How long should you do battle rope circles for when you are new to the exercise?

Start with 4-5 rounds of 15-20 seconds per round, so each round gives roughly 8-10 seconds of forward circles and 8-10 of backward circles, resting 30-45 seconds between rounds. Grow the total round length before you add extra rounds, and keep the circles wide even as the time gets longer.

What can you use instead of battle ropes for rope circles?

Two light dumbbells or plates, circled in front of the body in the same wide pattern, train a similar shoulder-endurance circuit. With nothing in hand, doing arm circles fast and continuously for the same interval hits the front, side, and rear delts without any equipment at all.

What are battle rope circles good for, and who should skip them?

They build rotational shoulder endurance through the front, side, and rear delts in a way straight up-and-down waves cannot reach. Skip them, or keep the circles small, if the shoulder pinches at end range, since sustained circular loading is unforgiving on an already irritated joint.

Intermediate

Battle Rope Circles

Rope circles trace continuous loops with both ends, driving the shoulders through their whole range and lighting up the front, side, and rear delts as the arms travel around. The nonstop circular motion keeps constant tension on the shoulders and grip and builds rotational endurance the straight up-and-down waves cannot reach. Alternate the circle direction to hit the delts from every angle in a conditioning finisher.

Equipment: Rope
Body part: Forearms, Shoulder
Type: Cardio, Functional
Browse by muscle: Deltoid Anterior, Deltoid Middle, Deltoid Posterior

How to do it

1
Hold one rope end in each hand and stand in a braced athletic stance.
2
Keep the arms mostly straight with a soft bend at the elbows.
3
Draw large circles with both hands, moving them in the same direction.
4
Send the loops down the ropes and keep the circles wide and continuous.
5
After a set time, reverse and circle the other direction.
6
Keep the motion smooth and unbroken for the full interval.

Tips

Make the circles as big as you can so the shoulders travel through full range.
Keep a firm grip and let the whole shoulder drive the loop, not just the wrist.
Switch directions partway through so both the front and rear delts share the load.

Variations

Common mistakes

The circles shrink to small loops halfway through the set, so the shoulders stop moving through the wide range the drill is built on.
One arm falls out of sync with the other, so the two loops tangle instead of tracing matched circles down the ropes.
The elbows lock out completely instead of keeping their soft bend, so the shoulder joint takes a harder jolt on every loop.
Without a direction switch partway through the set, the rear delts skip their half of the work entirely.

Frequently asked

How long should you do battle rope circles for when you are new to the exercise?: Start with 4-5 rounds of 15-20 seconds per round, so each round gives roughly 8-10 seconds of forward circles and 8-10 of backward circles, resting 30-45 seconds between rounds. Grow the total round length before you add extra rounds, and keep the circles wide even as the time gets longer.
What can you use instead of battle ropes for rope circles?: Two light dumbbells or plates, circled in front of the body in the same wide pattern, train a similar shoulder-endurance circuit. With nothing in hand, doing arm circles fast and continuously for the same interval hits the front, side, and rear delts without any equipment at all.
What are battle rope circles good for, and who should skip them?: They build rotational shoulder endurance through the front, side, and rear delts in a way straight up-and-down waves cannot reach. Skip them, or keep the circles small, if the shoulder pinches at end range, since sustained circular loading is unforgiving on an already irritated joint.

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