Jump Rope Exercise | A Quick Review

Jump ropes are one of the cheapest pieces of exercise equipment you can buy. They take a little space and are portable. You can be used inside and outside and they can be used by group of all ages including kids and adults. It is one of the most effective exercises for overall improvement of your cardiovascular endurance and reducing body fat. This exercise is mostly done by boxers and other athletes.

To start a jump rope exercise, you need an area with enough room and a surface. Stretch out before you start your exercise. You will need a space to start; normally a six feet area is enough. It is better to have a little extra room so that you can move if you have to. Carpets, workout mats and wooden floors work well. Some people use trampoline, and are going to be landing on it over and over again you should avoid extremely hard surfaces.

The Workout

When jumping on your toes, try not to jump higher than you need to. You do not want to land on your heels and when jump you should clear the rope. If done correctly the impact is less than running. So it is easier on your knees and ankles. Your calf muscles take most of the impact but they can become stronger if you give them time to recover. Pay attention and only jump rope if your calves are not sore from the last time. If you feel muscle pain, stop jumping to avoid further injury. Once conditioned you can jump rope more often.

It is very easy to learn various jump rope techniques but it takes time to master them. You need to maintain a good rhythm for this workout. The rope should be long enough so that it can reach your arm pits while you are standing on the rope with your feet together. You can adjust the length of the rope by tying knots in it near the handle. Use knots that are easy to untie in case you want to make it longer again.

To help you getting your form and get ideas for different methods of jumping you can watch people that have experience in jumping rope. There are many jump rope videos on sites like YouTube or you can watch someone in person. If you have a video camera or a digital camera that takes videos you may want to video tape yourself jumping rope. That way you can check your form. You can see the mistakes you made and try to avoid them in your workout. Many people jump higher than they need to.

Calories:

It is simple but an effective way to burn calories and body fat. You could burn about 350 cal in half an hour by jumping rope. Running is slightly better for burning calories if you are a fast runner. Biking really fast for half an hour would burn a similar amount of calories to jumping rope for half an hour.

It is recommended to do jumping rope for 20 to 30 min or you can do it 3 to 4 times in a week. It is not something most people can do for long periods of time. If you can last longer than 40 minutes you may want to increase the intensity. For better workout, try to make a schedule and stick to it. When you stop jumping rope keep moving you feet until you start jumping again.