The jump rope is likely one of the last pieces of gym equipment most people think about. I had jumped rope on and off over the years as my workouts and objectives have changed. Within the past year I decided to commit to incorporating into my daily workout routine since my conditioning goals have evolved and been more focused on calisthenics and training for hiking. Now that I have been at it for awhile, my opinion has certainly upgraded quite a bit. It seems like such an over looked piece of equipment, though it has a lot more potential if you give it a chance.
The Benefits
Any jump rope routine is an excellent calorie burner and body-tightening exercise that helps to simultaneously improve your cognitive and physical coordination throughout the entire routine.
Don’t want to run? Try to jump rope for 15minutes straight. You might be surprised by how much more difficult this task is at first look, but once you are in the midst, you will certainly feel the burn. Here are some of the benefits you’ll experience by adding this to your normal routine:
- Its fun!
- Intense calorie burning
- 10-30minutes will likely burn more calories than the equivalent to running for the same duration depending on your intensity and rhythm.
- Excellent lower body conditioning and strengthening
- Works your arms (you’ll certainly feel it in your deltoids)
- Improves your cardio conditioning (10+ minutes per set)
- Bone Density improvement
- Physical coordination skills
- Mental coordination skills
- Cost Effective Equipment
- Compact and portable
Fundamentals
If you are just starting out, work on the fundamentals to help increase the duration of performing the movement. I would initially focus on just doing a simple up-down with both feet synchronized. Aim for a error free duration in the range of 30-60 seconds. Start out slow until you get the movement and the coordination down.
As your coordination increases, increase the time. When you increase the time try increasing your pace and rhythm. You likely notice your calf muscles as you increase the time. This may take some time getting used as you build up your strength, endurance and coordination, but with daily practice you’ll develop and improve your skills quickly.
Once you are comfortable and the standard 2-foot up down jumping gets easy and/or boring, look into varying up your foot movement. There are a good amount of variations you can do to further engage your mind and body.
Exercise Variations
There are a lot of variations that you can do while you jump rope to change things up from the traditional feet together jumping that most do. I personally do mostly the following but as I begin looking for some more variety, Ill add some more to the list
- Split leg jumps (oscillating feet front to back)
- Ski mogul, side to side jumping
- Running in place jumps
- Single foot jumps
- High knee jumps
Workout videos will be coming soon, but if you are looking for more variations here are some ideas to get you started. Use your imagination and experiment while jumping. There are plenty of YouTube videos out there about jump rope routines, as well as static images Pinterest.
- https://darebee.com/workouts/jump-rope-workout.html
- https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eIaAJ8K3o_o
What I bought
I bought mine for about $8 (Amazon product link). It is a very simple design and no frills. The coating on the cable is not great and won’t last long in the center of the cable where it hits the ground (dependent on the surface you are jumping on).
It has certainly been sufficient for me and my use. I have not had any issues with the product. Make sure you tighten the screws after you adjust the length of the cable. Recheck the screws periodically to make sure they dont fly off what you are jumping, causing the handle to come off and possibly tripping over the loose cable.
Other options
There are many jump rope makes out there, and you’ll see plenty on Amazon. Everyone seems to have their individual features. I was looking or something simple, durable, decent reviews and less than $10. The WOD Nation one below looks to be about the same as the first but twice as expensive. It does come with a spare cable but you can pick up a cable at any hardware store (DIY coming soon). My guess is the WOD Nation gets all the CrossFit traffic so their reviews and popularity are greater (in my opinion).
