Benefits of Jumping Rope for runners!
If you’ve ever had a history of Achilles pain or injuries, this is one easy and affordable exercise you can incorporate into your weekly regimen. And even if you haven’t, there are so many great benefits to jumping rope as runners. Why? Jumping rope combines plyometrics, calf strengthening, encourages arch stiffness, and force production - these are all things that we need to run successfully and efficiently. If our arch can’t maintain stiffness as we push off, that’s a loss of energy that we could be using to improve our stride. If our calves are weak and unable to handle the repetitive stress that comes with each step as we run, that’s sets us up for straining the calves or our Achilles tendons.
How to start?
Get a jump rope. It doesn’t have to be anything super fancy.
Jump rope 2x/wk for 5 minutes.
Enjoy!
If you can’t jump rope 5 minutes continuously, that’s okay. Do the best you can. Try 30 second intervals.
I personally enjoy using a jump rope as my warm up if I have to do a treadmill run. When I’m headed out on the trails or road, I mimic jumping rope by hopping in place for 30 sec rounds along with the rest of my dynamic warm up routine.
get Results
A study by Garcia-Pinillos in 2020 found that jumping rope for 5 minutes, 2-4x/wk significantly improved running speed and plyometric ability. Work it into your dynamic warm up routine before runs like I do or incorporate it into a cross-training day.
If you need some other ideas on good exercises to incorporate for your calves, check out my previous blog on Achilles management. You can also read here to learn why stretching isn’t always the best go-to when it comes to calf and tendon health. Also, alsoooo there are some cheat codes in there about collagen supplementation and tendon health ;)
As always, I really appreciate you taking the time to read this! If you’ve been dealing with pain that’s been limiting you from your sport or activities, I encourage you to set up your FREE Discovery Call today so we can help you get out there to run at your full potential!
Resources:
García-Pinillos F, Lago-Fuentes C, Latorre-Román PA, Pantoja-Vallejo A, Ramirez-Campillo R. Jump-Rope Training: Improved 3-km Time-Trial Performance in Endurance Runners via Enhanced Lower-Limb Reactivity and Foot-Arch Stiffness [published online ahead of print, 2020 Mar 12]. Int J Sports Physiol Perform. 2020;1-7. doi:10.1123/ijspp.2019-0529