The sport of jumping rope is an inexpensive one that proffers an intricate blend of fun and exercise. Unlike other fitness tools that are large and cumbersome the jump rope is relatively portable easy to carry about.

Apart from being an excellent cardio routine rope jumping is an efficient way to burn calories, improve fitness and maintain athleticism. It’s no surprise that it is a cardinal workout regimen employed by most fitness-related sports like boxing. Coupled with this increased physicality rope jumping is also beneficial to mind as it improves the coordination and mental capability of the user.

The jump rope institute notes that jumping rope fosters the development of your cerebral hemispheres, the proliferation of this region of the brain is linked to improved memory capabilities, heightened spatial awareness, alertness, and sharpened reading skills. Given this backdrop, it's easy to see that rope jumping is an essential workout regimen you should look to implement in your workout schedule.

• Select the best Jump rope

The first step in a jumping rope is to choose a good jump rope. As a newbie, you should be looking to get a jump rope that is neither too light nor too heavy. Stay clear of the cheap plastic ropes that are commonplace in supermarket stores as with these you cannot feel the rope as you swing predisposing you to frequent trips that culminate in frustration. The ideal jump rope is a medium weighted speed rope, because of their weight, at any instance you a sure to have an idea of the spatial orientation of the rope.

The next step is to set the jump rope height to match your physique. To size, the rope, clamp it down on the floor with your feet and extend it to your chest level stopping at your armpit. As a beginner, you should be aiming for a longer rope as a shorter one unnecessarily complicates jumping.

• Jumping surface

The ideal jumping surface is one that affords a little bit of bounce, the sort you will find in gyms, Hardwood floors, and the likes. Avoid concrete floors as they can be particularly unforgiving to your knees. Carpet floors on the hand can induce your rope to bounce meaning that you have to jump higher to skip the rope.

Jumping Rope 101

• The single bounce

The basic jump(single bounce) is the foundational technique in rope jumping. It is important that you fully master it before proceeding to learn new skills as it is the building block of all other rope jumping styles. 

The first step is to loosely grip the jump rope handle with your fingers and not your palm. Holding the rope loosely gives you greater flexibility and allows the jump rope to rotate freely as you swing it over your body. Make sure your hands are at an equidistant position from your torso, this stance ensures that your elbow and shoulder movements are minimal with most of the motion being translated to your wrist.

Once you’ve gotten your stance, the next thing is to practice swinging the rope from your back to the front. As a start, you can catch the rope with your feet instead of immediately jumping over it. This enables you to condition yourself and perfect your timing.

The next step after you have mastered this routine is to jump over the rope, start with one jump, then two, stop then repeat. Continue until you have caught your rhythm, and once you develop confidence, you can proceed to string in more jumps into your regime. When jumping bend your knees slightly and make sure to land on the ball of your feet and not your heels; this aids to diffuse and spread the force of impact that accompanies landing.

The key here is practice and patience, don’t over push yourself. You are bound to make mistakes as you proceed, but once the learning curve is complete this becomes a thing of the past

• The Jog Step

After successfully mastering the simple bounce the next step is to learn the Jog step. In this technique, for every revolution of the jump rope, you take one step. This may look challenging at first, but a simple way to go about it is to start slowly and build up a crescendo.

Once you get acquainted with this technique, you have effectively set the antecedent to facilitate your journey to become a pro rope jumper.

In the quest to become a pro jumper you have to learn as much jump rope skills as is possible. You can start by doing wraps, swings, crosses and basic footwork. The more skill set you to acquire the easier it gets to learn newer tricks.

A lot about being a pro is hinged on how well you are able to execute your skills. Even though you aim to master every skill, it is pertinent that you select your favorites and practice them until they come off as second nature to you. To figure out the faults and errors you make while you perform it is advisable to watch yourself as you practice, this can be achieved by using a big mirror that fully displays your whole body.

Unlike when you started, to achieve the status of pro you have to constantly push and challenge yourself to learn new tricks and skill-sets. Spice up your routine by combining different skills and techniques into your workout.