Tag Archives: Cardio vascular exercise

What are Battle Ropes?

What are Battle Ropes?

Chris Caruso, CPT 4/10/2012

Battle ropes are heavy duty ropes designed to be lifted and moved with controlled motion. Training with battle ropes develops functional strength, power and endurance.  Battle rope exercises require the whole body to move the rope, which engages the core and increases the heart rate. Implementing rotational movements with the rope stimulates the oblique muscles of the abdomen/core which helps to support our bodies to better perform activities of daily life. This includes housework, driving, bending over, walking as well as sports like golf, baseball, etc…

 

From personal experience, I always had weak wrists which interfered with my workout routines. I found that I was unable to easily do pushups, lift weights like the bench press, or any pressing motions. Determined to fix my predicament, I wanted to find something that would be enjoyable but at the same time challenge my workouts. After researching, I stumbled upon what is known as battling rope. Over the past year I have noticed a significant strength difference in not only my wrists but also my core and stamina. Today, I’m currently using the ropes 2 to 3 times a week in my circuit-training program. I use them to help train for flag football by building endurance and power. If you’re someone who is looking for something fun, different and bold to help build your cardiovascular endurance, strengthen weak bones and shed some body fat, the battling ropes are right for you!

 

 

Carbohydrate Consumption during Intense Exercise

August 20, 2010 excelfitnesct.com

By: Jeff Roux

Carbohydrate Consumption during Intense Exercise

Have you ever tried to gain the edge over the competition by carbohydrate loading the night before an exercise event?  Just about everyone knows to carb-load the day before, but what about during the event?

Most people believe anything with carbs, sugar is the best thing during exercise, however; there is a difference between what forms of glucose you ingest, how efficiently they are absorbed and the effect on performance.  Fructose, glucose in the form of fruit actually delivers only about .2g of glucose to active muscles each minute whereas glucose, sucrose, and maltodextrins can deliver up to 1.0g.  Also too high of a carbohydrate concentration of more than 6-8% can diminish water intake on a cellular level and hinder temperature regulation.  Dehydration and heat exhaustion obviously severely decrease ones performance.

So what should you do?  For prolonged high-intensity aerobic exercise in cool weather consume about 70g of sugar in 6oz of water 20 to 30 minutes after the start of exercise followed by 24g of carbohydrate in 8oz of water every 15 minutes.

W. McArdle, F. Katch, V. Katch, 1994 Essentials of Exercise Physiology, Lea & Febiger Malvern, PA. pg 192

If you have any questions about your conditioning program contact me at jroux@excelfitnessct.com