St Patrick's Day Battleropes Workout

Happy St Pat's to our Irish followers!! Before you go wild with the partying you may want to fire off this workout, however. Go wild, but go wild with this workout first!!

Introduction

Happy St Patrick’s Day to all those from Irish stock and welcome to our St Patrick’s Day Workout!! Granted, even in this time when everything appears to be locked down many Irish folk will be eager to get a party in full swing with a drop of the strong stuff. No problem, a day off letting your hair down is good for the spirit… and the body’s recovery. Let’s cram in this wee pre-St Paddies festivities shenanigans workout though so your metabolism is already in overdrive even as you let your hair down for the day!!

The St Patrick’s Day workout is a Battlerope workout designed to stoke the metabolism, enhance the EPOC effect post-workout and allow the body to continue to burn calories even as you party away!

According to folklore, St Patrick drove all the snakes out of Ireland. So I figured this workout will pay tribute to the legend by being a workout using the serpentine-like Battleropes. Drive your own snakes out!

Introduction

Battleropes would not look out of place down at some dock for tying up a ship at harbour. These thick ropes have become popular in functional fitness over the last 15 or so years due to the intense workouts they can provide from moving them. Battleropes are very popular with athletes who cross-train with them as a way to improve their strength and endurance. They have over time become more and more commonplace at gyms (gyms that are open that is!)

As the name might suggest, using these ropes isn’t going to be a pushover. The ropes are thick and heavy, which provides the resistance to work all of your muscles groups hard. The benefits are a total body workout, strengthening your arms, shoulders, core and legs whilst providing a serious conditioning workout. They work every muscle group simultaneously and allow freedom of movement. This freedom of movement allows you to reach different angles and ranges of motion and target muscles groups in a way regular weights can’t. The exercises are also low impact, meaning you get a crazy cardio workout with none of the downsides from injuries associated with running.

HIIT Training

Since Battleropes are a form of HIIT cardio (high-intensity interval training), using them in workouts can help burn more calories in a shorter amount of time. Indeed, using them in workouts can be incredibly exhausting, many fit people struggle to use them for 30 seconds or longer. This makes them ideal for short bursts of exercise such as HIIT. Short bursts of exercise with short periods of recovery. HIIT training has been proven to burn more calories than lower intensity steady-state cardio in a shorter amount of time.

Another great benefit of using Battleropes in HIIT workouts are the EPOC effect. HIIT puts your metabolism into overdrive which essentially means you’ll burn fat for hours after your workout.

Finally, due to the average person’s ability to only use Battleropes for shorter periods, Battlerope workouts are therefore ideal for people short on time. You can easily squeeze in a killer workout in under 20 minutes.

Are you sold? Good, because you have a St Patrick’s Day party to attend so let’s get on with it!!

The Circuit

The circuit will be a combination of Battleropes and bodyweight exercises.

4 rounds.
Minimal rest between stations (as in 15 seconds or less). Try to think of the change of exercise and muscle group to be the rest.

Warmup

Breakdown of the Circuit

Battlerope Waves (30 -45 seconds)

Walk up to ropes and stand with your feet shoulder-width apart.
Reach down and grab the ropes making sure you are not pulling them taut.
Bend your knees slightly.
Keep your wrists neutral and bring the ropes up to chest level.
Begin to move your arms up and down, creating waves with the ropes.
Continue until the time is up.

Push-ups - (30-45 seconds)

(Push that floor, push that floor!)

Alternating waves - (30-45 seconds)

Stand up straight, feet shoulder-distance apart with one end of the rope in each hand.
Bend your knees slightly and draw your shoulders back before bracing your core.
Move one arm upward, creating a wave-like movement along the length of the rope, and as you bring it back down.
Repeat with the opposite arm moving upward and back down.
Continue with this alternating wave movement as fast as possible for time.

Burpees - (30-45 seconds)

(30/45 seconds of your favourite exercise, get it done, you know you love it)

Battleropes Spirals - (30-45 seconds)

Stand up straight, feet shoulder-distance apart with one end of the rope in each hand.
Bend your knees slightly and draw your shoulders back before bracing your core.
With the ropes in hand, move your arms away from your body in circular motions.
The ropes should create spirals instead of waves.
Try alternating inward and outward circles.
Continue for time.

