There are many ways to use jump rope training to reach your fitness goals.
One of the things we like to do in our workouts and fitness challenges is mix jump rope intervals with bodyweight exercises. This combination gives you the versatility and freedom to keep your workouts fun, fresh, and effective.
In this post, we'll show you 10 bodyweight exercises (with modifications) that you can pair with your jump rope training to create powerful weightless workouts.
1. Mountain Climbers
Mountain climbers are at the top of the list because they work really well for improving endurance, core strength, and overall weight loss. We use it often in our fat loss workouts. There are a number of variations of this exercise to fit your fitness level so find the one that works for you and have fun with it.
Great for: core strength, fat loss, and endurance
Try with: Alternate foot jumps with the 1/2 LB Jump Rope from the Get Lean Set
How to Make Mountain Climbers Easier
Mountain climbers can be a challenging bodyweight exercise for beginners. You need enough upper body strength to hold yourself in a plank position and a decent amount of coordination to move your legs quickly.
Here’s how to modify mountain climbers for an easier variation:
Create an incline.
- Elevate your upper body and hands. You can use a step stool, a bench, a chair, or even your couch.
- Tap your toes for more stability when you pull your knee under your body
- Practice at a slower tempo until you feel comfortable increasing your pace
2. Planks
Planks are great for improving overall core strength and it's fun to include these into any workout. There are two variations of planks we like to use in our jump rope workouts: elbow planks (shown below) and extended planks (where you hold the top part of the push-up position).
Great for: core strength
Try with: Jump Rope Half-Twist with the 1/4 LB Jump Rope from the Get Lean Set
How to Make Planks Easier
Mastering the plank can take some work, but it is possible to make this bodyweight exercise easier for beginners by practicing the exercise from your knees.
Here’s how to make planks easier:
Stay on your knees.
- Start on your hands and knees and walk your hands forward until your body forms a straight line from your head to your knees
- Keep your knees below your hips and your elbows below your shoulders
- Lift your abs away from the floor by pulling your belly button into your spine
- Don’t let your pelvis sink and maintain a straight line with your body
3. Push-ups
Push-ups are a classic bodyweight exercise and they’re perfect for strength training without weights. You can choose from dozens of variations to change the complexity of the exercise. Some of our favorites are regular push-ups, elevated push-ups for beginners, and dive-bomber push-ups for advanced jumpers.
Great for: building upper body strength
Try with: Criss-crosses with the 1 LB Heavy Rope from the Get Strong Set
How to Make Push-Ups Easier
Even though push-ups are one of the most straightforward exercises to do, they’re also one of the most difficult bodyweight exercises to master. Luckily, there are several tricks that can help you build your way up to a new personal record (even if it’s just two in a row).
Here’s how to make push-ups easier:
Start on the wall.
- Position your hands on a wall a little wider than shoulder width apart
- Walk your feet backward to create a slight angle, come up onto the balls of your feet, engage your core, and lower your shoulders
- Just like a push-up on the floor, you’re going to bend your elbows to lower your body towards the wall, and then push yourself away again
- Make sure your hips aren’t sagging towards the wall throughout the full range of movement.
- Similarly, make sure you’re not just bringing your chest towards the wall, rather your whole body should complete the movement in a straight line
Create an incline.
- Like our mountain climber modification, elevate your upper body and hands using a step stool, chair, or couch to create an incline.
- You can also make this push up modification easier by widening your feet.
- Then you just follow through the movement; keeping your core engaged and your body straight, bend your elbows to lower your body and push yourself back up.
- Again, make sure your body is following the range of motion as one strong unit without letting your hips sink towards the floor or letting your chest lead the movement.
Gradually reduce the incline until you’re ready to do push-ups from the floor.
4. Full Body Walk-outs
The full-body walk-out is a fun little exercise that we like to use when we want to slow things down. While it won't get your heart rate up, it will help you develop better overall mobility while making all of your muscles work. If you want to take it to the next level, try adding a push-up to the end of your walk-out.
Great for: mobility and upper body strength
Try with: High Knee jumps with the 1 LB Heavy Rope from the Get Strong Set
How to Make Full Body Walk-Outs Easier
Slow down.
