Nick Smith’s Jump Rope Journey: How a TV News Anchor Finds His Flow

Dizzy Skips (00:00)
Well, Nick Smith, thank you so much for joining me on the Jump Rope Podcast. I’m so excited to see you again.

Nick (00:05)
Hey, I’m excited to be here and it was so good to meet you and so many of the others at the last Jump Rope meetup and I know I wanted to be a part of this.

Dizzy Skips (00:13)
Yeah, yeah, that was amazing. It’s hard to believe it was just a week ago or a little over a week ago. Yeah.

Nick (00:19)
Yeah, I know, I know. And that’s

just another example of how time flies. And in that short period of time, I think it was Sarah that I was chatting with for a while, know, showed her the rope that I was using. And, you know, she gently encouraged me, you know, you want to shorten that link just a little bit. Nick, I’ve watched your videos and you’re a little bit better. those hands in. And there’s just something about that in person. You and I were talking about that, where I get a chance to ask you in real time, you know, and have you correct it in real time.

Dizzy Skips (00:39)
Yeah. Right? Yeah.

Nick (00:48)
There’s just so much, I feel so much more beneficial than trying to do it over a stream or, you know, video tutorial.

Dizzy Skips (00:51)
I know.

I know,

right, like send me a video and I’ll critique it. It’s just something different to be able to walk around the person and say, I see what’s going on here. Yeah, yeah, that was an amazing meetup. That was my first meetup. Had you been to a jump rope meetup before?

Nick (01:01)
Yeah, absolutely. Absolutely.

No, I had not,

because all the ones I’d seen had been across the pond, or South America. All of them sound great, I’m like, wait a that’s a little more travel than I can do right now on this weekend. So this was just perfect. Yeah, this was perfect.

Dizzy Skips (01:12)
Yeah.

Yeah. Yeah. Yeah, it was great.

It was, I had arrived at concrete beach where we had the jump rope meetup just a little bit later than I had expected. Cause I went out with some other people and did some jumping at the bean in Chicago or in front of the bean. but when I showed up there, you were the first person I saw. mean, I was like, I know that guy. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. It was amazing.

Nick (01:27)
Mm-hmm.

Mm-hmm.

You’re like, that’s Nick. Absolutely. That was great though. It really was.

Dizzy Skips (01:45)
So I’m curious, what did you take from the Jump Rope Meetup? Like, what did you learn there?

Nick (01:49)
there two things. Well, one, it reaffirmed what already knew about this community that it is real, right? The jump rope community is one that is, I’ve said this before at different times, you know, on my Instagram, I wish I’d found this 20, 30 years ago, right? ⁓ So as I am in my 50s now, it’s one of those things where finally an exercise I enjoy, finally something I enjoy doing. Is it exercise? Wow.

Dizzy Skips (01:55)
Yeah.

Mm-hmm.

Nick (02:16)
I’m losing weight, my heart health has improved, cholesterol has dropped, my blood pressure has improved. Wait a minute, am I exercising or am I having fun? How can both be happening at the same time? So wish I’d found that. And then two, that again, reaffirmed what I also knew, that everyone is super supportive. I have yet to run into anyone, those whom I’ve met or whom I have not met. There are just a couple of people that I think on top of mind, know, Moal.

Dizzy Skips (02:27)
I know, I know, right?

right?

Nick (02:46)
I think he’s somewhere in Manila or something there or somewhere in the Philippines. I don’t even know. People are all over the place and I only know them by their handles. I could see myself running into like, Dizzy! You’re like, dude, my real name is Kevin. You know, like whatever. You’re I don’t know because you just know people by their screen names. But there’s not a single person to whom I’ve asked a question who has not given support or say, you know, I’m struggling with or have slid in my DMs.

Dizzy Skips (02:52)
Mm-hmm. Right.

Yeah, I know.

Yeah.

Nick (03:12)
Nick, I’m watching you do such and such. Diego, I think he’s in the Dominican Republic. Again, I don’t know, but he was doing the reverse shuffle and I was trying, he’s like, brother, before you do that, bring those feet back, keep those knees up. I’m like, so little things like that, know? ⁓ Some of the questions are solicited, sometimes they are not, but it’s always supportive.

Dizzy Skips (03:18)
Yeah.

Yeah.

Yeah, absolutely. You know, another thing I learned at the meetup was, I can learn from anybody. It doesn’t matter their experience level. There was a lady who was at the meetup who had just basically started and she was doing basic bounce and, having some issues. And I watched her and I worked with her a little bit and I learned, yeah, all right, this is a better way to show this, or this is a better way to illustrate this.

Nick (03:51)
Yeah, yeah.

Dizzy Skips (03:53)
It was just so much fun. It was also

Nick (03:54)
And then I met.

Dizzy Skips (03:55)
fun to be able to help people out a little bit. Cause I consider myself a baby jumper in a way, you know, but to be, you’re right. Yeah.

Nick (03:57)
love you, too.

But then you turn into teacher. Yeah in that moment. Yeah. Yeah, absolutely

And there’s a one woman that I met that we’ve been again the Instagram had been chatting like forever that we got just meeting real time and she was just talking about different health challenges she had been dealing with and how jumping has just Improved because she’s like I don’t want to take a shot. She works as a health care professional But she was just you’re like I needed to bring the weight down and this just really just clicked with me and resonated You know, so yeah

Dizzy Skips (04:10)
Yeah.

Mm-hmm.

right.

Yeah.

Nick (04:27)
And I told anybody who will listen, I’m like, listen, I started with that, that Crossrope, get lean set or whatever it was there, you know, so much so that I had to remind people like, no, I’m not being paid to endorse this. Let me just be very clear. I’m just letting y’all know what worked for a brother, you know, it was that half pound and that quarter pound rope that just because you sit there and I’m like, what is this really gonna do? 15 or 20 seconds in and he like, “Whoa, my arms are … what just happened.” And they know it well enough where they’ve

Dizzy Skips (04:35)
Mm. Mm-hmm.

Right, right, right.

Yeah.

Yeah, yeah.

Nick (04:58)
built in the breaks and the little, you know, you have 30 seconds rest and you’re looking for that 30 seconds. You’re like, woo, what’s going on? But yeah, I’ve seen my body change from the, yeah, yeah, absolutely.

Dizzy Skips (05:00)
Mm-hmm.

Right, yeah. You got noodle arms? Yeah,

yeah. Yeah, I love those weighted ropes. I honestly haven’t even used a Crossrope yet. I have sort of a cross rope knockoff or something that’s built similar, but I love those weighted ropes for all that feedback that you get. And definitely you can feel it in your arms after a while, can’t you? Yeah. So, you know, it’s interesting where you’re talking about

Nick (05:16)
Sure, sure.

Yeah, absolutely. Yep. You definitely do.

Dizzy Skips (05:29)
interacting with people online and not really knowing who they are and necessarily where they are. When I first came across you, it was before Darren had mentioned you to me on the podcast. I saw your handle and I thought, this is cool. This guy does like jump rope news or something. he, he must like keep people updated on what’s going in the jump rope community. I had no idea. Yeah.

Nick (05:43)
Hahaha

Right.

You know, hmm, that’s an idea. Hmm. If there’s a space for ASMR, there has to be a space for jump rope news, you know. So there’s a space for everything on there. But no, not at all. think more than anything, in all honesty, when I, even when I started, I was like everything else. You’re kind of intimidated. You’re like, okay, I’m a little bit older to be falling into this there. And

Dizzy Skips (05:53)
Yeah.

