Ask the average person to name some serious, effective exercises, and they’ll probably come up with words like “pull ups”, “burpees” or “bench presses”. If they’re more well versed in aerobics, they might mention “stair runs”, “elliptical workouts” or “wind sprints”. To be sure, these are all great workouts, but there’s one highly effective exercise most people might leave out, one which not only improves your cardiovascular health, but tones both your upper and low body muscles as well: jumping rope.

Health Benefits of Jump Rope for Beginners

The health benefits of jumping rope are undeniable; it’s a mainstay of professional boxers and other pro athletes for a reason! Not only does it burn calories and improve your cardiovascular health, it also tones your upper body, as holding the rope in a constant low-level tension over thousands of spins can significantly strengthen your traps and forearms. Of course, you’ll see greatly improved definition and strength in your glutes, calves and thighs as well. Jumping rope can also greatly benefit hand-eye coordination and balance, which is a huge help if you play other sports or work a physically demanding job.

Don’t forget that jumping rope is a low-stress exercise, meaning you’re less likely to injure yourself while doing it. All the motions are relatively small and the skips don’t come far off the ground, so you’re not putting a serious beating on your feet, knees and spine, making it a great exercise for beginners.

Why You Should Get Started Jumping Rope

For most people, jump rope is that game that kids play while singing rhymes on the playground, or maybe it’s that one boring piece of equipment that always went unused in gym class, but nothing could be further from the truth. In fact, jumping rope can be a highly practical and effective exercise for adults for three main reasons: portability, accessibility, and affordability.

• Jump Ropes are Portable – The ability to coil up your rope and take it with you anywhere you go is one of the top benefits of jumping rope. If you travel a lot for work, or if you frequently commute between job sites, you may not always be close enough to a gym to get in a good workout. Going for a run requires either a treadmill or a outdoor route planned out. A jump rope routine, on the other hand, just requires a flat 4’ x 4’ surface to skip on and about 8’ of overhead clearance, both of which should be easy to find anywhere you go.
• Jump Ropes are Accessible – People of all skill levels can learn how to use a jump rope without fear of injury because as stated above, jump ropes are very forgiving of beginner mistakes. Running, free lifting, and operating the weight machine all pose a risk of injury to untrained beginners who may not know proper form, but jumping rope is a low-stress exercise which is also self-correcting. In other words, you’ll know when you’re doing something wrong because the rope will stop moving. You can also skip rope in the privacy of your home, which for many beginners is much less intimidating than going to a gym.
• Jump Ropes are Affordable – While a pair of running shoes might set you back anywhere from $50 to $500, and a gym membership can run into the hundreds to thousands of dollars per year, a decent jump rope shouldn’t cost you more than about $20 at the highest. There is no other piece of athletic gear that delivers better value for cost.

How to Start Skipping Rope for Beginners

The first step, gathering your equipment, is also the easiest; all you need is a jump rope, a pair of sneakers, and a portable boxing timer. We’re using a boxing timer here because it gives us a handy way to know when to start and stop our session, not to mention boxing and skipping rope have a long and rich history of association.

Next, make sure your jump rope fits you. When standing on middle of the rope with both feet, the ends of the handles should reach your armpits. Adjust the cord length if necessary.

Now you’re ready to start with a few practice skips. Stand with your feet together, knees slightly bent, back straight and face straight ahead. Start with the rope behind you, and slowly bring it in an arc over your head. When you jump over it, try to slightly bounce off the balls of your feet only as much as you need to clear the rope; don’t take a massive jump.

After ten successful jumps in a row, you’re ready to start your workout proper. Start by skipping for three minutes, followed by a one minute break. This is where your boxing timer comes in handy to let you know when to start and stop. This three-on one-off round is your basic building block for your jump rope workout. You might start with just two or three rounds on the timer, then gradually add more rounds as you gain proficiency and aerobic fitness. For now, though, if you’re just starting out skipping rope, start low and go slow. Two or three rounds of slow to moderate skipping is enough for most beginners.

Once you’ve established your initial baseline and you’re getting comfortable with your routine, add another round to each of your workouts that week. Go on adding no more than one round per workout per week until you reach a point where time constraints keep you from skipping any more. You’ll be surprised at how quickly you can train yourself up to skipping ten or more rounds in a single session.

How to Get Better at Skipping Rope

Your first few times jumping rope might be tough, but don’t get discouraged! Like all new skills, skipping rope takes a while to learn, so don’t beat yourself up if you’re tripping a lot. The important thing to remember is that as stated before, jump rope is a self-correcting exercise. There’s literally no way to do it wrong because the rope will stop moving when you do, so every time you trip your body is learning how to better coordinate and perform a new task. As long as you stick with it, you can’t help but get better.

That said, here are a few tips to keep in mind. If you’re tripping, first recheck if the rope is the right length with handles reaching your armpits when you stand on the middle. Try and use the moment the rope enters your field of vision as a visual cue to know when to begin the skip. If the rope hits the front of your feet, adjust your rhythm so you’re jumping a bit earlier in the swing. If you find yourself stepping on the rope, make sure you’re not pulling up too soon with your hands on the upswing. Keep your hands low and your arms relatively still; most of the movement should be from the elbows down. For now, just focus on a smooth, steady basic jump and save the tricks for later. When you’re ready, take a look at our guide to jump rope tricks for ideas on how to mix up your workout.

By focusing on the basics and adding rounds on the timer as you feel comfortable, you’ll get trained up on the jump rope in no time. Once you’re regularly blazing through 10+ rounds a session, you’ll start to see huge improvements in your cardio, upper and lower body muscle tone, and overall coordination and wellness. Get skipping and start reaping the benefits of jumping rope today.

