26 Basic Tricks

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Back when I started jumping rope, one of the main things needed to qualify for the team was to complete the 26 basic tricks without a mistake. I can remember having this list on my wall. It was a constant goal for me to “check it off” the list. We actually had to perform each skill in front of a coach 10 times in a row without a mistake before they would sign off that we could do it. Why these 26 Skills? When you’re first getting started in jump rope, you want to have a variety of skills that challenge you in different ways.Read More →

Jump Rope Cross

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It’s fitness season! What? Is there actually a season for that? Gauging how full the gym becomes for the next 2-3 weeks, it must be. In case you have a fitness goal of learning how to jump rope, I want to help you learn how to do a jump rope cross (or criss-cross, cross-over, whatever you want to call it). Why the jump rope cross? After the basic bounce, this would be in the running for the most widely seen jump rope skill. Check out the video below for our 60 second version of how to do it. For the video impaired, you can checkRead More →

Asthma feels like you're stuck in smoke

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I have a confession to make: I have asthma. This is something I’ve struggled with my whole life and has led to many interesting experiences throughout my career as an athlete. However, as I’ve gotten older, I have noticed that I have had less asthma attacks and when they do happen, they are significantly less severe. I don’t often discuss this with people, but when I do I mention that I have long held the belief that all the jump rope activities I do have helped my asthma. In fact, the more I push myself in jump rope (like when I was trying to breakRead More →

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Hopping (or jumping rope) on one foot for 2 minutes per day may reduce the risk of hip fracture. Today they published a study that followed some over 65 year olds for one year to see how hopping on one leg would impact their bone density. They only had them hop on one leg for the year so they could measure the difference between the hips. They found “Bone mass increased by up to 7% in parts of the exercised hip’s outer shell or cortex. The results also showed increases in the density of the layer of spongy bone under the cortex. These effects wereRead More →

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I love reading exercise related research studies because they so often prove the really obvious stuff. They certainly come out with some genuinely shocking news from time to time, but often it is verifying things that would seem rather obvious to most of us. This is a good thing since we shouldn’t blindly accept an idea, but I do find it entertaining to say the least. A recent study had this awesome headline “Exercise may reverse age-related bone loss in middle-aged men“. The study that was completed at the University of Missouri-Columbia found that “certain types of weight-lifting and jumping exercises, when completed for atRead More →

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Over the last couple of days I got to visit one of my best friends. Dennis Rogers is easily one of the strongest men in the world (pound for pound he is known to be the strongest man in the world) and one of only 2 living Grandmaster Strongmen in the world today. I asked him about some strengthening exercises for the forearm that would help with rope skipping and we ended up filming a number of videos that will be added to the site as soon as I get back to my computer (early next week). I’m excited to add a new section toRead More →

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Being a Professional Jump Roper has many perks and the one thing that everyone assumes is summed up in the most common question people ask me, ‘You must be able to eat whatever you want, right?’ Sure I can, but it’s not what you think. A few years ago when I started my business, I worked part time as a personal trainer. At the time I was either at the gym training people, jumping rope, unicycling, lifting weights or playing racquetball. I spent about half of my non-sleeping time working out. My body fat dropped into the 4 percent range and to be honest, IRead More →

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Being able to incorporate different elements and styles is one area that really makes jump rope stand out. Over the years I’ve seen everything from standard ‘boxer style’ skipping to interpretive dance. Some of it looked awesome, some didn’t and some was just plain weird. Whether I liked it or not, none of it was wrong. A jump rope is probably the most eclectic piece of equipment you could ever buy. Most sports just don’t allow the variety and creativity that can be found with a rope. A number of years ago I was involved with one of the first rope related plays that wasRead More →

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I love walking. It’s amazing how much of a workout it can give you and yet so many people miss out on it because they drive everywhere. Imagine the extra calories you could burn if you just took the time to walk somewhere everyday. I’ve seen people drive across the street just to pick up their groceries before driving home to sit and watch TV. Stop being lazy and get out there and walk! I digress, anyway, I was taking a walk one day early in the morning around the neighborhood where my in-laws live. As I was coming up to one of the yards,Read More →

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Some time ago I had a performance in Hayfork, CA. If you’ve never had the opportunity to drive through NorCal, it’s quite an adventure, especially if you get off the interstate and drive along the mountain roads. The roads are quite windy and can become very steep at a moments notice. Most of the drive was spent at about 30 mph as I was pulling a loaded down trailer. One thing I found interesting is that I rarely touch the brake when driving downhill through the mountains, but I found myself stuck behind a guy that practically stood on his brake pedal through every downhillRead More →