Mountain Climbers - (30-45 seconds)

Lateral waves- (30-45 seconds)

Stand up straight, feet shoulder-distance apart with one end of the rope in each hand.
Bend your knees slightly and draw your shoulders back before bracing your core.
Holding one end of the rope in each hand whip both arms out laterally to each side in a single movement. (Left arm out to the left and right arm out to the right).
Whip the ropes back in towards your midline again, clapping the rope ends together.
Continue these movements for time.

Jump Squats (30 -45 seconds)

Rope Slams - (30 -45 seconds)

Stand up straight, feet shoulder-distance apart with one end of the rope in each hand.
Bend your knees slightly and draw your shoulders back before bracing your core.
Powerfully bring both arms up above your shoulders together, extending your knees and rising up onto the balls of your feet.
From this position use your upper body and core to forcefully drive the ropes down to the ground, as in a ‘slam’ like movement.
Immediately repeat the movement trying to generate as much force as you can on the slam and keeping a good rhythm.
Continue these movements for time.

Push-ups - (30-45 seconds)

(Push that floor, push that floor!)

180-Degree Jump Slams - (30-45 seconds)

Stand up straight, this time with the body turned 90-degrees away from the ends of the rope so that the ropes are facing your left side.
Your right arm should be reaching across your body.
Feet roughly shoulder-distance apart.
Bend your knees slightly and draw your shoulders back before bracing your core.
Keep your shoulders and hips are facing forward, square with the feet.
Jump into the air, elevating the ropes above your head as you execute a 180-degree jump to your opposite side.
Slam the ropes into the floor as you land into the squat position.
You should now have the ropes on your right side, with your left arm reaching across the body.
Immediately undertake another 180-degree jump using the same movement with the ropes, to land back in the ‘starting position’.
Continue for time.

Burpees - (30-45 seconds)

Single-Arm Plank Waves - (30-45 seconds each side)

Start in the ‘push up’ high plank position. Palms underneath your shoulders, legs extended.
Shifting your weight to the right side for stability, grab the left rope end with your left hand.
Whip the left hand outwards, then back in again making a snake-like movement with the rope.
Ensure you keep that ‘plank’ like position throughout, utilising your core.
Undertake the movements as fast as you can.
Continue for time.

Mountain Climbers - (30-45 seconds)

Battle Rope Russian Twists- (30-45 seconds)

Similar to medicine ball or kettlebell Russian twists.
Sit on the floor with your knees bent and heels touching the floor for stability.
With the rope ends at your left side, grab both ends with your hands.
Lean back until you feel your core is being challenged and has to work to stay upright.
Keep your core engaged throughout the entirety of the exercise. Use it to generate all of the movement.
In a fast, dynamic motion whip the ropes over from the left to your right side.
Reverse the movement from right to left.
Do this rapidly and without rest, making the cope do all the work as opposed to the arms or from the momentum of the movement.
Continue for time.

Jump Squats (30 -45 seconds)

Circuit Summary

Battlerope Waves (30 -45 seconds)
Push-ups – (30-45 seconds)
Alternating waves – (30-45 seconds)
Burpees – (30-45 seconds)
Battleropes Spirals – (30-45 seconds)
Mountain Climbers (30-45 seconds)
Lateral waves- (30-45 seconds)
Jump Squats (30 -45 seconds)
Rope Slams – (30 -45 seconds)
Push-ups – (30-45 seconds)
180-Degree Jump Slams – (30-45 seconds)
Burpees – (30-45 seconds)
Single-Arm Plank Waves – (30-45 seconds each side)
Mountain Climbers (30-45 seconds)
Battle Rope Russian Twists- (30-45 seconds)
Jump Squats (30 -45 seconds)

'Luck of the Irish' Finisher

Got time to throw in a fat-burning finisher and end on a high? Roll one Die (a dice to anyone not familiar with the singular :D) and whatever the result undertake the respective exercise to completion. Don’t have a ‘die’? Try this online one here to obtain your results. 🙂

2-mile run.
8 x 100-metre sprints.
100 burpees.
100 kettlebell/dumbbell swings
50 push-ups/50 squats.
25 x renegade rows. 25 x dumbbell thrusters. 25 x clean and press. 25 x dumbbell push presses.