JUMP ROPE - AN EASY AND EFFECTIVE CARDIO OPTION
Today we're gonna talk about jump rope. A training tool that probably all of us know, but do not use so frequently due to a number of factors. We will analyze the benefits of jumping rope, we will mention the basic mistakes that a beginner does and jeopardizes his or her progress, and we will discuss the methods with which someone can begin to get used to jumping rope.
To begin with, jump rope is one of the best cardio options out there, and there are many reasons for that.
1) It does not apply so much burden on your joints like other forms of cardio e.g. HIIT, jogging etc.
2) It improves coordination of your body.
3) It can be done in high intensity if you want better results.
4) It can be done literally anywhere (from your room to a field)
5) It costs little.
6) It is fun.
Jump rope in a somewhat intense rhythm was found to be a lot more effective than jogging, meaning that you can achieve the same results in less time. It also helps you grow your muscles through using almost all of them -your legs for the bouncing, your arms for the movement of the rope, and your core for stabilization when jumping rope). Therefore it is highly beneficial for the improvement of many components of fitness such as cardio-respiratory endurance (mainly) and muscle endurance, while it can also improve your body composition by helping you burn fat.
However, useful as it may be, jump rope is an activity that is avoided by most people, mainly because they don't know how to do it properly. There can be many reasons for that, with the most important being that they were never taught or they never actually tried to learn it when they were kids. So they are afraid that they might be embarrassed when they make a mistake or when people see that they cannot perform the exercise properly.
At this point, let's get one thing straight. DO NOT GIVE A ---- ABOUT WHAT OTHER PEOPLE MIGHT SAY. Can you run as fast as Bolt? Probably not. Then why do you go out sprinting? Are you not worried about what people are going to say? Or that someone out there is faster than you? Can you shoot as well as Curry? I guess not. So why do you go and play basketball? Are you not worried you are going to be laughed at? Same goes for jumping rope. There is always someone out there who does it better than you. But, as with almost any other activity, you SHOULDN'T CARE, because in the long run, no one will remember your initial inability to jump rope. The only thing that is going to be remembered is your results and the fact that in the end, with the advice I'm gonna give you, you will be great in jumping rope. So, get out there and do it.
Having clarified the above, it is also important to say that, being indifferent to what people say is a completely different thing from jumping rope correctly. Since we are talking about your own sake, is is of great importance that you do it right, otherwise not only will you not see the results you might be expecting, but you will also be at risk of injuring yourself. So here go the basic mistakes that a beginner makes:
1) You lift your feet really high: This happens because you are probably afraid that you might trip and fall if the rope hits you in your legs. But that is not true. The worst thing that can happen if you don't perform the movement correctly, is that the rope is going to stop and you will have to repeat the movement. No injury can occur when it touches your legs, and it is almost impossible to fall down when this happens. So what you should do is make a slight jump that lifts your body off the ground by some centimeters (or inches), without trying to jump high or lift your knees with every hop.
2) You move your hands a lot when spinning the rope: This occurs when you feel like you will not push the rope enough to maintain its momentum. However, by doing this, your arms are going to get tired really quick and you will be at risk of probably injuring yourself. What you should do is try to keep your shoulders steady, your forearms as steady as you can, and just give a slight push with your wrists, without rolling them so much though.
3) You do two hops per rope turn: This is not something bad, or something you should avoid. But you can do it AFTER you make sure you know how to jump rope with one hop per turn. The only disadvantage of making this mistake, is that you will never progress to the point of increasing the intensity, and therefore will never be able to gain the benefits of the workouts. You will only stick to a low-intensity workout that stalls your progress. Instead, try to increase the rhythm and make a hop with each complete turn of the rope, in order to be able to increase the speed as much as you want and adjust your workouts to your specific needs.
These are the basic mistakes that a beginner makes. There are some other too, but they are of minor importance. Once you fix those ones, you will have little to no trouble in fixing the minor ones, too.
So, after reading about the mistakes, you will probably ask "OK, great. But how do I overcome them? How do I get better? Every time I try to jump rope I keep repeating those mistakes and I get frustrated and stop". Worry not, my friends. There is a certain thing in life called "progression". I am pretty sure you did not go to school knowing all the words and rules you know now. You started off simple, with letters, syllables etc, and you slowly progressed to the point where you could right texts and articles. If someone told you to write an essay as soon as you started school, you would definitely think it is impossible and you wouldn't do it. All things in life should be done in slow progression. From walking as babies, to writing well-structured texts. And jumping rope is not an exception.
Some people are naturally gifted to perfect a movement after little effort. Most of us, though, are not like that. So what should the progression be when it comes to jumping rope? How could you get better?
First of all, you should jump rope without jumping rope. (Wait, what???) You read correctly. This is the first step someone needs to take to find their coordination and avoid the three basic mistakes. How do you take this step? You hold both ends of the rope in one hand, and you roll it around on one side without jumping. This will help you get used to the small movement your arms should perform to turn the rope. When you get familiar with this movement, you go to the next step. As you turn the rope with your one hand, you make a little hop every time it reaches the point where it supposedly passes under your feet. This way you will not be afraid that it might hit your legs, and you will also improve the cooperation of arms and legs to turn the rope and jump under it. You do the above with each of both arms, and when you feel you have improved to the point when you can begin jumping rope, you start holding it with both arms. If at that point you are still not able to do it properly, don't worry. Remember, progression. You turn the rope (in the correct way that your one-arm movement helped you learn) just once. And that one time you hop over it as it passes under your feet. Then you stop. You start the movement again. When, after a number of reps you feel you are ready to go on, you do 2 turns, then 3 and so on. Trust me, in less than 10-15 days, you will be jumping rope like a pro.
