Hi, my name is Tameka, and I’m a jump rope addict!
I get asked a lot if I used to jump rope as a child, because I’m so good at it now. The truth is, believe it or not, that I never really jumped at all before the summer of 2022. Yes, as the occasional playground activity as a child, but I was usually too busy holed up in a corner with a book. I had never been into working out then, and even as an adult, I realized that it took a lot of motivation for me to do a standard workout. Forget going to the gym, too. It’s way too people-y there for me.
So, I joined a workout group on Facebook, and started monthly challenges with them, following a few trainers on YouTube. That worked for a while, and I loved being able to do things on my own and in my own home. One of the girls in the group suggested picking up a jump rope between sets to keep our heart rate up, and there it began. After a while, those YouTube workouts started not to be so fun for me, and working out again felt like a task that I knew I had to do for my health, but I disliked every second of it. Except for, guess what? Picking up my jump rope! I began to search online for jump rope-related workouts, thinking there must be one or two people online that had something, and down the rabbit hole I went! It turns out, that jumping for exercise was actually a THING!
I found Kathy Jumps on TikTok and Instagram and used her tutorials to learn how to jump rope properly, using the right form, jumping just enough to clear the rope and building my stamina one session at a time. Then came the different tricks and skills, which captured my interest even more. From straddles to crosses, wraps, to different types of swings, learning to combine footwork and hand movements and creating combos became an obsession. At the same time, Kathy started another round of her 100 Days of jumping, and I decided to join. It consisted of picking up a rope every single day…even if just for a few minutes…
And I haven’t stopped yet! Two years in…with no end in sight! And now “you wouldn’t believe me if I told you that I could [jump] like the wind blows. From that day on, if I was going somewhere, I was [jumping]!” (In my Forrest Gump voice)
After a few months, my timelines were flooded with jump rope videos (thanks to the algorithm), and I had a slew of jumpers that became my besties (even if they didn’t know it 😝). One day, I saw my good sis, now Flowmie, Frederica (@skippingsoldier), with a rope in her hand, but she was just swinging it around and not jumping it. What is this, now? I thought…so I asked her about it, and she told me it was called a flow rope and is another form of exercise that was just as good as jumping rope.
Blasphemy, right?!
Frederica told me to message this chick named Slush, to look into getting me one of these fancy ropes. At first, I only wanted it because I love new things, and it looked really cool. I knew absolutely nothing about the benefits to my physical and mental health…yet.
So, I ordered my first flow rope, the Never Dim Your Light (still my fave, ‘cause it reflects lol) and when I opened the box, it was MUCH bigger than I thought it would be! What in the world was I supposed to do with this thing? Boy, was I about to find out!
Fast forward a few months, an ever-growing rope collection, and a few hundred more internet friends, rope flow has also become a part of my regimen. Learning about mind-body connection, head over foot, practicing BOSU (Both Sides Utilized) and cardinal law have really opened up a whole new world for me.
Getting lost in the flow state brings me so much peace, but I also love the challenges I find online and the support from the community.
I’m so grateful to have found jump rope and rope flow, as they have literally changed my life. I can now say that I workout every single day, in one way or another, my mental health has improved and there have been changes in my physique as well, without obsessing about weight loss.
Should you jump or flow?
ABSOLUTELY!
I recommend it to anyone who will listen that including ropes as a workout will improve their balance and coordination, activate numerous muscles, improve cardiovascular and mental health, mobility…and it’s SO MUCH FUN!
My ropes have become like American Express; I don’t leave home without them!