My New Fitness Crush: The Rope

With a little plyo action, this thing is
Kill.Ler.

Shhhh… Don’t tell the Bosu, but I’ve got a new fitness crush:  The rope. 

I’m not talking about the ubiquitous jump rope that we’ve all known since childhood, I’m talking about, The ROPE!

Fitness rope, undulation rope, heavy exercise rope, battling rope (my favorite – how tough does THAT sound!) ….  Known by various names, the rope is another ingeniously simple item that has emerged as a seriously effective and satisfying piece of workout equipment.

Serious core workout!

I caught wind of this serpentine sensation about a year or two ago and have been interested in trying one ever since.  I wanted to do a test drive to see if it would be a worthwhile purchase but never ran across any ropes to try.  My interest in them spiked when I started my park boot camp class but I still hesitated on committing to a buy until a recent incursion of lower-body injuries among my boot campers and friends – plus myself! – made it a necessity.

While my boot camp classes are a diverse mixture of activities, they almost always include some sort of running, hopping and/or burpeeing.  However, this suddenly was not a safe option for many of us, so I knew we needed another alternative. 

Hence my impulsive leap into rope training territory.  Actually it wasn’t that impulsive.  I’d seen a ton of videos and had been mulling it over for some time, so I just went for it!

And, WOWEEEE WOW WOW, am I glad I did!  This thing is awesome!  We played around with my new rope (it’s 50-feet, 1.5 inches) at boot camp and since then I’ve created some kick-ass (hey - ass is in the Bible) workouts at home and can’t wait to keep unfurling more of this slinky sweetie’s secrets.    I love how it’s about as uncomplicated as workout equipment gets, yet can effectively work the body out from head to toe.  It has a primitive, old-school-tough kind of feel to it, yet it’s refreshing, invigorating and accessible to most everyone – even those with lower-body ailments!

So I guess I suffer from gym equipment infidelity.  Just when I think I’ve got enough fitness goodies to keep me satisfied, something else comes along to entice me and test my loyalty. Trust me, I am picky.  I don’t just let any ol’ thigh master or ab roller-type seduce me… and I still love you, my dear Bosu.  You will always hold a prominent position in my workouts.…  It’s just that I think there’s plenty of room in our relationship for this new rope….  Ooooo, and maybe one of those land paddleboards (a.k.a. skupboards) I saw someone on the other day….

A Dozen Years of Bliss (Sorta)

… and the handsome stranger wooed the fair maiden with his wit, charm and bottomless bank account.  They married and rode off upon their ATVs into the sunset never to have a sour word pass between them nor have a moment’s stress longer than a nano-second ever cross their path… and they lived happily ever after.

If you believe that, I’ve got some oceanside property in Arizona to sell ya!

Really, I did marry my best friend.  My soul mate.  My other half.  Does that mean I’ve never wanted to bash my fist into my bestie’s face after an episode of pure, unadulterated aggravation?  Not even.  But, thankfully, I’ve more often found myself marveling at what an incredible blessing it’s been to have found a companion who has brought into my life such a dimension of enjoyment and inspiration that I don’t think I would have know otherwise.

We just celebrated our 12^th wedding anniversary.  Our gift to each other was a stand-up paddleboarding outing (I will report about that in a post very soon.  Awe.Some.)  followed by some serious chowing on some southern style BBQ which fueled us up for our midnight hike to see the Supermoon. 

THIS is how I want to be living life.  With an adventurous partner, raising adventure-loving kids, overcoming Lazy every chance we get.

Which brings me to my real-life fairy tale which goes more like this:

… and after the handsome (albeit short-ish) stranger narrowly avoided a fist fight on their first date, the fair maiden miraculously agreed to see him again, thus starting them down a bumpy path of deep love, massive annoyance, fun adventure, scary adventure, absolute joy and delight, definite frustration and anger… all while riding/cycling/jogging/paddling off into many sunsets and sunrises together which all culminates into them living pretty darn happily ever after.