Review: Crossrope Fitness System

Remember when you were a kid and exercise was just called “playing”? Well, the North Carolina company Crossrope wants to bring that fun-time feeling back to getting sweaty. With a set of weighted ropes that connect to an accompanying mobile app, the company's system for at-home workouts can help you jump back into fitness. (Oh my god, I’m so sorry.)

Outside the playground, jumping rope has long been a foundation of endurance and footwork training for boxing, eventually growing in popularity with fitness centers as a quick way to improve cardiovascular endurance and coordination. With the emergence of CrossFit, jumping rope has gained more relevance. The double-under, where the rope passes underfoot twice with every jump, is one of CrossFit's foundational movements.

Not only can jumping rope be a great cardio workout, it also builds strength and endurance in the shoulders, forearms, and legs, especially if you use a weighted jump rope. Crossrope capitalizes on this by pairing its weighted ropes with plyometric and bodyweight movements to craft a fun and effective workout system.

Similar to CrossFit, Crossrope breaks its offerings down into a tiered system, with each level appealing to people with different abilities and fitness goals.

The company's $99 Get Lean Bundle is geared towards weight loss and offers slim handles, a quarter-pound rope and a half-pound rope. The $139 Get Strong Bundle is designed for strength and muscle gain and includes thicker handles with an interchangeable 1-pound and 2-pound rope. There's also the whole-hog Get Fit Bundle at $238, which includes both handles and all four ropes.

The ropes come in different lengths according to your height. At 5 feet, 8 inches, the size medium rope worked perfectly for me. The braided-steel ropes are covered in a protective sleeve that not only lengthens the life of the rope, but also prevents it from getting tangled. The grips have a rubber coating and shape that prevents slipping during sweaty workouts. The cables are attached to the handles by high-quality bearings that provide a smooth, fast spin. The handles are also equipped with an ingenious quick-release system that makes it easy to swap between the differently weighted ropes during workouts. I'd also suggest springing for a jumping mat to keep your floors and rope undamaged.

Once you’re set up, check the Crossrope app for workouts. Crossrope Lite is the free version, with ten complimentary workouts and challenges, plus beginner tutorials and a beginner-level fitness challenge. Crossrope Premium costs $10 a month with access to every workout, the fitness challenges, workout filtering options, and the new jump rope counting mode, which, as you could probably guess, counts your jumps.

The workouts are brief, mostly 15 to 30 minutes each, with a few creeping into the 45-minute range. Each workout features a mix of calisthenics like high knees and jumping jacks, body weight movements like squat thrusters and push-ups, and, of course, rope jumping. Short rests are incorporated into each workout.

You can choose between three categories of workouts: Endurance, Strength, and HIIT (High Intensity Interval Training), which is a blend of the first two. Once you pick a workout, the app displays a looping video of the movement that you’re going to do, with a countdown timer and voiceover providing basic instructions, what movement is coming next, and when to change ropes. Compared to higher-end home fitness apps, it feels a bit bare bones, but it gets the job done. It’s nice that the app's spoken commands and timer don’t override whatever music your phone is playing. The app just temporarily lowers the music volume slightly while giving commands.

For people who are new to jumping rope, or for those who haven’t done it since elementary school, both the paid and free versions of the app have a section of beginners. There are video tutorials for basic rope jumping technique as well as more complex jumps, like boxer step jumps and double-unders. It also provides links to articles on improving form, avoiding injury, and figuring out how often you should train.

As someone with a lot of jump rope experience from years of CrossFit, I thought these workouts would be a snap. Turns out that swinging around a two-pound rope is a lot harder than swinging a two-ounce one. Four swings in, I was breathing hard, my shoulders burned, and my confidence took a huge hit. The timer beeped and I gratefully sank into my 30-second rest before beginning my first set of air squats.

By the end of my first 15-minute workout, I was gasping for air and dripping sweat, but I wasn’t exhausted. The 50/50 split between work and rest was just enough to let me catch my breath and get ready to move again. Instead of needing to lay down, I felt exhilarated. There’s enough variety in the workouts to keep each one interesting. Also, each workout is based on a timer instead of a counter, so there are no specific number of reps you are required to hit, and you can take each workout at your own pace.

If you want to incorporate any traditional weightlifting into the Crossrope workouts, you’re on your own. The kits don’t come with conventional weights, like dumbbells or kettlebells. The app doesn’t have any workouts for people who own this equipment, either. You’ll also have to use your own heart rate monitor or fitness tracker if you want to monitor your progress during a workout.

The constant “thwap-thwap-thwap” of the rope makes this workout really loud. Unless your neighbors below you are deaf or you have something to bribe them with, using a weighted rope in an apartment that isn’t on the first floor of the building will most likely result in eviction. And even a kind and generous roommate or spouse might prefer that you use this in the garage with a high vertical clearance (ceiling fans are Crossrope’s mortal enemy).

Still, this is one of the least expensive and most space-sensitive fitness systems you’ll find. You can stash the ropes in a drawer, and during the workout, all you need is enough space around you to use a jump rope. Crossroping works the entire body, and variety and challenges will keep you motivated and interested. The system is a good option for those don’t want to spend $1,000 or more on a stationary bike or rowing machine. Even the priciest Crossrope bundle costs only $240 to start.

More than that, it’s just enjoyable. It could have been a combination of the just-right level of exertion, but I found that it was just … fun. It’s impossible to escape the association between jumping rope and playing. Each workout left me borderline giddy. Now imagine if they added a double-dutch version in the future.