How To Start Jump Rope – Beginner Guide

If you are looking for how to start Jump rope you are at the right place. Skipping Rope is a fantastic way to remain active and reap the benefits of one of the most efficient exercises at burning calories.

When you skiping rope, you will stimulate your cardiovascular system, which has an array of benefits by itself. Additionally, the number of muscles engaged and the fast-paced rhythm of the exercise make you burn fat at a rapid rate.

For optimal results, you should use a weighted rope to facilitate coordination and challenge your muscles (more on that later).

In this article, we will cover the fundamentals of how to start jump rope. However, we first need to decipher the benefits of this exercise.

If you do not want to read this article, we made a video for you as Honor Athletics Team

⇓

The benefits of jump rope

Provides a great cardio exercise

Researchers repeatedly demonstrated the calorie-burning properties of jumping rope. According to some reports, you can burn up to 1000 calories within one hour, which is extremely high relative to other cardio workouts.

How Often Should You Jump Rope

Jump rope also optimizes your endurance and muscle tonicity, which are indispensable traits for beginners and advanced athletes.

Comes with all the convenience in the world:

Unlike other cardiovascular exercises that may require some equipment or a large space, you can do jump rope wherever and whenever. All you need is a jump rope (duh!) and a few square feet.

Whether it’s at home, at work, on a cruise ship, or in the parking lot, jump rope is always an option.

Offers several health benefits:

Since the jumping rope is an effective cardio workout, it improves your physical and mental health tremendously.

Learn more about the health benefits of jumping rope by clicking on this link.

What is the best jump rope for beginners?

Many beginners find themselves confused when it comes to choosing the right jump rope.

These questions are valid, as start something new is the most difficult part; however, expect to find different answers depending on where you look. For instance, many people advocate for the use of plastic (PVC) rope, which is inexpensive and widely available.

Here is why:

When you use an extremely lightweight rope, you will have trouble controlling it due to the lack of momentum. Differently put, you will not feel the rope rotating around you, which makes it challenging to time your jumps. Additionally, even if you get a sense of the rope and it becomes easier to rotate it, you will not get a great exercise out of it compared to medium to heavy weight jump rope.

We are in no way underestimating jumping with a lightweight rope. In fact, some people do jumping without even using a rope and still benefit from it.

What we are saying is that if you want to optimize your performance and do this exercise properly, you need to get a medium weight jump rope. If you are experienced, you can also choose (although not required to) a weighted skipping rope to increase the intensity of your workout.

Note that when you use a weighted skip rope, you will engage the muscles of your upper body, which serves as a strength training exercise. In other words, using this rope allows you to have a cardio exercise and a strength training workout at the same time.

How to size your jump rope

Besides the weight of the rope, many beginners struggle with choosing the ideal length that fits their height.

You see, if you use a jump rope that is not compatible with your body, you will find the learning experience very frustrating. As a result, you might end up abandoning this journey before even starting.

The table below will help you choose the right rope length for you:

Your Height	Your Rope size
4’9”–5’4” (1.45–1.63 m)	8’0” (2.44 m)
5’4.5”–5’9” (1.64–1.75 m)	8’6” (2.59 m)
5’9.5”–6’1.5” (1.76–1.87 m)	9’0” (2.74 m)
6’2”–6’9” (1.88–2.06 m)	9’6” (2.90 m)

Second Way to Adjust your Jump Rope

1. ROPE LENGTH : Grip the handles in your hands and place one foot on the center of the rope. While pulling the jump rope up straight, the handles should be at the same level as your upper chest and armpit. For best result stretch your skip rope.
2. BODY SET-UP : Keep your back in neutral spinal position and core engaged while skipping.
3. JUMP ROPE LIKE A BOSS : Learn more from Honor Athletics YouTube Chanel

Additional note: after become more professional with skipping rope, you will not have to follow this card because, the rope length is depend on your jump rope style. For Example, if you do Mike Tyson style squat skip rope you need to keep the length of the rope short.

How to hold a jump rope

Holding the jump rope in the correct way is crucial.

Here is what you need to focus on:

Symmetry – Make sure that both your hands are roughly the same distance apart from the centerline of your body.

Movement – Ensure that your elbows and shoulders are not moving too much (minimal movement). Generate most of the rotational drive with your wrists.

