How combine jumping rope and boxing? When you look at the training programs of the best boxers, they all jump rope!
While most of us may not have touched it since elementary school. Still, jumping rope is an amazing way to improve your cardiovascular endurance and strengthen key lower body muscles, without needing to subscribe to a gym or to buy expensive equipment.
This is an absolute must for working on endurance,footwork andstrength.
In this article, we will therefore give you an overview of the benefits of jumping rope for boxing, as well as the best exercises to perform to become a more successful boxer !
The Benefits of Jump Rope for Boxing
Boxing is truly a full body sport, as footwork andlower body strength define our ability to deliver and avoid our opponent's punches.
To strengthen the muscles of your lower limbs, also read the Top 8 bodyweight leg exercises
Now think about the coordination needed to jump rope. Your hands and wrists should spin the rope at a steady rate, in a way that syncs with the rhythm and frequency of your jumps.
In other words, skipping rope and boxing require the same level of total body coordination:
- Upper and lower body coordination: Boxers work hard to master their hand-eye-foot coordination and the ability to optimally utilize all of these elements at the same time when punching. training or during a fight.
Jump rope is an essential way to train your body to make all of these things work together.
- Footwork: Jumping rope helps you stay light, i.e. keep your weight on the balls of your feet and move your body quickly with your full weight positioned as such.
Jump rope is a great way to train your body to learn to move the same way a boxer moves in the ring.
- Endurance: The vast majority of people believe that jogging or running is the best way to increase your overall cardiovascular endurance.
While running is an important part of training for boxers of all skill levels (and why you'll often hear of professional fighters logging several miles almost every day), jumping rope can giving you the same cardiovascular benefits, in just a fraction of the time. But also, helps you lose weight.
Indeed, 10 minutes of skipping rope is equivalent to 30 minutes of jogging.
Making the most of jumping rope and boxing
To get the most out of your jump rope sessions for boxing, you need to make sure you have the right equipment! To start, it is recommended to choose a skipping rope with an adjustable length, in order to be sure that it suits your morphology. To learn more about choosing the right length for your jump rope, read this article.
We recommend the Steel Pro™ Skipping Rope, a high-quality model used by the greatest athletes, including boxers! This skipping rope is strong and resistant is very light and there is no risk of being bothered by perspiration thanks to its ergonomically shaped and non-slip handles!
Its ingenious 360° ball bearing system offers simple and gentle rotation for your joints, while ensuring optimal muscle work.
Best Jump Rope Exercises For Boxing
Front to back
We'll assume you're familiar with the classic skipping move, that of jumping with both feet together. For combining jump rope and boxing, the first variation is the forward-backward movement.
As the name suggests, instead of jumping up and down in the same spot, your jumps should go slightly forward and backward. Your jumps should maintain the same pace, except that the landing point should alternate between slightly forward and slightly backward from where you are.
This is a good warm-up exerciseto incorporate with ajump rope, as it will begin toengage your lower abdominal muscles and strain your hips.
Also read: All about the exercise of the bird in bodybuilding
Side to side
This is another great warm-up exercise similar to the forward-backward variation mentioned above. Only this time, instead of jumping forwards and backwards, you'll be jumping side to side.
This is another very effective jump rope move for boxing. Again, your jump should maintain the same rhythm, changing only where your feet land after each jump.
The easiest way to visualize and perform this exercise is to imagine that there is a straight line between your feet (when standing). You want to keep jumping back and forth on this line, making sure both of your feet land on one side of the line, then the other, and so on.
Like the back and forth variation, this version of the jump rope will help you engage your oblique muscles, which run up and down the sides of your torso.
Boxer Skip
Once you are comfortable with skipping at a steady pace while moving your feet around a bit, now is the time to start incorporating a footwork centered on jump rope and boxing.
Specifically, we're going to incorporate the Boxer Skip into yourjump rope routine. Keeping your feet a few inches apart, you want to perform the Boxer Skip at a moderate pace that you can maintain.
This means that you will shift your weight back and forth between the balls of each foot, almost like trying to run in place while keeping your weight exclusively on the balls of your feet.
This movement is not easy at first, and therefore leads to some errors. But keep practicing: you'll get used to it and you'll be able to keep up the pace as you go. To learn more, do not hesitate to read this article.
This workout will work wonders when you get in the ring or move around the punching bag!
Run in place
If you want to increase the cardio intensity of your skip rope training for boxing, this session is for you
It combines the benefits of running in place with those of knee raises and those you already get with the jump rope. As you might guess, this exercise works effectively by jumping rope.
Again, you want to make sure you're focusing on raising your knees as high as you can. However, don't start trying to sprint in place while jumping rope!
First of all, you want to start with jumping rope normally, or maybe with a bit of Boxer Skip. From there, start jogging in place, making sure to lift one foot off the ground, followed by the other.
Once you master this move, start lifting your legs higher and higher, faster and faster, until you achieve full knee raises.
Double pass
Finally, we have an exercise that will explode your calves and lower body, while increasing your heart rate and your calorie burn.
As the name suggests, this jump rope and boxing exercise involves passing the rope twice under your feet for each jump you make. As you can imagine, this will require you to turn the rope very quickly and jump a little higher each time, to ensure you have enough time to do a double passage of the rope.
Again, we recommend starting at a steady pace, with your feet together. From there, start increasing the speed at which you turn the rope, then start gradually increasing the height at which you jump.
You want at most double the usual jump height. So it's all about pace, timing and the steady progression of your heart rate.
Complete your session with this top 8 exercises for abs with rubber band
In Summary: Jump Rope and Boxing
The skipping rope and boxing go very well together! It is even essential to train with the rope to progress as a boxer, whether it is on your physical formor yourboxing technique.
There are exercises that are perfectly suited for this, such as forward/backward jumps, side jumps, the Boxer Skip, running on the spot or even the double rope pass. They all strengthen your muscles and improve your endurance.
With a quality rope model like the Steel Pro™ Jump Rope, you can then fully concentrate on your physical performance .So convinced of the benefits of jumping rope for boxing?
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