Not much to fault with the Calorie Jump Skipping rope (Calorie Jump)

Member Name: Midnight25486

Product:	Calorie Jump
Date:	16/04/03 (1184 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Displays calories burned in a given session, Counts the amount of revolutions you've done in a session., Strengthens heart

Disadvantages: Rather expensive, LCD remains constantly on - shortening battery life

Not so long ago, I decided I wanted to buy some sort of cardiovascular device that I could use indoors.

I thought a skipping rope would be great. I purchased the Calorie Jump from Wellbeing.com.


The first thing I should mention is the fairly steep price range. At the time of purchase you could be paying anything from £13.50 up to £18.00.

Considering you could buy any old skipping rope for around £3.00, you may be wondering why I choose this one. Well, unlike usual skipping ropes, this one can count the number of jumps performed, and also calculates the number of calories burnt in each session, taking into account the weight of the user.

The handles are translucent blue and one has an LCD display. There are three buttons next to it. These are labeled 'Reset', 'Weight', and 'Mode' (Please note these buttons do not get in the way whilst skipping).

When you first use the Calorie Jump, you will need to enter your weight in Kg. This will be remembered until the battery is removed. It can however be changed easily. The weight range is between 25Kg and 150Kg.

Switching between the two different modes, you can view the number of calories burned and the number of rotations. There is a maximum count of 4,108 calories and 9,999 revolutions before you will be forced to press the reset button. I seriously doubt this would worry even the likes of Lennox Lewis as I doubt even he would do 9,999 revolutions in one session :-).

The rope itself (actually it's a blue plastic cord) is lightweight and yet strong. It measures 2.9m in length. This is more than enough. The instructions explain how to shorten it to a length that will suit you best. I had to cut a fair bit of excess rope off after adjusting - which was no trouble.

On the end of each handle there is a swivel-action rotator head, which rotates in both directions. You can skip forward, backward or criss-cross, and the rope wil
l continue to count.

There are clear instructions included with the skipping rope despite it all being very self-explanatory.

Batteries are included (1 x LR44). This was the one aspect that worries me with the skipping rope. Once you pull out the protective tab (tab which prevents battery usage before sale), there is no way to turn the display off when not using the skipping rope (unless you remove the battery - which will require a screwdriver). This no doubt will shorten the battery life -- though I'm sure there must be a very small amount of power being used to display the numerics.


MY FINAL THOUGHTS
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I was pretty much out of practice with skipping and anybody who could have seen my first attempts with this rope would have had a pretty good workout from laughing so hard :-). I have never been a very well coordinated person, though neither am I the type to give up easily. So I kept at it for half hour had a break and then tried again. The first few times can be difficult for some, though I assure you it gets easier as you begin to get the correct rhythm. Once you're skipping reasonably well you just get better and better. I can now alternate between skipping normally, criss-crossing the rope and hopping on either leg.

Here's a tip. If you are out of practice, or have never skipped before, make sure you buy your rope on a Friday regardless of which type you get. You don't want to be working the following day - especially if your job involves a lot of standing and walking around. The following day after your first session will leave your calves burning like hell. If you get into a regular routine your legs soon get used to it.


IS THE CALORIE JUMP FOR YOU?
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You have to ask yourself, do you want to pay extra for a rope that keeps track of how much calories you've burned and the revolutions in a session. I'm not sorry I paid the ex
tra expense, but some people will be content with just skipping for a certain amount of time each day with an ordinary rope.
The idea behind this rope is not having to worry about timing your workout or counting how many revolutions you've done.


WHAT ARE THE BENEFITS OF SKIPPING?
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*Conditions both the upper and lower body.
*Tones and strengthens muscles.
*Develops coordination, speed, balance and flexibility.
*Burns calories.
*Raises endurance level.

Summary: