Jump Rope Fitness: Burn Extra Calories

Short on time? Can't make it to the gym? Tired of jogging away the calories? Buy a jump rope and start using it! If you are not mixing in a healthy amount of jump rope activities into your workout schedule, you are missing one of the most useful and adaptable cardio tools ever made.

Jump ropes have become must-have gear because of their low cost, easy transport, and the benefits they provide for all users, no matter the workout goal. While jumping rope is primarily beneficial for calve muscles, it also works out other muscle sets throughout the body, benefits the heart, and is excellent practice for hand-and-eye coordination. While numbers vary, most workout-style jump rope activities burn around 11 calories a minute, one of the best calorie-burning rates around.

Basic jump roping is an easy workout. Form is very simple: Jump on the balls of your feet, swing your wrists, and jump lightly, focusing more on speed than on how high you are leaping. Your feet should only rise an inch or two about the ground for proper form. A bit of practice, and all your old childhood reflexes will quickly return – as an added bonus, jumping is kinder to your joints than running, too! The only challenge is finding out how to make jump roping a common part of your routine. Here are a few common ways to incorporate the mighty rope into your fitness life.

Brief Workouts in Tight Spaces: One of the reasons that athletes and fitness lovers carry a jump rope around is that they take very little space to use. Find 10 feet of space to practice, and that's all your need. The space by your bed, a blank section of garage space, a patio – they can all be used for an intense cardio workout with a jump rope in hand. This is especially handy if you are traveling (possibly for a sports events) or live in a small apartment with no way to run laps and no place to store a treadmill. Between 10 and 20 minutes is a healthy workout period for jump ropes, so you can easily slip in a training session before work, school, or dinner.

Intervals During Weight Training: For a more comprehensive workout, using jump rope sets during your weight training. Between each weight set, do a brief jump rope set, between 30 seconds and a minute. This will help you keep your heart rate up and increase your gains, making your workout much more powerful without tacking too much cardio time onto your schedule. Don't worry about perfect form at first, but keep an eye on your progress and start speeding up as your intervals become easier.

Mix it Up for Stronger Training: If you find that jump rope activities fit in well with your current lifestyle, start experimenting with more strenuous versions. To increase the effectiveness of your routine, start doing single-leg jumps, vary your speed and jump height, and incorporate other styles to provide a greater variance of exercise. Some people prefer to switch between normal jumping and "plank" jumping, in which you hold your body rigid while jumping. 

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