The best skipping ropes you can buy in 2019

ONCE only to be seen in the playground or the boxing gym, the skipping rope has now become one of the most essential kits for fitness fans across the board.

Thanks to the popularity of intensive workouts like HIIT and CrossFit, and powered by fitness vloggers all across social media, it’s easy to see why skipping has become such as an obvious hit.

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It burns calories fast, gets you fit and toned, plus you can do it home and the ropes don’t cost the earth.

There are expensive ropes out there (the Berluti Leather Jump Rope priced at £360 is undoubtedly beautiful, but it’s not really a mainstay of any ‘best of’ list). The best one for you really depends on what you need it for.

Beginners will need a basic lightweight speed rope before progressing to a weighted jump rope, to help them gain a better feel for timing while jumping at slower tempos.

Those working on improving their rhythm, coordination, increasing muscular endurance and cardiovascular fitness will opt for more heavy beaded ropes.

We’ve rounded up the best jump ropes to help you find your own rhythm and flow.

Best skipping rope for beginners

• RX Smart Gear Buff Cable 3.4 Skipping Rope, £14.99 at Kit Box – buy here

Beginners ropes need to be lightweight and easy to manage.

Weighing 3.4 ounces per 9-foot length (excluding handles) and featuring Industrial grade multi-directional swivel axis bearing system, the RX Smart Gear Buff Cable provides tremendous feedback to allow you to find your rhythm at your own pace, making it easy to jump with a broader range of tempos from very slow to super fast.

Best skipping rope for CrossFit

• WOD Nation Speed Skipping Rope,£17.42 at Amazon – buy here

Crossfit fanatics know all about double unders, and that using the old, cracked skipping rope in the gym is never as good as one that swings itself to your own pattern.

Made by a CrossFit athlete specifically to master the double under, the WOD Nation employs ballistic plastic handles to house lightening speed metal bearings for an effortless and controlled spin.

The rope is topped off with a metal extension spindle with an eyeball-bearing tip that reacts to cable adjustments from the first double under to the hundredth and beyond.

This is most definitely not a toy. Fully adjustable to male, female and young jumpers.

Best skipping rope for boxing training

• Beast Rope Elite, £24.97 at Amazon – buy here

Boxing ropes are designed to enhance footwork, fitness and agility, which means you need one that works with your own unique flow.

The Beast Rope Elite does as your body tells it to, rotating on fined tuned precision engineered ball bearings for the perfect level of control, speed and whip.

Fine-tuned for optimum weight, length and balance, and composed of industrial strength aluminium with BG Grip Grooves for perfect grip, this is the perfect jump for those who want to skip fast and hard.

Best skipping rope for cardio

• EliteSRS Heavy Beaded Fitness Jump Rope, £16.58 at Amazon – buy here

Heavy beaded ropes are best for cardiovascular fitness because they provide so much feedback, with every inch of the EliterSRS threaded with a 2-inch bead to ensure you see, hear, feel and know where every inch of your rope is during a single rotation.

Featuring unbreakable plastic polymer long handles with foam grips for slip-free hold, essential for when working up a sweat during freestyle moves like crisscrosses.

Not too thick as to step and hurt yourself, with the length resizable, the heavy beads help make it ultra durable for outdoor use.

Best skipping rope for weight-loss

• Tangram Factory Smart Rope LED Jump, £79.95 at Apple – buy here

Weight-loss jumpers arguably need the most motivation to stick at it, and the Tangram Factory Smart Rope is here to tell you like it is.

Paired with the Smart Gym app on your iPhone, iPad or Apple Watch, it accurately records each complete revolution of the rope as a complete jump, as well as monitoring calories burned and workout times.

The app offers interval-training recommendations and heightens the motivation factor by unlocking awards and competing with friends.

The 23 LEDs in the rope connected to magnetic sensors that allow you can see your fitness data in mid-air as you jump is a nice touch.

Two sets of ball bearings in each handle guarantee smooth, natural motion.

Looking for more fitness gear, check out Sun Selects’ dedicated Health and Fitness section.

If you’re in the market for gadgets, we’ve got tech covered as well.

Or if you need to spruce up your car, Sun Selects’ Motoring is the one for you.

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