As many of you know, I love to jump rope and I geek out over new jump rope technology. This past weekend, I made a new discovery! At the SoCal CrossFit Regionals last weekend, I discovered the holy grail of jump ropes. I’ll be honest, when I first saw the rope I wasn’t impressed. The handles looked too heavy and the rope lacked the second bearing to provide a second pivot point. However, they had a max rep double unders in 1 min competition, so of course I couldn’t refuse. I didn’t get a PR because the rope was unfamiliar to me and not quite the right length, but I knew immediately that the rope was far superior to any that I had used before. The rope was FAST and when my form started to deteriorate as I got tired, I could feel the rope fighting the inefficient turning. The brand is called RPM and it’s definitely a fitting name. Now what makes this rope so great?

First, the rope is a lot lighter than it looks. The handles are a heavy duty metal designed to withstand having a barbell dropped on it, but if you’re turning the rope correctly, it feels like an extension of your hand. This leads in to a second point, it trains you to turn the rope correctly. It becomes challenging and quite tiring to turn the rope with your arms, so it forces you to learn to turn the rope with your wrists. When you start turning with your wrists, dubs feel effortless. The rope sticks out of the handle in the direction that it is turning, so a second bearing is unnecessary. This contributes to the effortless feeling when turning the rope, as well as the automotive grade bearings they use. All of those features make it great for both the advanced jumper and someone who is just learning their dubs.

I was instantly sold on the rope and purchased one (including an engraving of my name on the handle) at regionals. They offer black and silver handles and two types of cables. They have a heavier coated cable designed to last longer when you’re learning dubs and landing on the rope all of the time. Plus the extra weight helps you to feel the rope a little more as you’re learning proper dub technique. They also offer a light weight uncoated samples for the proficient jumpers. For the proficient jumpers, it’s the next step to making your dubs (or triples or quads?) faster. I knew it was a good rope when we saw reps from other jump rope companies trying out and purchasing the ropes.

If you’re interested in getting one for yourself, they will be at the Games in Carson (you don’t have to have a ticket to check out the vendors). Also, you can order them and replacement parts on their website. Once you purchase a rope, they also have a great page on how to size your rope based on your skill level (or read about it in a past post). I met a few of the professional jump ropers that work for RPM and it turns out the National Jump Rope competition is in Long Beach at the end of June. If you’re interested in going let me know, here’s a link to a preview of performances from years past.

http://vimeo.com/59031602

WOD 05.23.13

Skills Day