Can you jump rope on rest days?

One of the best aspects of jump rope? It's a diverse exercise tool. In freestyle, there's a whole branch of skills that don’t include jumping. These non-jumping skills include step-throughs, wraps, and releases. For those looking for something to do on a rest day to keep active, a non-jumping freestyle jump rope is a great option! Let’s look at a few of these skills.

Step-Throughs include a variety of side swings and crosses where the jumper steps into and out of the loop of the rope one foot at a time, thus eliminating any of the impact from jumping or bounding. Entire combos and sequences can consist of nothing more than step-through skills, both basic and complex.

Releases are skills where the jumper lets go of one handle, projecting the rope into the air next to them. The rope completes several rotations before being caught again. The jumper can release the handle from a variety of positions such as behind their back and under their leg. 

Wraps occur when the jumper swings the rope next to them and it becomes wrapped around their arm or leg. When this happens, they must transition the rope to the other side of their body to unwrap.

Step-throughs, wraps and releases can all be stitched together or layered upon one another to create intricate sequences which require enormous creativity and coordination. It’s for all these reasons they make for the perfect active rest day activity since so much can be achieved with any high intensity or high impact being involved.