How to buy weighted jump ropes? Which is the best-weighted jump rope? Weighted jump rope is suitable for both fitness beginners and professional ones. Bare these tips (how to buy weighted jump ropes) in mind while going to buy a weighted jump rope: good weight placement in the cables, comfortable and sturdy handle build, and rotating connection.
A common misconception about weighted jump ropes is that these sports equipment is for professionals rather than beginners. After all, most of us started rope skipping as a child with a basic jump rope made of PVC or cloth. As such, most of us won’t be familiar with weighted jump ropes, which is gaining popularity among fitness enthusiasts.
However, as we mentioned, it is a misconception to think that only professionals can use such a rope. In fact, it is well suited for beginners as well, as we shall see later in this article. But there are different types of weighted jump ropes whether it’s about the build quality, weights, or other features. So the question is: how to buy weighted jump ropes?
In this article, we will help guide you to buy weighted jump ropes suit mostly whether you are a beginner or professional. Let’s get to it!
Determine your jump rope skills
Before scanning the market for a weighted jump rope, it’s important to determine your jump rope skills. This activity might sound easy, especially if you used a jump rope in your childhood for fun. But a weighted jump rope is mostly used to supplement your workout rather than used for fun.
If you haven’t used a jump rope frequently during your workout, then you should consider yourself as a beginner in terms of jump rope skills. As such, to prevent injuries or starting off with a weighted jump rope that is too heavy, you should invest in one that is of good quality and lower weight.
As we explained in our previous article, a weighted jump rope is defined as a jump rope that weighs anything above 150g. Usually, weighted jump ropes start from 250g but they can weigh as much as 5kg. So as a beginner, you should choose a weighted jump rope that’s on the lighter end of the spectrum to familiarize yourself with using one.
A 250g cable is a good place to start as its weight will help you adopt a proper form while exercising while also being moderately heavy to help you get used to the extra weight. But it’s also important to buy weighted jump ropes that have interchangeable cables as you will get used to the lighter cables and can incrementally increase the weight to add to your work out.
Now, if you are used to including a jump rope in your workout, then you aren’t a beginner. Your jump rope skills are more advanced and you can more easily use weighted jump ropes than beginners. As such, you don’t necessarily have to start with lighter ones and can go straight to heavier ropes. If you wish, you can buy weighted jump ropes which have fixed weight as a constant add-on to your workouts; or you could buy one with interchangeable weights as well but with heavier cables.
However, whether you have beginner or advanced skills at rope skipping, you might not be used to why using a weighted jump rope is actually beneficial. We’ll take a look at these in the next section.
Benefits of using a weighted jump ropeA weighted jump rope brings more benefits than a regular jump rope because the weight adds resistance to your jumps. And this added resistance enhances the health benefits and workouts you would get from a regular jump rope. Let’s see how.
- Adopt proper form
The first benefit that we list is about the misconception that we mentioned at the beginning of this article. A weighted jump rope is very well suited for beginners since it helps the user in adopting a proper form. This is because the extra weight and resistance lead to slower rotations of the cable, and as such, users can time their jumps better.
Of course, a proper form while exercising is important not only for beginners but also for more advanced rope skippers. A proper form will help you use your muscles adequately for the best performance and also minimize the risks of strains.
- Use more muscles
- Calorie intensive
This follows the use of more muscles to swing the rope. Since more muscles are involved, more energy is required to perform the actions and thus, more calories are burnt; especially in comparison to using a regular jump rope for the same amount of time.
Using a weighted jump rope is also particularly calorie intensive as it is comparable to a whole-body workout. Using one for 20 minutes can be a quick and efficient way to meet your daily exercising quota.
- Boost health benefits
Even when using a regular jump rope, one will experience numerous health benefits. These include improved coordination and improved cognitive functions as you are learning new patterns and increased elasticity and resiliency of lower-leg muscles, which subsequently help in reducing the risk of lower-leg injuries.
As you exercise more muscle groups of your body with a weighted jump rope, these benefits are boosted.
Now that you know about the benefits of using a weighted jump rope, let’s see what are the features of a good weighted jump rope.
The features of a good weighted jump rope
Once you’ve decided to buy weighted jump ropes, you will be inundated with options on the market. There are different brands claiming different features that make their weighted jump rope the best.
However, some companies might claim that their weighted jump rope has novel features, but they might just be playing the marketing game.
As such, you should be careful regarding such claims. To help you identify a good weighted jump rope, we recommend that you look for the features listed below.
- Weight placement in the cables
We’ve mentioned this before and we’ll do it again: a real weighted jump rope bears the weight in its cables rather than the handles. If it’s in the handles, the weight won’t add any resistance and you will only be holding heavy loads which don't have much effect on your workout. It’s only with the weights placed on the cables that you will feel an actual difference.
Moreover, the weight on the cables must be distributed evenly for the most optimal workout effect.
- Comfortable and sturdy handle build
- Interchangeable cables
Good weighted jump ropes will let you change the cables, rather than have fixed cables. The latter might be cheaper but since they have fixed weights, you might eventually get used to them.
As such, having the option to incrementally adjust the cables by buying new cables, rather than whole jump ropes, is a very welcome feature that you should favor.
- Rotating connection
- Cable material
This is important regarding the durability of the weighted jump rope. A good weighted jump rope will have cables made of steel. Favor those whose steel cables are coated rather than bare, as they will hurt less if you accidentally whip yourself while skipping it.
After listing the features that you should favor in a weighted jump rope, let’s now turn to those features that you should avoid in one.
How to buy weighted jump ropes?
Just like there are features that you should prioritize when you decide to buy weighted jump ropes, there are features that you should avoid. We’ll take a look at those in this section.
- Weight placement in handles
- Fixed cables
- Cheap quality
With a cheap weighted jump rope, the price might be attractive but it likely won’t last very long. Since the cables carry weight, cheap handles will break easily under the constant swings and gravitational pull. If the ropes are of cheap quality such as PVC, they are prone to damage and will need to be replaced faster.
After knowing what aspects are and aren’t desirable in a weighted jump rope, let’s see which are the best ones that you can actually buy.
The best-weighted jump ropes on the market
As we mentioned, the market is flooded with weighted jump ropes from various companies. It can prove challenging to navigate among those and determine which one is suitable for you.
In this section, we will turn our attention to the best weighted jump ropes out there whether you are a beginner, advanced user, or are on a budget. If you have no idea about how to buy weighted jump ropes, brands in the following would be helpful.
- Crossrope Get Lean Set
- Champion Sports Weighted Jump Rope
This one is recommended for advanced users. It does not feature interchangeable cables but is sold with fixed weights and these range from 1 pound to 4 pounds.
The prices for the Champion Sports weighted jump rope vary according to the weight, with the 4 pounds one costing $53 on Amazon. The rope is made of solid rubber and features swivel ball-bearing handles which are covered with a comfortable foam.
- Gaoykai Weighted Jump Rope
The Gaoykai Weighted Jump Rope is perfect if you are on a budget. At $19 on Amazon, this weighted jump rope features a ball-bearing system, a durable aluminum handle with silicone anti-slip sleeve and a 1 lb PVC cable.
The latter is unfortunately fixed and made of PVC but that’s what you get for the price. On the plus side, the 10 feet-long rope is adjustable, so that you can set it to your height, with the included screwdriver and clamps.
Found a weighted jump rope that suits your budget and skills? We’ll see how you can add it to your workout routine in the next section.
How to supplement your workout with a weighted jump rope
As noted before, if you are a beginner, you should start with lighter-weighted cables first. A good place to start is 250g as it is not too light and not too heavy, but adequate to give you enough resistance to help you learn to jump properly with a weighted jump rope.
As you get used to using a weighted jump rope, you can start to increase the weight of the cable to add more challenges to your workout.
If you are already advanced in rope skipping, you can add it to your workout as a warmup because, after skipping a weighted jump rope for 10 minutes, you will feel quite warmed up.
If you are in a rush or don’t have other equipment ready, then using such a jump rope will be a suitable alternative. After 20 minutes, the effect is comparable to a whole body workout.
Whether you are a beginner or not, you can always benefit from new ideas from other jump rope enthusiasts. For that, you can use free workout video guides from channels like Jump Rope Dudes and Crossrope Jump Ropes on YouTube regularly.
One final note is that in order to prevent damage and reduce wear and tear to the cable, it is recommended to use a mat under you while you exercise with the rope.
We hope that you found this article helpful! Be sure to check out our previous articles that help you get started with weighted jump ropes and share tips that you must know before buying one!