That’s right.

Nick (06:15)
how is this going to work? And I think it was just, like I said, following people and just seeing different things. Like, wow, that looks amazing. know, @jimmysaysrelax relax, you know. I’m like, this brother must have wings on his damn shoes. How is he doing that? And I’m like, wait a minute, what is going on? It’s just, but everyone says, you know, consistency. And they remind you, they’re like, what you’re seeing, like what your video.

Dizzy Skips (06:21)
Yeah.

Yeah.

Yeah, right.

Nick (06:41)
you’re putting together the best work. It’s a highlight reel. He’s like, what you’re not seeing is how, you know, I got to that point, you know, so that’s encouraging. You’re like, okay, it really is a journey. It’s my jump rope journey and it’s literally one jump at a time for sure.

Dizzy Skips (06:46)
Yeah. Yeah.

Absolutely,

yeah. And it just keeps getting better when you show up and put in the work, right? Yeah, that is funny. I was producing a reel of my own earlier and I had like 12 minutes of footage and I boil that down to like one 45 seconds of good stuff. I mean, there’s several segments of me doing stuff but…

Nick (06:57)
Yes, yes, absolutely.

of good stuff, yeah, absolutely.

Because there are times when you’re standing on one of those blocks, I’m like, why am I getting anxious with him on that block? And he’s not looking down because we’re not supposed to, you know, supposed to stay in the zone. And you listen to music, I’m like, brother, watch that. I’m like, let me tell you what I’m not going to do. I’m standing on one surface right there. I’m like, I’m not going on the ledge of bricks. No, yeah, I’m good. I’m good.

Dizzy Skips (07:21)
Hahaha

You’re not going to get on the limestone block, right? Yeah.

I’ll tell you a funny story about that, which is, so I live in Minnesota and those limestone blocks that I jump on are in this park called Memorial Park. And one of the birds that we have, like we have all sorts of birds in the area. This is kind of a migratory path for a lot of birds as they come from South America, Mexico, up through Canada and back. And

So I see a lot of turkey vultures and I don’t know if you’ve ever seen a turkey vulture, but they have huge wingspans. look kind of like a condor, right? And they just ride thermals forever. They don’t flap their wings, they just sail around. But they are one of the few birds that find their prey via smell. So like eagles will spot a fish in the water, know, or eagles will spot a mammal on land and go after it. Right. So there have been a few times where I’ve been up on those concrete blocks skipping.

Nick (08:04)
Yep. Yeah.

Right. Eagle’s vision. Yeah.

Dizzy Skips (08:25)
and I have turkey vultures circling above me. One time I had seven of them and I thought, they smell death. They’re up there going, look at this mother. He’s dead meat, man. Right. Yeah. We’re gonna eat good tonight. There’s no fat on this guy. Right. Yeah. So when did you start jumping rope, Nick?

Nick (08:34)
He’s going to fall at some point. Oh, we’re going to eat good. Yeah. Absolutely. I love it. I love it. Yes, indeed.

I started, I’m gonna say, think seriously during the pandemic, I was living in Little Rock, Arkansas, ⁓ and I think the pandemic started, we say, is 2020? ⁓ So I had been trying to run, run, half run, it’s raining, don’t wanna run, running in the mornings, and I’ve always been a morning person. Part of that is because I was just so much heavier, so a lot of it was shame, right?

Dizzy Skips (08:55)
Okay.

Yeah.

Hahaha

Yeah.

Nick (09:17)
So I would run in the morning because I didn’t want to be seen. And then Dizzy, I think it was maybe, four or five months into it, my sister was worried about me running in the morning. At that time, my mother was still alive. It’s like, you know, I just don’t like you running that early in the morning in Little Rock, Arkansas. I’m like, mom, I’ll be fine. She’s like, yeah, but you look like you could be running from something that early in the morning. Because the deal is I was going around 4, 4.30 because again, it get too hot later in the day.

Dizzy Skips (09:17)
⁓

Mmm.

Yeah.

Mm-hmm.

Yeah,

Nick (09:45)
try and do it nice

Dizzy Skips (09:45)
right.

Nick (09:45)
and early and stay consistent. Every now and then I’d chance upon a cop who, and then at some point they got used to see me running in the mornings, right? But then what happened is, know, Lai was the Ahmaud Arbery situation, you know, and it was literally a plea from family, Nick, you really, I just really wish you’d stop. But I started running because everything had shut down, but I needed to do something. I come from a family history of high blood pressure and heart disease.

Dizzy Skips (09:54)
Yeah.

Yeah.

Yeah.

Yep.

Nick (10:10)
So brother

know he’s got to do something, right? I don’t have the luxury of, I’m not gonna worry about it. No, I needed to be cognizant of the fact that I needed to move and do something. I saw, you know, scrolling through Instagram and I wanna say the first person I saw who is also a Minnesotan was @jump.genx And I’m like, what is this brother doing? I’m like, well, he looking about my age. He kind of moving there. And then,

Dizzy Skips (10:19)
Yeah.

Yeah.

Nick (10:37)
and then @marleyskips then @_onebadleg_ then, so all, I’m like all these handles and, then @kathyjumps So all these different people. And I’m like, wow, different levels, different skills, different ethnicities, different genders, you know, it was all over the place. I’m like, is this something I’m like, what? Any, anybody can jump rope. That’s just stupid.

Dizzy Skips (10:40)
I’m one bad leg, Darren.

Yep.

Yeah. Brother?

Nick (11:02)
Brother got there. was like,

what is, couldn’t, I’m like, why am I not, I’m like, how am I, wait a minute, wait a minute. And I’m like, come on, Nicky. And so I’m, and I’m like, so much was just wrong with it, right? Missing the beat, couldn’t get, I could not jump for 15 seconds straight without tripping over the rope. What? What are you, wait a minute, I did this as a kid. What is the deal that I’m, it was, I looked like a condor. Hands were way out here. I’m like, what are you doing?

Dizzy Skips (11:21)
Me too, Totally.

Right. ⁓

Yeah.

Nick (11:32)
So many things I just didn’t know. But was

something about it, I’m like, wait a minute, I’ve got to get this. And then no lie. I’m sweating like crazy. And I think it’s when you start to see the actual results. I’m like, wait a minute, these used to be a little tight. What’s going on here? Because you don’t always notice it yourself, but your clothes never lie, right? And I’m sitting there like, is this from that jumping rope? And then moms don’t sugarcoat anything.

Dizzy Skips (11:49)
Mm-hmm. Right. Right, right. ⁓

Nick (12:00)
Baby, you lose weight in your face. Cause you know, your face was always a little fat. thanks mom. You know, so, so I’m like, okay, tell it like, don’t, don’t, don’t hold it back. You know, so, so I started to see the results. So I started jumping during the pandemic and I’ve just stuck with it. And I will say this, and I’ve said this before, I think it’s one of those things where I am completely aware that if I were, you know, living, you know, next door to, you know, @jimmysaysrelax or, you know, Darren or

Dizzy Skips (12:04)
Thanks mom, yeah, tell it like it is.

Yeah.

Nick (12:30)
somebody

who jumped regularly, I would be so much further along in my journey, right? But I have gotten to a point where I’m not regretting where I am in my journey. That makes sense? ⁓ I have stopped comparing myself with, yeah, would love to do some of those releases possibly, but I am just so happy that I still enjoy it these years later, moving regularly, and it fits into my routine. So I love jumping in the morning. I look forward to jumping in the morning, coming back.

