On the ropes at Summit Outlook Park

If you're passing by Summit Outlook Park early in the morning, you might see some rather unusual activity on the open green there.

It's called undulating ropes. It's exercise.

Here's Connie Tallen, of St. Paul, on one end of the 70-pound rope she uses for her workout. It's got all kinds of uses, she says -- lifting it, dragging it, pulling it back and forth. "There's just a zillion different exercises," Tallen explained this morning. "You use your whole body."

Her exercise partner, Gene (he didn't want to give his last name) says the method originated in the Israeli military, improvised in Army outposts. Rhode Island-based workout guru Anthony DiLuglio adapted it to gyms with climbing ropes -- as you can see at the Art of Strength gym in Edina. The New York version looks downright strenuous.

Here's a tiny, tiny sample of what it looks like in St. Paul:

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