this may be extremely stupid, and in fact, probably is, but can jump roping have any positive effect in tris. I am talking olys, here not IM. My thought process is that my turnover rate is somewhat slow in the last 3 miles of the run, and is never very quick. This would be a supplement to what I am allready doing, and is by no means a substitute. I could be completly off on this, and I have never heard anything on it, but my track team was doing it today, and it got me thinking. It certainly would not hurt me, correct??
Jumproping, if done correctly, is an excellent workout. It’s basically a simple (or not so…) Plyometric routine. The key is to really go after it, and work on the rebound phase - you want to trigger muscle extension as quickly as possible. It is hard to do for very long if you are doing it right.
Have you ever seen a high-level boxer jump rope? It’s pretty amazing. Those guys (and a few women!) have amazing explosive power, and incredible muscle coordination (which jumproping is great for, but doesn’t really apply to tri.) I remember watching a really young Mike Tyson jump rope in a training camp film, and it was astonishing. 200 plus pounds, and he had leg speed that would put ANY sprinter to shame…
It’s funny you mention it because I just read somewhere how to incorporate jump roping into tri training. I don’t remember the exact workout but it involved alternation biking on the trainer with jump roping followed by running. The point of jumping rope (in this case) to learn to spend as little time on the ground as possible (as you shoud in running) and increase leg turnover.
I can’t remember where I read this but if I think of it, I’ll re-post.
I find that jumping over rope is easier on a mountain bike than a tri-bike
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