Dizzy Skips (12:38)
Yeah, I know. Totally, yeah.

Yeah.

Yeah.

Nick (12:58)
getting showered, getting ready and going to work. like mornings work for me. And this is something I don’t need to have someone there with me, hey, you’re gonna meet me at the gym, it’s just me and my jump rope in my garage, yeah.

Dizzy Skips (13:00)
Yep.

Yeah.

Right? Yeah.

Isn’t it so amazing to have a means of fitness that is fun? Like you were talking about running and I mean, I won’t speak for you, but I know I had to do a decent amount of running. At one point I had a, a fitness trainer who I worked with regularly and he would make me run and I only did it because he made me do it. You know, like I, and he would push me and push me until I was like, I, I, I’m going to fall over here and

Nick (13:31)
Yeah. Yeah.

Dizzy Skips (13:37)
It was never fun to me. There was never one time where I was like, Oh, I can’t wait to go run in that place. But I do that all the time with jump rope. Like I can’t wait to skip in Chicago. I can’t wait to. Yeah.

Nick (13:42)
Right.

Right. Or I can’t

wait to improve on my reverse. me be cognizant of where these hands are. So like I said, after the last meetup, I said, no, we’re not gonna, we’re gonna clip this rope. We know where it should be. So it literally has been a week of relearning for me in a lot of ways. Because all of a sudden now the things I used to take for granted, I’m so aware. like, you’re doing the butterfly thing again, Nick, bring it in. Hands in pockets, hands, as if they’re in their pocket.

Dizzy Skips (13:53)
Yeah.

Yeah.

Yeah.

Yeah. Yeah. Yeah.

Nick (14:16)
And I realized, oh, you’re coming up from that waist, bring it back down. So it’s just, I literally, you know, spent like 15 minutes just doing my basic bounce all over again there and just getting into the flow and just letting my hands be comfortable where they need to be. So it’s just been, but I’ve enjoyed the relearning, you know? it’s like, yeah, absolutely, yep.

Dizzy Skips (14:19)
Yeah.

Mm-hmm.

Yeah.

Yeah, yeah.

Yeah,

I totally know what you mean. And I went through that phase too, where especially in the beginning, I’m tripping every 15 skips or whatever and frustrating. And I remember that day that I posted the video of me skipping on a pathway and I just called out to people like, hey, you guys who have more experience, can you check and tell me if my rope is too long? Because I keep tripping and it’s frustrating.

And there were a few people who were like, you’ll get it or whatever. But there was one person who was like, yeah, you just need to shorten that up.

Nick (15:05)
And then you see those who jump, you’re like, whoa. Again, I think you learn with the way you learn. But I definitely know the shorter or, you it’s just, it’s better for me. Yeah, for sure.

Dizzy Skips (15:10)
Yeah.

Right.

Yeah. Like once you can keep things in tight, you know, and without the rope slapping the ground all the time, I think it makes it much easier. Yeah.

Nick (15:24)
Yeah, agreed.

And you all have also encouraged me to go ahead and, Nick, don’t be afraid that beaded rope, because I had not, you know, it’s over there somewhere collecting dust, I don’t know, you know, but making the transition to beaded rope will be happening as well.

Dizzy Skips (15:36)
Yeah. Yeah.

Yeah, I mean, it’s fun to mix it up. One of the things I love about the beaded rope as opposed to like a lighter PVC rope is just that extra weight that we were talking about that you get from like Crossropes. Yeah, that feedback that you get. It’s amazing. Just real quick to go back to what you were saying about not comparing yourself to other people. I went through that as well. And where, you know, like when we were in Chicago, Janie and I, I call us the class of 24. We both started in 24 started posting stuff on Instagram in 24.

Nick (15:51)
Mm-hmm and that feedback. Yeah. Yeah

Dizzy Skips (16:13)
And I watched her progress so quickly. And there were times where I’d watch her videos and she’s doing releases and she’s doing this footwork that I didn’t think I could really do there were times I thought, man, I should be further along than I am, right? Like, what am I doing? And then I realized, no, you know, I’m going out here to do it for mental health and my progress is my progress and that’s okay. And so the motto I have now is to be inspired by other people, but compare to myself.

Nick (16:39)
100 % same thing with my double under open cross, right? ⁓ I’d still know that there’s room for improvement. I want to be straighter and make it look effortless, right? But I am not moving into that exercise without thinking about it, but that’s okay. I’m thinking about it, still doing it, not discouraged by doing it. So it’s one of those things where I feel like there’s always room for improvement in this. And when you, what you just said is absolutely perfect.

Dizzy Skips (16:42)
Right.

Right.

Mm-hmm.

Nick (17:05)
I have no problem looking at some of everybody for inspiration, but I am so done worrying about, wow, I don’t do it as well as them. I’ll get there. I’ll get there. know, yep. Just keep working on it, practice, practice, practice. It’s mine, exactly.

Dizzy Skips (17:08)
Yeah.

Yeah, yeah.

That’s right, Nick’s journey is Nick’s journey. it’s, yeah,

that’s great. So You mentioned Crossropes. Are you still using Crossropes or do you?

Nick (17:25)
On occasion,

I use the freestyle rope by Crossrope. One of my favorite ropes that I’m using is this Boxrope. I just like the taped handles, just a different feel, a different grip. But I go back and forth between those two. In fact, now I know that the Get Lean set that I had, the rope was way too long. Because I think I had done the one for like the super long one. Like, oh, it must, it needs to be longer. I now know better. Like I would rebuy that in a shorter version. That would be more.

Dizzy Skips (17:28)
Okay.

Okay.

Yeah.

Yeah.

Yeah.

Nick (17:53)
true to my actual height because I don’t have my hands way out there anymore. know, now that I am doing it, I jump completely differently. So I can only imagine the benefit I would get from that if I were to do that. But now I also know enough to know there are so many others out there, you know, and I do like supporting some of the independent, you know, Muna just introduced the jump rope, @munaskips And I, you know,

Dizzy Skips (17:55)
Right.

Yeah.

Yeah.

Right.

yeah.

Nick (18:19)
I bought a couple of hers for not only myself, but for others as well, simply because I’m like, oh, I like this female-owned business. Dayan sent me a rope and I bought, you know, different ropes of his for different people. And what I’ve also had to give that up. I love it. So I’ve tried to encourage friends of mine who, oh, I’m not gonna go, I’m not gonna go to gym, I’m going to the gym. And they’ve commented like, Nick, you’re really looking good.

Dizzy Skips (18:28)
Yeah.

Yeah.

Mm-hmm.

Nick (18:49)
Hey, have you tried? I just, I couldn’t do that. couldn’t do that. And they’re like, and I could never do it the way you do it, the way I do it. I’m like, have you, do you see who I follow? Me, trust me, don’t look at me. But I’ve gently encouraged and I realized that I’ve had to stop doing that as well. No one wants to be brow beaten. And then I think that just because I love it, it’s possible that

those whom I love just won’t feel the same way. And I have to give them space and grace for that, you know, same way when people tried to get me on, Nick, you’re going to love CrossFit. You’re going to love it. I hated it from day one. Yeah. It didn’t, it didn’t connect with me. This connected with me. So instead of pushing it on you and possibly turning you off to it, I’d rather let you know it’s there. And if you’re interested, you know, here’s a little something, you know, that you might enjoy. And some have come on board. Yeah.

Dizzy Skips (19:24)
Yeah.

I know. Yeah, right. Yeah.

