The Energy Cost of Battle Rope Exercise

Abstract

Perturbations of high intensity interval training are currently popular trends in the fitness industry. Among the more popular trends is the use of Battle Ropes (BR) to purportedly improve cardiovascular fitness, power, grip strength, fat loss and muscular endurance. Unfortunately the aforementioned claims have limited scientific support. BR exercise requires a 2.5-5 cm diameter rope ranging from 8–16 m in length, which is anchored in the middle, while the participant uses their arms to bilaterally move the finished ends of the rope up and down. PURPOSE: The purpose of this study was to determine the metabolic and cardiovascular response to performing BR exercise at movement cadences of 50 and 70 per minute. METHODS: 14 college students (7 males and 7 females, age 22.1 ±2.1 yr., ht. 1.73 ± 0.11 m, body mass 77.8 ± 17.1 kg.) performed familiarization trials followed by two different BR movement patterns consisting of an alternating-whip with trunk/hip rotation in an athletic stance (AW) and a double-whip with a simultaneous squat (DW). Each trial consisted of 10 sets of 30 sec work intervals with 60 sec recovery (14 min total) using an 11.7 m x 3.8 cm mid-anchored rope, with an additional 5 min post exercise to obtain recovery VO2. Cadences of 50 and 70 were provided by metronome and VO2 by open circuit spirometry. Lactate was obtained 3 min post-exercise. Statistical analysis by factorial ANOVA were applied to these data (p<.05). RESULTS: VO2 were 27. 2 ± 4.4, 22.4 ± 3.1, 18.3 ± 4.5 and 16.0 ± 2.7 mLO2/kg-min, heart rates were 164 ± 12.5, 152.1 ± 20.1, 131.5 ± 23.3, and 138.9 ± 23.1 b/min for the work intervals, and total caloric expenditure for the total trial plus 5 min post-trial recovery (work + recovery+ post recovery) were 169.4, 138.1, 105.0, and 93.6 kcal/trials for DW70, DW50, AW 70 and AW50 trials, respectively. The correlation between VO2 and HR for all trials was 0.46. CONCLUSION: BR exercise requires moderate energy expenditure with a disproportionate heart rate stimulus, thus precluding the use of HR as an accurate barometer of exercise intensity. The use of BR activity provides an alternative to steady state activity and provides a moderate metabolic stimulus. Due to acute local muscular fatigue of the upper body during BR, interval conditioning and a limited duration of participation are mandated for most exercise enthusiasts.