Finding Joy, Confidence, and the Jump Rope Community with Jenny Linden – @jennyjustjump (Ep. 13)

Dizzy Skips (00:29)
All right. So Jenny Linden, welcome to Skip Squad Chronicles. I’m so glad you’re joining me to talk. I’ve wanted this since the very beginning and…

You sent me a message yesterday and said that you were ready to do it and made my day.

It was my best Christmas present. So thank you.

Jenny (00:47)
thank you.

Dizzy Skips (00:49)
So I wanted to just start out and say, first of all, you are quite literally my jump rope hero. Like from the beginning, I just have looked up to you since you’ve supported me since the beginning. I actually did go back and look at some of my first reels, which was kind of hard and embarrassing to watch myself skip in the beginning, you know? But you were right there making comments on some of my first reels and I’ve said it before in the podcast. That really made me feel like,

Jenny (01:11)
Okay.

Dizzy Skips (01:16)
wow, there’s somebody out there who’s actually paying attention and making jokes. It started to make me realize there was really a community out there and you kicked that off for me. So thank you.

And also I wanna embarrass you really quick and tell you what I love about you. I I love so many things about you, but I’ll tell you a few of them. Like

one of them is that your jumping style just clicks with me. I just love watching you jump and you’re a footwork person. I mean, like you do great rope work as well, but your footwork is so fun to watch.

I just, I dig that. I think I saw someone on one of your reels mentioned that they thought you moved like a boxer. And I, and I thought that was a really good description. You, you, I think of you like Muhammad Ali, you float like a butterfly and sting like a bee, you know? And, and then also you have great musical taste. You know, I’m kind of a music nut. I always jump with music and I love the music that you pick.

Jenny (01:59)
You

Dizzy Skips (02:08)
And I also think of you like looking at the number of reels that you have put out versus the number of reels I put out. I look like a compulsive, you know, like I just put out stuff all the time. But so it makes me think, you know, Jenny shows up and just gets it done. Like you show up and you work hard and it shows in your reels. Like you are probably one of the hardest working jump ropers I know. And also along with that.

Jenny (02:16)
You

Dizzy Skips (02:32)
you share the struggle of jump rope. Like, I don’t know if you saw my discussion with Kaylee the other day, but one of the things I love about both of you is that you show how frustrating and how…

Terrible it can be sometimes when you’re trying to nail a trick or something like that and and you can’t do it And I think that’s important for people to see that you know To see that it’s not all rosy and it also makes it so much better when Jenny nails that trick You know like yes, I’ve seen her struggle with that and now she’s doing it. So I think that’s

Jenny (02:47)
Okay.

So

Dizzy Skips (03:04)
And then I guess the last thing I’ll say for now is that, you know, when I started my Instagram account, I did it on March 1st this year. And it felt like every post that I looked at…

Jenny had commented on already. Like it didn’t matter who I was looking at, where they were in the world. You were all over the place encouraging people and saying, great job, know,

keep going or fire emoji or stuff like that. And it just made me respect you so much because I see you just lift people up around Instagram and you’re and I talk to a lot of people and everybody I talked to where I mentioned your name, they’re like, my God, I love her. And so.

Jenny (03:42)
Oh.

Dizzy Skips (03:43)
So anyway, I will stop embarrassing you now. But I did want to thank you on behalf of me for the support and then just all my

other jump rope friends. I think you’re such an inspiration to us all. So thanks for what you do. Also, we have the same favorite color. Like you wear black so much and I wear black so much.

Jenny (03:55)
Thank you so much.

Yes.

Dizzy Skips (04:00)
In

fact, I looked at your feed, I think you have something like 85 reels and I actually counted the reels where you’re wearing black and I forget what the actual figure was, but it’s between 65 and 70 reels you’re wearing black. So like 90 % of your reels. What part of the world are you in, Jenny?

Jenny (04:09)
Yeah.

Absolutely.

in Sweden, Stockholm, Sweden.

Dizzy Skips (04:23)
Is that, have you been there your whole life? Yeah? I used to, years ago I worked for a Swedish company, but I worked in Dallas and the company was owned in Sweden. And so my boss was a Swedish guy and he was a lot of fun. So I’m assuming you have similar weather to me right now. Do you have snow on the ground?

Jenny (04:26)
Yeah. Yeah.

Okay.

Really not snow, but it’s kind of cold.

Dizzy Skips (04:48)
Yeah. I saw one of your reels where you were jumping outside in the snow. I think that was a while back, but you seem like you’re more of an indoor jumper in general. Yeah. Really? What is it about jumping outside that drives you crazy?

Jenny (04:56)
Mm.

yes, yes, I hate to jump outside. Yeah.

I don’t know. It feels that it’s so much harder for me. So, yeah.

