PSA: Jump rope
 

With all the posts about losing weight, getting fit and in shape I think this is something not a lot of guys know about. Jump rope is pretty much the best high intensity/low impact cardio in existence. Sure its kind of girly at first and it takes some practice to get the technique, but once you get the footwork and speed down the workout on your calves, shoulders, arms and aerobic fitness is incredible. Between sets of whatever excercise you are doing jump rope for a minute and reap the rewards.

35 double unders

nice technique

badass (10 seconds in)

-SmileyEH

Re: PSA: Jump rope
 

Can anyone recommend a good rope to get?

Re: PSA: Jump rope
 

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Can anyone recommend a good rope to get?

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I bought this one, but I wouldn't reccomend it for someone just starting out. It is made of a polyeurethane type plastic which is still kind of kinked after a couple months so you need to spin it pretty fast in order for it to assume the parabolic shape and get under your feet easily.

To start off just one of those basic ropes with plastic collars all along it will do fine. Once you get to the point where you can do 50-100 single unders easily and jog in place then look into getting a faster rope with ball bearings. I think you can get the basic ones in any sporting goods store afaik.

-SmileyEH

Re: PSA: Jump rope
 

i agree, jumping rope is excellent

Re: PSA: Jump rope
 

what's a good work out? jump rope for 10 minutes straight? go intense for a minute and then relax for a minute (and do that for 10 minutes?)

unless i'm missing something i can't see myself jumping rope for more than 10 minutes before saying eff this

Re: PSA: Jump rope
 

[ QUOTE ]
what's a good work out? jump rope for 10 minutes straight? go intense for a minute and then relax for a minute (and do that for 10 minutes?)

unless i'm missing something i can't see myself jumping rope for more than 10 minutes before saying eff this

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Just do it somewhere you can watch tv.

Re: PSA: Jump rope
 

10 minutes of jumping rope is not as easy as you'd think. what i would do is mix jumping rope in with other exercises.

Re: PSA: Jump rope
 

[ QUOTE ]
what's a good work out? jump rope for 10 minutes straight? go intense for a minute and then relax for a minute (and do that for 10 minutes?)

unless i'm missing something i can't see myself jumping rope for more than 10 minutes before saying eff this

[/ QUOTE ]

Jumping rope for 10 minutes at a tempo even remotely quick would be an athletic acheivement in itself. I usually start my workout by doing an easy jog/crossovers for a minute, then up the tempo, throw in some side to sides - quick cross overs and finish up with some double unders. All that might take at most 3 minutes (and I'll stop a few times from screwing up), but my heart will be pounding when its done. In between lifts I'll often just go as fast as I can for a minute or work on my footwork. Either way, its high intensity so you don't need to do it for a long time.

The key is that it is easy to keep interesting because of the skill elements. I would die before I did 200 single unders (although technically I can do it), but every day I look forward to working on my technique and trying new stuff.

-SmileyEH

Re: PSA: Jump rope
 

Not only is it good cardio, it will dramatically effect your vertical leap. Watch trainers who have their clients doing plyometrics, the concepts are very similar to what you do in jumping rope. When I was in my twenties I trasformed my hoops game from the standard white guy stuff to above the rim play by juming rope and taking aerobics classes with my girlfriend (I know, aerobics is kinda gay but it worked).

Measure your VL before you start then jump three-four times a week (any more and your knees will turn to mush) and enjoy the progress.

Re: PSA: Jump rope
 

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badass (10 seconds in)

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This dude on ESPN yesterday said he's a better boxer than Sugar Ray & Ali ever were. Smoke crack lately?

Re: PSA: Jump rope
 

wow that dude is incredible

Re: PSA: Jump rope
 

[ QUOTE ]
Not only is it good cardio, it will dramatically effect your vertical leap. Watch trainers who have their clients doing plyometrics, the concepts are very similar to what you do in jumping rope. When I was in my twenties I trasformed my hoops game from the standard white guy stuff to above the rim play by juming rope and taking aerobics classes with my girlfriend (I know, aerobics is kinda gay but it worked).

Measure your VL before you start then jump three-four times a week (any more and your knees will turn to mush) and enjoy the progress.

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What was your VL before/after if you don't mind me asking? I think I'm around 27-28 inches right now so I can get just about get my whole hand over the rim. I'm starting to do a lot more box jumping type stuff and olympic lifting so hopefully I can get another 6 inches and start dunking!

-SmileyEH

Re: PSA: Jump rope
 

To alleviate the boredom of repetitive jump rope but achieve similar cardio benefits, try DDR.

Re: PSA: Jump rope
 

I started jumproping a month ago. It's awesome - especially now that it's cold and rainy outside. I'm up to 2:30 jumping, 1:00 rest, repeat 15 times. Eventually I want to get up to 3:00/1:00 x 15. But right now, I usually [censored] up 2-4 times during each set, so it's not 100% continuous at this point. And I still can't do any of that fancy crap yet.

Re: PSA: Jump rope
 

when I went through my jumproping phase I used to do sets of 100-150 jumps or whatever the term is.

4-5 sets and my arms and calves would be tired and I would be sweating like hell.

right now I have a weighted jumprope so its hard to go for very long as my forearms get tired quickly

Re: PSA: Jump rope
 

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right now I have a weighted jumprope so its hard to go for very long as my forearms get tired quickly

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Yeah, I thought about getting a weighted jumprope, but what I was really going for was quickness and agility in my legs. Honestly though, if someone only had time to "work out" 30mins a day, jumping with a weighted rope is about the simplest full body workout I can imagine.

-SmileyEH

Re: PSA: Jump rope
 

[ QUOTE ]
[ QUOTE ]
right now I have a weighted jumprope so its hard to go for very long as my forearms get tired quickly

[/ QUOTE ]

Yeah, I thought about getting a weighted jumprope, but what I was really going for was quickness and agility in my legs. Honestly though, if someone only had time to "work out" 30mins a day, jumping with a weighted rope is about the simplest full body workout I can imagine.

-SmileyEH

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true...

the handles are only two pounds and the rope is 1 pound but that extra 5 pounds make it a lot tougher than my old leather jumprope which weighed close to nothing.

Re: PSA: Jump rope
 

Good thread. When I was in high school we used a lot of jumproping in our preseason workouts. Good for coordination and fitness. I havent used one in a long time but I might be inspired to pick one up again.I imagine that using a tabata protocol routine with a jump rope would be very effective.