If you think that jumping rope is just for girls, you haven't checked out Ben Raznick's power moves.

Who is Ben Raznick?

Ben is 15 and a member of the Skip-It jump rope team in his hometown of Boulder, Colorado. He has been jumping competitively for over half his life, and boy, has it paid off!

At the 2001 USA Jump Rope Federation National Championships, Ben took home three gold medals and was named the Grand National Champion in pairs single rope freestyle. And at the 2001 Amateur Athletic Union Junior Olympics he won both the individual and pairs overall events.

Why jump rope?

After hearing about Skip-It from a friend, Ben decided to join. He practices three days a week, for two hours, but before a competition, he gears up five days a week, for three hours. It's tough, but according to Ben, "when you've got a good team, you always have a lot of fun."

Ben competes not only in speed (which counts the number of jumps in a set period of time) but also in freestyle (which shows off all his rad moves).

	Ben doing a power move in a double-dutch.

Ben also has taught at a national jump rope camp. "You have some of the best jumpers in the U.S., and we're all working together," he says. "It gets really tiring to teach, but as you teach, you learn more yourself."

For those guys and girls who want to start jumping, Ben recommends finding a team and starting with the basics.

But...is jump rope cool?

When Ben was asked to show his stuff in gym class, he overheard some kids saying that jump rope was "stupid." According to Ben, "In middle school, people aren't sure what's cool and what's not." But Ben put on a show that proved them wrong. "They didn't even understand what was happening with the rope — it was going all different ways. Once they see what jump roping is, they can't say that anymore."

Check out more info on jump rope!