Rope Flow is a low impact movement using a weighted rope (looks like a jump rope). But instead of jumping the rope like we did as kids, you swing the rope in various ways (from side to side, and back to front) around your body in an infinity symbol pattern (like a sideways figure eight if you are unfamiliar with the infinity symbol reference).
It engages your body and your mind at the same time, as you follow various swing patterns around your body. It feels like dancing, and is a lot of fun.
HOW DID I LEARN ABOUT ROPE FLOW?
In early November of 2023 I stumbled upon a YouTube video by Strength Side called How Rope Flow Changed my Body - The Strength Side channel is a favorite of both Coach and I, so it just popped up in my feed one day.
In the video Josh introduces Tim Shieff from Way of the Rope who teaches you the two most basic Rope Flow patterns, Underhand-8 and Overhand-8. You also learn you don't need a specific rope to get started, you can use any rope, or even resistance bands (which is what we used, first with the thinner red band, then as the weeks went on I moved into the purple and black bands, and ultimately Coach started making us weighted ropes - you can also buy them ready made). The ropes come in different weights and thicknesses. Later in the video Josh encourages you to check out David Weck from the WeckMethod as the creator of Rope Flow.
What you learn about the overhand and the underhand patterns, are that they feel completely different from each other. Overhand feels more powerful (like throwing a ball, or a punch), and the Underhand feels more bouncy, more like dancing, which transitions into the locomotion of you guessed it, improved walking.
Here is one of the first videos I shared with my Lipedema Fitness support group that shows the Overhand-8 in both a standing and a seated option. This video was added to the Lipedema Fitness YouTube channel to introduce Rope Flow and show how we can modify it for all abilities...
The third pattern shared is the Dragon Roll (some call it the Drag and Roll). This is where you move the rope front to back, and back to front, and it feels pretty flippin' cool when you are able to get it right (and it looks pretty cool to watch it, especially if you are listening to some harder hitting tunes, like Dragula by Rob Zombie)... that's a video for another day, or check out a recent video here with a seated version side by side with the standing version.
You can tell I'm a fan, and last weekend we got back to outside workouts again with the nicer weather, and while working out with Rope Flow is fun at the Dojo, it is epic outside in the park, what a way to go explore and move in nature - it is a healing mindful movement.