How I managed to do 1,000,000 jump ropes in 250 days

Key numbers :

1,000,000 jump rope jumps in 250 days
4,000 jumps per day on average, or about 34 minutes per day
8,548 intensive minutes of cardio in total at 14 calories burned / minute
118,849 calories burned, or average workouts at 475 calories
Total burn (active + metabolism) during the challenge: 3946 calories burned per day (“only” +6% increase compared to 2020)
A record of 127,500 jumps in 10 days at the beginning of March, that is +12,000 jumps per day
4 jump ropes bought to finish the challenge
With the preparation before/after each session like the shower, this represents a total of +200 hours of training.

Before going into the history and origin of the challenge, here is a visualization as I like it: 1,000,000 jump rope jumps spread over 35 weeks.

Each blue column represents the volume of jumps in the week, peaking at 95,000 jumps in early March. In S12 I literally exploded in mid-air and in S17 I gave myself 10 days non-stop to learn acro-yoga (see the final video).

A different kind of brain

When I think back to the origin of this challenge, I realise how completely programmed my brain is to respond to challenges of any kind. I feel like my whole life has been a succession of challenges to overcome.

Between this vital need of a dreamy little boy to show the world that everything is possible and my 18-year long adventure as an entrepreneur worthy of the biggest roller coaster, I still can’t believe that my body has managed to bring us (my soul and itself) this far!

Let’s face it, it comes with many good sides, but like all extreme things, it also comes with “dark sides”. I’m happy to have achieved everything I’ve done over the last 36 years, but the process of learning to feel “enough” is very complicated (and I’m only at the beginning). Anyway, that’s not what this newsletter is about! (I talk about it shyly here)

250 days of living half the day shirtless! #vivelemexique

A love story in 4 parts

Jumping rope and I went through 3 major phases before we had “true love for 250 days”. The first was the first 30 years of my life when, like most boys, I put jumping rope in the “girl thing” category (I know…), so we didn’t even look at each other.

In 2015, for my 30th birthday, jumping rope was introduced through my “Crossfit 30 days Non-Stop” challenge. For those of you who are not familiar with this sport, you should know that jumping rope is mainly used to practice “Double Unders” (literally two rounds of rope per jump). When I look back at the photo from day 29 (available here) where I had to give up just before the finish line, it confirms once again how my brain works when faced with challenges.

And finally, the third phase was in 2019 when I was preparing for my first amateur boxing match where every warm-up revolved mainly around jumping rope. It was never longer than 10 minutes, but it changed my perception of jumping rope. I realised that it was a great exercise to “warm up the body” and “get the heart going”.

At the end of my boxing match, after taking a few days to recover, I set out on two other challenges:

“To do a 5-second human flag (1st video / final video)
“Becoming a 70.3 triathlete” (First failure at the Marseille triathlon / success at the Chantilly Olympic triathlon / success at the Deauville “long distance” triathlon).

Clearly, the two challenges did not include a jump rope in the programme…

All because of a simple built-in meter…

Like all love stories, it’s when you least expect it that you stumble upon it. One fine morning in November 2020, as part of my nomadhouse project (available here), I discovered the sports routine of one of the nomads living under the same roof. He had long since incorporated skipping rope as the most efficient way to “burn calories”. I didn’t know it at the time, but a seed had been planted in my mind.

From then on, several events followed until I bought my first jump rope with a built-in counter on impulse:

After becoming a “long-distance triathlete”, I had to wait until the summer of 2021 to hope to (finally) become a “Full Ironman”. Just the thought of having to spend the winter training made me depressed.
I managed the challenge of beating my personal best in the 10km in under 44 minutes, a few days before my return to Paris, after 3 months of eating lactic acid. I needed a break from running
As Christmas approached, I returned to the Paris suburbs to spend time with my family. I found myself “having” to do my training in Dad’s garage (with a big set up!), due to the cold and bad weather.
In view of the bad news announcing an imminent re-confinement, I took the decision to leave for Mexico the day after Christmas to find the sun again and thus avoid once again being forced to live in residence (which I have never experienced since the beginning of the pandemic!)

So I find myself on Christmas Eve with the crazy desire to stop pedalling like a caged hamster + the desire to find a new challenge that can follow me to Mexico. Life is good, especially when you can see the opportunities that come your way.

I find myself targeted by an advertisement for a brand of jump rope with a counter, accumulating almost 1000 reviews at +4.5/5 ratings. Looking at the price, I find myself with an order placed in less than 2 clicks (thanks Amazon Prime!)

