David Newman | Rx Smart Gear CEO
The inaugural 2024 TYR WODAPALOOZA SOCAL in Huntington Beach California did not disappoint.
This first ever west coast fitness festival hosted by Loud and Live Entertainment brought so many exciting new components to the table such as the TYR Cup team competition, Reps Ahead One on One Knock Out competition, Ragnar 5k Beach Run and the limited-edition TYR Wodapalooza Heavy Drag Rope made by Rx Smart Gear and used by every athlete at the event.
The Heavy Drag rope was created especially for the TYR WZA SoCal event to welcome athletes in typical Rx Smart Gear fashion with a good old fashion beat down.
TYR WZA Miami has already seen the original Rx Drag rope as well as the Frevo beaded rope in previous workouts. So, the Heavy Drag rope was something no one had ever experienced before. You can imagine the mix of excitement and intrigue the athletes felt when the announcement of the workout and the inclusion of this new implement was made just a couple weeks earlier. Since the new Heavy Drag ropes would not be for sale until the weekend of the comp, athletes would have to wait until they arrived onsite to get their first stab at it.
The Heavy Drag rope not only proposed a great test of endurance it also highlighted a lot of athlete’s technical inefficiencies in their jump rope technique.
The athletes that understood the physics of jumping with the shortest jump rope possible allowed them to shift physics in their favor since a shorter rope cycles around the body faster than a longer rope. The shorter rope also improves ergonomics by allowing the arms to be in the most relaxed position possible with hands directly under the shoulders. Then the athletes only needed to bound a little higher to allow for a slower rotation rate while keeping steady tension on the rope.
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The reactions were priceless as most athletes struggled to get their first double under with the behemoth rope. Many were shocked at how challenging it was. Several commented how confident they felt in their double under abilities until the Heavy Drag rope completely destroyed their ego. They weren’t accustomed to the weight of the rope as well as the lag trying to bring the rope around for the second rotation.
The Heavy Drag rope was utilized in two different workouts.
One programmed for the individuals and one programmed for the teams. The individual workout was an interval style test of 2 minutes of work, 1 minute of rest for 3 rounds finishing with a 4th round at 3 minutes of work. The athletes started with 200 meters on the Assault Runner, then 25 double unders with the Heavy Drag rope, finishing with as many dumbbell thrusters as possible in the remaining time. The goal was to accumulate 75 dumbbell thrusters in as few rounds as possible. This proved to be a daunting task as many athletes could not complete the task in the time allotted. Some athletes stated this was one of the hardest workouts of the entire weekend.
The team event allowed the athletes to share the workload with one athlete performing a
150 Calories on the Assault Runner while the other 2 athletes worked in a “you go – I go” style of 75 Heavy Drag Rope double unders, 75 Dumbbell Hang Clean and Jerks, 50 Heavy Drag Rope double unders, 50 Dumbbell thrusters, 25 Heavy Drag rope double unders and 25 Hang Squat Clean Thrusters. Athletes were allowed to rotate out on any time on any exercise as they saw fit. We saw some teams choosing to keep their strongest athlete on the Heavy Drag Rope double under while the other 2 finished most of the heavy dumbbell workload.
The new attractions excited the experienced fans who had competed at Wodapalooza Miami before while the venue and the competition format entertained everyone in attendance. But the biggest hit of the weekend was definitely the TYR WZA Heavy Drag Rope as so many athletes rushed to purchase their own limited edition heavy Drag rope while supplies lasted. Make sure to pick one up before they’re all gone!
BUY THE HEAVY DRAG ROPE