Dizzy Skips (05:12)
Okay.

Interesting. So what do do for work? Like, what’s your profession?

Jenny (05:18)
I work with medical devices for people to use at home so they don’t have to be in a hospital. Mostly breathing stuff like oxygen and alarms and CPAP. Is it called CPAP? Yeah, stuff like that.

Dizzy Skips (05:22)
Okay.

What type of medical devices?

Okay.

Yep, yeah.

For people with sleep apnea, the mask that sort of forces air down. That’s interesting because the company that I worked for was a place called Synectics Medical and they were based in Sweden and they did medical devices for gastrointestinal diagnostics. So things like, you know,

Jenny (05:45)
Yeah, Exactly.

Okay.

Dizzy Skips (05:59)
reflux and basically anything from the income to the out go of food. They had some device to diagnose issues. we have something in common there.

Jenny (06:10)
Yeah.

Dizzy Skips (06:14)
Yeah, I’ve noticed you’ve done several reels where you have done either collaborations or like remixes with other people. And I’m curious what that was like. did you what what made you do a remix?

Jenny (06:21)
Mm?

Mainly, you know, I’m in this group that is called the Shuffle Group and we like 10 or 15 people in this group and every month we have a routine or a special combo that we’re gonna make and we all make the same. And I was like from the beginning, I was like, okay, I’m gonna remix this combo every time.

Dizzy Skips (06:45)
Okay.

Jenny (06:55)
Okay, that did not happen. But I tried, I tried. So that’s mainly the remixes I’ve done. Yeah.

Dizzy Skips (06:55)
Okay.

Mm-hmm.

So, and I said collaborations, have you done any collaborations or has it just been remixing people? Not just been, but mostly. Yeah, I haven’t done any real collaborations yet outside of the Christmas and.

Jenny (07:11)
only remixing.

Dizzy Skips (07:20)
and Halloween skipping, which was basically just dress up in a costume and jump and then somebody edits it together, you know, but it wasn’t like planned out where we’re gonna do the same routine.

Jenny (07:24)
Yeah.

No, but yeah, I was also in that Halloween skipping thing. Yeah, that’s true.

Dizzy Skips (07:33)
Yeah, that was lots of fun.

So can you talk about music and what role music plays in your jumping? I always see you with the AirPods in. So I think you probably skip to music quite a bit, right?

Jenny (07:43)
Mm hmm.

Yeah, always. And I have like, a, what do call it?

Dizzy Skips (07:51)
Yeah.

a playlist or

Jenny (08:00)
Yeah, exactly. A playlist and I have songs I like and songs that just pumps me up when I’m jumping. can be all from Backstreet Boys to rock to 90s. Or if I hear a good song on the radio, I just put it in that playlist and just jumps and it makes me feel good. And yeah, that’s it.

Dizzy Skips (08:12)
Yeah.

Jenny (08:26)
But problem is then when I’m gonna put it on the reels, I never remember what song I’ve been jumping to. it’s like, okay, what…

Dizzy Skips (08:27)
Yeah, that’s great.

I’m so glad to hear you say that.

Because I have the same problem. And I’ve developed tactics to try and deal with it. Like have a playlist and don’t put more than five songs on the playlist because then it’s easier for me to figure out what I was jumping to. But I can’t tell you, it’s got to be hundreds of times where I’ve gone, yeah, I don’t need this. I’ll remember this. I’ll remember what I jumped to. And then just the next day I’m like, wait, what was that? What was I jumping to?

Jenny (08:58)
Yes.

Yeah,

Dizzy Skips (09:04)
So sometimes I try and like sing

Jenny (09:05)
I know.

Dizzy Skips (09:06)
a line or I’ll say, I’ll just talk to the camera and say, you know, it’s black eyed peas, you know, pump it.

Jenny (09:11)
Yeah.

Dizzy Skips (09:13)
How often are you jumping or practicing?

Jenny (09:16)
twice a week.

Dizzy Skips (09:18)
Okay. Do you have a set schedule, like certain days that you go on or do you just limit yourself to two jumps a week?

Jenny (09:23)
Yeah,

no, I have my kid part time. So when I’m not having her, I go to the gym in the weeks, two nights. So and I mean, I practice for like two hours, like Tuesday, Wednesday, and then I really need a break because I mean, I’m exhausted. Yeah.

Dizzy Skips (09:33)
Okay.

Mm-hmm.

Yeah, of course, yeah.

So when you go to do your practice, do you have a warmup routine? Like do you have a set warmup that you do or a cool down?

Jenny (09:56)
No.

Dizzy Skips (09:57)
No, you just jump right in. Yeah, that’s cool. Do you, when you jump right in, do you like start with basic bounce or something like that to kind of get the blood flowing or, or do you, yeah.

Jenny (09:58)
Yeah. Yeah.

Yeah, exactly.

I sometimes I just, you know, if you have put a song on that is like three, four minutes, I’m just telling my mind that, okay, I’m going to jump to the whole song. So if it’s four minutes or three minutes, I’m just going to jump the whole song. that’s, that’s my warm up, you could say. Yeah.

Dizzy Skips (10:23)
Mm-hmm.

Mm-hmm.

Yeah, cool. Do you feel like you have go-to moves or tricks or things that you that just you do a lot?

Jenny (10:41)
Yeah. Crosses Yeah.

Dizzy Skips (10:44)
Yeah. Yeah. I would say

crosses. You also do leg crosses like with your footwork crosses a lot. Yeah. They look really cool.

Jenny (10:50)
Yeah, exactly. Yeah.

Thanks. But it’s hard to get away from it. I mean, it feels like I’m doing it all the time.

Dizzy Skips (11:03)
Yeah, yeah, I know what you mean. I have some go-to moves, know, like, especially when I mess up, I do the little, you know, duck walk thing or whatever, and I just do it all the time. But I guess that’s okay. Do you, I’ve mentioned it a couple times on the podcast, and I meant to look it up today and I didn’t find it, but there was…

One of the pieces of advice that you gave me at some point or one of the comments that you responded to was me making a comment, something like, Jenny, can’t wait till I grow up and I can jump like you. And you had a response and I don’t remember exactly what it was, but it was like, hey, your jumping is your jumping and my jumping is my jumping and that’s okay. Or it was something to that effect.

And that really stuck with me. Obviously, I can’t quote it verbatim, but it stuck with me because it made me realize, yeah, I don’t have to measure myself up against other people. know, it’s not…

It’s about improving myself. And even on the last podcast, I mentioned that over the course of the summer, there was a lot of time where I really just didn’t practice new tricks. Like when I would get done with work, I would go to the park and I would just jump for a few hours. And most of it was just flow and stuff. And then I would watch Reels and see somebody who had started jumping months after I did. And they were like crazy good at the mamba or whatever. And I’d think like, should I be better than I am right now?

Jenny (11:55)
Yeah.

Dizzy Skips (12:21)
And then you would pop in my head and say, nope, you’re jumping as you’re jumping. And like, that’s okay. Yeah. So thank you for that. Do you have any inspirations or are there people that inspired you to jump?

Jenny (12:25)
Yeah, yeah, that is okay.

The beginning or now?

Dizzy Skips (12:41)
Yeah, I guess from the beginning. In fact, when did you start jumping?

Jenny (12:46)
It was last summer, so I’ve been jumping for like one and a half years now.

At that time it was like just some random guy I saw on Instagram. He was just doing regular jumps for practice. And I’ve always been struggling to work out, practice and go to the gym. I hated it. And I was like, okay, but I need to do something. And I mean, in this age, it’s like…

Dizzy Skips (13:03)
Mm-hmm.

Jenny (13:17)
if you don’t do anything. And I was like, okay, I’m gonna try it. I’m gonna try. I buy a rope and I try it. And my God, I could not take how much I sucked at it. So yeah, it was something in my head that triggered me so much that I mean, I cannot take this. I gotta do it. I gotta just keep on jumping.

Dizzy Skips (13:23)
Mm-hmm.

Yeah, right.

Yeah.

Jenny (13:41)
So I went to the cross, what’s it called, the cross jump.

Dizzy Skips (13:41)
Mm-hmm.

Like

CrossFit Gym or something.

Jenny (13:52)
Now the ropes with that are a little bit heavier. Never.

Dizzy Skips (13:57)
yeah,

they they crossfit ropes?

Jenny (14:00)
No, they like, no, but they have an app and they have a lot of ropes. And I went to the app and just starting to do with their workouts, like regular jumps and like 15, 20 minutes. And I did that for a couple of months. now I can’t even remember what the question was.

Dizzy Skips (14:03)
I can’t remember.

Okay.

Is it, well, kind of like how you got started, like when you got started and why. And so are they called cross ropes? that?

Jenny (14:30)
Yeah.

Yes, yes.

Dizzy Skips (14:38)
And I’ve not used those, I’ve heard people talk about them. You get multiple ropes that are of different thicknesses and weights, and then you just kind of, is the program to kind of work until you get heavier, or do you start heavier and work to get lighter?

Jenny (14:45)
Yes.

No, have

like, if you do 15 seconds like regular bounces, 15 seconds with crosses and whatever, and then you have like one minute break and you change the rope for like heavier. And then you do 15 seconds with the same. Yeah, really good. So that’s how I.

Dizzy Skips (15:06)
Okay.

Okay.

So that’s

why you’re so buff.

