Whipping, slamming, dragging and drumming the long, anchored ropes have long been used in training for sports like football, but fitness experts said they have now gone mainstream in gyms as an efficient workout routine.

"It's a little like running with the upper body," said Jonathan Ross, spokesperson for the American Council on Exercise. "It's not just using different muscles but training muscles in different ways."

The Washington, D.C. area-based trainer and author of the book "Abs Revealed," said a ropes workout engages the mind as well as the body with what he calls the grace of the wave.

"The ropes show you how you're moving," he explained. "You see the physical manifestation of the body movement as you watch the ropes. If you do them well, your body is moving well."