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Whether you’re jumping rope for boxing conditioning, working on your skip rope tricks, or just skipping for overall muscle tone and fitness, the first step is to pick the right jump rope for the job. We’ve already said in our jumping rope for beginners guide that the jump rope is the most economical piece of fitness gear you can buy, and that’s because no matter the style you pick, you’re not laying out too much cash. That said, it can be tough to pick the right type of jump rope from all the different styles out there, so we’re here to help.

How to Pick a Good Skipping Rope
Regardless of jump rope style, there are a few basic rules which apply across all categories. No matter which jump rope style you’re looking at, and how much you want to spend, make sure the rope you pick has these important features:

• Adjustable Length – A poorly fitting rope is the number one cause of frustration for beginners. Your form can be just right, but a rope that’s slightly too long or too short can cause you big problems with tripping or stepping on the rope. To properly fit a jump rope, stand on the middle of the cord with your feet together, then raise the handles; the ends of the handles should come to your armpits. Make sure you get a rope that allows you to make the necessary adjustments.
• Slim cord – look for a jump rope with a thin cord which cuts through the air and allows you to spin it quickly. Jump ropes with wide cords offer more air resistance and tend to slow down your skips without adding much benefit to your workout. Some cord materials, such as leather and cloth, tend to be thicker than others, and we’ll cover them in their own sections below. Definitely avoid ropes with plastic shells or other kiddie attachments; these will slow you down even more and do your workout no good at all.
• Rotating handle joint – Jump ropes which are fixed at the joint between cord and handle tend to develop a wear point at that juncture which can lead to premature fraying and breakage. Instead, look for a rope with a rotating handle set perpendicular to handle which will relieve stress on the rope and allow for a smoother spin.
• Fitting handles – Make sure the handles fit your hands. This can be hard to do when ordering online, but just remember that smaller is usually better. An athlete with large hands can easily use a slim handle, but someone with small hands may find a large, padded handle uncomfortable. When in doubt, go for the slimmer option.

Plastic Jump Ropes

PVC or plastic jump ropes are the best all-around option for any athlete, and the best jump rope for beginners. The plastic cord is light enough to allow a good, fast rhythm, but has just enough weight to generate a good momentum on the upswing. The tough plastic cord can also take a heavy beating when skipping on wood floors, concrete, or asphalt, and offers a long service life even under these tough conditions. Even if it breaks, as all cords eventually do, PVC replacement cords are very affordable and easy to install. These types of ropes are tangle-resistant and won’t develop a kink when sharply bent like wire jump ropes do, so they’re very gym-bag friendly. The only disadvantage is that the light weight of the cord can make it tricky to skip outdoors in windy conditions. Otherwise, a PVC or plastic skip rope is a great all-around buy.

Steel Cable Jump Ropes

Steel wire or cable jump ropes are also a good choice, but they tend be be more specialized and offer a different set of tradeoffs when compared to the more general-purpose plastic ropes. These jump ropes have cords made of thin steel wires molded into a plastic sleeve for a combination of strength and smoothness. This produces a rope which is very stiff and thin, perfect for athletes who want to work on speed skipping or elaborate jump rope tricks like crossovers and double jumps. For outdoor skipping, the thin wire offers so little air resistance that wind is a complete non-issue. That same speed also creates the steel rope’s biggest disadvantage; it may be too fast for beginners who are still learning their timing. The wire rope is also counterintuitively less durable than the plastic rope; the twisted metal cable can develop kinks if bent, and metal fibers will start to fray and protrude with hard use. Still, if speed and cardio is your priority, it’s hard to beat a steel cable skip rope.

Weighted Jump Ropes

On the other end of the spectrum, weighted jump ropes are all about building strength. These usually come with a thick rubber or plastic coated cable and the handles tend to be thicker and padded with foam. Some models also come with removable weights to increase the mass of the cord. The first thing you’ll noticed with a weighted jump rope is that the weight and air resistance of the rope tends to produce a slower skipping rhythm. The second thing you’ll notice is that you’ll start to feel the burn in your arms and shoulders a lot sooner than you think! Weighted skip ropes are specialized for toning your traps, delts, biceps, and forearms by creating a constant heavy centrifugal pull on the end of the arc. However, that same weight can also cause problems for beginners, as the slow rhythm makes it difficult to build muscle memory for efficient skipping. Dedicated upper body strength trainers should definitely give the weighted jump rope a second look.

Leather Jump Ropes

As seen in movies like Rocky and Raging Bull, there’s something romantic about training the old-fashioned way. If you’re one of those athletes who appreciates an old-school, low-tech workout, consider picking up a leather jump rope. Leather skip ropes combine the properties of plastic and weighted ropes; the cord is wide with higher air resistance like a PVC rope, but it’s also on the heavier side like a weighted rope. One potential downside of going with old-school leather is drag, as the leather cord tends to hit the ground with more friction which can mess up the timing of your skips. On the other hand, the main advantage of a leather rope is durability; the tough cord will take many tens of thousands of impacts before showing signs of damage, and it won’t fray into sharp metal fibers the way a cable jump rope can.

Jump Ropes to Avoid
Athletes should avoid any jump ropes made from rope, cloth or other textiles. Their air resistance is high, their cord weight is too light, their speed is slow, and their rhythm is nonexistent; rope and cloth skipping ropes simply offer the worst of all worlds for serious training. The same goes for cheap toy jump ropes covered in plastic shells.

Final Note

A jump rope is one of the most cost-effective pieces of workout gear you can buy, so make sure you get the one that’s right for your fitness goals. For more information on jump rope workouts, check out our jumping rope for beginners article, as well as our guide to jump rope tricks.

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