Jump rope for fitness
If you’re looking for no fuss fitness that gets serious results – try skipping with a jump rope.
Synonymous with boxers, this form of cardiovascular exercise has many fantastic wellbeing benefits.
It builds stamina, develops coordination, strengthens bones, and creates toned arms, legs and torso muscles. In fact depending of the weight of the rope and the intensity of the skipping, it can pretty much tone nearly the entire body. Skipping is great for preparing the body for other forms of sport too.
Skipping is also cheap to do, you only need this one small piece of equipment and the space to do it. The rope can easily be stowed away in a bag or backpack and taken to work for a lunch time skip or squeezed into suitcase compartments to take on holiday for a quick & convenient workout solution.
The length of your rope can vary the intensity of your workouts and tone different parts of your body. It’s recommended that for beginners a longer, unweighted rope is used.
There are lots of footwork combinations and different paces to work at, such as jogging pace, running pace or a sprint pace for short bursts.
Build your pace and time up gradually starting with a jogging pace for 10 – 15 minutes in 1 – 2 minute intervals, jumping from one foot to another, rather than on two feet together, as that is much harder to sustain for long.
Try to skip on soft ground or a sprung floor, rather than on hard concrete, to avoid jarring muscles and joints.
Channel your inner Rocky and try these skipping drills –
*Skip at jogging pace for 2 minutes, then take a 1 minute rest. Repeat 6 x times.
*Skip in 1 minute bursts at running speed, with a 20-30 second rest in between. Repeat 6 x times.
*Skip continuously at jogging pace for a full round of 3 minutes, with a sprint speed for the last 10 seconds. Rest for 2 minutes. Repeat 6 x times.
This article has been published in the August edition of Life Magazines – http://www.lifemagazines.co.uk