Whether you’re training for a big match, or just curious about the sport, boxing training is great for getting into fantastic physical shape.
Here we’re going to run you through some of the better exercises out there that you can do for boxing to improve both your strength and your stamina: Jumping rope.
You’ll be learning:
- What the exercise is
- The muscles that it works
- How to perform it
- Why this is useful for boxing
Here we go.
Jump Rope (or Skipping Rope)
Ah. The classic jump rope. A common trope found in any movie or TV show that happens to feature boxing and there’s plenty of reasons why – it’s effective.
It’s great for boosting your stamina and endurance.
What is Jump Rope?
Jump Rope or Skipping Rope is an activity that involves a piece of rope longer than the user’s body. Holding it at both ends, the user jumps over the rope and swings it over their head repeatedly.
What muscles does it work?
All over. It’s a full body activity.
However, the main muscles that you’ll work are your legs. Here’s a quick rundown of what muscles you’ll be exercising by jumping rope:
- Gastrocnemius – Calves
- Quadriceps – Front Thighs
- Hamstrings – Back Thighs
- Glutes – Butt
- Abdominals – Stomach Muscles
- Forearms
- Deltoids – Shoulder Muscles
As you can see, you cover a lot of the main areas.
How to Jump Rope
Never jumped rope before? Don’t worry. We’ll help you through it. Here’s our step by step guide for getting the basics down:
1. Find Your Rope Size
This is a big one. You need to make sure that the rope your using works the best for you. For beginners you’re probably better with a longer style jump rope. This can allow you to go slower and get the technique right before moving onto something that will allow you to go faster.
2. Get Your Hands Right
Your hands mean everything for jumping rope. You should not grip it with your palms, you should grab each side of the rope loosely with your fingers.
Put your hands out in front of you, with your palms up and your elbows bent and pointing at the ground.
3. Have a Swing
Step over the rope and use your wrists to throw the rope over your head and back around to the front of your feet. Try to jump and catch the rope under your feet, just so you can get used to the rope flying over you.
4. Once Your Comfortable, Try it For Real
Next you’re going to want to stop landing on the rope, and instead jump over it. Get used to jumping over it as it swings around, and always stay on the balls of your feet while doing so.
5. Go For More Than One
After you can jump the rope once, try to do 2 at once, then 3. Keep going until you can do it without stopping and then slowly up your speed.
Here’s a more in-depth video from the Jump Rope Dudes:
Why is Jump Rope Good for Boxing?
Jump rope is great for boxing as it works numerous muscles in your body, but also dramatically helps to build your stamina.
Not only that, it can help you in specific ways which is useful for helping with your boxing technique. Let’s look at why:
- Great for Footwork – Skipping rope gives you great control over your footwork as you’re constantly jumping a rope. Boxing is heavy on the footwork as you have to be light on your feet. Jumping rope is a great way to train for this.
- Improves Timing – This is another benefit of jumping rope, it helps you to improve your timing. By doing so, you know how to time your body weight bouncing around the ring with punches to get the most out of your movements.
- General Speed and Stamina – Your speed and stamina is great for improving your performance in the ring. You need to be fast to avoid your opponent and land punches. However, you also need the stamina to go for multiple rounds. Skipping rope is great for both of these and helps you to go the distance.
Conclusion
As you can see, Jump Rope is a great activity for improving your boxing performance. If you have practiced jump rope before, we strongly suggest you give it a try.
It’s an intense workout for pushing your body to the limit, and doesn’t need much equipment for you to do it. Jumping rope is fast, simple to do, cheap and effective.