Before I’d started my jump rope journey, I was a man fresh into his 40’s looking for ways to make life more enjoyable. Working for a commercial airliner gave me the opportunity to travel to places I’d never thought I’d be able to go. Of course, with the pandemic hitting the world, that was put on hold for a second. However, it did give me the opportunity to take enjoyment in the things I did have access to, such as the large pile of books I have yet to read. I have to admit I didn’t really think about my physical health at first. While I didn’t have any debilitating issues with my health, I definitely was not an active person. I also did not have the greatest history with a commitment to exercise. Because I wasn’t an active person, I knew that there would be a time when it would all catch up to me. That time came around April of 2021. I had just started working the graveyard shift and it brought out the worst in me. My diet was very random. I either had too much or too little sleep. While I thankfully did not have a health scare, I knew that if I had continued down this path, my body was going to be in much worse shape. I decided that I had to do something about it.
There were two major things that happened that ultimately led me to jump rope. I had bumped into an old coworker that had significantly lost weight since I last saw him. And I knew he lost the weight not through any sort of surgery, but through months of exercising. Seeing him and hearing his story made me realize that getting fit was totally possible. Another thing that happened was I was able to get out of the graveyard shift and to have a somewhat “normal” daily schedule. When this happened, I told myself I was going to start exercising.
Remember how I mentioned I had a terrible history of commitment to exercise? Part of that is because I did not like doing cardio. I do not like running. Treadmills and ellipticals were really boring. And I was just too clumsy to ride bicycles. I wish I can pinpoint the exact moment I discovered jump ropes as a form of cardio, but I can’t. However, I always thought that pro jumpers looked pretty cool. Then I asked myself if I can do this. I said why not. So, after researching jump roping it led me to Jump Rope Dudes. They explained how the cardio work involved with jumping rope used different types of muscles as opposed to the other forms of cardio. They also spoke favorably about the product of Crossrope. After a few more videos I had immediately placed an order for the Get Lean Set.
It was September 10, 2021. I had just received my Get Lean Set from FedEx and immediately pulled the ropes out of the box. I grabbed the ½ pound rope and went straight to my backyard. I thought this would be pretty easy to do. Well, I was really wrong. I spent the next 10 minutes just flailing the rope around me in a feeble attempt to look like the Jump Rope Dudes.
The biggest challenge was realizing that this was not going to be the easy-peasy road I thought it would be. I really was going to have to commit if I can at least be proficient with the rope. After all, I just spent almost $100 on them. I better get my money’s worth, right? I also knew that I had to make changes to my diet. I am an avid foodie always looking for the tastiest meals around. Having to dial that back kind of scared me, just because I don’t want to stop doing things I enjoy. But what’s the point of enjoyment if you can’t physically do them? So I had to rein that part of my life in for a bit.
The one physical tool I had for my journey was a photo of myself on Day 1, the first day I started jumping rope. At first, I thought I was going to do some sort of daily blog/progress report for myself as I was exercising, but my busy schedule in life made that a little impossible to do. However, having that picture in hand did offer some unintended motivation. As I was progressing in my exercise, I noticed that I started to look different as compared to my Day 1 photo. I constantly use that photo to remind me that, while I may not notice it from day to day, I am making progress.
The biggest habit, and quite possibly the most important, I built was to create a daily schedule and stick to it. When I made my daily schedule, I had to create one that worked on days I worked as well as days I was off from work. This included blocking specific blocks of time dedicated to exercise, eating, and sleep. I knew I wasn’t going to be successful if I exercised “when I felt like it.” By creating a specific time frame I knew I had a daily obligation to fulfill.
I definitely had to cut out impulse eating. I realized I was eating not because I was hungry, but because I needed something to do. This is what led to a lot of my late-night munchies. I needed to eat only when I needed to, not when I wanted to.
Many times throughout my life, I learned that I can accomplish anything if I put the effort in. For example, I was finally able to go to Europe on my own. When I did this, I felt like the world just opened up for me. The same thing happened when I started to implement my workout regime. I really thought I couldn’t do it, based on my history of giving up on exercise a month in. Now, here I am 3 months later still doing it.
Learning some of the new tricks is always a good feeling. I still remember learning my very first trick (ski jump) and just being shocked I’d accomplished something. Thankfully, this continued as I added more moves to my jump rope repertoire. The moment I actually felt really proud of myself was when I posted a video compiling my various footage from my phone of my jumps on the Facebook page. I knew that at the moment I was filming myself that I wasn’t making progress. But seeing how I moved on Day 50 compared to Day 10 made me feel really proud of myself.
My family was quite proud of me when I decided to take my health seriously. While none of them jump, they help in other aspects such as diet and weight loss.
Other than my family, the only other group of people I saw on a regular basis were my coworkers. For them to continuously tell me that they’ve noticed physical differences is enough to encourage me to keep going.
I think that out of all the jump rope companies out there, Crossrope is more focused on the health and exercise aspects rather than the “showmanship” of jumping. I may or may not reach a point where I can jump like Floyd Mayweather, but I do know that just jumping every day is good exercise.
I think the showmanship of jump rope is what makes it fun. Just learning new tricks and implementing them into your workout is pretty gratifying. It is pretty cool when your friends see you jumping and they’re just astonished at what I just did.
I won’t lie. In the beginning, when I started, I didn’t feel good about myself. I asked myself what did I get myself into this time? And as I’ve mentioned, seeing past videos compared to current progress totally erased that doubt. It may feel tough at times, but I know the progress is being made just by jumping.
I’ve definitely become more aware of my body’s needs since I’ve started exercising. I knew what/what not to eat as well as how much my body can take physically. And, as I may have mentioned, I learned that even I can incorporate exercise into my life, which is why I’ve started to introduce more strength training to my regimen.
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