Remember the summers of your youth, jumping rope on the sidewalk with your friends? Good fun mixed with good exercise that didn't even feel like exercise. I am here to say, it might just be time to put jumping rope back into your fitness routine. It is a major cardio workout with minor costs. Yep, jumping rope will definitely give you bang for your buck.
Here are a few tips from personal trainer to the stars Gunnar Peterson that I just found in his book The Workout.
- Rope length: Standing in the middle of the rope, the handles should reach just below your shoulders. If not, adjust accordingly by winding around your hands or finding a longer rope.
- Jump small: There is no need to jump more than 2 inches off the floor. Jumping higher puts more stress on your knees and actually burns fewer calories (talk about a lose/lose situation).
- Variations: Mix up your jumping pattern to really keep you on your toes! Add jumping side to side in pattern like this will also work your inner and outer thighs:
- Jump center for 5 passes of the rope
- Jump to the left keeping your legs together, and then back to center on the next rope pass
- Stay in the center for a 5 jumps, then jump to the right.
You can purchase The Workout for $12.71 from Amazon.
Citizens of Humanity
Luella
Pierre Hardy
I think jumping rope is a really fun addition to working out. It breaks up the monotony and is great for traveling as you can always find a sidewalk or patch of grass that is free and the jump rope doesn't take up much space to pack it!
1I was flipping through and happened to stop on this commercial which I couldn't stop laughing. Infomercials always amused me, but come on, people. Can someone please justify buying this??
2Whew. That's a dumb product. I have a couple of jumpropes and I need to use them. I don't jump rope at the gym b/c it makes me feel self-conscious. Everyone stares...
3I jump rope in the backyard with my little boy...
He doesn't care that I look like a fool!
He smiles from ear to ear...
I can't believe how it is to do these days!
Age is creeping up on me! Yipe!
4Hi. I have been jumping rope 5 days a week for about 3 mths now and I have lost 10 lbs and my body fat has gone from 26% to 20%. I live in NYC and have to jump in front of people outside. At first I was wary about it, but now I don't care. People come up to me and praise me for having the guts to do it. Believe me, it is a great workout! I use a rope from Target that counts calories, rotations, and time elapsed.
5Wow. That jump rope from target sounds awesome! I just started jump roping with my new workout regimen. I incorporated it in my circuit training. Before hand I did tons of cardio and little weights. For the past three weeks I have been doing 5-10 minutes of steady cardio on a machine, then strength training for about 8-10 minutes, then I bust out my jump rope! I love it. It really gets my heart rate up. I will jump for about 3 minutes. Take a breather. Then go back and strength train again for another 8-10 minutes and then go jump rope again. Since I started this, along with a healthier life style (less drinking alcohol, portion control, etc.) I also like to do stretch and then jump rope for a few minutes in the morning to wake me upI have lost 4lbs, went from a size 8 to size 6 and I can actually see I am toner. Big plus - I haven't lost my breasts which are usually the first to go! Long story short, I think that jump roping has helped with my workouts A LOT!
6I jump rope 5 days a week. I'm working on challenging myself more by seeing how many jumps I can do in 60 seconds, 90 seconds, etc. When I jump faster I can feel my upper arms getting a workout. SarahSalinas' circuit training sounds really great!. I'm going to do that this week.
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