As adults, a lot of us have completely forgotten about jumping rope. And let’s face it, a lot of us who are younger only jumped rope as children when we were made to at school. Yet jumping rope is one of the most effective aerobic conditioning exercises out there if you factor in the time it takes to get a decent session in, the cost of the equipment, and the many variations in which you can do it.
There’s a reason many boxers have traditionally used it for conditioning. Jumping rope enhances your coordination, balance, agility, speed, endurance and on and on. Just a 10 minute session of basic skipping is equivalent to running a mile in under 7.5 minutes. Once you are familiar with it, it’s quite easy to ramp up the level of difficulty exponentially.
The only thing you need to start out is a jump rope, which costs around $4 or less! Some put emphasis on quality jogging shoes, but I say that if you have proper form, and aren’t pounding your heels but rather landing on the balls of your feet and settling down on your heels, then they aren’t necessary. I actually jump rope barefoot most of the year, as I found it developed my agility and grace with the rope much faster that way.
Although it is thought of as a child’s past-time, jumping rope must be eased into by beginners, especially those with little conditioning. The most common complaint when starting out is calf pain. This can be avoided by learning to RELAX. Just as in running, you must be relaxed. This means that your calves, once the foot is on the ground, should momentarily relax before pushing you off again. Another consideration is posture. Don’t stare at the ground, look in front of you; keep your core tight but allow a relaxed breathing pace preferably through the nose, and don’t shrug or otherwise overly tense up your shoulders. Did I mention the need for relaxation yet?
A good way for anyone to start out is in short bursts of a minute, with a rest period in between. Work up to 3 to 5 minutes for each round, and once your conditioning really hits it’s peak begin incorporating a bodyweight exercise like push-ups, chins or dips to replace your rest period all together. Here’s an example routine to follow once your body has adapted to the challenges of rope jumping:
- 3 minutes of jump rope
- 1 minute of push ups
-3 minutes of jump rope
- 1 minute of hanging knee raises or crunches
-3 minutes of jump rope
- 1 minute of push ups
- Repeat to until you’ve quite exhausted yourself, or simply stop when you feel fully charged and ready to go onto your “main exercise” such as weight lifting.
Once you’ve excelled at the basics, you can start incorporating all the neat tricks you always see on TV such as alternating legs, backwards jumping, criss crossing the rope, etc. I think the greatest thing about rope skipping is that you can take this little tool anywhere you please, but more importantly you don’t have to leave your own yard.
