closer together with elbows slightly bent, then move your arms up and down nice and easy at a moderate tempo, in alternating fashion.
- Remain upright with an athletic stance for the most optimal performance possibilities. Bending too far forward is also dangerous for the back and it’s not natural.
- You can vary the range of motion and speed to engages certain muscles better or to turn up the intensity. Shorter motions will involve more arms, while larger motions will engage more of the shoulders.
- Gripping too tight will wear you out pretty fast and it’s also not great for your wrist and elbow joints. So, take a firm but not overly tight grip.
And, lastly, Fitness Volt has three variations to utilizing battle ropes.
1. Double Whip Battle Ropes
This is similar to the basic alternating variation, however, this time you’re moving both arms up and down at the same time and not in an alternating fashion. You can also use a little momentum from the legs if you want to.
2. Battle Squat Jump Rope Slams
If you’ve ever wanted a reason to do the Hulk smash without looking silly, this is your opportunity. Battle rope squat jump slams are excellent for improving both upper and lower body power and explosiveness.
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You can use heavier ropes for these to replicate medicine ball slams.
3. Plank Battle Ropes
For this one, you get into a high plank position, although, you can do this in the conventional plank position with your forearm supporting your body weight. This variation really engages the core and helps to improve full-body stabilization.
To read the full story from FitnessVolt.com on battle ropes exercises and incorporating them into strength and conditioning training, click here.