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In our other article, The 5 Best Skipping Ropes, we discussed the health benefits of skipping. If you haven’t read that review yet, the benefits of 'jump rope' have been outlined below. However, if you just want to get into the skipping tutorial, follow me.
Benefits of skipping
Skipping, or ‘jumping rope’, is a staple of the boxer’s daily training diet. Primarily used as a warm-up and cool-down exercise, skipping confers many physical benefits. Bruce Lee purportedly said that ‘10 minutes of skipping rope is like 30 minutes of jogging.’
Though I’ve yet to encounter any research that supports his statement, anyone who’s vigorously skipped for ten minutes will probably agree with him. So why is such a seemingly simple and, excuse the term, old fashioned exercise so stimulating?
Skipping is an excellent conditioning exercise
This probably has something to do with the way skipping works the body. When performing this exercise multiple major muscle groups are simultaneously recruited; such as the quadriceps, back and shoulders and of course the heart and lungs (diaphragm).
In addition, a plethora of ‘synergist’, or stabilising, muscles are engaged to, well, stabilise the body during the movement. I suppose, in short, I could have just said that skipping in some way activates every muscle in your body. It’s no wonder then that ten minutes of jumping rope gets the blood pumping and the sweat pouring.
But of the benefits conferred by skipping the buck doesn’t stop at augmented physicality.
Why do boxers skip?
Skipping helps to sharpen the boxer’s coordination and agility. Both extremely important pugilistic attributes. Furthermore, unlike an exercise such as running, as good as it is, you can’t ‘switch-off’ when skipping.
The moment your mind wanders you’ll miss-time a jump and consequently find yourself untangling the rope – which is highly irritating – or whipping you’re arse – which is painful. Thus this is one of the few exercises that gives your mind a workout as well as your body.
Some other health and fitness benefits of skipping
As exercise equipment goes, skipping, relative to the many benefits reaped, has to be one of the single most inexpensive available. For less than the price of a cinema ticket and small popcorn you could be the proud owner of a skipping rope – and a good one will last years.
Moreover, not only are they dirt cheap but they are eminently portable (something that can’t be said of TOPIOM’s wooden water-filled rowing machine) and require little space to use.
The benefits of regular skipping
Improved cardiovascular and respiratory performance
Enhanced muscular endurance across a range of muscle groups
Sharpened coordination and agility
Mental stimulation
Improves muscle definition
Melts fat fast
How to Skip in 7 Steps
So now that we have an idea of why we should start skipping the next port of call is How To Skip.
Perhaps one of the primary limitations of skipping – the only limitation – is that to develop sufficient competency takes weeks of dedicated practice. That’s a stumbling block for most people.
If you’ve never skipped before, or you’ve had a go but quickly gave up because you spent more time untangling the rope than you did jumping it, you must begin by acknowledging that proficiency will not come over night.
Whereas with rowing or cycling you can get going almost straight away, few people recognise that to skip even moderately well – that is, without the tricks and showboating – can take months. This is why 90% of all people who ever picked up a skipping rope put it down after one session.
Don’t be a quitter! Tell yourself that it takes time, practice and a s$!t load of mistakes, but it’s worth it.
Get skipping
You don’t have to be an aspiring boxer to skip. Anyone who exercises or is taking steps to get active can learn to skip and enjoy the many benefits it has to offer. All you need are three things:
1) A skipping rope (obviously) (if you don’t have rope see the selection of best ropes below)
2) Enough space
3) Patience and perseverance (I’m lumping them in as one)
How to Skip in 7 Steps
*Remember*: before skipping spend at least 5-minutes warming up. Warm-up exercises could include mobility movements (ankle rotations), jogging on the spot, double footed jumps.
By not warming up you will significantly increase your chances of sustaining an injury – this is the case for all exercise and sporting activities: WARM-UP!
Ok, lecture over, let’s have a look at those steps:
Step 1: WARM-UP!
Step 2: While holding the rope in your hands, practice double footed jumping – you are not jumping rope yet. Spend 1 to 2 minutes doing this.
Step 3: Holding the handles loosely, the rope at rest behind you, turn it over and jump the rope –JUST ONCE!
Step 4: Congratulate yourself
Step 5: Repeat Step 3
Step 6: Again, a bit of self-praise
Step 7: Now that you’ve had a little go at getting over that wily rope it’s time to start racking up personal bests: try to count as many un-broken double footed skips as possible. Every time you clip the rope or whip your arse, stop, take a 3 second count, then back into it trying each time to better your previous PB
Steps 1 to 7 should span the duration of about ten minutes. I would advise against exceeding this. Put the rope away and merrily go about with the rest of your session. Over the course of the week try to get two or three more practice sessions in.
When you notice the sweet boon of improvement it’s time to take your technique to the next level.
Advancing your skipping technique
Step 1: WARM-UP!
Step 2: From double footed jumping now practice single foot jumps – just one or two at the start
Step 3: When you can comfortably jump for multiple turns on both your left and right foot proceed on to the next step
Step 4: You’re going to work through a descending pyramid: 5 jumps on the right foot followed immediately and without stopping with five on the left . . . then 4, 3, 2 . . .
Step 5: When you can alternate single skips right to left you are . . . SKIPPING!
Congratulations - You are now skipping!
To conclude
My one parting word or advice would be: patience. . . . And: practice. . . . And: perseverance.
Ok, so three parting words.
We can call them the three Ps of skipping perfection: Practice, Practice and Perseverance. If you apply them you WILL master the skill of jumping rope. So what are you waiting for, get to it!
Top three skipping ropes
Product Particulars (click image for availability)
Anti-Slip soft skin-friendly handle
Ergonomically shaped handles coated with custom memory foam
Premium ball bearing: ensuring a smooth and effortless spin
Lightweight & Portable
The TechRise rope is excellent for beginners. Because it is made from lightweight materials it is not as physically taxing as heavier ropes thus enabling the beginner to focus more on technique as opposed to fighting fatigue. Also, a finer rope is more forgiving when you miss-time a jump and whip the side of your leg.
Product Particulars (click image for availability)
Adjustable rope length
High quality bearings to facilitate smooth rope rotation
Non-slip texture design ensures firm grip and prevents slip
Weighted bars to enhance skipping intensity
The Bestwon is an extremely well rated rope and for good reason. As far as skipping ropes go this is probably one of the best built products on the market. A praise-worthy feature of the Bestwon is the function that enables you to adjust the rope length.
Best jump rope #3: BeastGear skipping rope (£14.95)
Product Particulars
Superb customer feedback
Premium quality materials
Adjustable rope length
Composed of exclusive industrial strength aluminium
You get a little bag to put the rope in!
The BeastGear skipping rope has got to be one of the best rated ropes on Amazon. With over 7,000 reviews and still retaining five stars this is one popular piece of exercise equipment that's made a lot of people very happy.
Follow the link for a full review of the best 5 skipping ropes.
(As we are very interested in user feedback at Hungry4Fitness, I would be very grateful if you could take a few seconds out of your day to leave a comment. Thanks in advance!)
Blog Author
Adam Priest, former Royal Marines Commando, is a personal trainer, lecturer, boxing and Thai boxing enthusiast.