Make Your Work Out Your Recess

We're sure you've seen how trendy jump roping for fitness has become. There are tons of social media posts and videos showing how much jump roping has added to people's fitness routines. These people talk about how jump roping has helped them get their cardio in, increase their agility, lose weight, and tone their leg muscles.

However, people also talk about how difficult it was to start. At first, they couldn't jump rope for more than 15 seconds at a time because their legs would hurt or their feet would catch on the rope. Some people even talk about how they didn't pace themselves correctly, did too much jump roping too soon, and ended up giving themselves shin splints.

There are ways to avoid the negatives of jumping roping:

1. Pace yourself. Even if you think you can do a lot all at once, don't. Your body's reaction to jump roping is not immediate. You'll feel the effects the next day or two, so don't overdo it. If you do too much, you won't realize you've hurt yourself, especially your shins, until later, and then you won't be able to pick up the rope again until you've healed. Start with small increments of time spent jump roping that you can slowly increase.
2. Wear good shoes. Make sure your shoes have good grip, are tied properly and tightly, and have good shock absorption.
3. Consider starting your jump roping journey with a ropeless jump rope. There are "jump ropes" that you can buy that are only handles. The handles calculate steps, speed, heart rate, etc. This kind of jump rope helps you learn how to complete the movement of jump roping without the risk of tripping on the rope. You'll still increase your agility, strength, and cardio capacity. You don't even have to have the handle-only jump rope to start. You can simply practice the movement by jumping with your fists at your sides until you feel confident in the movement. Once you feel like you've mastered jump roping without the rope, you can start jump roping with the rope and feel more confident that you won't trip.

Once you start jumping rope, you'll notice all of the benefits:

1. Build leg muscle strength. Jump roping works leg muscles that you wouldn't feel in other workouts. It especially works the muscles in your lower legs and around your knees. These muscles are very important in keeping you steady and uninjured.
2. Build bone density. Many people think that eating high-calcium foods is the only way to increase bone density naturally. What these people don't realize is that performing strength training and weight-bearing exercises like jumping rope is also a proven method of increasing bone density.
3. Improve your balance. Jump roping works your feet muscles. By building strong foot and leg muscles, you are improving your balance.
4. Work your core. When you jump rope with correct posture, you work your core more than you'd ever realize. Your core is what keeps you steady while you're moving.
5. Increase your agility. The type of movement that jump roping requires you to use improves your agility. It improves your reflexes and coordination.
6. Get your cardio in. There's no surprise that jump roping is a great form of cardio when performed at a challenging speed.
7. Have fun! There's something that a lot of us adults forget about fitness: It should be fun! When you were a kid, chances were that you never had to think about fitness. Why? Because you were getting in your exercise when you weren't even thinking about it, ie. recess, after-school sports, gym class, etc. There's no one telling you that you can't have that same feeling as an adult. That's the beauty of jump roping. You feel like you're a little kid at recess again. You're getting your fitness time in without even feeling it!

If you think you want to start jump roping but you're not sure it's right for you, schedule an appointment with us! We'll help you figure out if it's for you and help you determine how to fit it into your exercise regimen.