If you love using battle ropes at the gym but they’re way too bulky to have at home, you’ll love these new Tone It Up Toning Ropes ($30). Available at Target, Toning Ropes are much lighter and shorter than battle ropes but can be used in the same way. These 12-pound Toning Ropes are also uniquely stretchy and bungee-like, so they can also be used like resistance bands for sculpting moves like rows and presses. This means Toning Ropes can be used for both cardio and strength training.
Ready to try out these new Toning Ropes? Tone It Up trainer Stef Corgel, NSCA-certified and a Barry’s Bootcamp trainer, created this Toning Ropes workout for POPSUGAR, which should take about 25 minutes to complete. She said the purpose of this pyramid-style workout is to increase your total-body muscle endurance, which means you’ll be able to perform more reps of a given exercise without fatiguing.
For a pyramid workout, you gradually increase the amount of time you’re performing each exercise, then gradually decrease the time. Corgel added that although it may seem like your arms are doing most of the work, using these Tone It Up Toning Ropes will challenge your supporting muscle groups, including your core and lower body, as they statically stabilize your upper body.
Toning Rope Endurance Pyramid Workout
Equipment needed: Tone It Up Toning Ropes
Directions: Before beginning this workout, warm up with five arm circles forward and five backward, five plank walkouts plus a push-up, 10 bodyweight squats, 10 good mornings, and 10 jumping jacks.
Then perform six rounds of all exercises listed in the chart below with your Toning Ropes for the amount of time indicated. Rest 10 seconds between exercises and 30 to 45 seconds between rounds. Since this is a pyramid workout, for the first round, complete all five exercises for 20 seconds followed by a 10-second rest. For round two, perform each exercise for 30 seconds followed by a 10-second rest, and for round three, complete 40-second intervals followed by a 10-second rest, climbing the pyramid. For the last three rounds, go back down the pyramid working for 40, 30, and 20 seconds for rounds four, five, and six, respectively.
After this workout, cool down with a quad stretch, a side stretch, a wide-legged forward bend, a runner’s lunge, head to knee, and a figure-four stretch.
- Alternating wave
- Reverse fly
- Double wave
- Jumping jack
- Overhead triceps extension
Pyramid:
| Round | Directions |
|---|---|
| Round 1 | Perform each exercise for 20 seconds, followed by a 10-second rest |
| Round 2 | Perform each exercise for 30 seconds, followed by a 10-second rest |
| Round 3 | Perform each exercise for 40 seconds, followed by a 10-second rest |
| Round 4 | Perform each exercise for 40 seconds, followed by a 10-second rest |
| Round 5 | Perform each exercise for 30 seconds, followed by a 10-second rest |
| Round 6 | Perform each exercise for 20 seconds, followed by a 10-second rest |
Read on to learn how to do each exercise.