What I Promised in My Last Post
In my last post, “Jump Rope vs. Running: What Made Me Choose Jump Rope,” I mentioned the next one would cover the trial and error from over 100 days of jumping — specifically, how to start without wrecking your knees and ankles. Going from 90.9kg down to 75.3kg, this was the single biggest thing I got wrong early on.
Day One: 300 Jumps, and an Ache in My Knees, Shins, and Calves
On my very first day, I got ahead of myself and set a goal of 300 jumps. Somewhere around 100, the inside of my knees started to ache. By 200, I could feel it on every landing. I stopped around 250. The next day, my knees, shins, and calves were so sore I was hesitant even walking down stairs. That’s when it hit me — there was something to fix before I worried about the numbers.
What Needed Fixing Before the Count: Landing Technique and Stretching
It turned out the problem wasn’t how many jumps I was doing — it was how I was landing. I’d been coming down hard on my heels every time. Once I switched to landing lightly on the balls of my feet with my knees slightly bent, the impact dropped noticeably. I also made it non-negotiable to spend at least 5 minutes stretching my ankles and calves before every session. Landing on the balls of my feet took the pressure off my knees; stretching is what took care of my calves. Between those two changes, I’ve been able to keep going for over 100 days without knee pain.
Week One: 100 a Day, Then Building Up Week by Week
Even after fixing my landing, I still increased the count slowly. Week one was 100 a day, split into two sets of 50. Week two, I moved to three sets of 100 for 300 total. Week three, I kept the same number of sets but added more jumps per set to reach 500. By week four, I was hitting 1,000 on some days, and that’s when I actually started noticing changes on the scale. Building up gradually, one week at a time, ended up being easier on both my knees and my motivation.
Pacing: How Many Jumps Per Minute Is Right?
Faster isn’t automatically better. Once I learned that going above 130 jumps a minute pushes the exercise into anaerobic territory — which actually works against fat loss — I settled into a pace of around 100–110 jumps per minute. Slowly increasing the count turned out to matter a lot more than cranking up the speed, especially if the goal is sticking with it for the long haul.
Wrapping Up
Fix your landing, don’t skip the stretching, and increase your count gradually, week by week. Those three things are why I’ve been able to keep jumping rope for over 100 days, going from 90.9kg to 75.3kg. If you’re just getting started, check your landing before you worry about your numbers.