New Rope, New Tire, New Workout

Got a new jump rope this week. I've tried a variety of jump ropes (leather, beaded, and "speed", but this new one is easily my favorite. It's a Cable Freestyle Rope from buyjumpropes.net. The handles are long, lightweight plastic (with foam sleeves, not pictured on the site) and the rope is basically a flexible coated wire. It's the fastest rope I've tried (although not the fastest they sell) and the long handles are nice for crossovers. Since it's been cold I've only used it wearing like exercise pants, which is good because I bet it hurts like hell when you whip yourself with it. Adjustment is very easy, just a little two-part sleeve inside each handle that you slide apart to adjust. Adjusted out to the max. they are just long enough for my 6'4" self.

The other new piece of equipment I got this week was a used tire, kinda on the largish side (maybe off an SUV?), picked up for free at a local garage (they generally have to pay to dispose of them, so I imagine any garage would be happy to be rid of them). What's it for? Why, beating the tar out of it with a sledgehammer, of course!

So, in honor of my new finds (and workout time being pretty tight lately), today's workout:

• Tabata jump rope, immediately followed by...
• Tabata sledghammer, immediately followed by...
• 50 double-unders on the rope.

Ross Enamait recently ran an article on sledgehammer training, which includes a video demo of sledgehammer Tabatas. From there, he also links to his own article specifically on Tabatas.

Anyway, since I mostly feel the jump rope in my shoulders and the sledgehammer in my forearms, it's amazing I can type this at all.