Jump roping is one of the best alternatives to typical cardio exercises, especially if you want something that’s fun, innovative, and highly beneficial to the entire body. Not only will you be engaging all sorts of muscles and your aerobic fitness, but you’ll also have a blast. And as we all know, jump ropes come in all shapes, sizes, and forms. You have ones that are made out of beaded plastic ropes, others out of braided cotton, and some out of nylon. And all of these are adapted to different uses and to different experience levels. But what if you want to take things to the next level? What if you want to use a metal chain as a jump rope? Is it doable? Is it safe? And is it beginner-friendly?
Because of the extra weight and the added risk of injuring your head or legs, jump roping using a metal chain isn’t safe. And using weighted jump ropes and metal ones is a much better alternative.
In this article, we’ll talk about if a metal chain jump rope is safe and beginner-friendly as well as some alternatives that you can try.
Table of Contents
Can you use a Metal Chain as a Jump Rope?
When you really think about it, you can pretty much use any material when it comes to jump ropes. The real questions that you should be asking yourself are whether or not that material is safe, is beginner-friendly, and allows you to control the movement of the rope with ease.
Let’s break down each of these points and figure out if a metal chain could really be used as a jump rope:
Is it safe?
As we all know, jump roping presents a lot of risks, especially if you don’t know what you’re doing.
You could be performing the exercise and all of a sudden, the rope hits your head and your legs, or you simply trip over it.
If it’s a plastic rope, then it’s gonna be fine since it won’t cause any dangerous problems. However, if it’s made out of metal, then it’s a whole other story.
Getting smacked in the head or in your legs with a jump rope, especially if you take into consideration the average pace at which it’s moving is the equivalent of getting hit by a hard metal object. As a result, it can cause some serious injuries.
This means that jump roping using a metal chain is not safe at all.
Is it Beginner-Friendly?
As a general rule, anything that isn’t considered safe won’t be beginner-friendly. When you really think about it, being a beginner means that there is more chance to hit your face and legs, or to trip over the rope which translates to more injuries if you’re using a metal chain.
Additionally, a metal chain won’t have comfortable handles like a typical jump rope which is gonna be hard to control, especially if you’re still a beginner.
Using a normal jump rope is gonna be hard as it is, so adding the complexity of using a metal chain is only gonna make things a lot more challenging and a lot more dangerous.
Does it Have Good Control?
Having good control over the jump rope is one of the most important aspects of this exercise. Not only will it make the movement a lot easier, but it’ll also allow you to increase and decrease your pace as you see fit.
As we all know, the average length of a typical jump rope is 9ft. This means that you’d need a 9ft long chain.
An average chain of that same length will roughly weigh about 20 lbs which is extremely heavy if you take into consideration that the average weight of a “weighted” jump rope (which is heavier than most) is typically 1 to 1.5 lbs.
And the more it weighs, the less control you have over it, and it becomes extremely difficult to make it move around your body.
Add in the fact that a metal chain won’t have handles and it becomes a huge mess for you to handle and control.
Best Alternatives to Using a Metal Chain as a Jump Rope
So far, we’ve established that using a metal chain as a jump rope doesn’t correspond to the 3 main points that any jump rope should have which are: safety, control, and ease of use.
However, if you’re looking for something that’s heavy, challenging, and can put your body to the test, here are some alternatives that you can use:
Weighted Jump Ropes:
When you really think about it, a metal chain is pretty much just a weighted jump rope.
Of course, the latter one is nowhere near as heavy as the first one but it’ll still offer you the same sort of challenge that you’re looking for.
At the end of the day, the main reason why you want to use a metal chain is because of the extra heaviness. So instead of putting yourself at risk of injury, use a weighted jump rope that is padded to protect its user.
Here is my recommendation: Weighted Professional Skipping Rope
Metal Jump Ropes:
If you really insist on using metal, then you should consider using metal jump ropes. These are made from a metal cord that’s encased in thin plastic.
The only downside to them is that they’re tailored for the more advanced jump ropers since the added weight of the metal can be used to increase speed.
Here is my recommendation: High-Speed Jump Rope
Conclusion:
Let’s try to breakdown everything that we’ve learned so far about using a metal chain as a jump rope:
- Is it safe? No, because the chain can hit the face or the legs which can easily cause some serious injuries.
- Is it beginner-friendly? The added weight of the metal chain and the fact that there are no handles make a metal chain more challenging than a normal jump rope.
- Does it have good control? Since a metal chain is 10 times heavier than a normal jump rope, controlling it will be a lot more difficult.