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+--- Thread: Tell me about jump ropes (/showthread.php?tid=118797)
Tell me about jump ropes - Mac1337 - 06-17-2011
I want to pick up rope jumping but know very little about jump ropes. Some have weights. Why? Can they be removed? How about the material, length, etc? How does it compare with a treadmill from a cardio angle?
Re: Tell me about jump ropes - mattkime - 06-17-2011
maybe you should start out with hopscotch.
Re: Tell me about jump ropes - cbelt3 - 06-17-2011
Dakota-
I would talk either to a pro or to a sub-10 year old girl.:biggrin:
In all seriousness, your suitability for this as a form of exercise depends heavily on how you'll handle repeated impact. For a trial, just stand in place and jump rhythmically for a few minutes and see how your knees and ankles feel.
That sort of thing is not a 'by itself' exercise, but as part of an overall circuit training program, can add agility and balance.
Re: Tell me about jump ropes - Mac1337 - 06-17-2011
I should have known not ask work out questions on a 55+ forum.
Re: Tell me about jump ropes - N-OS X-tasy! - 06-17-2011
cbelt3 wrote:
Dakota-
I would talk either to a pro or to a sub-10 year old girl.:biggrin:
In all seriousness, your suitability for this as a form of exercise depends heavily on how you'll handle repeated impact. For a trial, just stand in place and jump rhythmically for a few minutes and see how your knees and ankles feel.
That sort of thing is not a 'by itself' exercise, but as part of an overall circuit training program, can add agility and balance.
And endurance.
I'm old school - I'd look for a leather rope, wooden handle with ball bearings.
Re: Tell me about jump ropes - Todd's keyboard - 06-17-2011
I think my jump rope is called a "speed rope." I got it at the annual AAHPERD convention years ago from a group that was promoting jump-rope as a form of aerobic exercise. It might have been the American Heart Association.
As near as I can remember, the rope is two plastic handles with the appropriate length of some sort of white, plastic clothesline. A metal screw was threaded straight onto the clothesline to hold the end into the handle.
I rarely jumped on asphalt for any extended period of time. I was working at a circus school and was able to jump on a "sprung" floor. Imagine the runway that gymnasts use to approach the pommel horse.
Covert Bailey's book "Fit or Fat" was popular at the time. I jumped my twelve minutes of aerobic activity three or four times a week. Would jog or ride a bicycle on other days. The young circus students were surprised I could keep up with them at all when jogging.
Haven't jumped in many years, as I no longer have a decent floor with high enough ceilings. Have switched to rowing.
Best wishes, Todd's not-quite-out-of breath keyboard
Re: Tell me about jump ropes - testcase - 06-17-2011
mattkime wrote:
maybe you should start out with hopscotch.
Hopscotch might be too advanced.....
I say try tiddlywinks! :boink:
Re: Tell me about jump ropes - M>B> - 06-17-2011
Actually, the senior safe way is to put a knot or two on two separate ropes and treat it as a continuous rope and pretend you are skipping. Same workout without the chance of tripping or messing up!
Re: Tell me about jump ropes - Buzz - 06-17-2011
Baby Buzz is a whiz at jumping rope (when he can be torn away from FB & COD... ) and has several, w/ three main types, near as I can tell. There are weighted ones, some w/ removable weights, which I guess are for core strengthening at one end, and some lightweight, synthetic speed ropes at the other end more suited to cardio. In the middle are the braided or leather roped models for warming up or just mixing it up during an all around workout, the nice ones even have bearings in the handles to make the rope swing smoothly and freely. Got nuthin' to compare, but any workout is good. Go for it.
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Re: Tell me about jump ropes - tuqqer - 06-17-2011
Jump roping has been my main exercise for most of the past 20 years for me (and count me in the over 50 crowd). I'm one of the few guys I know that can jump for a solid 30 minutes at a steady 120-140rpm ... I'm not mentioning that for bragging rights, but to say I've gone through a LOT of jump ropes. I've tried the leather, wooden handles, multi-piece speed ropes, the thin wire type, etc.
To date, the best ones, in my opinion, are the solid, dual-corded PVC rope, or solid rubber; both are almost identical in action. Here are two models that I've found are the best:
http://www.amazon.com/Harbinger-331200-Trigger-10-Foot-Adjustable/dp/B00074H836/ref=sr_1_16?ie=UTF8&qid=1308284048&sr=8-16, or
http://www.amazon.com/Valeo-JRS-Jump-Rope-Speed/dp/B0007IS6ZG/ref=sr_1_3?ie=UTF8&qid=1308284048&sr=8-3
The reason for these is because they keep the parabola open and wide. Many of the others 'v' up at the bottom, which is the main reason people trip up.
NO on the weighted ropes. Sounds good in theory, but believe me, you'll develop arm muscles with just the normal light-weight models. My arms still get exhausted from the effort.
Two other things about the rope: ball-bearing handles are must, and you'll need to experiment with the right length. Start long, then shorten 'em up through the hollow ends of the handles.
Regarding knees: jump roping is actually fairly light impact; you don't get off the ground very far, and each ground strike is done from the toes down (vs. a classic runner's heel strike).
The BEST way to learn is to do mirror work. I'd say it's actually critical. You need to see how even your parabola is in relationship to your body. You have to see if you're holding your hands at the same level on both sides. Start by looking straight at the mirror and watching head on. But also watch from the sides, because you want to see where you need to hold your hands in relationship to your body; i.e., a bit forward or a bit back. It's all about finding the sweet spot for your hands, so that your feet have the highest chance of not tripping up. And then once you find that sweet spot, you memorize it. You practice flicking your wrists from exactly there. This is the thing that will take the longest time, but it's fun while you learn.
Last tip: listen to music. Create a jump rope set that keeps you motivated. After awhile, jumping rope is a little like dancing and you can really get into it and get it so you can jump 5 full minutes. Then 7. Then 10 (anyone who can do 10 is going to get into awesome shape).