A Jump Rope Workout for Cheap, Low-Impact Exercising

When it comes to cardio, most people think you need a big treadmill or elliptical to successfully burn fat. These machines cost thousands of dollars, and even if you wanted to go to the gym to use them, it would mean monthly payments and no guarantee that you’d be able to get right on one during busy times.

I suggest you get off the treadmill and other cardio machines and never set foot on one ever again.

Running, biking, and rowing outside are much more enjoyable (and cheaper) than doing it indoors like a hamster on a wheel. Oh yeah, and the most effective piece of cardio equipment will set you back ten bucks or less… the humble jump rope! And a jump rope workout will give you excellent results.

Choosing the Right Rope

If you are just starting out, I suggest you stick to cheap, plastic “speed ropes” that will set you back about $5 or so. Weighted ropes are more expensive and you can always get one later once you’ve mastered your craft.

Now you need to get it to the correct length. Step on the middle of the rope with one foot and pull the handles up next to you as far as they will go. Ideally, the top of the handles will end at your armpits. The shorter the rope, the more challenging the jump rope workout.

To shorten the rope (which you may need to do), a quick fix you can do is simply tie a knot underneath the handles on both sides.

Clear the Room!

Now you need a space to jump rope. You can probably find a clear enough area in your house or apartment, but if that fails, you can always head outside.

One of the best reasons to jump rope vs running is that it is so low-impact. You bounce up and down on the balls of your feet, which acts as a cushion. Likewise, you should find a good low-impact surface to jump on. Level dirt, carpet, or even a yoga mat are in, concrete and linoleum are out.

Learn Your Skills

For people new to jumping rope, the first milestone to hit is jumping for three minutes straight without getting tripped up doing the basic jump. Here, you jump with feet together and core engaged, keeping your body straight upright. Swing the rope from your wrists, not your arms.

Once you can hit this goal, you will want to learn alternating foot jumps. This is much the same as running in place, but swinging the rope at the same time, bringing it underneath you during the brief moment when both your feet are off the ground.

The next move to learn is the criss cross. When the rope is above you, cross your arms so that your elbows are touching and jump through the rope. Once the rope is overhead again, uncross your arms.

Finally, you should learn double unders, where every time you jump, you swing the rope over and underneath yourself twice. Obviously, you will need to jump a bit higher than the basic bounce and tighten up the circles your wrists are making to successfully do this.

Implementing a Jump Rope Workout

Once you are able to do the basic bounce, you can begin to start a routine while you learn new moves.

First of all, you can add jumping rope into your warm up or cool down, jumping for a few minutes to ramp either up or down.

You could also add jumping rope into your circuits. For example, I like to alternate kettlebell swings and rope jumping.

But you could easily make jumping rope a workout all by itself. Pick a time between one and three minutes and do as many sets as you can for that duration, taking minute-long breaks in-between sets.

The most intense and effective jump rope workout you may be able to do are intervals. Do alternating foot jumps for 1 minute, then rest 30 seconds. Repeat this pattern as long as you can. Try to get to eight!

Here’s jump rope Jedi Buddy Lee with a video tutorial. (Cuz I know we guys tend to be a bit more visual.)

The Jump Rope and Me

If you are a subscriber to this site, you may know that I am not much of a cardio guy. So why do I advocate a jump rope workout? Apart from it being cheap and deadly effective, jumping rope is excellent training for speed, coordination, agility, balance, and accuracy, which are components of fitness that most people forget about.

As some of you know, I’ve been going the “minimalist” approach this summer. After many, many years of having free gym access due to school and work, I am for the first time in my life in the position where I would need to pay to go to the gym if I wanted to.

I said the hell with that, picked up a jump rope, pull up bar, and kettlebell, and plan to use this stuff along with bodyweight exercises such as plyometrics and see where it gets me this summer. And so far, so good!

Let me know if you’ve had any success with jumping rope!

Tagged as: cardio, jump rope