YOU CAN GET SOME MOTIVATION FROM THIS VIDEO

⇓

How to Start Jump Rope – Your First Try

Once you are comfortable with the basics of jumping rope, you will be ready for the next step – actually doing the skip rope exercise.

Here are the steps you need to take:

• Keep a close distance between your feet when jumping
• Jump and land on the ball of your feet to minimizes the risk of injury (insert the link of jumping rope injuries)
• Avoid jumping too high from the ground
• Bend your knees slightly to avoid direct shock to the joints
• Make sure that your spine is straight (we do not want you to start experiencing back pain)
• Lift your chest and keep your head looking forward
• Pull your shoulders back and place your elbows down and back
• Keep your hands close to the midline of your body, at about the same level as your belly button
• Focus on your wrists to rotate the rope (not your shoulders or elbows)

At first, expect to struggle when doing the jump rope. However, regular practice will turn you into a master of this exercise. Remember, choosing the right rope will make it so much easier for you to start by eliminating any coordination or timing issues. As a bonus tip, you can use a mirror to watch yourself while you jump. It will help you adjust any symmetry issues.

If you want to get the best jump rope on the market, check out this link.

3 Key Things to Consider While Buying Jumping Rope

For a perfect jump rope workout, you must always have a perfect quality of jump rope that is fine in all terms. Whether it is the quality, length, or weight of the jump rope, you must always buy a skipping rope that perfectly fits all your needs and requirements.

• Type Of Jump Rope

There are basically three types of skip ropes available in the market that involves basic, speed, weighted, and beaded. You can buy any of them depending upon your requirements such as your fitness goals and body type.

• Materials Of The Jump Rope

There are multiple qualities of jump rope available and boxing market that are made up of different materials like leather, cloth, etc. You can choose and buy any of them depending upon your comfort and needs. Among the different varieties of jump rope materials, the most preferred skip ropes are used to be the leather ropes because people believed that leather jump ropes are going to help them skipping rope faster, in additional they were very expensive.

However people realized that pvc (plastic) skip ropes are actually better, faster and very durable.

• Jump Rope Length

The length of the jump rope is the most important factor that must not be overlooked. Therefore, you must always buy a perfectly sized skip rope for your skipping rope workout session.

Jumping Rope Fundamentals For Beginners

If you are a beginner, it is important for you to know the jump rope fundamentals for beginners to help you get the most out of your skipping rope workout plan. As everybody, knowing some of the basics will definitely never change !

You will need to do a lot of practice and, being patient.

• Function: Your entire body is working like a machine, and hence you need the perfect tools for the job. For this, you must make sure that your new jumping rope is not too short or too long according to your height.

• Form: Rhythm is an essential key for skipping rope. To get the rhythm down perfectly, you must first begin with jumping without a jump rope and count “1, 2, 3, 4 …”.

• Footwork: In skipping rope, footwork is the essential, that needs consideration. While practicing your skipping rope skills, your legs act as a spring but always make sure that you should not jump too high. It is always recommended to stay on ball of your feet and keep your knees slightly bent.

• Feedback: If you are new to skipping rope, you must first try to learn “how to jump rope” without rope because you will get more physical awareness while performing your physical jump rope activity .

• Symmetry: The posture and position of your body are the keys things in rope jumping. You must always keep your hands near hip level. This will help you to obtain better symmetry.

This was all about the basic fundamentals that you must keep in mind if you are new to skipping rope.

Now, let’s look at some of the most common mistakes to avoid as a beginner.

6 Common Mistakes As A Jump Rope Beginner

If you are new to skipping rope exercises, you might have definitely searched for multiple “how to jump rope” videos or articles on the internet. Learning this exercises online can help you learn quickly, but you may sometimes end up doing it wrong that might hurt your back or other parts of the body. Therefore, you must always be aware of some of the most common mistakes that beginners usually commit while doing jump rope workouts.

Have a look at the six common mistakes that you must avoid as a jump rope beginner!

• Using An Inappropriate And Unsuitable Rope Length

Do you really know that using a too-long or too short jump rope can prove to be problematic? If no, then you must always buy a jump rope that perfectly suits your height from now onwards. For this, you must begin by standing on the center of your rope with one foot. After that, raise both the handles to one side until they reach your shoulder, neither below nor above. This would be the perfect rope length according to your height. Once you start using an ideal-sized rope, you will indeed begin to notice an improvement in your jumping.

