A Tsunami is a series of waves that carry large volumes of water and energy. Tsunami’s are know for the devastation they cause in coastal regions. A Tsunami is also a Battling Ropes exercise created by John Brookfield; also known for the devastation it unleashes on it’s victims.
If you’ve never experienced it, in the Tsunami, you take a 50 ft, 2 inch rope and your goal is to create a series of waves through the entire length of the rope, at first glance you might not think this would be too difficult. This is where looks can be deceiving. The Tsunami can not be truly appreciated until you actually try to perform the drill. In less than 10 seconds you will feel the wrath of the Tsunami and have a whole new respect for the awesome, effective simplicity of the Battling Ropes system. I can not think of a more demanding exercise.
The Tsunami requires an enormous amount of energy and power from it. It is a total body exercise; head to toe, heart and lungs. In order to get the rope to travel 50 feet, you have to explode your body upwards and then perform a powerful slam downwards.
To create a series of waves, you have to powerfully and efficiently transition from extension to flexion like a jack hammer. This is a phenomenal drill for developing and sustaining explosive power.
To implement the Tsunami into your training, keep it simple. Try to incorporate it into your routine twice a week. You can try to sustain the waves for intervals of time, or try to reach a certain number of waves for “sets.” However you choose to train the Tsunami, you can progressively increase your duration, or waves, a little each week. Once you can perform the Tsunami for a whole minute, you will have just survived a Class 3 hurricane!
A word of caution: Because the Tsunami is so demanding, if you are going to incorporate it into your strength training days, you may want to perform it last. The Tsunami may leave you too wiped out to safely perform strength training after you have weathered the storm.
For more ideas of how to infuse the Tsunami into your training check out John Brookfield’s new DVD: Hurricane Ingrid: The Workout.
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Tim Anderson is a professional fire fighter living in Fuquay-Varina, N.C. He also doubles as an ACE C.P.T., an RKC II instructor, Z-health Level IV instructor and a Battling Ropes Level II Coach. Tim has a passion for all things fitness and loves to teach others. You can check Tim out at www.optfitness.net or e mail him at tasfitness@earthlink.net.
