Remember when you were a kid and every year they had the jump rope for heart fundraiser. You jumped so many times and people would sponsor x amount of money for how many times you jumped or made donations to you for participating.
I never could participate because as the fat kid I could not jump rope! I was horrible at it. I never thought much about jumping rope till I was about 18 years old.
As I was preparing for my first ever bodybuilding show my mentor Brett Underwood handed me a 5 lb. jump rope one day. He said "do 500 jumps everyday!" I looked at him in disbelief, is he serious? 500 jumps with a 5 oz. jump rope would suck bad enough. This was to be my cardio training, we did not have ellipticals, bikes or stair climbers back then.
This is how I was going to help shed unwanted body fat. The rope looked like a black garden hose with sand in it. So I started out, one jump, two jumps, SLAP!!! Rope would hit me in back of the head. Two more jumps, SLAP again!!!
This went on the entire 500 jumps. If I end up with a tumor in the back of my head I will know what it's from. I kept doing the jumps and I kept getting better. I got up to 100 jumps without stopping then 150. The heavier jump rope was also hard on my arms and shoulders as well as my lungs.
After about 3 weeks I started seeing a change in my body, I was getting leaner and my body was making changes. This was all the cardio I was doing. No walking no biking and for sure no running. I also was becoming more explosive. I had more agility and my calves were getting bigger.
Why am I telling this story?
I believe this simple exercise could help you as well. Now if you have really bad knees or ankles this may not be your best option. However you never really know until you try this simple effective exercise.
Jumping rope is simple and easy
Before you can start your jump rope workout you need to find the right rope for you. To pick out a jump rope that fits you stand with both feet on the center of the rope, grasp the handles and pull them up towards your chest.
You want the tops of the handles to be six inches below your collarbone. This is the best fit for your height and will make jumping easier and will allow you to stay more fluid with your motions. A jump rope that is too short or too tall will either trip you or force you to jump too high.
I also believe that the weight of the rope is important. I like the beaded jump ropes like we had back in elementary school. You can actually order a special made rope now. Once you have the right rope you can begin this easy but highly effective exercise.
Why jump rope?
Jumping rope burns more than 10 calories a minute and it doesn't take long to reap major rewards. You can burn more than 200 calories in two 10-minute sessions each day (that's 1,000 calories a week).
The intensity of your workout will be a major factor in how many calories you burn. Stamina and agility are also increased by this school kids exercise.
Jumping rope works the forearms, shoulders , ankles, calf muscles, quads, heart and core.
I use it as a warm up tool
I make the athletes I train start every workout with 200 jump ropes. This also helps with cranking up your central nervous system.
How to use this exercise
Let's say your doing 30 min of cardio today, walking on treadmill perhaps, at the 5 min mark jump of treadmill and do one min of jump rope then back on treadmill for another 5 min.
Getting ready for your workout
Start your workout with 3 sets of 45 sec periods of jump ropes. This will help warm you up for the workout and have your body fired up and ready to go.
You can also use it if your doing HIIT training, example 100 jump ropes, 20 kb swings, 10 burpees, 20 push ups, 30 air squats and repeat for 10 min
You can use the jump rope anywhere, at home, gym or even outside. The possibilities are limitless with what you can do with a jump rope.
Variations of the jump rope
- Standard single jumps
- Running ropes
- Double unders (crossfit style)
- Crisscrossing rope as your jumping
- Single leg jump rope
- Rocky style , this is where you go as fast as possible , like a sprint but quick jumps
- Reverse jump rope ,going backwards
- Alternating foot jump rope
Hopefully you will give this exercise a try. You won't be disappointed in the results.