I am always looking for additional ways to improve my work-outs, and recently came across a couple of articles in Four Four Two and Competitor that talked about the benefits of box jumps, specifically the way they improve the runners speed. My gym does not have the type of equipment that I need and I don’t have the space to setup my own box jump at home, so instead I bought a jump rope. I figured this was pretty much the same thing – jumping is jumping, right! Interestingly, the first few reps were a bit awkward – it had been so long since I used a jump rope I was a pretty poorly coordinated. After a couple of weeks of rounding out my sessions with ten to fifteen minutes of jump ropes, I have noticed a marked improvement in my short-term speed. I plan to continue using the jump rope and will probably up the number of reps over time. I am curious to see how this pans out and what effect it has on my sprinting.