jump rope - is it a good exercise?

[Laban]

What I actually want to know is whether it's 'good' for your body / considered a safe exercise?

I like it as part of my wo, but it seems like it might not be the best thing for my back and knees. I tried searching the net for potential harms it may cause (back & knees mostly) but didn't come up with anything. so if any of you know about the effects it might have on the body, I'd like to know.

Anywise, I'd also like know if there is some sort of 'safe' way to jumping rope?
back straight or bent? knees? anything else...

thanks

 

[Deleted member D3987]

yes. good for training. including up on the balance beam.

 

[Coach.Simon]

I hope it's good for you... because it's what I personally do for cardio



I have not heard of any damage from jump roping, though I can definitely see it being harmful if one was fatigued and not keeping their core tight while doing it (Jumping repeatedly while the back is in an arch for example...though how this would be possible or even remotely comfortable is beyond me)

Lots of boxers do jump roping for agility, and a few of my students have sworn that it helps their rebounds (and none have complained of back/knee injuries resulting from it)

 

[Mack_the_Ripper]

It's very good exercise and I do it in P.E. to fulfill our 40 min cardio requirement, but I sometimes have a lot of knee, ankle, and shin pain from it. I think this might have happened especially on a certain day because I wasn't wearing shoes. Long story. I had rips on my feet (yep, my feet) from hitting my toes on the bar doing leg lifts (yep, leg lifts). I rip easily, okay? Check the username. So I didn't want to wear shoes because of my rips. Then jumping rope hurt my legs.

Good news was, rope also made me really sore so I could tell when my legs were tight. I did good and painful tumbling that day.