I really love boxing training variations, there are so many of them including sparring, running, double end bag, speed bag… And jumping rope is one of these. It has so MANY benefits however why do boxers jump rope? What is the reason that so many boxers take this workout really serious?
Actually there are plenty of reasons and I am sure that some of the reasons will really surprise you.
Let’s start with the most obvious reasons…
1. Muscle Tone
It will work every muscle of your body in an intense way and if you have not done any skipping rope session you will have a really hard time.
When you have constant tension on your muscles, it will force your muscles to stay that way and this is why boxers muscles look sharper than lots of other athletes and these muscles are obviously more toned.
2. A Good Cardio
It will burn calories like there is no tomorrow. And when you get better with it, you can do it even more challenging, faster.
You can even try different styles and even burn more calories.
According to Livestrong’s studies, a 200-pound individual can burn around 14.8 calories per minute. And that individual only needs to do 70 jumps per minute. If it will be first jumping rope session this number can be a lot but it is really not and you will surpass this number when you are better at it and burn even more calories.
3. Improves Focus
Have you ever feel like falling asleep while running on a treadmill? Well this happened to me more than I can count. We just run and it really does not need any focus. Actually lots of cardio types don’t need focus whereas when you jump rope you need to figure out when to jump, how to jump etc… These will make your brain work and when you do training which requires body and brain coordination it will increase your cognitive function significantly. And if you want to read a scientific explanation about training, which requires body and brain coordination, brainconnection made incredible research. This research explains about body and brain connection pretty well.
Also, there are TRULY endless jumping rope types and techniques. You can skip fast, slow or do twist, on one foot, double under, … When you consider rowing, running you can only change intensity however there are many skipping techniques. And this increases your awareness and improves your focus even more.
4. All about Coordination
Between feet and hands
Your foot should jump when it is time and your hand will set up the tempo. These two should work in harmony otherwise you will probably look like a fool. Punch also starts with your foot and ends with your hand. So its efficiency is directly correlated with the coordination. As boxers get better at jumping rope their coordination will also improve. Obviously they will punch more powerful with their improved coordination.
Coordination between brain and foot
While you are skipping, you should jump when it is the right time with proper technique. And it requires pretty good coordination between brain and foot. With time you will bounce autopilot and it has a positive impact on “natural footwork”.
These two will make you better when sudden changes happen. When you don’t swing the rope properly, you will react to it accordingly. When that happens for the first time, you probably won’t be so calm. However, if it happens over and over again you will be relatively calmer and expect sudden changes to happen. You will also get used to reacting accordingly. This is why boxers, who jump rope a lot, are way more calm comparing to boxers who don’t do it very often. And when you watch a match, you can literally tell whether the boxer jumps rope enough or not just in a minute.
5. Boxing Skills
Do you lose a lot of energy during sparring? I am sure that you will be much better if you have just a little bit more energy, right? Well, the solution is jumping rope. It improves natural footwork and how to bounce and move effortlessly.
If you have seen the video Floyd Mayweather, he changes jumping style, speed of the rope incredibly fast and he does it very smooth. Thanks to that boxers change their movement speed quickly during sparring or real match and jumping rope is the first reason. These also make boxers “more” ready for these sudden changes physically.
These truly have vital importance for boxing. And lots of great boxers including Mohammed Ali, Floyd Mayweather, Manny Pacquiao are aware of it. And I honestly did not see anyone who can jump rope like Floyd Mayweather in my entire life. And I have been in MANY boxing gyms. These training sessions surely help them to become the greatest boxers of all-time. You can also check out the video below to see Floyd Mayweather’s amazing skipping rope session.
Obviously we can’t get his jump rope skills tomorrow however there are some very quality ropes that can provide double unders and other jumping types better and “smoother”. In this way you can improve your skills way faster, if you are interested, then have a look at these best jump ropes and their features.