Yeah.

Yeah.

Yeah.

Yeah.

Yeah. It reminds me of, you know, in some, recovery circles, there is this principle of attraction rather than promotion. Meaning like, if, if you do something and I think it’s awesome, I’m going to come ask you about it. But when you come to me and say, Hey, you need to do this, then it’s kind of off putting, you know what I mean? And so, so I like that. Like I go to the people who have what I want and say, Hey, can you show me how to do that release? Hey, can you show me how to.

Nick (19:55)
Mmm!

see how, okay, sure.

Right.

Attraction over promotion. ⁓ Yeah, I like that. I’m not familiar with that at all. I like that though. That totally makes sense.

Dizzy Skips (20:14)
improve. Right. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. But, but

I think of it in the same way because you know, jump rope means so much to me. It’s hard for me to imagine people not having the fun that I have with it because I’m so in it. Right. But I’ve done that same thing where I’m like “here, here’s a rope I made for you” and give it to somebody. And they’re like, Oh, this is cool. And I see him a few months later and they’re like, yeah, I did it twice.

Nick (20:30)
100%. Yeah, yeah.

And particularly, I

I have so many friends and relatives who are in the same, grew up the same way I did. So I know what you eating. I know that. So I’m like, I just want to spread the gospel, right? I’m like, listen, y’all, I got a testimony here and I just want to share with you and I just want you to be healed and come on over.

Dizzy Skips (20:49)
Yeah. Right.

Yeah.

Right?

Testify!

Nick (21:05)
But

I’m telling you, but but again, all I can do is let them know that I guess the scripture is here. If you want to read it, it’s here, you know, so definitely. Exactly. Exactly. But yeah, I’ve even like I bought ropes for people and the get lean sets and I said, you know what? Okay, Nick, you are becoming what you hated when people would push everything. So let it go and just step back. So yeah, I like that. ⁓

Dizzy Skips (21:13)
Yeah, I’m here for you, right? Yeah.

Hahaha!

Right, yeah, yeah.

Nick (21:32)
attraction rather than promotion.

Dizzy Skips (21:32)
Attraction rather than promotion, yeah, yeah. So once you started to get those benefits or see those benefits from jumping rope, did you find that it changed your outlook on fitness in general? Like, did it change your diet? Did it change how you approach other things in life at all?

Nick (21:52)
Yes, and yes, right. I’m going to say for the most part, I’ve always been fairly disciplined. And I think that what happens with me is when I start a project, I’m definitely one who will say to self, okay, how do we get better at this? Particularly when it’s something that I enjoy, right? ⁓ And television news, which is the arena in which I’ve been employed for years, or television and period, know, is competitive. One of the things I feel that has helped to give me

Dizzy Skips (21:56)
Mm-hmm.

Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm.

Mm-hmm.

Nick (22:19)
a competitive edge is my ability to focus and really be self-disciplined. Jump rope has just really helped me lean into that. ⁓ The fact that I am able to exercise before I go to work in the morning for my morning show works for me. As a result, I eat differently. So what happens now, I’ll buy donuts for the team, but I’m not eating these donuts. Absolutely not. I didn’t just jump for 45 minutes to come in and have no donut. You kidding me?

Dizzy Skips (22:25)
Mm-hmm.

Yeah.

Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm.

Right, right.

Hell yeah.

Right.

Nick (22:47)
When I

get off work, there’s a place, a grocery store near me. You can beat this up, it’s called Marianos. When I tell you they do the best baked chicken, they do a rotisserie chicken, a baked chicken, and a fried chicken. Stay away from that fried chicken, you know it is good. But I’ll buy that baked or that rotisserie, and it’s just fantastic. And of course, they’re whole chickens, two for 12. And I don’t really cook a lot. Every now and then I’ll bake some salmon and things like that, but I’m a blown out chef, whereas my sister is, that’s the irony. ⁓

Dizzy Skips (22:58)
Yeah.

Yeah.

Nick (23:12)
but a brother love food, but I can also, again, I’m disciplined. I can have

Dizzy Skips (23:13)
Yeah. Yeah.

Nick (23:17)
that chicken, that baked chicken every day and it does not bother me or my salads or my salmon. So the jumping and then being disciplined during the day, I just saw the change. So yeah, it definitely changed everything for me, for sure. Yep, absolutely. And again, it’s easier for one, right? I don’t know that the challenge,

Dizzy Skips (23:19)
Yeah. Yeah.

Yeah. Right. You get that snowball rolling and it starts building up and you’re like, yeah, I know it.

Nick (23:40)
I don’t know that it would be as easy for those who are like maybe, oh, now I gotta get home, I gotta make food for the kids, or I’ve gotta feed a husband or a wife. So I think it’s different when you’re maybe a family of four or you’re not solo with it. But the fact that I can control everything that comes in and out of this house, yeah, we can stop the chitlins and cornbread and oh no, stay out of here, demon. Don’t you come in this house, not at all, not at all. So yeah, absolutely.

Dizzy Skips (23:45)
Right.

Sure.

Yeah.

Yeah,

I know what you mean. There’s like an award-winning bakery in the small town that I live in. when I moved to town years ago, there were times where I would go visit it every weekend, sometimes a couple of times during the week and get a couple of donuts or whatever. And now I walk through the supermarket and they, you know.

They put all of the big fattening, know, deserty stuff right. Yeah, exactly. And I just walked by it like, not now Satan.

Nick (24:30)
Right at the door. Yeah. Yup, yup, yup.

I’m like, that’s not my weakness. I’m good. I am good. Absolutely.

Dizzy Skips (24:36)
Yeah.

So when did you start posting jump rope videos on Instagram and how soon, like, was that after you learned about the jump rope community?

Nick (24:48)
Yes and pretty much I started to do it for accountability ⁓ in Little Rock because let’s be very clear not everyone the jump rope community is supportive but not everyone right ⁓ because there I can remember you know mind you I’m a fully functioning adult

Dizzy Skips (24:52)
Yep.

Right.

Hahaha

Nick (25:06)
I work

in a space that is a public space. So criticism really does not, I’ve always been open to feedback, criticism, this, any other. And I remember, you know, a couple of comments like, brother, don’t you think you’re a little too old to be jumping rope? What you need to be doing is like just so not positive and everything like, damn, how fat are you? wow, ouch. And that’s the stuff they would post publicly.

Dizzy Skips (25:09)
Mm-hmm.

Right.

my gosh.

That’s the tame stuff?

Yeah, right.

Nick (25:30)
⁓ absolutely.

Well, I wasn’t even the DMs, right? So I’m like, wow, ouch, brutal, but you keep right on going. And that’s exactly what I did. Because, you know, so much has changed since I got out of the military. know, I did six years Army and, you know, kind of let it go after that, you know. So exercising wasn’t foreign to me. It’s just been a while since I’d done it. And because I got comfortable in my career, I’m like,

Dizzy Skips (25:32)
Yeah,

Yeah.

Sure.

Mm-hmm.

Nick (25:56)
But you know, I had a life changing moment. One of my closest friends, a former colleague of mine, worked in television news also, good looking brother, was like he and his wife had come to visit me once. was like, oh, I didn’t tell you, Nick, last summer I had a health scare. I’m like, what? He’s like, man, I was almost about to stroke out of here. I’m like, wait a minute, what? I mean, he’s younger than me. I’m like, what are you talking about? He’s like, Nick, my blood pressure, I was, so much, you he just shared. And this is that hidden danger.

Dizzy Skips (26:21)
Mm-hmm.

Nick (26:24)
that so many black men face every day, right? So it really became about mental health, heart health, black man’s health, cardio health, mobility, agility, all the things I knew I needed to be doing. ⁓ And so that’s what was. So I started posting for that accountability early on. And now, you know, it’s just part of my routine. Again, in media, we have to more or less carve out our own identity and we’re supposed to engage regularly.

Dizzy Skips (26:26)
Yeah, right.

Mm-hmm.

Mm-hmm.

Nick (26:50)
on social media and let people know a little bit more about what you do. So I’m like, well, if you want to know one thing that I’m most passionate about is jumping rope. So, and that’s where that just continued even till today.

Dizzy Skips (26:57)
Yeah.

Yeah, I love that. So as a news anchor, you do Morning in America. what does your day look like? You, when do you get your jump rope in?

Nick (27:05)
Yeah, right,

My day, I have to be in studio at 3.30 a.m. We’re live at 5 a.m. Central Standard or 6 a.m. Eastern. We’re a three hour morning show. There are times when I have to fill in for one of the later shows or whatever, but we are three hour morning show. So I have to be at the studio at 3.30 a.m. I’m typically up 12.45, one, to the point where now I don’t even need an alarm, but it’s there just in case.

Dizzy Skips (27:14)
Whoa.

Mm-hmm.

Mm-hmm.

Nick (27:39)
So

I’m usually up, coffee. I don’t do any social media first thing in the morning. I had the coffee and then I’m usually downstairs in my garage jumping by 1.15, 1.30.

Dizzy Skips (27:42)
Hahaha

Yeah.

Wowza, that is an early day, my friend.

Nick (27:57)
But it is my, when I tell y’all walk into that studio and they’re like, good morning. Hi everybody. Like bring it down. know, well, whereas everybody else is kind of like slogging through or they’re grabbing donuts. I usually take donuts to the team, like every other Friday or so, you know, just as a morale booster, that type of thing there. And to the point where people are looking forward to it. And I wish there were healthier options, but the truth is nobody wants a fruit bowl in the morning, you know, you know, they don’t want carrot sticks and celery.

Dizzy Skips (28:03)
Yeah.

Right.

Right, they don’t want carrot sticks in celery.

Nick (28:26)
And

one does not have to have the donut, but it’s there for those who do, you cause I don’t know that maybe you’re like, my cheat day is Friday. Cause Nick is going to bring in donuts. Right. ⁓ so, but I do that. And again, it’s one of those things where it has me ready in the morning. My routine works for me. I don’t know how it works for others. So I have to be there. So I’m able to get back upstairs. Usually around two 30, I’m looking at my watch or two, two 15. I’m back in my condo showered.

Dizzy Skips (28:33)
Yeah.

Nick (28:55)
headed to the studio, which is about maybe 10, 15 minutes away from where I live, right, ⁓ here in Chicago. And so I’m there. Our show starts at 5 a.m. We’re done at 8 a.m. 8.30, I’m back home and in the bed. So it’s one of those things where my sleep is split. I nap for a few hours, usually up around noon, but that’s when one could easily slip.

Dizzy Skips (28:56)
Mm-hmm.

Okay.

Yeah.

Okay.

Nick (29:18)
then do all the bad stuff. And I’m like, absolutely not. Let’s take out that big chicken. Let’s go, right. what we’re not gonna do. But when I come back up from my jumping in, I usually have my yogurt and little berries, you know, that type of thing, because I want something as I’m headed in, but no heavy meal or anything before I go to work. But yeah, that’s my routine. It just, works for me because jumping when I get off work is not gonna happen. My day can go any kind of way. One of the things in television news is it’s so unpredictable.

Dizzy Skips (29:28)
Yeah. Yeah.

Yeah.

Yeah, sure.

Nick (29:45)
uh, dizzy. So, uh, what starts out as a normal day can easily turn into, Oh, Mr. Trump is headed to such and such. So now we’re, we’re on this all day. Oh, uh, you know, Israeli defense forces just did another invasion on Gaza Strip. Oh, so we’re whatever the news of the day could be, it could just take you, Oh, we have an active shooter at Fort Stewart, Georgia. Wait a What, what does that, you know, so anything can happen where you thought you were getting out of there at eight o’clock. Hey, need you to stay a couple hours until we can get

Dizzy Skips (29:45)
Mm.

Yeah. Yeah.

Nick (30:15)
So and so in to come so anything can happen. So instead of letting my day go and get away from me Let me start my day with the right thing that works for me. So that whatever comes well, I’m ready I got my jump in I’m ready we can be I can stay here all day with you. Absolutely. Yeah

Dizzy Skips (30:18)
Yeah.

Yeah,

yeah, that’s great. I know my my buddy Richard is a chef in Seattle and he jumps in the morning as well. And we joke sometimes about how that gets the blood pumping. He shows up and then all of his cooks show up and he’s like raring to go. And they’re all like, my God, he must have jumped rope this morning. Right.

Nick (30:48)
And it sets a tone.

know, one of the things too, you know, as a senior member of the newsroom and you know, I work with a group of people who look to me for leadership, advice, experience, tone. So if I come in with a better attitude, great attitude, energetic attitude, it helps to set the tone for others too, right? Because nobody wants to work with the one who walks in moaning and complaining about the night before. Nobody does, you know.

Dizzy Skips (30:59)
Hmm.

Yeah. Yeah.

Right. Yeah.

Nick (31:17)
I don’t care what industry you’re in. ⁓

Dizzy Skips (31:19)
No.

Nick (31:20)
and so yeah, it puts me in the right frame of mind. Like I’m listening, I’m ready, I’m alert. Let’s go. Yeah.

Dizzy Skips (31:25)
Yeah,

yeah. And that energy means a lot. I mean, we all read each other’s energy all the time. And when you come in with positive energy, just, helps other people more than anything. It helps you. But you know that I love that.

Nick (31:37)
Yeah, yeah, it definitely worked for me.

Dizzy Skips (31:40)
So when you started sharing stuff on Instagram, you said you got support from the Jump Rope Community, you got some weird negative comments from some other folks and stuff, but how has the Jump Rope Community affected your progress in jump rope?

Nick (31:54)
⁓

the jump rope community has been instrumental in my progress, right? And part of that is when I met Muna or watched Muna, she was coaching me for a while. That improved my skill set exponentially because I was able to actually build a routine, learn how to do my double under open cross. Little adjustments made the difference. I tried other coaches. Different things worked for me and

The others just did not work as well for me. Great coaches, but like everything else, everything’s interpersonal. So it helped me because it allowed me to improve on what it was that I was already enjoying. And that helped to allow me to see the benefits of my work and progress there, right? Like now I don’t even think about double unders. But there was a time when I was so, I get so anxious about double unders. like.

Dizzy Skips (32:21)
Mm-hmm. Sure.

Mm-hmm.

Yeah.

Nick (32:42)
There isn’t a day I cannot just knock out 30 double unders without even thinking about it now. But that wasn’t the case when I started. And again, I credit the jump rope community with that. ⁓ And it just to the point where now there are moves that I do that seem so complicated early on and know, get feedback, don’t think about it, just relax. Relax, brother’s still trying to breathe. ⁓

Dizzy Skips (32:48)
Mm-hmm.

Right, right.

Yeah.

Mm-hmm.

Yeah,

right.

