Inside Out: Jump Rope

Miss Mary Mack was onto something. The jump rope has become a symbol of physical education over the last past decade. And widespread images of First Lady Michelle Obama hula hooping and jumping double-dutch on the South Lawn have moved the jump rope to the front of our national consciousness. Not to mention the fact that more than a few blogs have speculated that a jump rope regimen is behind Michelle's buff shoulders.

The First Lady isn't the only one starting a jump rope buzz. In the age of childhood obesity, more than a few educators, athletes and celebrities have picked up the jump rope as one solution to the porblem. Olympian Buddy Lee founded The Jump Rope Institute in 1996 "as an educational platform to Redefine Jump Rope for the 21st Century through technology, research, history, biomechanics, physiology, psychology and know-how" (sic). His website includes links to jump rope rhymes such as "Peel the Banana" and the "Hot Pepper." Hopefully, in terms of trends, jumping rope will become the new cupcake.