Recommend me an inexpensive hi-tech jump rope.

April 20, 2009 3:28 PM

I'm in the market for a skipping rope or jump rope. Recommend me a high-tech jump rope, please!

I love gadgets and want to buy a properly weighted jump rope, possibly with something that counts the number of repetitions, or something that tracks different cadence metrics.

Jump ropes are clearly a low tech exercise tool, but I'm looking for one that would befit somebody who doesn't have much time to exercise yet wants to repeatedly skip the latest rope technology. I've used exercise gadgets like swim stroke cadence timers, pedometers, and other (inexpensive) gadgets before but don't know where to begin with jump ropes and the attendant CPU's. Cheers.

posted by fook to Health & Fitness (8 answers total)

Best answer: The problem with high end jump ropes is that, more often than not, they're heavier weighted ropes or tubes, which means they have drag, which means they don't spin as fast, which means you're mostly restricted to jumping singles which, though healthy, is not as healthy as, say, doing double unders, something that can be done "easily" with a standard jump rope.

If you can do a long string of double unders, you won't need cadence tracking or repetition counters. That's because you'll be zonked after a couple minutes.

If you don't care and want to high end anyway... (note, these do not have counters on them, but are just high end because they'll last forever (or have parts that are easily replaced) and have bearings which help them spin). The duvide ones also keep your hands in a good position.

http://www.buddyleejumpropes.com/
http://duvide.com/

I've used both, but always go back to a $5 vinyl rope.
posted by You Should See the Other Guy at 5:15 PM on April 20, 2009

Best answer: why not try the ropeless jump rope? how much more high-tech can you get?
posted by Think_Long at 5:23 PM on April 20, 2009

I've also tried the ropeless one. Few things are as boring. Mine's up on CL as I'll never use it again. The only good thing about them is you can add weights to the handles (you can do this with the duvide as well).
posted by You Should See the Other Guy at 5:27 PM on April 20, 2009

Go to a decent hardware store and buy some soft, heavy-ish rope. It's really much better for jumping with. Handles and stuff get in the way.
posted by anadem at 9:00 PM on April 20, 2009 [1 favorite]

Plain rope will just twist up within a minute, and the ropeless jump rope defeats one of the basic purposes of jumping rope.

Sure double unders are great, but there is a ton of stuff you could do and learn with a jump rope instead of just jumping straight up and down.

I second using the 5$ vinyl rope. One that you can pull out of the handle and cut length off of to adjust correctly for your height.
posted by P.o.B. at 1:21 AM on April 21, 2009

Best answer: Don't know if it's inexpensive enough, but the guy in the vid that You Should See The Other Guy linked to is using an Excellerator, from the sight of it. I use a leather one with weights in the handles. Handles well, but the length is not adjustable, which is a bit of a disappointment for such "professional" gear.
posted by NekulturnY at 2:01 AM on April 21, 2009

Best answer: Seconding Buddy Lee jump ropes.
I have this one and love it.

Jump ropes are clearly a low tech exercise tool
You are right. It is a tradeoff, you can have a "high tech" jump rope, but the quality of the rope itself will suffer. All "high-tech" ropes that I have seen that count reps are crap and/or inaccurate.
Have you considered a good quality rope paired with a round timer? Jump 1 minute, rest 30 seconds, jump 1 minute, rest 30 seconds, etc. You can jump for time instead of actual reps. Just an idea...
posted by nineRED at 4:03 AM on April 21, 2009

Response by poster: Excellent answers. Just what I was looking for, many thanks.

nineRED - That's really good advice. I've done that training for other things, but it didn't occur to me with jumping rope, for some reason.

YSSTOG Thanks for those pointers and leads. I'm not great at keeping quantitative records of my exercise routines, so I figured there must be something out there. I like that Duvide is looking out for my technique because I also try to keep aware of my body's mechanics. Duvide is pricey, but seems worth the investment.

anadem - I've jumped with climbing rope but it was sort an ad hoc selection and didn't feel all that great on the hands, but nonetheless it works in a pinch.

Great suggestions, now I just need to settle on something. In any case, thanks for talking me out of counters and putting me onto adaptable components.
posted by fook at 3:56 PM on April 22, 2009