Jumping rope is a great exercise, jump ropes travel well (as shown above), and jump ropes help you develop your feet, ankles, and calves, as well as your wind.
Sure, big arms are cool. But, in the grand scheme of things, big arms aren’t really that important. What is important is foot, ankle, and calf strength.
Many people have incredibly weak feet. Weak feet cause problems right up the chain—ankle problems, knee problems, hip problems, back problems. A painful back might have its roots in your foot.
For this reason, jumping rope is a great exercise because it develops strength in this area. But jumping rope also can develop your wind and cardiovascular system. You can add your grip, forearms, and shoulders to this list if you get a weighted rope.
Many weighted ropes place the weight in the handles. The Lifeline Weighted Rope is different—the weight is in the rope itself. That means that the faster you go, the harder you work and the heavier it feels. Ten rounds of 100 jumps at a good clip and you’ll feel it all over your body. That’s what I call efficiency.
I’ve used this rope for quite awhile and although I like it quite a bit, it does have a few drawbacks. One, the rope is stiff, especially when you first get it and it took me a while to adjust. I jump on concrete and my form isn’t perfect so the rope will hit the ground on occasion and that is wearing out the rope a little quicker than I’d like. Finally, the rope gets extremely brittle in cold weather and I’ve heard stories of it breaking in extreme cold.
Those problems aside, the feel of this weighted rope is great and it definitely makes you work harder than just having weighted handles. You can get this rope directly from Lifeline.