Jump rope

Cardio and calves, counted jump by jump, at a pace no other exercise reaches.

The movement

Loading the coach

How to do it

  1. Elbows close to your body, wrists doing the turning, not the arms.
  2. Small jumps, just enough for the rope to pass.
  3. Land on the balls of your feet, knees soft.

The two mistakes that cost you reps

  • Jumping too high, which burns your calves in thirty seconds.
  • Turning the rope with the whole arm instead of the wrists.

How Orusta counts it

Orusta counts each jump. At a fast cadence it drops the smoothing that would otherwise swallow reps, so a quick set is counted as accurately as a slow one.

Easier, harder

Easier

Jump without the rope, arms doing the same circles, until the timing clicks.

Harder

Double unders: the rope passes twice per jump.

What a good set looks like

100 jumps in a row without tripping is the first real milestone.

Exercises that work the same muscles

Your first challenge
is waiting.