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Hi, David Weck here. Today I'm going to teach you an exercise with the RMT Rope called the "Race and Chase." This is a basic exercise that sets the foundation for training with the rope WeckMethod style, to develop true athleticism.
Here's what the movement looks like: It looks like this movement right 'here.' Spiraling the hands, the rope is going side to side. It's called the "Race and Chase." Now, let's break it down.
So, you begin with no rope in your hands. You stack one hand over the other hand. The pinky side is touching the thumb side, and they are touching one another. What you do with this arrangement, is you create figure 8's. You lead with the thumbs, so you're turning the hand over, and turning the hand over. You're not just bringing it side to side. You're spiraling the hands with this figure 8 movement leading with the thumbs, keeping the contact which will ultimately not be contacting when you're doing the movement with the rope. But to learn it, you want to contact the hands. So, it's this movement right 'here.' You can't get enough of that. You envision bending that figure 8 like 'this' so that you're creating a loop and a loop (and a loop and a loop) as the rope goes to either side of the body. We call it the "Race and Chase" because the top hand is racing, and the bottom hand is chasing the top. Equal and opposite. Then we will learn to position it with the other hand on top.
So, we hold on to our RMT Rope by putting the hand in a lighter position. You want to cap the thumb, and then move the index finger down one rung on the handle. There are no shrivels on this rope, so it really reinforces are ability to spiral the hands (pronation and supination). We're going to start with this arrangement: Right hand is on the top, we put the left foot forward, and we stand with an athletic stance. Now, you get it going with those figure 8's that you learned without the rope, and you can either hit the ground (where you get a little tick on the ground), or do it in the air. You're going to go nice and slowly at first, really think of yourself as an athlete. You want to, what we call weaponize the rope so it feels very very fluid and you're in the center of this spiraling storm. Then pick up the pace as long as it's smooth, and you're racing and chasing. It'll sound like a beehive when you get that rope moving.
Our RMT Rope is the perfect weight to make this tremendous exercise, and to really help you set the pattern. What I love about this exercise is that I can teach it to a beginner right here, right now, and give them an incredible metabolic effect, and make them a better athlete, and they don't even know they're doing it.
So, you want to setup, do the exact same thing on the other side [Non-Dominant Side Training]. You can rehearse the pattern again. Then you hold on to the rope. You make sure that the rope is not twisted up like 'this.' So you begin with a true rope, nice and smooth, straight through. Then it's 'here,' loop, loop, get it going. Feel those spirals, make sure that you are truly leading with the thumbs. Then get it going. You want to think in terms of pulling it back to yourself. You're in the center of this, and you're pulling your weight in. This is the foundation for all complex rope movements that you can learn when you truly understand how to harness the full capacity of the rope to make you a better athlete, and to condition your body [Body Mechanics]. So simple. So effective.
That's our "Race and Chase." The way to get started with this exercise is to set 30 second time frames. Set it up. Get it smooth, and then dial up the speed very gradually keeping the movement smooth. 30 seconds to 1 minute are the time intervals that you're going to want to do. And you'll want to use both hands on top (right hand on top, left hand on top). You can do set after set, as many as you'd like. The more you do, the faster you'll set and ingrain these patterns. And then that spiraling (which has consequence down throughout the rest of the body). It becomes educated through the hand movements. That patterning gets more and more refined and set the more that you do.
That's our "Race and Chase" with the RMT Rope.