Nick (33:11)
So, but you find out that when you’re doing like, oh wow, I didn’t even think about that. Wow. You know, so now I got to a point where I’m, well, I can slow this one down to show you how it goes under twice now and things like that where, you know, didn’t have enough video to slow down before. yeah, absolutely. Absolutely.

Dizzy Skips (33:23)
Yeah, right, right. Yeah,

I know some of my initial Instagram videos were like pieced together groups of like seven seconds here and 11 seconds there, the parts where I wasn’t tripping. And it’s so nice to get to the point where now, know, like, wait, I just jumped for two minutes in a row and I didn’t trip.

Nick (33:35)
Yeah, yeah. Right, yeah, yeah.

And that’s what’s so funny because I sit there and I try to figure out how do I want to do this content? Because I’m like, I need to show you all the skills I didn’t kind of learn. I’ve got a couple of footwork things here that those who know know, you know, so ⁓ try but I even with that, I think to attract the shorter and more succinct it is the better if that is my goal. And my goal is to get as many

Dizzy Skips (33:56)
Yeah.

Nick (34:10)
particularly men of a certain age as excited about jump rope as I am because I think it just benefits us for ourselves, for our families, for our work, for everything that we do. So that if I can keep it a minute or less, I feel like it’s just fast enough where it may pop up in your timeline, may pop up in your for you page and say, what is this brother doing? Huh, okay, let me do a deeper dive or find something else. Because the minute you start seeing one, I guarantee you,

Dizzy Skips (34:14)
Mm-hmm.

Mm-hmm.

Mm-hmm.

Mm-hmm

Nick (34:39)
You will find someone to like, wow, okay, now I’m excited or whatever it is, because I may not be that person. I may just be a conduit for that there, right? And I’m very okay with that, know, with the whole idea of maybe just getting others excited about it. Yeah, yeah.

Dizzy Skips (34:54)
Yeah,

yeah, it’s hard not to want to give it away when it does so much for you, right?

Nick (34:58)
⁓

For me, absolutely. Again, not to sound ridiculous in this here, but I genuinely believe it was a gift given to me, right? ⁓ And I’m like, I want to tell everyone about this. I’m like, y’all, I got a testimony to share and I am serious here. Let me tell you where I was and how much this has benefited me. And if you give it a try, I genuinely believe you too will enjoy this. So yeah.

Dizzy Skips (35:07)
Mm-hmm.

Yeah.

Yeah.

Yeah, I totally get it. And you had mentioned earlier, before we started talking about, Darren @onebadleg – and you, you saw his episode of the podcast and, he and I are of similar, mean, I think all three of us are of similar age and have some common experiences with, you know, relationship loss and things like that. And, and one of the things that I just love about jump rope is that

you’re not too old, right? I get this from other people who will see me and say, yeah, well you’re an athlete and I’m like, no, I’m just some dude who shows up and just does my time, right? And it builds up over time. And so I’m curious, Nick, like to our brothers and sisters out there who might benefit from jump rope, but think, I can’t do that. Or “that’s that’s something that Nick and Dizzy do,” what would you say to these people?

Nick (35:53)
Bye.

Right, yep.

One day at a time. No lie. when I tell you jumping for five minutes a day can change your life. and it doesn’t have to be the straight five minutes, 30 seconds, stop 30 seconds, stop. There is no shame in it. Cause that’s exactly where I was. I was not kidding you. When I told you I could not jump for 30 seconds straight, either I was winded hands, just taking your time, nice and slow.

Dizzy Skips (36:12)
Yeah.

Yep.

Mm-hmm.

Mm-hmm.

Nick (36:38)
That basic bounce, that basic bounce, next thing you know, you find out that you are doing a little, it will all come in time, but the change you will feel, when I tell you it is almost immediate, ⁓ you will feel that difference. I cannot sit here and tell you that I genuinely don’t believe that if anyone started jumping, they would not feel a difference within a week, period. I’m convinced of that.

Dizzy Skips (36:45)
Yeah.

Mm-hmm.

Yeah.

Nick (37:05)
I genuinely believe that anyone who started jumping today, by a week from today, they would feel a difference, like, you know what? There’s something about that I enjoyed or something about that feels different in my arms or, wow, why do I feel this on my lats? What just happened there that I was, huh, that’s interesting from jumping? Nah, it can’t be. It can be, absolutely.

Dizzy Skips (37:21)
Yeah.

Yeah. Yeah.

So were you the first person to notice your progress or was it your mom or

Nick (37:31)
I was probably first because I’m wearing the clothes, right? So it was during the pandemic, I said, I had known that I had gotten bigger, but I had a couple of suits that always worked.

Dizzy Skips (37:34)
Yeah, right, right.

Yeah.

Nick (37:47)
Let me get my fat suits. These suits always work. I knew things changed when one of my regular suits that I didn’t use, I grabbed the wrong one and it fit. I’m like, wait a minute, this isn’t my fat suit. This isn’t one of my safety suits. Dizzy, to tell you now, I would be lying to you if I did not tell you how good it feels to be able to walk in my closet and grab anything now. And that wasn’t the case. To the point where I had to get all new stuff. had some suits.

Dizzy Skips (38:03)
My safety suits.

Me too.

Nick (38:15)
from my days in Little Rock – 2020 or so, they were just so big. Now they looked sloppy and it didn’t look good on air. So, you know, I’m also fortunate enough to work in an industry where the wardrobe team kind of, they buy my suits for me. So it’s one of those things where that’s another reason to keep this job. said, y’all gone buy it. Let me lose a little more weight. Hold up. You know, like this new one here. know, so it’s one of those.

Dizzy Skips (38:31)
do they? nice.

Right, right, right.

You gotta remeasure

my guns

Nick (38:44)
No, that’s right. So it’s just,

you know, for the first time, funny you say that the shirts are they fit different. Everything just fits different, you know? Yeah, absolutely. Yep.

Dizzy Skips (38:52)
Yeah. Yeah. I

had to do the same thing. I joke, I lost three dress sizes, but I think it was actually four by now. And there were times where some of my pants that I had when I was going to the donut shop all the time, you know, I had put a belt on and then I’d exhaust all of the loops in the belt or all the little, you know, holes in the belt or jump with it. And then my pants just slide off and like, all right, well, that’s a good excuse to go get some new stuff.

Nick (39:09)
I love it, yep.

Yep. Yep.

Absolutely,

absolutely.

Dizzy Skips (39:20)
Jump Rope is my happy place and there are certain things that make it my happy place. I’m a music listener. Do you listen to music while you jump?

Nick (39:28)
I’ve tried that. I started using a metronome when I was on a couple of pieces of footwork, ⁓ but I even stopped with that. So for the most part, it’s me in my head trying to remember the move, one, two, three, go, you know, one, two, three. If you’re just thinking about my crossword, waiting to feel that rope hit the mat before I do my leap or before I do my cross. So I am not one who listens to music when he jumps. I usually add music post when I…

Dizzy Skips (39:31)
Okay.

Mm-hmm.

Yeah.

Mm-hmm.

Okay.

Nick (39:55)
edit

my video or something there. And I think a lot of that, large part of that has to do with, because I haven’t had the benefit of having a coach in real time in my ear to help me structure it the right way that I think the music for me would be a distraction.

Dizzy Skips (40:05)
Sure.

Sure. Yeah. It’s one of the things I love about the jump rope community is how people’s experiences are all different and there’s no wrong answers, right? Like I have friends like you who I never listened to music cause I got to hear the rope. You know, I love to hear the rope. There’s, and by the way, you mentioned ASMR earlier. I think just listening to a rope slap on the ground does something primal to me, brother.

