D.I.Y SKIPPING ROPE by uche

JUST A LITTLE HISTORY ABOUT THIS ROPE 🎓

This is a skipping rope,

and so is this one.

It is just a rope; a rope that has been given a lot of meaning by us, the human population. Some say the skipping rope has been there since Ancient China, however, others conclude that around 1600 BC, the Egyptians were already having fun skipping around or whatever.

You basically swing a rope over your head, under your feet and repeat. You can take it slow and leisurely or try to win a Guinness book record by being the fastest jump-roper. Kids can do it and so can adults too. I think a monkey can be trained to use it too😅. We use it for fun and for work as well. Oh! Did I mention that these days it has become very popular as a workout item?

TYPES OF SKIPPING ROPE

Oh yes! Ropes come in different shapes, sizes and uses. So it depends on your goal and fitness level. By fitness level, I mean, put yourself in the beginner, intermediate or pro level. The jump rope we are making here is the basic kind but information is power so here you go.

(...Jump rope)

Details

Uses

Basic

Easy on the wallet

Usually made of plastic with rubber or foam handles

Recommended for beginners

Helps to learn basic jump rope

Speed

Light weight

Made of vinyl cord

Can be used indoors

For those interested in speed and intensity

Helps in skill training

Weighted

Adds the element of resistance

Can weigh up to 2.7 kg

Slower that speed jump ropes

These are the pro jumpers’ ropes

For upper body training

For those in resistance training

Beaded/ Segmented

Noisy

Has weight

Can be used indoors and outdoors

Beginners can use it

Competitors usually use it

For those who hate tangling

WHY A ROPE ALONE DIDN'T WORK FOR ME

At first, I bought a rope and started to skip with it just like that but after a 50 minute - week of skipping, the rope began to lax at the holding points.

So I decided that it was time to upgrade this rope so it can last me longer. Coming up is my method on making your own skipping rope.

MATERIALS NEEDED

For my version, I used an ordinary rope from the hardware store, two used plastic water bottles, and a lighter.

I later on added two extra materials due to trial and error: pliers (borrowed from by dad), and two tiny metals (cut from an old metal fence we are no longer using).

So here are the steps, it's really simple:

ditch the lids or caps of the bottles
measure the length of the rope that makes skipping easy for you (skip a little to check)
tie two knots on both ends of the rope (as shown in the picture below)

Now you have to squeeze these knots through the mouths of the plastic bottles

At this point, I thought I was done so I let my mum have a try at it. As Benjamin Disraeli said "All my successes have been built on my failures" and I completely agree. How can you grow without failures? How would you try harder to find a better way if you didn't fail? This is where the pliers and tiny metals come in for the next steps.

Use the pliers to cut two metals long enough to pass through the neck of the bottles and hang out a little as well.
Use the lighter to melt a little of the bottle by the neck to allow the metal to pierce through easy.
Pass each metal through one side of the bottle, through the rope in the bottle at the knot and through the other side of the bottle.
Bend the metal piece hanging out with the pliers to secure it in place.