Does Jumping Rope Increase Vertical
Jumping rope is an impressive skill, likely to be one of the most movie-looking exercises there is. But exactly how efficient is it for fitness? More specifically, will it increase how high you can jump?
The short answer is yes – jumping rope will increase your vertical. Specifically, at a high intensity, rope jumping builds strength and speed in your quads, calves, hamstring, and gluteals helping to generate more power in your legs. As a result, you become more explosive and can jump higher.
In addition, jumping rope helps condition your core (by repeatedly tightening it), which eases how well you can bring your knees to hips. This improves your jumping technique, in turn elevating your vertical max.
To maximize your vertical jump gains, you must change your approach away from traditional skipping. Jump rope has endless possibilities, and a slight adjustment in your technique alters the whole impact the exercise has on your body. Here’s the secret…
Ensure you jump rope as intensely as you can – go as high and as fast as your body allows you. This activates fast twitch muscle fibers, helping you to increase explosiveness and jumping power.
If you jump rope at a low-medium intensity, it has cardiovascular benefits but won’t result in a higher vertical. While it will strengthen your core, it won’t build sufficient explosive power in the legs to see a real difference.
Why Does Jumping Rope Make You Jump Higher
Interestingly, there are multiple ways jumping rope increases your vertical – it’s the exercise that keeps on giving! To summarize, it increases power in your legs, reduces weight, supports your joints, and improves momentum generation, all of which contributing to how high you can jump.
Increases Leg Power
Skipping activates the same muscles as when you jump (quads, calves, hamstring, and gluteals). As mentioned above, skipping conditions these leg muscles, resulting in greater strength and power. Therefore, you exert a much larger force when you jump, so you reach higher.
Reduces Weight
Skipping is a calorie killer! In fact, it’s up there as one of the best weight-loss exercises. By burning calories, you reduce fat stores and weigh less over time. So, when you jump, you feel lighter. The lighter you are, the higher you can jump as gravity’s downward force is reduced. Imagine throwing a tennis ball in the air versus a bowling ball!
Supports Your Joints
As a result of repeatedly jumping up and down, skipping conditions your ankle and knee joints to withstand greater impact. For example, a wider range of motion, tougher connective tissue, and increased lubrication. This has a psychological effect as you’re less worried about injuring yourself when landing. So, you are far more comfortable jumping at your body’s full capability.
Improved Momentum Generation
If you skip with a weighted rope, you build muscle strength and endurance in your forearms, deltoids, biceps, and triceps. This helps your vertical as when you go to jump, you build more momentum with your swing and project yourself higher.
Best Rope Jumping Exercises To Increase Vertical
To increase your vertical jump, stay away from long 20-minute low-intensity skips. Yes, they get your heart rate up, but it has no impact on your explosiveness.
The main focus is making it as intense and explosive as possible. Stuck for inspiration? Here are some examples:
- Double Jumps
- High Knees
- Tucked Jumps
- One Foot Jumps
Double Jumps
What’s more intense than a single rep jump? A double! The second swing forces you to drive yourself higher so you have enough time to land. These help increase the explosiveness of your vertical jump.
High Knees
To boost the speed of your jumping workout, try high knees. The best part of this variation is you can go as fast or as slow as you need. Nonetheless, you want to aim to train until failure – going as fast as you can.
Tucked Jumps
Tucked jumps require a bit more skill as you need to alter how you usually synchronize your arms and legs. Nonetheless, it’s one of the best exercises for increasing vertical jump as it quickly increases the power of your legs.
One Foot Jumps
One-foot jumps are great for isolating your body weight onto a single limb. This is a great way to increase the load without adding any ankle weights or vests. As a result, your leg exerts a higher force to lift off the floor, which multiples strength and speed gains. Just remember to swap legs…
How Much Does Jumping Rope Increase Vertical
We guess the main question is, is it worth your time?
With the proper form, jumping rope increases your vertical a few inches. Think in the region of 2-4 inches over several months of exclusively skipping. The exact amount is influenced by factors such as how close you are to your body’s maximum ability, weight, and jumping technique.
For example, an inexperienced individual benefits from beginner gains (rapid progression in a short period), so they’re far more likely to increase their vertical 6+ inches over a four-month period. But a professional athlete won’t be able to as they’re already so close to their body’s full potential.
Is Jumping Rope The Best Exercise To Increase Vertical
Comparing it to other exercises and training methods – you find out exactly how (not) effective it is for increasing your vertical jump.
Over the same training time frame, you can make significantly better results in your vertical jump by practicing other training methods. In fact, jumping rope isn’t a great exercise if your priority is increasing your vertical – you’re much better off training plyometrics or cross fit.
Yes, jumping rope increases your vertical, but there are better exercise alternatives, for example, squats, box jumps, or tuck jumps. They’re far more explosive and mimic the movement more closely than jumping rope does. As a result, you’ll jump higher over fewer training sessions.
The purpose of jumping rope isn’t to increase your vertical – it’s just a byproduct of its benefits. The main reason you should skip is to stay light on your feet, burn calories, or increase your cardiovascular endurance.
Which Sports Require You To Be Good At Jumping Rope
We should all incorporate jumping rope into our workouts – it’s one of the most rewarding exercises. We have touched on the benefits of our fitness, but how does it affect sports performance? Below, we explain.
| Sport | In-Game Example Of How Skipping Helps |
|---|---|
| Boxing | Prepares boxers cardiovascular endurance and keeps them light on their toes. |
| Basketball/ Netball | Improves agility so players can quickly change their direction when counterattacking. |
| Martial Arts | Keeps core strong and conditioned to handle awkward body positions and rolling on the floor. |
| Soccer | Keeps players bouncy so they can sprint rapidly during a change of possession. |
| American Football | Quickens footspeed so they can effectively sidestep when attacking. |
| Parkour | When done correctly, helps to strengthen joints to control harsh landings. |
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