Whenever you see a boxer training for a fight, you always see him skipping rope. So why do boxers jump rope?
From the humble amateur to the professional fighter, every boxer uses the jump rope for all its potential benefits.
This article will discuss the reasons why boxers jump rope in every training session.
Why Do Boxers Jump Rope?
Boxers jump rope in order to:
- Warm Up and Cool Down
- Improve Footwork and Hand-Eye Coordination
- Increase Stamina
- Build Muscle and Lose Weight
- Improve Coordination and Body Awareness
- Build Mental Toughness
Boxers use the jump rope to reach their fitness goals and supplement their boxing training.
No other exercise in boxing (other than shadowboxing) has so many benefits that you can gain for relatively little effort.
Warm Up and Cool Down
First, boxers jump rope as a great way to warm up and cool down.
It’s not good to rush straight into bag work and sparring when you arrive to the gym.
Spend time jumping rope to warm up your arms, legs, and lungs so that you can break a sweat and prepare yourself mentally for your workout.
When you finish the most intense part of your training, going on the jump rope is a great way to make use of your leftover energy.
Even Floyd Mayweather makes sure to do three rounds of jump rope to finish his training routine.
Improve Footwork and Hand-Eye Coordination
Next, jumping rope will improve your footwork and hand-eye coordination.
When you’re in the ring, you’ll need to sync up your hand and foot movement and make them work off each other.
Getting your feet and hands in sync is key if you want to jump rope tangle free, no matter what jumping pattern you do.
Whether it’s a boxer skip or high knees, you need to adjust your hand speed and rhythm to match your feet.
Keep in mind that there are multiple jump ropes, each with a different purpose. You can use speed ropes to practice your double unders and push your coordination to the limit.
At the same time, jump roping will teach your feet to move independently of your hands.
Increase Stamina
Next, jumping rope will help you increase stamina.
This will improve your cardiovascular endurance and make you last longer in the ring.
Skipping rope will help you with short bursts of explosive movements like throwing combinations, as well as with long relaxed movements like shuffling around the ring.
How jumping rope increases your stamina and benefits your cardiovascular health is well-studied. Research shows that a jump rope workout is one of the most effective ways to increase your cardiovascular endurance.
This is especially important for professional boxers. At this level, boxers skip for longer periods to prepare themselves for longer fights of 10 rounds or more.
Build Muscle and Lose Weight
Next, jumping rope will help you build muscle and lose weight since it’s a whole-body workout.
When your arms swing, these parts of the upper body are activated:
- Biceps and triceps
- Shoulders and back
- Core
In the lower body, multiple components of leg strength are trained as well:
- Twitch muscles in the feet
- Calves
- Thighs and hamstring
Just as there’s a speed jump rope to train your coordination, you can also use weighted ropes to speed up the weight loss and muscle building process.
This is important if you’re a fighter who’s trying to drop weight for a catchweight fight in a short period of time.
Improve Coordination and Body Awareness
Next, jumping rope can help you improve coordination and body awareness.
It’ll teach you to change from your resting rhythm to explosiveness, while keeping yourself under control.
Jumping rope trains balance as well. Your body’s weight is never on two feet at the same time. Instead, your balance always flows from one foot to the other.
Jump rope training will also improve your breathing coordination. Use proper breathing technique while boxing by taking long slow breaths in and out through the nose.
To improve coordination jumping rope, try these jump rope variations:
- Jumping on one foot
- Crossing your legs
- Shuffling from side to side
- Mixing up when your heels and toes touch the ground
Build Mental Toughness
Lastly, jumping rope will help you build mental toughness.
It teaches you to preserve energy and that you should always be moving in the ring even if you’re tired.
In every jump rope session, you’ll reach a point where your arms and lungs begin to tense up.
You’ll find that you can always choose to relax your body and control your breathing, which is an essential skill to have when you’re under pressure in the ring.
Jump roping also teaches you to sync up your whole body: your footwork, breathing, arm and leg movement.
If there was a way to train head movement while jump roping, it would be the perfect exercise for boxing.
When you can go a whole round straight without messing up, bring this mental toughness and momentum into your shadowboxing and bagwork.
Conclusion
Now that you know the reasons why boxers jump rope, we hope that you’ll spend more time in the gym with this essential tool.
Jump rope training is the one boxing exercise that has benefits regardless of your skill level.
It’s not just a toy for elementary school kids. If all of the advanced boxers use it, then so should you.
If you see your sparring partner jumping rope easily and working only on defense for multiple rounds, you know he’s a seasoned boxer and you’re going to have a tough time in the ring.
As a beginner, incorporate it into your workout routine and boxing training. Start with continuous jumping at a steady pace until you reach a full round keeping the jump rope tangle free.
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