Nick (40:18)
Yeah.

Oh, absolutely. Yeah,

yeah. Like I said, I think it’s either, oh, is it Rodney or Mowall? One of the two. They just simply does his jumps in the morning and that rope is just going and rarely any music and it’s just clean and he’s just, you know, and I’m like, yeah, yeah, yeah. It’s almost like I’m being hypnotized by it there for sure. Yeah.

Dizzy Skips (40:48)
Yeah.

Yeah.

Yeah, I

know what you mean. Yeah, I always listen to music, but I’ve gotten into like on my Instagram reels where I mix the music down a little bit so I can hear the rope slap because and also I try and jump synced with the music a lot because that’s part of my deal. But so so your jump rope happy place is no music. Get the rope going and just flow. Yeah.

Nick (41:02)
Okay, yeah, yeah.

Gotcha. Sure. Sure.

and just flow.

There are a couple of things that I do to start my jump. Nick, you don’t get to do the other exercises until you knock out this set successfully. I used to get locked in my head with that. I’ve learned to move on and come back to some things. But there’s something I’ve seen someone do once for a time. said, you know what, that’s how I should start every session, make sure I’m warmed up and ready, which is usually me doing my jump running jump rope.

Dizzy Skips (41:29)
Okay.

Mm-hmm.

Mm-hmm.

Nick (41:48)
Uh,

one, two, three, one, two, three, one, two, three, one, two, three, four, five, four sets of those. Now we can move on to other stuff because it’s usually running up set two or three. I’m like, right there, you know, so start over because here’s the deal too. It doesn’t matter. It doesn’t matter. No one cares. I care. Now what I’d say to myself, Oh, you can move on if you want to Nick, but you know what you committed to yourself to do.

Dizzy Skips (41:56)
Yeah.

Yeah, right.

Yeah.

Nick (42:18)
And all that helped with my hand placement. Now again, I don’t think about it. Like I can, if, if I’ve tripped up, it’s because you didn’t stay focused. Nick, you, you know where, if that hand is where it’s supposed to be, you’re not gonna mess up. You messed up because you again, went too wide. You did, you slipped into one of the bad habits. So stay focused. So focusing again, and more, just helps me just get into that zone. Definitely does. So that is my happy place. I love when I can go down there.

Dizzy Skips (42:22)
Mm-hmm.

Yeah, right.

Mm-hmm.

Yeah.

Nick (42:47)
There are times when getting that combo that I just talked to you about, cause it’s not successful until I’ve done four clean, right? So that can slow down number three and then show you how little things in my head there, right? So it’s not clean until you can do that and you can move on. Okay. So the simple truth is getting that clean. Sometimes I’ve done it in two minutes. Sometimes I’ve done it in three. There have been times I’ve been in my basement before I can even move on.

Dizzy Skips (42:54)
Okay.

Mm-hmm.

Nick (43:14)
where I spend 20 minutes trying to get that fourth set, but I don’t move on into it because for me, this is what I need to do. But I’m still getting in my commitment to self with my 30 minutes a day. I’m like, well, if you spend 20 minutes doing this, that’s fine, but you’re still going. I mean, I’m sweating like crazy. I ain’t even got to the first thing for my reel to make. I’m like, yeah, I still got stuff to do. to put this reel together, you know? And it’s just one of those things where…

Dizzy Skips (43:19)
Mm-hmm.

Yeah.

Right.

Yeah, right.

Nick (43:41)
I usually don’t even get a chance to edit my video until I’m already at the studio because if I take time to do all that, but I have time throughout the day to edit my reel and do my post. But it’s one of those things where my happy place is in the morning, getting those combos down and then moving on doing the other stuff. Absolutely. Like I love it. I really do. Yeah.

Dizzy Skips (43:45)
Mm-hmm.

Sure.

Yeah.

Yeah,

that’s cool. You mentioned that you worked with a coach a bit was a Muna? How else have you learned or have you approached learning new skills or tricks?

Nick (44:02)
Muna.

Again, asking questions, sliding in DMs. ⁓ I told you about Diego. He was doing the shuffle, I asked a question. I have not had a single situation where I have not been able to ask someone how they’re doing something. And sure enough, they’ll send a video or offer feedback. Absolutely. Yeah. It’s great.

Dizzy Skips (44:10)
Yeah.

Mm-hmm.

Yeah. Isn’t that amazing?

Yeah.

Nick (44:31)
Again,

I don’t know any other, I don’t know any other routine exercise program that is that supportive, absent of the shaming. Nobody cares that, how are you trying to do this? Whoa, you’re a little overweight. I’ve not heard that, I’ve not heard a single person disparage that’s just not the community. It’s just not. So yeah, 100%.

Dizzy Skips (44:54)
Yeah, it’s the best little corner of the internet, isn’t it? I mean, where

we just pat each other on the back and say, go, man. Yeah.

Nick (45:00)
Absolutely. Yeah.

Even when we did our meetup, random strangers came up, seeing the ropes. Can I try that? And I’m like, you talk about spreading the gospel. And again, this was the presenting, right? And letting people find it without pushing it. Nobody said, hey, come over here. Try this. Now one person did that. People organically came over. this looks like what are you doing? how do I? Yeah, I love that. Love that.

Dizzy Skips (45:10)
I know, right?

Yeah. Right. Yeah.

Yeah.

Yeah. That was the first thing that happened to me when I showed up at the meetup. I spotted you. put my backpack down. I opened it up and some guy walked up the beach and said, what their jump rope thing going on here. And I said, yeah, it’s a meetup. A bunch of people met on Instagram or whatever. He’s like, I like jump rope. That’s cool. And I said, you’re welcome to stay, man. I’ve got extra ropes. And I pulled one out of the bag and he started skipping with it. And he said, you know, I may come back later and do this. That

Nick (45:51)
But again,

the interest of Spark and Curiosity peaked, right? So it’s one of those things where all you can do is just do it and let them come and find it.

Dizzy Skips (45:53)
Yeah. Yeah.

Yeah. There was another part during the day where, I think Janie and Allison had got out double Dutch ropes and they were doing the double Dutch thing. And, people were jumping in and doing some double Dutch or trying to get double Dutch going. And I saw this couple standing up on the stairs, watching just this nice looking couple. And they were very fascinated. They were just watching. They weren’t part of the meetup, but at one point they just walked down the stairs and jumped right in the middle of the double Dutch ropes and started leaping. And I was like,

Go, that is awesome, it was fun. It was really cool to see people show up and watch. I mean, to me, it is so attractive because there’s just such a group of people who are all so apparently having fun. mean, just fun, just bleeding off of us. It was just an amazing time. So I’m guessing you would go to another Jump Rope Meetup. Like if we do it in Chicago again next year.

Nick (46:28)
Yep.

I agree 100%. Yep. Yep.

absolutely. ⁓

To the point where I was trying to see if I could make that Portugal one happen. you know, just, but absolutely. Like this is something I’m committed to continuing to give to self. Like this is this is my gift to me. I enjoy buying new ropes. You’re like, you already got a rope. Yeah, I just want to I like that little green color or that one, you know, So but those are those are my little gifts to self.

Dizzy Skips (46:56)
Right.

Yeah.

Nick (47:16)
Absolutely.

Dizzy Skips (47:17)
Yeah, absolutely. So any specific tricks or skills that you’re looking to master next or like anything up on your jump rope to do list?