Jenny (15:14)
Yeah.

Dizzy Skips (15:16)
So when did you, so you started with the cross-rope stuff, but then I’ve seen you use beaded and PVC as well. Did you sort of leave the cross-rope stuff behind or do you still kind of mix it up with different types of ropes?

Jenny (15:31)
No, I kind of just, you know, I love the PVC ropes from the start. It just fit me really good. was fast and everything. So I’ve been a really PVC fan for a long time. It’s now the last couple of months that I’ve really tried to like beaded ropes. And I’m actually starting to

Dizzy Skips (15:41)
Mm-hmm.

Mm-hmm. Yeah.

Mm-hmm.

Jenny (16:01)
like them even more now. And it looks better in the reels too.

Dizzy Skips (16:03)
Yeah.

Sometimes

they’re easier to see, Like sometimes those little speed ropes or those PVC ropes, you get whipping so fast it just looks like you’re moving your hands, you know? Everything else is a blur.

Jenny (16:09)
Yeah.

Exactly.

Dizzy Skips (16:20)
I’m curious, like when you started working with beaded ropes more, by the way, I have my J-Trip rope here named after my friend Jenny. @jennyjustjump When you started using beaded ropes more, like how do you feel them differently than PVC or how is jumping with a beaded rope different for you than a PVC rope?

Jenny (16:42)
It’s much slower. Yeah. So, I mean, coming from a PVC, it was hard for me to do it slower. I don’t know how to explain it, but… So, yeah.

Dizzy Skips (16:45)
the beaded rope.

Yeah.

Yeah.

Yeah, I know what you mean. There’s some moves that just need a certain amount of speed, right? And when you slow down, it’s like you, or at least for me, when I slow certain moves down, it’s like I get in my head and I’m thinking about it too much and then I goof it up.

Jenny (17:07)
Yeah.

Yeah, and I trip up all the time. But I’m starting to learn with the beaded rope.

Dizzy Skips (17:18)
Yeah.

Yeah. Yeah, I like them both. I was jumping with a PVC rope last night, but I jump with beaded a lot more than PVC, I would say. And part of it is here. I like to jump outside. And when it’s cold outside like this, PVC just does not work well. It gets all stiff and breaks.

Jenny (17:39)
Yeah

Dizzy Skips (17:42)
So one of the things that I was telling a friend that I was talking to you earlier, or a coworker, and I was saying that one of the things that I loved about your reels is that you show the frustration of jump rope as well, and that you’ve posted a few reels where you throw your rope, which always tickles me. And not that I’m trying to laugh at your misfortune or anything like that, but my God, it just makes me laugh so hard.

So my question is, is when things are hard, how do you handle that mental side of jump rope when you have to focus or you have to push through tough problems or…

Jenny (18:17)
I don’t. Yeah, but honestly I’ve been much better now actually. I was a monster in the beginning. Jesus, I mean it’s…

Dizzy Skips (18:20)
You just throw the rope.

Yeah

Jenny (18:37)
No, I’m much better now, actually. I mean, I don’t take it that seriously anymore. But yes, of course, I get angry. Still. Definitely. Yeah. But I try to.

Dizzy Skips (18:47)
Yeah, yeah, yeah, I do occasionally.

Yeah, right, like, all right, center myself, take a deep breath, it’s not that big a deal.

Jenny (18:54)
Yeah.

Exactly.

Dizzy Skips (19:02)
One of the things that I saw, and this was months ago, this was probably early summer or something, you had a post where you made some comment about showing up at the gym with a bag full of a dozen ropes, and I thought, that is a woman after my own heart. Actually, at the time, I thought, that sounds really cool, and now I’ve got a backpack that’s got a dozen ropes. They’re hanging all over the house.

Jenny (19:14)
Okay.

Yep.

Dizzy Skips (19:27)
Do

you have a favorite rope that you go to or do you have favorites?

Jenny (19:32)
And.

Yeah, I mean I have a lot of ropes and the thing is that I’ve been trying to use them all. You know, if I go to the gym on Monday, okay, I’m going to take these ropes with me and on Tuesday, okay, I change to these ropes. But in the end, I’m starting to really feel that it’s not good to change ropes all the time because they all are different. So.

Dizzy Skips (19:42)
Mm-hmm.

Jenny (20:00)
I’ve been trying to just limit the ropes. yeah, I’m starting to get a few favorites, yours of course. But I’ll get back to you on that.

Dizzy Skips (20:04)
Yeah.

That’s very nice of you.

Yeah.

So you decided to pick up a rope because you felt like you needed something physical to do so that you maintained your health. And then once you started, how long did it take before you were like in love with it or before you knew like, I’m gonna stick with this?

