The most cost-effective piece of workout equipment you can own is a jump rope — a basic jelly rope costs a couple of dollars and fits in any travel bag. People constantly ask me how to get back in shape without spending gym money, and this is my first answer. I keep a rope in every travel bag and one in my truck, because a hotel parking lot plus a rope plus some burpees and pushups is a complete workout. There are three main types, and picking the right one matters less than you think.
Watch now: press play on the video above, or listen in the player at the top of the page.
A jump rope, specifically a PVC jelly rope, sometimes called a licorice rope. Bought in bulk they run about a dollar fifty, and even retail they are seven or eight dollars. It is also one of the most useful pieces of gear you can own, because it goes anywhere — I keep one in every travel bag and one in my truck so I can always get a workout in a hotel room or parking lot.
Jelly (or licorice) ropes are thin PVC, the cheapest and best all-around option for singles, double unders, and tricks. Beaded ropes have plastic beads over a nylon cord; the extra weight gives great feedback, which makes them the best rope for learning tricks like crossovers and the Mic Release. Wire ropes are the most expensive, with ball-bearing handles that spin fast — they are built specifically for double unders.
Step on the middle of the rope with one foot and pull the handles straight up your body. The bottom of the handles should reach right under your armpit. On a jelly rope you can shorten it fast by tying overhand knots in the rope itself — they do not affect performance at all. As you improve, you can shorten the rope further to get more efficient.
A double under is when you jump once and the rope passes under your feet twice. It demands a faster spin, which is why CrossFitters reach for wire ropes with ball-bearing handles the moment a workout calls for them. Wire ropes are ordered to your underarm measurement and come crimped to length, so do not plan on knotting one to adjust it.
Just about anyone, but especially boxers, wrestlers, CrossFitters, and big athletes — coaches have long said offensive linemen should jump rope to get lighter on their feet. For fishing guides and travelers it is the ultimate insurance policy: tiny, nearly free, and capable of delivering a serious conditioning session in a space the size of a hotel room.
Instagram and YouTube have changed everything. Buddy Lee, a former college wrestler, teaches high-intensity rope work and has his own line of ropes. Lauren Jumps picked up a rope in her backyard during COVID and built a huge following teaching tricks. There are also world-champion jumpers posting slow-motion tutorials for crossovers, the Mic Release, and double unders — the slow motion is what really makes the lessons stick.
Here is the workout-equipment decision and setup, start to finish, exactly how I do it.
I show all three ropes on camera, including the sizing and the knot trick, in the episode. Press play in the player above.
Gyms are expensive and hotel fitness rooms are a gamble, but a rope never lets me down. If I land somewhere with no place to run and no equipment, I can still string together rope intervals with burpees, pushups, and pull-ups and walk away genuinely worked. That is why there is a rope in every bag I own. I explain how I structure those improvised sessions in the episode, so press play in the player above.
The jelly rope wins, and it is not close. It is the cheapest, it handles singles and double unders and tricks, and if you break it, lose it, or leave it in a hotel room, you are out a couple of dollars. The beaded and wire ropes are specialists you add later. It is not an either-or — at these prices you can own all three. I compare them side by side in the episode — press play in the player above.
More than you would believe. Buddy Lee brings a wrestler's intensity and teaches you to train like you are going to fight. Lauren Jumps went from a COVID backyard hobby to hundreds of thousands of followers, and I have personally learned tricks from her tutorials. The slow-motion breakdowns these accounts post are the fastest way to learn a crossover or double under. I share who I follow and why in the episode, so press play in the player above.
You can build a home setup that gets you in great shape for almost nothing, and the jump rope is the first thing in the cart. Cheap, portable, endlessly scalable — there is no better return on two dollars in fitness.
Add one to your garage gym, your travel bag, and your truck. Then go learn one trick this week. It keeps the work fun, and fun is what keeps you coming back.
jump rope · jelly rope · licorice rope · beaded rope · wire speed rope · double unders · crossovers · Mic Release · buyjumpropes.com · Buddy Lee · Lauren Jumps · CrossFit · hotel workouts
Physical Friday is my weekly fitness series for fishing guides, anglers, hunters, and outdoorsmen — the training, nutrition, and mindset to stay in the game for life. Watch and listen to every Physical Friday episode from Tom Rowland.
I'm Tom Rowland, a professional fishing guide based in the Florida Keys, host of the Tom Rowland Podcast, and the longtime host of the Saltwater Experience television show. On the podcast's Physical Friday series I share the training, nutrition, and mindset that keep fishing guides, anglers, hunters, and outdoorsmen strong, healthy, and in the game for life — short, practical episodes you can put to work the same day.
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