Nick (47:24)
Yeah, am

Dizzy. I’m looking to really improve perfect work on my transitions, right? I can do a double under I can do a double under cross. I can do the reverse shuffle. Got it. How do I blend all these together seamlessly? How do I work on these side swings or the soft pause, which are usually natural transitions to the next skill ⁓ and and do that. And that’s where again, I intend to

Dizzy Skips (47:33)
Okay.

Mm-hmm.

Yeah.

Yeah.

Nick (47:52)
I’ll work with the coach again to make sure that I am learning that and hand positioning and all of that. But again, that’s part of my treat to self. I say, you know what? I am okay with the idea of hiring someone to help me work through something I enjoy because this is my gift to me. So definitely, yeah.

Dizzy Skips (47:58)
Yeah.

Yeah, right.

Yeah, and I mean, overall, when you look at the cost of jump rope as a sport compared to so many other sports out there, it’s minuscule, right? Like a rope, you can pick up a rope for 20, 30 bucks. That’s a good rope. And even coaching, know, like we both know a lot of coaches in the Instagram jump rope community and

Nick (48:20)
Absolutely. ⁓

I agree.

Dizzy Skips (48:31)
None of them are really expensive. Like if you want to level up, you know, you can get some good help and, the number of people who are willing to just volunteer to help you and send videos, you know, like, Hey, I’m trying to learn this TS. How do I do that? You you’ll get people coming out of the woodwork trying to help.

Nick (48:34)
No, I agree.

Absolutely.

Yep, yep.

I completely agree. And again, that just, once again, speaks to the community, right? It’s a testament to how supportive everyone is in the Jump Rope Community.

Dizzy Skips (48:54)
Yeah.

Yeah. So I already asked you advice for new people and I think you said one day at a time, like basically stick with it. Yeah.

Nick (49:05)
One day at a time. Yep.

Again, you mentioned it too as tempting as it can be to compare yourself to everybody else, don’t do it. Don’t do it. Just do your, your jump rope journey is your own and keep it special and make it special. It is yours.

Dizzy Skips (49:14)
Right. Yeah.

That’s right.

Yeah, another thing that I felt when I started on Instagram and I see in other people that I sort of curbed in myself was this feeling that, there are so many tricks out there. I got to learn all this stuff. You know, like in order to be a real jump roper, I need to be able to do releases or I need to be able to do this or that. And and when I talked to Kathy, @kathyjumps who you mentioned earlier.

Nick (49:38)
Right.

Dizzy Skips (49:45)
She said, Hey, you know, I did basic bounce and boxer skip for like a year or a year and a half. And actually that’s a strength. I did something very similar, you know, where I just, I didn’t put that pressure on myself to learn all those different tricks. I wanted to just go out and flow because it was helping me mentally and physically. And I think that really helped because I got this baseline skill level of.

bounce, you know, where I’m not tripping up after every 15 skips now.

Nick (50:12)
That

and I can successfully do, know, I’ve jumped sometimes, I I commit to 30 minutes a day, but more often than that, I’m right around 45 minutes to an hour because I’m down there only things that would just move along for me. And I’m like, okay, I got to get upstairs and get myself together for work. Or weekends when I don’t have any place to be, I’m realizing an hour 15, hour 15 minutes later, I’m still jumping and I’m like, yeah, this feels, so the benefit is, it’s not about.

Dizzy Skips (50:21)
Mm-hmm.

Nick (50:39)
whether or not I get these transitions down, would love to learn them. But the fact that I am still moving and I have data that shows that my blood pressure and cholesterol and everything have gone down and it’s all because of this rope. So the benefit for me is there regardless of whether or not I get a transition down. So that’s where I am. My journey is one that I can sit here and say, the evidence is there. This is fact based. I am looking at, I am feeling the…

Dizzy Skips (50:43)
Mm-hmm.

Yeah.

Right.

Nick (51:07)
benefits of … I am wearing the benefits of … I am living the benefits of of jump rope so yeah without a doubt

Dizzy Skips (51:10)
Yeah.

Yeah,

yeah, your benefits come from showing up and putting in the work, not from the fact that you can land that certain trick or something like that. Yeah.

Nick (51:20)
Exactly, exactly.

And as a result, my health has benefited 100%. Yeah, yeah.

Dizzy Skips (51:24)
Right, yeah.

And then those principles that you learn and that you sort of perfect with jump rope, I say perfect, but you work on with jump rope, trickle out into other areas of your life as well, right? Like the donut resistance and things like that. Yeah.

Nick (51:38)
Absolutely, yeah, yeah. Absolutely, little

things. And again, I cannot overstate the benefits of having a healthy heart, right? I have lost family members much too soon or friends or people that I know or different things afflict people differently. But if I can do more, if Nick Smith knows that he can do more, jumping and avoid needing to, you know.

Dizzy Skips (51:52)
Yeah.

Mm-hmm.

Nick (52:05)
now watches a1c or whatever because wow guess what moving has done you not only have you lost weight and you’re healthier but you’re not eating that you sit there it’s the stuff i’m like i don’t want that not after you know had a good one i’m good you know so it’s just the diet just inherently changed you know

Dizzy Skips (52:08)
Yeah.

Yeah.

Yeah, I know exactly what you mean.

Yeah,

I know exactly what you mean. I know other people around my age and if you ask them about how they’re doing, you get a laundry list of the medications that they take. And that’s not the guy I want to be, right? I want to be the guy who’s right. Right. Exactly. Not when I have agency. That’s, that’s absolutely right. Well,

Nick (52:36)
Yeah. Yeah. Not, not, not when I have agency. Absolutely. Yeah.

Dizzy Skips (52:47)
Man, it has been such a pleasure talking to you. I’m so, I just feel really fortunate to have met you in person. Darren was absolutely right. You were a guy to meet and a guy to know. And I’m just so happy I got to meet you and we got to work together and skip a little bit. That was a lot of fun. Yeah, absolutely. Yeah.

Nick (52:49)
Ha ha!

And look forward to doing it again, right? So yeah, absolutely.

Dizzy Skips (53:08)
Well, um, thank you so much for your time, Nick. I really appreciate it. It’s been lovely talking to you and I just wish you the best. I, I didn’t, I mean, now I know that you don’t just report jump rope news and I’ve watched some of your clips. Like, I watched. Yeah.

Nick (53:20)
I wish though. ⁓ how I wish.

Nick, we need you to do it in depth on jump roping and take a year sabbatical to really learn it. really? Yeah. Okay. Then I’m moving in with somebody. I was like, all of sudden, Hey Darren, you got an extra room. Brother, here I come. I’m just so happy. Absolutely.

Dizzy Skips (53:33)
Right. Yeah.

That’s right, yeah. Well, I’m working on some

plans for a roving jump rope meetup and if we get that, we might need a Midwest correspondent and have you follow us a lot.

Nick (53:49)
There you go, I love that.

I will say this though, anything happens in your neck of the woods, let me know, because you know, again, Minneapolis, I am determined to do as many of these as I possibly can, so yeah, definitely. And I love how.

Dizzy Skips (54:01)
All right, well, I’ve been talking to Allison

who is at the meetup as well. And I think we might put something together because we’ve got lots of ideas for some fun Jump Rope meetup stuff. Cool. Well, thank you so much, Nick, for being on. It’s a pleasure to talk to you again and I hope you have a fantastic day. And we will talk again soon, All right, you too.

Nick (54:07)
Awesome. Yeah.

Awesome.

You too. Absolutely. Keep jumping.