What to Do When Jumping Rope
Join us for a rope fitness competition? You may be wondering what exactly you can do with your rope other than just jumping over it and counting how far you can go before you get tangled. This is the beginning!
If you can’t get even that far, watch this video from Punk Rope about common beginner mistakes. If the rope always grazes your ankles or seems to shorten as you jump, they know what you are doing wrong:
When you jump correctly, you keep your elbows at your sides, using only your wrists to turn the rope, and only jump as high as necessary to free the rope (an inch, for example). The trainer in the video demonstrates this on concrete, but if you can jump on a softer surface, such as a sports mat, it will be easier on your joints.
Unusual tricks
Here are some simple things that you find very interesting the first time:
- Jump from side to side . It’s like a normal jumping rope – don’t change anything, except that your feet just land a little to the side of where they took off.
- Jump back and forth . The same thing: you still jump in the normal way, but slightly change the position of your legs with each jump.
- Foot to foot . Maintain the same rhythm, but lower only one leg at a time. Personally, I’m stuck with this: I know it’s the same movement as running in place, but the rope knocks my brain off.
Try these tricks and let us know in the comments how to jump rope!