Introduction
A lot of people don’t take jumping rope seriously. Many view it as a playground activity for kids – or a specialized one for boxers. Others are convinced that they’re too uncoordinated to skip. And others, still, think that it’ll take hours of jumping to get results.
They’re all wrong.
The simple truth is that jumping rope is one of the most productive, cost-effective and convenient forms of cardio exercise to boost the metabolism, strip off body fat and fast track cardiovascular fitness that you can ever do. *
Jump Rope Benefits
- Can be done anywhere, anytime
- Very cost effective
- You can take your rope anywhere
- Safer than running and cycling
- Works every muscle in the body
- Burns up to 700 calories per hour
- Strengthens heart and lungs
- Medium impact
- Improves stamina, balance and timing
- Agility and hand-eye coordination improved
- Boosts endurance
I’m Too Uncoordinated
You don’t have to be doing any fancy tricks or huge acrobatic moves to be able to jump rope. As with anything, jumping rope involves starting small and developing confidence. That may even mean starting with ‘shadow jumping’. Then progress to performing the base jump for 30 seconds. From here, start to count your jumps, working up to 200 counts.
If you never move beyond the base jump, with both feet together and a single rope pass down at a medium pace, you’ll have everything you need for effective training.
Picking the Right Jump Rope
It’ no fun jumping with the wrong sized rope. To make sure that your rope is just right for you, take the rope and stand with booth feet on the middle of it. Now pull the handles up to your armpits. If they reach up to the level of your armpit, then you’ve got the right length.
What can you do, though, if you are buying your rope online?
You can use a length of a string. Just as you would if you had a rope in your hands, stand in the middle of the string and bring the ends up to your armpits. Mark the point were the string come up to your armpits. Now, measure the distance between these two points to get the length of your rope.
Beginning a Jump Rope Workout
When you start a jump rope program, you should get into the habit of beginning with a warm-up. Dynamic stretching, including doing bodyweight squats, and overhead tricep extensions will prepare your body for the workout to come.
Perform the workout at a pace you can handle. As you build up your strength and stamina, you’ll be able to gradually increase your level of intensity. Take your time for the best long term benefits.
Skipping can be tough on your ankles, feet, calves, hamstrings, and glutes, not to mention the wrists and shoulders. If you go too hard, too fast, you are likely to develop delayed onset muscle soreness (DOMS).
Conclusion
By adding a few minute of jump rope to your daily routine, you will be giving yourself a huge fitness advantage. You’ll also be utilizing one of the most effective fat loss workouts known to man. Check back next week to discover the ultimate metabolism boosting fat loss jump rope workout.
* Fitness Disclaimer
This website offers health, fitness and nutritional information and is designed for educational purposes only. You should not rely on this information as a substitute for, nor does it replace, professional medical advice, diagnosis treatment. The author of this article is not a medical professional. We have volunteers in our organization from different aspects of health, nutrition, and fitness. Not just modern medicine doctors and physicians, but yoga teachers, spiritual teachers, martial arts teachers, and energy healers and we use all those resources to be able to provide the best and most proper advice to people around all walks of life. We do not have a defined goal, we only have a mission to help as many people as we can.