(All of the above info are going to be shown soon in a video that I am preparing for my youtube channel).
So, now you know the basic steps to jumping rope. In later posts (when you will have become a pro..!) I am going to share some workouts with you. Stay tuned, because the journey to all-around fitness has just begun..!!!
2) It improves coordination of your body.
3) It can be done in high intensity if you want better results.
4) It can be done literally anywhere (from your room to a field)
5) It costs little.
6) It is fun.
Jump rope in a somewhat intense rhythm was found to be a lot more effective than jogging, meaning that you can achieve the same results in less time. It also helps you grow your muscles through using almost all of them -your legs for the bouncing, your arms for the movement of the rope, and your core for stabilization when jumping rope). Therefore it is highly beneficial for the improvement of many components of fitness such as cardio-respiratory endurance (mainly) and muscle endurance, while it can also improve your body composition by helping you burn fat.
However, useful as it may be, jump rope is an activity that is avoided by most people, mainly because they don't know how to do it properly. There can be many reasons for that, with the most important being that they were never taught or they never actually tried to learn it when they were kids. So they are afraid that they might be embarrassed when they make a mistake or when people see that they cannot perform the exercise properly.
At this point, let's get one thing straight. DO NOT GIVE A ---- ABOUT WHAT OTHER PEOPLE MIGHT SAY. Can you run as fast as Bolt? Probably not. Then why do you go out sprinting? Are you not worried about what people are going to say? Or that someone out there is faster than you? Can you shoot as well as Curry? I guess not. So why do you go and play basketball? Are you not worried you are going to be laughed at? Same goes for jumping rope. There is always someone out there who does it better than you. But, as with almost any other activity, you SHOULDN'T CARE, because in the long run, no one will remember your initial inability to jump rope. The only thing that is going to be remembered is your results and the fact that in the end, with the advice I'm gonna give you, you will be great in jumping rope. So, get out there and do it.
Having clarified the above, it is also important to say that, being indifferent to what people say is a completely different thing from jumping rope correctly. Since we are talking about your own sake, is is of great importance that you do it right, otherwise not only will you not see the results you might be expecting, but you will also be at risk of injuring yourself. So here go the basic mistakes that a beginner makes:
1) You lift your feet really high: This happens because you are probably afraid that you might trip and fall if the rope hits you in your legs. But that is not true. The worst thing that can happen if you don't perform the movement correctly, is that the rope is going to stop and you will have to repeat the movement. No injury can occur when it touches your legs, and it is almost impossible to fall down when this happens. So what you should do is make a slight jump that lifts your body off the ground by some centimeters (or inches), without trying to jump high or lift your knees with every hop.
2) You move your hands a lot when spinning the rope: This occurs when you feel like you will not push the rope enough to maintain its momentum. However, by doing this, your arms are going to get tired really quick and you will be at risk of probably injuring yourself. What you should do is try to keep your shoulders steady, your forearms as steady as you can, and just give a slight push with your wrists, without rolling them so much though.
3) You do two hops per rope turn: This is not something bad, or something you should avoid. But you can do it AFTER you make sure you know how to jump rope with one hop per turn. The only disadvantage of making this mistake, is that you will never progress to the point of increasing the intensity, and therefore will never be able to gain the benefits of the workouts. You will only stick to a low-intensity workout that stalls your progress. Instead, try to increase the rhythm and make a hop with each complete turn of the rope, in order to be able to increase the speed as much as you want and adjust your workouts to your specific needs.
These are the basic mistakes that a beginner makes. There are some other too, but they are of minor importance. Once you fix those ones, you will have little to no trouble in fixing the minor ones, too.
So, after reading about the mistakes, you will probably ask "OK, great. But how do I overcome them? How do I get better? Every time I try to jump rope I keep repeating those mistakes and I get frustrated and stop". Worry not, my friends. There is a certain thing in life called "progression". I am pretty sure you did not go to school knowing all the words and rules you know now. You started off simple, with letters, syllables etc, and you slowly progressed to the point where you could right texts and articles. If someone told you to write an essay as soon as you started school, you would definitely think it is impossible and you wouldn't do it. All things in life should be done in slow progression. From walking as babies, to writing well-structured texts. And jumping rope is not an exception.
Some people are naturally gifted to perfect a movement after little effort. Most of us, though, are not like that. So what should the progression be when it comes to jumping rope? How could you get better?
First of all, you should jump rope without jumping rope. (Wait, what???) You read correctly. This is the first step someone needs to take to find their coordination and avoid the three basic mistakes. How do you take this step? You hold both ends of the rope in one hand, and you roll it around on one side without jumping. This will help you get used to the small movement your arms should perform to turn the rope. When you get familiar with this movement, you go to the next step. As you turn the rope with your one hand, you make a little hop every time it reaches the point where it supposedly passes under your feet. This way you will not be afraid that it might hit your legs, and you will also improve the cooperation of arms and legs to turn the rope and jump under it. You do the above with each of both arms, and when you feel you have improved to the point when you can begin jumping rope, you start holding it with both arms. If at that point you are still not able to do it properly, don't worry. Remember, progression. You turn the rope (in the correct way that your one-arm movement helped you learn) just once. And that one time you hop over it as it passes under your feet. Then you stop. You start the movement again. When, after a number of reps you feel you are ready to go on, you do 2 turns, then 3 and so on. Trust me, in less than 10-15 days, you will be jumping rope like a pro.
(All of the above info are going to be shown soon in a video that I am preparing for my youtube channel).
So, now you know the basic steps to jumping rope. In later posts (when you will have become a pro..!) I am going to share some workouts with you. Stay tuned, because the journey to all-around fitness has just begun..!!!
What an interesting article!
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