9Round Fitness Blog

Why Jumping Rope Should Be Your Fitness BFF

Written by Jen Jones, Apr 8, 2018

What piece of exercise equipment is inexpensive, is easy to tote nearly anywhere, can be used by the whole family, and improves cardiovascular fitness while toning muscle at the same time? If you said a treadmill, you might be reading the wrong blog. I’m talking about a jump rope!

Skipping rope is a part of every single 9Round workout, and for good reason. Jumping rope has been shown to help increase the intensity of circuit-training workouts, like 9Round. Strength-training workouts that alternate between different muscle groups can increase heart rate and provide a cardiorespiratory benefit. Adding a jump-rope station to a circuit is an easy way to increase the intensity of the overall workout.

Jumping rope can help improve coordination and cognitive function. Skipping rope is a cyclic activity, which means you perform it for a steady, regular cadence. The steady cadence and rhythm of jumping rope can help improve the coordination between your eyes, feet and hands. It also helps you learn new motor patterns, which improves the nervous system communication between your brain, wrists and lower leg muscles. This, in turn, helps to improve your overall cognitive function, which is an important benefit as we age.

I’m going to get real with you here. Jumping rope ain’t easy. Especially when you’ve been out of the game since your third-grade double-dutch days. But with a lot of practice, and a little guidance from a 9Round trainer, you’ll be back up to your old playground tricks.

Having a properly sized jump rope is crucial to your success, your trainer can help you choose the right size for your height. And if you’ve never been (and have no aspirations of becoming) a rope jumping world champion, 9Round trainers can outfit you with a pair of air ropes to keep you hopping!

Lastly, for those of you that, like me, would rather do 100 burpees than run a mile, jumping rope is a great alternative! (Thank goodness, I really did not want to do that many burpees.) When done correctly, high-intensity rope jumping burns more calories, faster, and with less impact on your joints, than running. #teamjumprope