Exercise Profile
- Target Muscle Group
- Exercise TypeConditioning
- Equipment RequiredJump Rope
- MechanicsCompound
- Force TypePush (Bilateral)
- Experience LevelBeginner
- Secondary Muscles
Forearms
Target Muscle Group
Calves
Side to Side Jump Rope Overview
The side to side jump rope is a variation of the jump rope and a cardio exercise used to condition the entire body.
Jumping rope in general requires and builds a lot of coordination, one of the most important components to human fitness.
Jump rope exercises, such as the side to side jump rope, are great calf building exercises as they provide a lot of repetition to the slow twitch muscle fibers of the calves and can be explosive by nature.
Side to Side Jump Rope Instructions
- Grasp a jump rope with the handles at your sides and the rope behind your heels.
- Rotate the wrists to generate velocity and help the rope revolve around the body.
- As the rope moves toward your feet, jump with both legs to allow it to pass underneath.
- Land to the right of your starting position after the jump.
- Repeat step #4 but land to the left of your starting position.
- Repeat for the desired number of repetitions or time.
Side to Side Jump Rope Tips
- Keep a loose grip on the rope with the fingers relaxed just enough to keep the handle from flying out of your hand.
- Ensure most of the movement comes from the wrists preferentially.
- Don’t look down or hunch over as the rope circles around your body. Instead, stay upright and focus on learning to jump without having to rely upon your visual senses.
- Picking a jump rope before you begin practicing is the most important step of all. When the rope is looped around the end of your shoe, the bottom of the handles should come up to roughly your arm pits.
- There’s no need for excessively high jumps, only jump high enough so the rope can pass underneath without coming in contact with your feet. Conserve your energy for further jumps.
- If you find that jumping rope aggravates your knees or ankles, seek out a more forgiving surface (rubber mat, grass, etc).
- Don’t forget to breath as you complete repetitions.
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