Jenny (20:43)
I would say almost from the beginning. Yeah, definitely. And that was a shock to me because I’ve never liked, you know…

Dizzy Skips (20:47)
Yeah.

Yeah. What about it was shocking.

Jenny (20:57)
that I just, I wanted to work out. And that had never happened in my life before, ever.

Dizzy Skips (21:01)
Mm-hmm.

Jenny (21:06)
So, and like I said before, I mean, it triggered me so much that I just wanted to get better and better and better. So, yeah, it was the perfect thing for me. So.

Dizzy Skips (21:17)
Yeah,

it’s so fun, isn’t it? I mean, like I’ve had that experience of going to the gym and, you know, going to the gym, like it could be okay. I could put on music, I can get through it, but I don’t have fun, fun, you know, like, but going out and skipping rope, it doesn’t matter if I’m whacking myself in the shin or if I’m swearing or whatever. I still have fun every time. Yeah.

Jenny (21:39)
Yeah, and you

can feel from the beginning that, I don’t want to do it. But as soon as it’s just starting to jump at the place and the music is like, and then it’s like, OK, that was two hours. So now that’s it. is truly amazing.

Dizzy Skips (21:53)
Yeah.

Yeah. So when I noticed, what is it, a few months ago, you kind of changed the venue that you were jumping in. It seemed like you were jumping at one gym pretty constantly for several months, and then you sort of changed. I’m curious, do other people jump in the gyms that you jump at? Or where you jump? Or is it just you? Yeah.

Jenny (22:14)
No, no, it’s just

me. I have a lot of people coming up to me actually at the old gym and they’re starting to come up at the new gym too and you know ask me about my ropes and can I try one can I try it once and so yeah people are really curious about it so that’s fun! Yeah.

Dizzy Skips (22:32)
Yeah, yeah, that is

cool. the new place that you jump is a gym as well, that purplish place. It’s so pretty. I love that setting in your reels. It’s so fun to look at.

So when you started jumping, how did you learn? Like how did you start to learn how to jump? Were you just watching people on Instagram or did you get a coach or an app or?

Jenny (23:00)
I would say mainly from the Crossrope app where they had just a few steps, just the basic steps. And I feel that that was so good for me to just focus on that. Because then when I started my account on Instagram, it was like…

Dizzy Skips (23:10)
Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm.

Jenny (23:22)
my god, I was all over the place. I I looked at that one and that one and that one and I was like, okay, for first I suck , two, I cannot do anything of these things. So no, I was so happy that I was just starting out just basic. So and that is actually what I try to tell newbies right now when they ask like, okay, do you have any tips? Yeah, just start out.

Dizzy Skips (23:44)
Mm-hmm.

Jenny (23:50)
regular bounces, start to feel the rope and be, yeah, just feel it. I mean, you don’t have to start with a mic release or anything like that.

Dizzy Skips (23:58)
Yeah.

That sounds like a recipe for rope throwing if you start with the mic release.

my gosh.

Yeah, yeah, I think that’s a really good, a really good point because it’s, it would be easy to watch people on, you know, Instagram or YouTube or whatever and see people doing these crazy things. Like, you know, if, I would have seen what you do when I started, well, when I saw what you did, when I started, I was like, that is just magic footwork. Like I want to be able to do that. but

I think it is important to kind of get the basics down. And I think I’ve even said on the podcast before that my coach, Ghadi, he has mentioned, he is big on the basics, know, like get the basic bounce down and get your single hand swing down and practice it every time on both sides. You gotta learn to move that rope. And that’s made a big difference for me. Just…

Jenny (24:50)
Mm-hmm.

Dizzy Skips (24:54)
paying attention to that stuff. Because I think it makes, once you have those fundamentals down, it makes learning new tricks easier because you’re not having to, how do I do the single hand swing and do this? It’s like, you’ve got that down, or at least you’re more comfortable with it. Yeah. So are you, what do you do now as far as learning? Like you started with the Crossrope app, are you still using that or are you?

Jenny (25:03)
Yeah, definitely.

Dizzy Skips (25:20)
You mentioned you’re part of a group where you’re working on footwork routines or you’re working on certain routines. How do you progress? How are you learning now or finding out new things to do?

Jenny (25:34)
It’s mostly, mean, there is so much that I can’t do. I mean, I have the awesome Annie that it’s like, feels impossible to me to do. And Kruger and stuff like that. So yeah, I try to learn it and I practice it.

Dizzy Skips (25:47)
Yeah.

Jenny (25:59)
Yeah, but I I see other people do things that I’m like, okay, I save it back here and just practice it. Yeah.

Dizzy Skips (26:05)
Mm-hmm.

So are you like watching tutorials on Instagram when you see a specific footwork or something that you wanna do, the awesome Annie, are you watching tutorials?