• Arms Too Far Apart

As a beginner, you might always keep your arms too far apart while jumping. But for a perfect skipping rope exercise, you must always keep your arms close enough by your side. If your arms are too far apart from each other, you are essentially shortening your skip rope length, which further makes it difficult for you to jump and increases your chance of tripping. So, you must always adjust the width of your arms to a suitable distance.

• Bounce Height

As a “how to jump rope” beginner, you might sometimes make mistakes with the bounce height during the entire skipping rope session. The jumping height of every person is different and unique.

Therefore, you must always try experimenting with the jump rope to find the ideal jump height that you can maintain consistently for long-duration sessions. One thing to note here is that it is not always necessary to jump high because by doing so, you may add extra pressure that may hurt your knees or joints.

• Timing

Most of the skipping rope guide won’t tell you, but the time in which you complete one rope turn highly impacts your performance. Rope skipping is a fast-paced and rhythmically controllable sport that requires perfection to become a pro. A complete one rope turn generally happens within milliseconds, but apart from that, it is ultimately about getting the rhythm correct.

• Wrist Position And Grip

As a jump rope beginner, you might make mistakes with wrist position and grip. Remember that for a perfect “how to skip rope” session, you must have a firm hold close to the handles of the rope. This will give you the best control over your skipping. A perfect grip and wrist position is the foundation of all advanced skipping rope workouts, and it will moreover help you immensely when you start learning new and advanced skipping rope tricks.

• Posture

Most of the jump rope beginners who learn skipping from online skipping rope guide tend to stand in the wrong posture while jumping, which may put you at greater risk of injury. Therefore, you must always be aware of your posture while skipping rope. You must keep an upright posture during the entire workout session. This will not only help you reduce back injuries, but it will moreover help you facilitate undisrupted and proper breathing.

Top 8 Jump Rope Exercises To Try

Are you new to skipping rope? If yes, then you might be confused with – “which are the best jump rope exercises?” Well, in this skipping rope guide, we’ve got you covered with the 8 skipping rope exercise that you must for sure try! But make sure to try the basic exercises first, and once you excel in those basic exercises, you can then move on to the advanced ones!

The top 8 skipping rope exercises include the following:

• Forward-Backward

The first exercise that you can try with a jump rope is forward-backward. In forward-backward, all you need to do is to hop both your feet forward for one complete revolution and then hop both your feet backward for one complete revolution. Keep alternating this one by one for completing the exercise.

• Hopscotch

Under hopscotch, alternate continuously between hopping on both your feet and hopping on one foot. This must be done by switching feet each time. In order to visualize this, you can think of the hopscotch game from childhood. This skip rope exercise works in the same manner. So, every four hops will include both feet, left foot, both feet, right foot.

• Double-Under

For doing double-under with perfection, all you need to do is swing the rope under your feet twice for each time you hop.

• Side Swing

Side swing is a prevalent jump rope exercise that is a part of the basic skipping rope workout session. Under side swing, after completing an entire revolution of the skipping rope, swing your rope by moving both hands to one side of your body, then moving both hands to the other side.

• Single-Leg-Hops

For doing single-leg-hops with perfection, perform repeated reps on one foot for half of the entire interval and then switch your legs and hop on the other leg until the time is up.

• High Knees

Under high knees, after each complete revolution of the skipping rope, drive your left knee up first and then your right knee up to hip height.

• Twisting Jump Rope

Twisting jump rope might be a new exercise for you that you haven’t heard about before commonly. Under twisting skipping rope, all you need to do is to keep your torso facing forward and then rotate your legs and hips to the right on each hop. All this is done in such a manner that your lower body makes a quarter turn in each direction.

• Ali Shuffle

The last “skipping rope exercise” in the list of top 8 exercises is Ali Shuffle. With your feet hip-width apart, you need to stand with one foot slightly in front of another. After each complete revolution of the jump rope, you must switch your stance alternatively so that the opposite foot is in front in each revolution.

Takeaway Message

Jump rope is an excellent workout routine that provides your body with a myriad of health benefits.

We hope that this article served as a beginner’s skipping rope guide and managed to answer some of the questions you had.

For those of you who still have unanswered questions, we urge you to leave a comment down below or reach out to us here.