When I opened the box to take out the rope, I knew I wasn’t going to start from scratch (see my first 3 episodes). A few minutes later (after reading the instructions for the meter), I find myself on the terrace of my parents’ house under a light rain. I aim for 30 minutes to start…

After 10 minutes, I looked at the counter which indicated “1048 jumps”. It was at this point that I immediately realised that the counter made all the difference and that it would quickly become addictive for me: “1000 jumps in 10 minutes, come on Max, let’s aim for 3000 in less than 30 minutes”.

The next day I test a 45 minute session (about 5000 jumps), then the day after a 60 minute session (about 6500 jumps). Whatever the duration, I average 100/110 jumps per minute. What surprises me the most is the muscular sensation at the end, which shows no sign of pain. If the muscle fatigue after a 60min run is 8/10, then it would be around 4/10 for jumping rope.

So here I am with two first figures: a speed of 108 jumps per minute and an average of 3000 jumps in 30 minutes. If you have been following me for a few months, you already know where I am going with this…

27 minutes a day, every day, for the next 365 days until Christmas, that’s the equivalent of 1,000,000 skipping rope jumps! It didn’t take much more than 6 nice zeros in a row to add a new sporting challenge to my bucket list! After that, it was just fun, well almost…

By clicking below, you can discover the video of the 1,000,000 jumps in 250 days, summarized in 1 minute 30 seconds!

**1,000,000 rope jumps in 250 days in video 🚀 (click on the picture)**

My method for achieving the impossible

At the risk of disappointing you, I still apply my #AlloMax method, the same and unique method used to achieve my last 300 dreams over the last 5 years. I explain the method in detail in my newsletter #131: The formula to achieve all your dreams 10x faster than everyone else

In broad terms, my method can be summarised in 5 points:

Define the “why” you want to achieve this dream. The more precise, strong and high your “why” is, the more likely you are to go through with it
Make the dream measurable and timed. Go from ” start jumping rope ” to ” make 1,000,000 jumps in 365 days “.
Meet those who have already done it or gather as much theoretical information as possible (before moving on to the next point)
Break the goal down into such small steps that you are sure to go from small victory to small victory every day
Improve the system you have set up as soon as you hit an obstacle or fall into inaction (basically, you don’t take a small step towards your goal for several days in a row)

Bonus: I have coached hundreds of people to achieve their dreams. To request a trial session, simply click here!

For this sport challenge, I have taken up every point of my method, starting by defining the “why”: “I want to accomplish this challenge to show myself once again how much I am capable of surpassing myself physically. This challenge will also allow me to discover a new way to move my body and help me maintain my 15% bodyfat while keeping my passion for quality fooding.”

I then made the dream measurable and timed to give me a clear picture of what I was going to have to do each day. For example: 1,000,000 jumps in 365 days, that’s 2,740 jumps per day, or half an hour. You can see the different strategies used (with more or less success) on the graph above with my “number of jumps per day”.

There was a steady progression from 2000 to 4000 jumps per day at the beginning of the year and then a peak of 13,500 jumps per day in early March. This led to an overheating of the machine and the complete stop of the challenge the following week. It will take me almost a month to get the system back in place.

As with any practice, as the sessions progress, my jumping speed per minute improves from 100 jumps to 135/140 jumps per minute. This is simply huge, as it allows me to go from 50 minutes to 40 minutes for 5000 jumps.

Ps: Halfway through, I shared my 6 tips for better skipping

And of course, the classic motivational management on the end of the challenge. When I saw how far ahead of the 365 days I was, I started to see the possibility of finishing in 300 days, then in 250 days. Just like in a race where you can see the finish line, I naturally accelerated on the last stretch with an average of +8000 jumps per day.

I’m lucky enough to be followed by thousands of kind people who didn’t stop encouraging me throughout the challenge (on Instagram or Linkedin for example). Thank you again for your little messages of encouragement, I assure you that it really boosts me!

What I learned and what I will keep

As I write this, the challenge has been over for a month. It was predictable, but jumping rope is now part of my identity. I still do it every day, either by integrating it in my new muscle building program (September to December), or by using its practicality to sweat a bit between two meetings (I have a shower in my co-working space, what a blast!)

I discovered the ideal tool to keep my bodyshape (the results are crazy!), to warm up quickly before a workout, to evacuate stress and to put myself in the “flow” to have my best ideas. As mentioned before, it is a “non violent” sport for the joints (if you jump correctly, without bending your knees) that you can practice for hours for an incredible energy burn (example with 10.000 jumps in 73 minutes)

And of course, skipping rope can be used (and carried) literally anywhere. Frankly, there’s no excuse not to buy your own! Ps: I highly recommend buying a rope with a built-in counter, it’s 10x more fun!