Skipping rope is a versatile and low impact exercise. Unfortunately, jump rope hasn’t been a very popular tool among exercise scientists, which has resulted in very few available studies on their effectiveness. The limited number of studies, has robbed many athletes of the chance to utilize an effective tool. Despite this, any serious coach should at least consider jump rope as part of a GPP (general preparatory phase) toolkit for their athletes. Here are a number of key facts on why you should consider jumping rope.
1. Athleticism
when it comes down to it, jump rope is only a rope or cable attached to a woodchuck on each end. This simple, yet highly effective tool helps improve speed, agility, balance and coordination to any user. Once you pick up a steady rhythm, you constantly bounce on on the balls of your feet. Any that has every played any sport understand that the balls of your feet is where most of the impact, and change of direction occurs. Usain Bolt, one of the fastest men in the world said that his secret to his sprinting mechanics is staying on the balls of your feet. As you can imagine a consistent bounce on the balls of the foot by jump rope is a great translator for sports that requires constant change of direction such as basketball, soccer, boxing, sprinting and any other sport that comes to mind.
The key to jumping is being light on the balls of the foot. The more one jumps, the more proficient one becomes. The more proficient one becomes, the more the individual starts reaping the benefits. Some of the benefits include the transfer of skill to improved agility, change of direction and footwork, developing the ability to move off the balls of the feet (metatarsals) rhythmically.
Trecroci, A., Cavaggioni, L., Caccia, R., & Alberti, G. (2015). Jump Rope Training: Balance and Motor Coordination in Preadolescent Soccer Players. Journal of Sports Science & Medicine, 14(4), 792–798.
A research study published by Sport Science and Medicine Journal indicated that jump rope training effects balance and motor coordination, especially in preadolescent athletes. The study examined short, and long term effects, of training with jump rope on soccer players ages from 8 to 16 and its transfer on body balance and coordination. Over the course of 8 weeks, kids went to work with the ropes. Baseline and final measurements were evaluated though the Harre Circuit test (HCT) and Lower Quater Y balance test (YBT-LQ). These two tests evaluate participant’s motor ability and performance with different physical tasks such as the passages above or below obstacles, and unilateral dynamic lower limb balance.
Well, results showed the group that jumped rope for 10 minutes before practice had a significant reduction in time for both motor ability and performance tests. Data showed that both the experiment groups obtained a significant reduction of two
seconds, from 19.2 to 17.5 seconds in the performance time after 8 weeks of jump roping, while the CG (control group) showed a negligible reduction from 20.1 to 19.9 seconds on the Harre Circuit Test (HCT). As a result, youth soccer players should be encouraged to practice general physical activities (jump rope) together with sport specific exercises during their training sessions to improve balance and coordination.
2. Burns More Calories
Jump rope is an amazing way to get a shredded and get a lean physique. It burns a ton of calories. Research shows that jump rope is a phenomenal fat burning and muscle retaining exercise that is most commonly used by athletes such as boxers and wrestlers. They serve as great warm-up tools and can be excellent devices for breaking a sweat when cutting weight. More importantly, they can help transfer over to a number of athletic benefits to different kinds of sports. Ropes being essentially relegated to a niche sporting demographic under serves its influence onto other sports.
Compared to jogging for 30 minutes, jumping rope for 10 to 15 minutes burns the same amount, if not, more calories. According to Science Daily, “This aerobic exercise can achieve a ‘burn rate’ of up to 1300 calories per hour of vigorous activity with about 0.1 calories consumed per jump.” To put it in perspective, 10 minutes of jumping rope can roughly be the equivalent of running an eight-minute mile!”
3. Improves your Bone Density
Jump rope especially decrease injuries for the foot and ankle. When you are jumping rope, you are strengthening the muscles around your foot and ankles, making you more stable and less prone to injury. When performed properly, your skeletal system should be completely aligned and jump straight up and down.
Wolff’s law, states that bone in a healthy person or animal will adapt to the loads under which it is placed. Anything that has some impact to it or that places a load on your bones will increase their density. A study in the Journal of Applied Physiology found that young women who jumped as high as they could just 10 times, three times a week for six months, increased bone mineral density in their legs and the lower half of their spines.
4. Cardiovascular & Musculoskeletal fitness
According to research, 10 minutes of jump rope at a rate of 120 RPM provides the same cardiovascular fitness as:
- 30 mins of jogging
- 2 sets of tennis
- 18 holes of golf
- 2 miles of cycling
- 20 mins of handball
To give you a realistic example, I saw significant changes in my body when I switched from jogging every morning for 30 mins to just 15 mins of jumping rope. I saw the results instantly and has helped me lose that stubborn belly fat I have always been trying to lose.
5. Ergogenic Health + Accessibility
We live in a world where most our work is done on a digital screen and our natural posture takes a toll from that. Oftentimes, we slouch over with our shoulders and neck looking down or forward and is not good for your lower back and discs. With good jump rope form, you are actually pulling your shoulders blades back and are opening up your chest region.
Unlike jogging or weightlifting, the accessibility of jump rope is fantastic for a wide demographic of people. Anywhere that is open with enough space for one to skip rope is good enough to get a great a sweat on. When you start increasing the intensity of your jumps, the more of those benefits transfers directly over to your sport.
6. Jump rope makes you smarter
Hard to believe but yes it does! According to the Jump Rope institute, jumping on the ball of your feet aid in the development of your left and right hemisphere of your brain. Which further enhances spatial awareness, improves reading skills, increases memory and makes you more mentally alert.
Jumping on the balls of your feet requires your body and mind to make more neural muscular adjustments to imbalances created from continuous jumping. As a result, jumping improves dynamic balance, coordination, reflexes, bone density and muscular endurance.
Summary
There are numerous of other factors to jump rope than just those mentioned above. To quickly summarize, jumping rope promotes fat loss, improves footwork and coordination, increases bone density and strengthening foot muscles, in turn, decreasing injury, and is a great source for cardiovascular fitness.
Last word of advice is to consider jumping rope into your warm up toolkit to your routine. Jump rope has enough promising attributes to make it worth considering for athletic development. Furthermore, from an investment standpoint, ropes are relatively inexpensive and versatile, and you can seamlessly plug them into multiple areas of a training program. This makes them a low-risk and potentially high-yield investment.
References
Avila, ByErick, et al. “A Case for Skipping Rope in Sports Training.” SimpliFaster, 17 Apr. 2020, simplifaster.com/articles/skipping-rope/.
Heid, Markham. “Jump Rope: The Bone Benefits of Jumping Rope.” Time, Time, 13 July 2017, time.com/4856989/jump-rope-exercise-fitness/
Hoefs, Jeremy. “Weighted Jump Rope Vs. Speed Rope.” LIVESTRONG.COM, Leaf Group, 10 July 2019, http://www.livestrong.com/article/434651-weighted-jump-rope-vs-speed-rope/.
“Jump Rope, Jump Ropes, Jumping Ropes,Rope Jumping, Skipping Rope, or Rope Shipping At Jump Rope Institute.” Jump Rope | Jump Rope For Life, 2020, http://www.jumpropeinstitute.com/.
Trecroci, A., Cavaggioni, L., Caccia, R., & Alberti, G. (2015). Jump Rope Training: Balance and Motor Coordination in Preadolescent Soccer Players. Journal of Sports Science & Medicine, 14(4), 792–798.
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