The best modification to make a walk-out easier is to decrease your speed. When you perform the exercise slower, you give yourself the opportunity to focus on form while lowering the intensity.
5. Bodyweight squats
The squat is one of our favorite bodyweight exercises. It is a great compound movement which means it targets multiple areas of the body. You'll see these in almost all of our fitness challenges because they do a great job of developing lower body strength.
Great for: building lower body strength.
Try with: Basic jumps with the 1/2 LB Jump Rope from the Get Lean Set
How to Make Bodyweight Squats Easier
Whether you love or hate them, if there’s one bodyweight exercise you should be doing in your routine, it’s squats. Again, it’s a tricky bodyweight exercise for beginners, but is a way to make the classic squat a little more manageable.
Grab a chair.
Or a bench, or coffee table, or head to the couch.
- Stand in front of your chair with your feet slightly wider than your hips
- Keep your core engaged and bend your knees to lower into the squat position
- Press your knees open and send your hips backward rather than downwards
- When you feel your butt touch the chair, pause, and then push through your heels to stand back up
- Keep your chest and your head up through the full range of motion making sure not to let your back or shoulders round forward
All you gotta do is sit down. Easy.
How to Make Bodyweight Squats Harder
6. Drop Squats
Drop squats are a fun variation of the traditional squat and are ideal for building lower body strength with your jump rope workouts.
Great for: building lower body strength
Try with: Heel toe step jumps with the 1/4 LB Jump Rope from the Get Lean Set
7. Squat jumps
Squat jumps are an advanced variation of the bodyweight squat that we like to incorporate into our workouts. They're perfect for building lower body strength and explosiveness. Make sure to only use these once you're comfortable with the traditional bodyweight squat.
Great for: building lower body strength and explosiveness
Try with: Half/full twist foot jumps with the 1/2 LB Jump Rope from the Get Lean Set
8. Squat thrusts
The squat thrust is a great full-body exercise that is ideal if you're looking to work up to the burpee. If you'd like to take this exercise to the next level, try adding a push-up at the end of the squat thrust.
Great for: building full body strength
Try with: Side swing jumps with the 2 LB Heavy Rope from the Get Strong Set
9. Frog jumps
The frog jump is another fun lower body exercise that will get your heart pumping. We like to mix this workout into our challenges when we want to really target the glutes.
Great for: building lower body strength and overall endurance
Try with: Single foot jumps with the 1/2 LB Jump Rope from the Get Lean Set
How to Make Frog Jumps Easier
A great modification for Frog jumps is to rise up onto your toes rather than completing the vertical jump. Come down into a squat and rise up onto your toes, and as a bonus, you get a great calf workout.
10. Burpees
The burpee is one of the most challenging bodyweight exercises on the planet. While it's not the most loved exercise, it's one of the most effective for building strength and endurance while burning a ton of calories. It is a quick way to target all major muscle groups. If you need to modify this exercise, start by removing the push-up or jump.
Great for: full body strength and endurance
Try with: Jump rope jacks with the 1 LB Heavy Rope from the Get Strong Set
How to Make Burpees Easier
Burpees are great calorie-burners, so while you might dread the idea of working this bodyweight exercise into your routine, there are undeniable benefits of getting them right. However, as we mentioned above, they’re hard (like really hard) so there’s no shame in working your way up.
Here’s how to make burpees easier:
Walk it out.
- Bend over and put your hands on the ground
- Step back one leg at a time and finish in plank position
- Bring your legs back under your chest one at a time
- Stand up and finish with a jump or skip the jump and raise your hands above your head
Create an incline.
- Like the other modifications in this list put your hands on a chair, bench, coffee table, or couch
- Jump your legs back and do an inclined push-up
- Jump your legs back towards the bench and jump up in the air
A great way to get better at burpees is to just break the movement into separate pieces and practice.
Your Turn
We hope this post was helpful in showing you what bodyweight exercises you can add to your workouts. What’s your favorite bodyweight-jump rope move combo?
Let us know in the comments below!
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