Jenny (26:22)
Yeah, I do. Or other people that just do it, that try to look at it and just trying to figure out how to do it. So, yeah.

Dizzy Skips (26:33)
Yeah.

Jenny (26:36)
Absolutely.

Dizzy Skips (26:36)
What would you

say is like the hardest, the thing that you’ve struggled with most in learning or what is the hardest stuff for you to learn? You mentioned Awesome Annie. Yeah. Yeah. How long did that take you to learn?

Jenny (26:43)
They mic release. Yeah, but they mic release for sure. Yeah.

Probably.

I would say more than six months. Yeah. But the thing is…

Dizzy Skips (26:56)
Okay, I feel better with my progress, because I’m not great with it.

I can land it sometimes, but.

Jenny (27:03)
But the thing is with the mic release, I I struggled with it so hard. it felt like every week, every time, I mean, I was at the job at the lunchtime, I was like practicing mic releases in the evenings. it was like, no, I’m I’m never going to learn it. And then I did. And then a couple of months after, a girl wrote to me and like, I love your mic releases. But

How do you do the double mic release? And I was like, what double? So the thing is that I have been…

Dizzy Skips (27:35)
Isn’t that just rope

throwing? The double mic release is just rope throwing, right?

Jenny (27:43)
The thing is that I had been learning the double from the start, not the regular. So I guess that is a little bit harder. And now I can’t do a regular mic release

Dizzy Skips (27:53)
So when you say,

okay, so when you say the double mic release, that mean like two rotations of the, you’d let go of one handle and you do two rotations of the rope before you catch the handle again? Okay.

Jenny (28:00)
Yeah.

Yeah. Yeah.

Dizzy Skips (28:07)
So

is that not pretty standard? I sort of thought that that was pretty standard.

Jenny (28:15)
I don’t know, but I think a regular… I mean, you cannot ask me about those things. I have no idea, but I think it’s a regular mic. It’s like the easiest thing to do. Like one bin. Yeah. But I can’t do that. So I have to learn that one.

Dizzy Skips (28:21)
Okay. Yeah.

Okay, just like one rotation, yeah.

Yeah.

Yeah. Yeah, some people are just so amazing with the releases. Like, it really still looks like magic to me. Like, I had Sean Hargis on early, I think he was like on the fourth episode or something, and watching him do mic releases and catch him over his head, like he’s flying around everywhere and he catches him and all these, like, it just still looks like magic to me. But…

Jenny (28:58)
Yeah.

Yeah.

Dizzy Skips (29:03)
I know I need to work on it.

So.

What is on your list of tricks or skills to learn next?

Jenny (29:14)
Like I said, definitely awesome Annie. And just I’m trying to do a little bit more footwork because like I said, I just freestyle and I end up doing the same thing all the time. So I definitely want to learn more footwork.

Dizzy Skips (29:29)
Like what kind of footwork?

Jenny (29:31)
like different footwork, like different combos or stuff like that. But yeah.

Dizzy Skips (29:36)
Mm-hmm.

Have you ever gone to like a jump rope meetup?

Jenny (29:40)
No.

Dizzy Skips (29:42)
Would you?

Jenny (29:45)
No, just kidding.

Dizzy Skips (29:45)
No. Yeah.

Jenny (29:50)
No, I definitely would want to, but I’m a little bit shy. But probably if it would be in London or something like that, it’s quite close to me. I probably would go, yeah.

Dizzy Skips (29:54)
Mm-hmm.

Yeah.

Yeah, yeah, I have the same sort of feeling. Like, I think it would be so cool to be around so many people that I could learn from and watch jump. just, that would be awesome. But I’m enough of an introvert that I can also see myself being like back up against the wall. Just, you know, like, don’t talk to me.

Jenny (30:25)
Same here.

Dizzy Skips (30:26)
Yeah.

So you know one of my questions that I’ve been asking people is like advice for newcomers and you are newbies and you already said like take it slow like learn the basic bounce and stuff. Do you have other things that you would tell a new new jumper just starting out to help set them on the right path?

Jenny (30:47)
Yeah, I mean, it’s hard on the… I believe it’s hard on the Instagram because it’s so easy to compare yourself to other people. And I believe that is the worst thing you can do. But I mean, I don’t know how you should not do it, you know, because it’s easy because you look at everyone and you’re like, my God, I want to be like that one and that one. But just…

Dizzy Skips (31:05)
Yeah.

Jenny (31:12)
Try not to compare yourself to other ones and just do your thing and just try to focus on your thing. Because we’ve all been there. We’ve all been with the first steps and we know how hard it is. So, yeah.

Dizzy Skips (31:17)
Mm-hmm.

Jenny (31:34)
and the basics, not trying to, you know.

