Rope Intervals

Here I am, late again... Two quick things before I get started: baseball season started Friday (for me, not MLB!) and I absolutely suck at skeeball.

Now, about the ropes...

I was introduced to these ropes through youtube a while back, and finally was able to try them when I visited the gym my brother works at. He had purchased a 50 foot nylon rope to torture his clients with, and I wanted in on the action. My introduction to the ropes was a combination first of amusement, then awe at the difficulty of the exercise, and finally of exhaustion.

Basically you're faced with a large rope wrapped around an immovable object. You grab the ends of the rope and swing away. Of course there are plenty of patterns to choose from, but any idiot can wear themselves out regardless of what they're doing with the thing. Basically, the rules are to just swing the things as hard and fast as you can. The best thing about the ropes is that it's low-impact cardio. Most people like to do their intervals on their feet and this tends to wear you down, as you're putting a lot of stress on the lower body. Using the ropes to break up the monotony of lower body dominant interval training and "cardio" can save your joints and keep your training interesting.

I recommend progressing the ropes through interval training. Start with a generous 15:45s, work:rest ratio for 8-12 rounds and work down from there. A good goal would be to get yourself down to the infamous Tabata protocol using a negative work:rest ratio of 20:10 for 4 minutes. If you're busting your ass through your 160 seconds of work you won't want to do another set. Yeah, sometimes the clock is the toughest workout partner you can find.

For fun, here's a video of Dave, Jim, and I doing some ropes during snowmageddon in DC this February. That guy sucking air on the vid? That's Jim. Oh, and yes, everybody loves training you can do outside!



If you can't tell by how often I link to him... I really enjoy Dan John's writing style and lifting philosophy. You can check his blog out or find him occasionally on T-Muscle. He's also got a book, "Never Let Go", that I just finished and really enjoyed. It's basically a collection of his best articles that tell the story about his growth as a strength coach as well as a person. I would definitely recommend it.

April Update

This is probably a good time to do a quick set of bullets on what's going on with me right now. I had a really busy weekend that led to a lack of great ideas for the blog, but there is a lot happening right now.

- After almost two months of waiting, I have finally received my course materials for my Understanding Nutrition I course. I began coursework this past weekend, and will hopefully find time each day to put in some reading. I think one of the books weighs in around 15 pounds...

- I will be taking a TRX certification course on Sunday. It's going to be a long day, but the TRX is a sweet suspension training tool that I already use fairly often in the gym. I've already done a bunch of my own reading/research on its uses, but hopefully the course will give me a few more ideas.

- Our first game of the Skeeson (Skeeball season!) was Monday night. We lost a close game, but I have a feeling we'll do pretty well in the league. It's pretty fun and a little ridiculous. I'm really competitive, so I'm looking for chances to practice my game. I just keep thinking about all those times I skipped over Skee Ball to play Time Crisis at the Dave & Busters...

- I am officially playing baseball this summer. I talked about joining up with a team for a bit, but now that I've paid my summer dues it's pretty official. I'm playing with the DC Bears in a local wood bat baseball league. It has been 9 years since I've played ball, but the fundamentals are coming back quickly and the recent weather has been great for it!

- One of my clients at Results has lost ~20lbs in the two months we've worked together. Awesome.

- This video is awesome and seriously made me cringe...

Metabolic Resistance Training - The Complex

I brought this up last week, so I wanted to make sure we were all on the same page here. Metabolic Resistance Training, as I see it, generally consists of a full body workout combining intensity with density.

In my previous post I listed examples of this - barbell complexes, kettlebell exercises, supersets and tri-sets – but I didn’t go into too much detail. For this post, I want to provide some sort of takeaway that you can use. Keep in mind these are very general recommendations and will not be personalized to your unique situation. Today I’ll discuss the complex.

The Complex
These are interesting, fun, and they have seen a ton of hype recently. A complex is essentially a resistance circuit that is done without letting go of the implement used. With complexes you want to move swiftly through a set number of exercises (usually 8-10) without setting the weight down and without using poor technique. Due to the nature of the complex you should use a weight that is light enough to complete the prescribed repetitions on the most difficult exercise used. Complexes can be done with barbells, kettlebells, dumbbells, or even weight plates.

A basic barbell complex can look like this:
(All exercises done with 8 repetitions)
Power Clean
Front Squat
Push Press
Bentover Row
Straight Leg Deadlift

Or this:
Snatch
Walking Lunge
Good Morning
Push Press
Bentover Row

Complete the complex as quickly as possible without setting the weight down. In both complexes you would use a weight light enough to complete 8 repetitions of the Push Press, because this is generally the weakest movement involved. Complete 2-3 sets of the complex to get a good cardio/strength training workout in.

Progressing the complex is as simple as adding weight, sets, or speed. For more variations and information check out the following sites:

Complexes 2.0 - John Romaniello

Rebuild Yourself With Complexes - Dan John

Dan John's Complexes

Craig Ballantyne's Turbulence Training Barbell Complex: