Jumping rope has got to be one of the best low-tech exercises you can do for your fitness. Depending on how intensely you work out, you can jump rope to develop aerobic or anaerobic fitness, improve your coordination and agility, or burn fat. It’s no wonder that rope jumping is such a big hit with boxers and other fighters.

To jump rope, all your need is a rope (duh!) and enough space to spin it. Because of this, you should have no problem jumping rope at home. There’s no need to buy an expensive rope either; a standard $10 PVC speed rope is more than adequate.

Here are three of our favorite Gymboss jump rope workouts.

Three-minute rounds

Boxers are amongst the fitness, leanest, strongest athletes around, and part of the reason is their steady diet of jump rope training. Fighters do almost all of their workouts using intervals, and that makes a lot of sense because they fight in intervals too.

This workout combines both of these training approaches to create a simple but effective cardio workout that’s ideal for home or gym use.

Set your Gymboss interval timer and:

• Jump rope for three minutes
• Rest for one minute
• Repeat five times to total 20 minutes

You can use any style of jumping rope you like, from two feet together to heel-toe to running on the spot. Choose the one that is right for your current fitness level. This workout works best when you do it with some music in the background. 140-160 bpm works great.

Jump rope mini-circuit

Jumping rope provides a very effective cardio workout, but it’s not much use for developing muscular strength or toning your muscles. This five-exercise circuit workout addresses this shortfall by adding a couple of straightforward kettlebell and bodyweight exercises into the mix.

Set your interval timer for 30 seconds. Do each of the following exercises for the prescribed duration, resting 30-60 seconds between laps.

1. Jump rope
2. Kettlebell swings
3. Spider-Man push-ups
4. Goblet squats
5. Jump rope

Exercise descriptions:

1 & 5. Jump rope

With only 30 seconds to work, just go as fast as you can. Good options include high knee sprints and double-unders. That’s two rope turns per jump.

2. Kettlebell swings

This posterior chain exercise will also keep your heart and breathing rate high.

How to do it:

1. Hold your kettlebell in front of your thighs and stand with your feet about shoulder-width apart.
2. Bend your knees slightly, lean forward, and lower the weight between your knees.
3. Drive your hips forward and swing your kettlebell up to shoulder-height.
4. Lower it and repeat.
5. Do NOT round your lower back.
6. Spider-man push-ups

Working your abs and upper body at the same time, this exercise is both time-efficient and effective.

How to do it:

1. Adopt the push-up position with your arms and legs straight, abs braced.
2. Bend your arms and lower your chest down to the floor. Simultaneously bend one leg and bring your knee out to the side and up to touch your elbow.
3. Push back up and, as you do so, extend your leg.
4. Repeat on the opposite side and keep alternating legs for the duration of your set.
5. Goblet squats

Goblet squats are a great way to work your legs with a single kettlebell. They challenge all your major leg muscles, with an emphasis on your quadriceps at the front of your thighs.

How to do it:

1. Hold your kettlebell by the vertical handles in front of your chest and just beneath your chin. Step out and into a shoulder-width stance with your toes turned slightly outward. Brace your abs.
2. Bend your knees and squat down until your thighs are roughly parallel to the floor. Do not round your lower back.
3. Stand back up and repeat.

Burpee and jump rope descending pyramid

This workout starts hard but then gets easier as you near the finish. This means you can push the pace from the beginning to the end. It might be short, but this workout is tough too.

Storm through the following sequence as fast as you can, resting as little as possible.

10 burpees
100 jump rope turns
9 burpees
90 jump rope turns
8 burpees
80 jump rope turns
7 burpees
70 jump rope turns
6 burpees
60 jump rope turns
5 burpees
50 jump rope turns
4 burpees
40 jump rope turns
3 burpees
30 jump rope turns
2 burpees
20 jump rope turns
1 burpee
10 jump rope turns

Exercise descriptions

1. Burpees

Burpees are a tough, simple, but effective full-body conditioning exercise. As low-tech as jumping rope, these two exercises are made to be combined in the same workout.

How to do it:

1. Stand with your feet together and your hands by your sides.
2. Bend down and place your hands on the floor in front of your feet.
3. Jump your feet out and back into the push-up position.
4. Bend your arms and pump out a single, perfect push-up.
5. Jump your feet back up to your hands.
6. Leap into the air.
7. Land on slightly bent legs and repeat.
8. You can leave out the final leap or the push-up if preferred.
9. Jump rope

100 jump rope turns should take you less than a minute, so choose a method that allows you to go fast. High knee sprints and jogging on the spot work best.

Wrapping up

Jumping rope used to be a workout staple. Whether you were a boxer or not, if you trained for fitness, you jumped rope. While not as popular as it once was, jumping rope is still one of the best low-tech workouts around. It can be a little boring if you just jump rope for 20-30 minutes without stopping, so mix things up with these rope-based workouts.

And don’t worry if you keep tripping and having to stop – every mistake burns more calories! And, with practice, you’ll soon become a jump rope pro.