About this product
This is a steel-wire jump rope in a PVC sleeve, with bearing-mounted foam handles and adjustable length.
Skipping is probably the best value cardiovascular training there is. It needs no space, no power, no membership and about two square metres of floor; ten minutes of it is genuinely hard work; and it trains coordination, calf and foot strength and rhythm alongside the cardiovascular side. Boxers have used it as their primary conditioning tool for a century for good reasons.
What makes a rope usable is the core and the bearings. A plain plastic rope is too light to hold its arc, so it slows at the bottom and catches your feet; it also twists, because it is fixed to the handles. A steel wire in a PVC sleeve has the mass to keep a clean arc at speed and the stiffness not to kink. Bearings let the rope spin in the handle instead of winding up.
Length is the first thing to set and the thing most people get wrong. Stand on the middle of the rope with one foot: the handles should reach roughly to your armpits. Too long and it drags; too short and it clips your head. It is adjustable, so set it properly before deciding you cannot skip.
Skip on a surface with some give if you can – a mat, wood, a rubber floor. Concrete and tile transmit every landing straight into the shins and the calves, and shin pain is the usual reason people stop.
Foam Handle Jump Rope - Steel Wire in PVC, Adjustable