Dizzy Skips (31:34)
Yeah.

Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. I think when if you try for stuff that is too complicated up front, not only is it a recipe for rope throwing, but it’s also it could just be.

Jenny (31:39)
be up here.

Dizzy Skips (31:52)
sort of depressing, know, or feel defeating like, I’m never gonna get that. But if you can get the basic bounce and do that, and then maybe add a cross, and then just work on crosses for a bit, and then add one thing a week or every couple weeks or something like that, I think that could be really helpful. So, no, please.

Jenny (32:02)
Mm-hmm.

Definitely. mean, it doesn’t…

No, and I said, doesn’t matter. mean, it doesn’t matter if you only do just bounces and some crosses. I mean, the community is so awesome. I mean, we just push each other. I mean, even if you have three million followers or you have four, I mean, it’s not a difference. So yeah, just stick to your thing, I would say.

Dizzy Skips (32:35)
Yeah.

Yeah,

I think that’s great advice. So when you started jumping, when did you start realizing like benefits of jumping? You mentioned, you you felt like you needed something physical to do, but how long did it take before you started realizing like, hey, this is really helping me out? And how did it help you out?

Jenny (32:59)
hard to remember but I would say maybe like since I never I mean I always had a membership at the gym but I mean it could be like I’ve been ten times a year but when I started jumping maybe like after four months five six months I truly felt that I I wanted to go to the gym

Dizzy Skips (33:12)
Mm-hmm.

Jenny (33:22)
If you understand what I mean, that you just, I felt so good to work out. And that is like a hallelujah moment for me. It is.

Dizzy Skips (33:29)
Mm-hmm.

Yeah, right. Yeah.

Were you doing other workout stuff or was it all rope?

Jenny (33:40)
All rope. Yeah.

Dizzy Skips (33:41)
All rope?

Yeah. So what, like did it benefit you physically? you, I mean, obviously it benefits you physically. You kind of can’t help that, but I’m curious, what physical benefits did you get or did you get any mental benefits from jumping rope?

Jenny (33:56)
Yeah, first I lost weight.

I felt so much happier. my self esteem or confidence got better. And also one pretty cool thing is that a few years ago, I had a stroke in my brain. And since after that, my balance was really shitty. I, but after I started to jump rope, it’s like,

Dizzy Skips (34:06)
Mm-hmm.

Jenny (34:22)
And that is so cool. That is amazing. So yeah. Yeah.

Dizzy Skips (34:24)
Yeah.

That is amazing.

Yeah, it’s, I’m so impressed with all of the physical benefits that jump rope has brought me from, you know, balance is a great one. Like I’ve joked, but it’s actually not a joke. Like being able to bend over in the shower and pick up soap off the bottom of the tub with one foot, you know, without having to worry about face planting, that’s a good one, you know, it means something, but.

Jenny (34:45)
Peace.

Dizzy Skips (34:54)
Yeah, losing weight is a good one and the endurance, just feeling like, you know, I can keep going at this, you know?

Jenny (34:57)
Mm-hmm.

Yeah.

Dizzy Skips (35:03)
So what is your favorite rope color combo?

Jenny (35:07)
Mm.

Dizzy Skips (35:08)
Like if you go to buy a rope, what are you looking for?

Jenny (35:13)
I like them all, that’s the problem. now I can see when you are doing a reel, if you have a white one, it shows really good.

That sounds so stupid now when I hear myself. it looks good on the real, but.

Dizzy Skips (35:30)
No, I mean…

Jenny (35:34)
my god. You caught that.

Dizzy Skips (35:36)
Yeah

I know. I mean honestly I will fess up. I think about that like in fact I was watching

I went back to some of my really early videos last night and watched some of the beginning ones. And one of the first ones that you commented on, I think it was maybe the second one that you commented on, was one where I was jumping outside and the lighting was terrible. I had no idea how to film myself. So I used my camera and I put the, so I could see myself and it was so dark and I said something like, this is my jumping, it looks like a hostage video.

Jenny (35:59)
you

Busted video.

Dizzy Skips (36:07)
And your comment was hostage video.

Jenny (36:11)
I will never forget that, it’s the funniest

thing.

Dizzy Skips (36:16)
Yeah.

Jenny (36:17)
Yeah.

Dizzy Skips (36:19)
So I’m curious, like when you’re making a reel, like what is your setup like? Do you have a, when you go to the gym and you’re gonna film yourself, do you have a little tripod or do you prop your phone up against something?

Jenny (36:31)
Yeah, put up lights and the sheets. I try to just put my phone in there so that no one can see that I’m filming myself. And like I said before, I jump for almost two hours every time. And after like one hour, I put record on. yeah, from that hour, hopefully it’s

Dizzy Skips (36:33)
Yeah.

Yeah.

Jenny (36:56)
reel yeah, and that’s basically how it’s done. I mean, I just jump, jump, jump, jump, jump and then look at it and it’s like, yeah, it feels pretty good. I can use this one.

Dizzy Skips (36:57)
Mm-hmm.

Yeah.

Yeah. So you jump for about an hour and then you start recording. And during that first hour, are you listening to the same stuff that you’re gonna jump to when you’re recording yourself? Like are you sort of practicing for that second hour or are you just working out?

Jenny (37:26)
No,

yeah, just working out because that is really, I mean, I love this community and I love my page and everything like that. the main thing for me with jumping rope is that I actually get my workout. So that is the most important thing for me to feel healthy and everything like that. And if it’s a reel that’s great.

Dizzy Skips (37:29)
just working out.

Mm-hmm.

Mm-hmm.

Jenny (37:54)
That’s not the main thing for me.

Dizzy Skips (37:56)
Mm-hmm. Well, that’s great. Well, you obviously like you have calves of steel. Like when I see your legs, your your calves, the back of your legs are like made of iron. You look like you total boxer.

Jenny (38:13)
But that’s not because I never stretch.

Dizzy Skips (38:15)
No, it’s because you have huge muscles.

So let’s see here.

I was gonna ask you, in some of your first videos, I think you have someone filming you or you must have help because the camera is moving around a little bit. Did you recruit someone as your camera person? Yeah, that’s great. So can you talk a little bit about the Jump Rope community? You know, I mentioned how much that…

Jenny (38:28)
Mm-hmm. Yeah.

Okay.

Dizzy Skips (38:40)
I’ve

seen you around the community and how inspired I was to like try and participate based on seeing you interact with people, but what has the Jump Rope community meant to you?

Jenny (38:52)
Everything, I will say. I mean, I don’t have the words to describe this community. I mean, before I just hated social media. Facebook, Instagram, I mean, I was just taking the piss of it all the time. But this community is something else.

Dizzy Skips (39:11)
You

Jenny (39:19)
I mean, I can’t wait to go on Instagram and just look at all the reels. And now that I call all of you my friends, I mean, from all over the world. And it’s like, it’s amazing. I don’t know what to say, actually. It’s amazing.

Dizzy Skips (39:30)
Mm-hmm.

Mm-hmm.

Yeah. Yeah, I have the same exact feeling. Like social media was always a chore for me. Like, I get, you know, like I had to do some for business and, I got to do it for work. What am I going to tweet or whatever? And it’s just no fun. But once I started realizing there was a jump rope community and seeing how inclusive and supportive it was of people, was like, wow, this is actually.

a corner of the internet where good things happen, you know?

Jenny (40:08)
Yeah,

yeah definitely. It’s amazing.

Dizzy Skips (40:11)
Yeah.

Yeah.

Well, let’s see here.

a lot of my questions. I’ll edit this, of course, but…

Well, I guess one question is, you have any other advice or things that you would say to people in the community who are thinking about jumping rope or thinking, like, hmm, is this for me?

Jenny (40:36)
No, I don’t. You should never take advices from me.

Dizzy Skips (40:38)
Alright.

Don’t take advice from me. Do as I do, not as I say.

Jenny (40:46)
No.

No, but if you’re thinking about, it looks fun, just try it. I that’s all I can say. I truly believe it’s not for everybody. I do believe you have to have something in your brain that is like, like I said with me, that it triggers you, that you want to be better all the time.

Dizzy Skips (41:12)
Mm-hmm.

Jenny (41:13)
I do believe that a lot of us have that gene or something. But yeah, it is fun. It is.

Dizzy Skips (41:20)
It is so fun, isn’t it?

Yeah. I can’t think of any other sort of exercise that related thing that I’ve ever done that I would consider fun. know, like running to me is miserable. Like it’s just boring. But yeah, jumping is so much like dancing. And and because I love music so much, you mix it with music and it’s just.

Jenny (41:32)
No.

Yeah.

Dizzy Skips (41:44)
pure fun, right? Like, you see me even in my reels when I mess up, I’m still laughing and, you know, dancing around and stuff, because it’s just a ball.

Jenny (41:45)
Yeah.

Yeah.

It is, for sure.

Dizzy Skips (41:58)
Yeah. Well, I just think the world of you, Jenny, I just think you’re such a cool person and I really thank you so much for being willing to come on and talk to me.

What you do for the Jump Rope community is amazing and the way you participate and you lift people up is so inspiring to me and truly, I try to do the same thing and a lot of that is because of your great example and so thank you.

Jenny (42:26)
Thank you, Dizzy Thank you. Really.

Dizzy Skips (42:31)
Right back at you, my friend.

Jenny (42:33)
Oh.