6. Rhythm
You constantly should be aware of rope’s movement and even though you are tired, sleepy etc. it will force you to keep up a rhythm and boxers need to maintain a certain rhythm all the time during matches. Even they lose their rhythm just for a second, they can be knocked out. Keeping the rhythm is a must and another good boxing training is the speed bag session.
7. Stronger Ankle Muscles
We rarely work our muscles around our ankles. All these muscles we need to train these too. And as you may know, better and faster ankles equal to better footwork. And we can have it by skipping rope.
8. Increases Overall Body Composition
High impact activities increase body composition and actually there are lots of training types which can do that. With that, there are researches that show that skipping rope is far more superior to other activities for increasing it.
Actually, when I first read about the research I did not expect such a difference however jumping rope can give you around %3 denser bones than many other training types. Obviously this is great for everyone and denser bones can provide incredible benefits like better body composition and more powerful punches for boxers. Also, you can find extensive research about bone intensity and jumping rope relation here.
9. Sense of Timing
Almost every sport type requires some kind of timing. Surely when you punch at the right time you can knock out your opponent. And as you may know, punch starts with your foot and ends with your hand. When you get used to jumping rope you will realize when your feet have perfect balance, position. Thanks to that you will know that when you can throw a powerful punch.
10. Forearms
Do you train your forearms? I know many people, who do boxing training, don’t.
After all, your forearm is close to your hand and certainly, if you have stronger and more conditioned forearms it will benefit your punches, blocking, etc. And when I skip rope after a workout, my forearms start burning like crazy just in 2 minutes. Skipping rope is really great for conditioning your forearms.
You can do it everywhere…
You don’t need boxing gloves or hand wraps while jumping rope. You don’t even need shoes. However, it is best to use boxing shoes for better ankle support and get used to bouncing with them. So you can bounce more comfortable during sparring or in real matches
With that, you can do this training everywhere except very tough floors like concrete. Because it can harm your joints.
Which Rope type is for you?
I personally have not used Thai ropes but I did some research about it and many authoritative boxing forum sites come to an agreement about that these can be good for boxing training. These are heavier and work your arm muscles more than speed ropes. However, if you are a beginner then it will be better to start with basic speed rope and when you are comfortable and do tricks with it, then it is time to get a weighted rope and do faster, more challenging workout sessions with the weighted rope. And these weighted ropes will challenge your arm muscles incredibly more than basic speed ropes.
By the way, when you select a rope, the middle of the rope should come to your shoulders for optimal results.
Let’s wrap it up
These are all incredibly important reasons for why do boxers jump rope. It will give them a lighter foot, incredible coordination skills. Also, they can do very challenging cardio and have a lower body fat percentage. And let’s not forget increasing body composition and bone density benefits. Whether you do boxing training or not in my opinion everyone should skip rope including the elderly and kids. Because it won’t put much pressure on your joints. So it is much safer than lots of other training types.
These are all which I know and researched about boxer’s reasons to jump rope. If you have anything to share or ask, please have a comment below.
Great post! Jump rope is a fantastic exercise for boxers but didn’t realize there was that many benefits, it’s no wonder they spend so much time perfecting it. Also, the Floyd Mayweather video is incredible.
It is truly great for boxers and everyone 🙂
And yes it is the reason of why they spend a lot of time with.
Even though I sometimes neglect it, I try not to. Also I have one thing to say for Floyd Mayweather video and it is “excellent” 😉
so true jump rope is amazing. you can literally see the benefits even after a 30 min jump session. The belly significantly reduces, you sweat so soon into jumping. I love it and i only do it to keep fit.
Man, it is seriously great for losing fat and help you get fitter. I always jump rope 3 times per week. It is also really fun to do different techniques such as double unders and scissors etc.
I never actually considered the benefits to jumping rope. Being slightly out of shape and an ex-runner I figured that jumping rope was something mainly done by school girls. I guess I was wrong and need to consider picking up my wife’s jump rope.
Man, it is really difficult ; ) I am guessing that as an ex-runner, you have a good endurance but I am sure that it will challenge you. It is also really difficult to start and learn the techniques like scissors etc.