Zen Dude Fitness! We are pumped to talk to you about how to jump rope for boxing!We’ve done some jump rope boxing videos, but know we aren’t pros… We’re just not boxers competing at that level, so we’re bringing in someone WHO IS competing on that level.
We have our boy Mateo from the Cartel Boxing YouTube channel. This guy is a three time Australian champion. He’s a former Olympian. This dude used to train with Freddie Roach! He used to spar it up with Manny Pacquiao; the dude’s the REAL DEAL! When you hear advice from this guy, you know it’s exactly what is be putting into practice. Whether you want to get into boxing or you just want the boxing physique, we’re trying to combine the world of fitness and the boxing.
Let’s get into it. Here is what Mateo has to share with us:
Drop the rope.
You start on your toes. Get on the ball of your feet. Between your toes and the ball of you your feet. So you’re really light. All right.
Count it out while you’re on your toes… one two, one two… on one side and then you switch it up.
Just get a nice pace, you get a nice rhythm and you keep that rhythm going (without the rope). It’s like a beat. Try to do it to some music. Whatever you like, hip hop, electro and you just get that timing.
Once you get that pace and you start getting a rhythm, after about five minutes, grab that rope. Incorporate the rope with the rhythm. One two, one two and count it out if you like.
Keep it real light, keep it real easy. Have fun with it. That’s what it’s about. It’s about having fun. That’s it.
Do cross overs, add in some tricks; mix it up. A lot of boxers switch from side to side and do some side swipes – you put your left hand in front and the right hand is sort of parallel to the forearm and roll the wrists. Everything isn’t controlled with your shoulders, it’s in your wrists.
It’s all in the wrists
And then you incorporate your skipping back into it. Get on your toes. Get right back in. You’re rolling that wrist, you have that smooth pace but it’s sped up, and there’s a rhythm. One two, one two, one two, one two, one two – it just keeps going and then you roll the jump rope right back in and start skipping again. Use your wrists to get that crossing motion going.
Work your upper body
Even though you’re not focusing on using your shoulders, they’re working. You’re using your wrists and your forearms. Once you start to get better, pick up that pace and then you can start doing some little tricks.
Start doing doubles
When you start doing doubles, you’re still light on your toes. It’s a bounce. Everything to do with skipping when you’re boxing it’s a bounce. It’s the same thing when you’re boxing in the ring. When you box in the ring, you’re on your toes, there’s a bounce. All incorporates as one.
Get light on your feet
Stay really light on your toes and throw in some tricks. Your bounce? That’s what it’s about. Your bounce holds the pace and stay nice and light.If you start to stuff up and you keep stuffing up; turn it into a challenge.
Say to yourself, “You know what? I’m gonna do 10 push ups every time I stuff up.” Now you have a reason to get it right – so you don’t have to do push ups anymore.
“Boxers try to challenge themselves to perfect the skipping part of their training routine.”
Warm up
Now at the start of a boxing session, they will skip at decent pace for 15 minutes to 20 minutes to warm up. Just a comfortable pace, like you’re doing a jog. After about an hour, maybe hour and half of training, they also end the session with the jump rope. Again, just a comfortable pace to cool down.
So you’re skipping and you’re just doing a comfortable pace to get that heart rate up. Get that blood flowing and get you warmed up. Obviously your muscles and everything are all warmed up before you start boxing, because you’re utilizing your whole body when you box.
Cool Down
When you are finishing your session with that twenty minute cool down, you need to start work in the last 10 minutes. In that 10 minutes you can start to incorporate some boxing principles. Break it down into three minute intervals because for a professional fighter, every round is three minutes. Furthermore, in those last 30 seconds (or so), you can start doing double unders and doing tricks.
Then slow down and get back to that normal pace again for, 2 or 2 half minutes and then turn it up again in that last 30 seconds, do your double and do your tricks. Whatever you wanna do.
What we can learn?
If you’ve made it this far you have to go check out out Mateo in the video. My dude takes you through the progression that we just spoke about.
While you’re watching, keep in mind Mateo is jumping with a weighted cross rope that’s too long for him. That’s why we knotted it up. It’s doesn’t even matter; he’s been skipping for 12 or 13 years – Mateo is conditioned.
Enough talking. Go ahead and give this video a watch. He kills it!
The Bounce
What’s the biggest thing to learn from Mateo? The bounce.
Before he even starts jumping rope, he focuses on bouncing. Geting light on his feet; It makes him faster, more explosive and allows him to be nimble in the ring.
Please take this advice to heart and watch what he’s doing here. Try implement these skills the next time you’re out skipping.
He’s almost floating because he’s barely touching the ground and focusing on just keeping himself in between the balls of his feet and his toes.
The Wrists
He’s not moving his arms around a ton, he’s not moving his shoulders. Nice and smooth, it’s all in the wrists. It looks natural, almost effortless, but he’s spending some time with the rope and he’s gonna get an awesome cardio workout while improving his agility.
#DOTHETHING
Mastery comes through practice. Join the Zen Dude Fitness FREE 4 Week Challenge. Practice, have fun and become a lean, sexy jump rope ninja in
no time! If you want more on Mateo, hope on instagram and look him up @mateoattalla