Rope skipping is not child’s play
In spin, the turn is entering. Out of spray, the bend goes out. Return to your childhood with skipping rope: this is the way to get and stay in shape! It is good for your coordination, stamina, footwork, timing, agility, strength, speed and explosiveness.
Who is jumping rope?
Of course, everyone has jumped rope at some point. Children especially like to jump, but athletes, such as boxers, also use the rope to improve their fitness and fitness coordination to train. Finally, the exercise is also very popular with physiotherapists. They often use the rope as an aid when someone has to rehabilitate after an accident.
Warm-up or more?
Jumping rope is an ideal warm-up, but it’s also a good full workout and a fun way to shed excess pounds. Jumping rope is one of the most effective ways to burn fat. The exercises are perfect for athletes and fitness professionals, but the exercise is also doable for a beginner. The whole body is trained, while the heart and blood vessels are strengthened.
Jumping rope as a sport
Compared to the phenomenon of ‘skipping rope’, Rope Skipping is a young sport. It was not until the early 1970s that skipping rope was seen as a serious activity. The American Richard Cendali came into contact with the sport through his coach as a warm-up. With all sorts of intricate side swings and double twists of the rope, the sessions got tougher over the years, both in duration and difficulty. A new sport was born.
Jumping rope competitions
Something that makes Rope Skipping a real sport is the fact that a competition element has also been added. These competitions are held between different teams of skippers, the jumpers. This involves strength, creativity, speed and endurance. Certain acrobatics are also part of the competitions. Competitive sport can be divided into two parts:
- Speed: Speed and endurance are the most important in this section.
- Freestyle: creativity is paramount in this part. All parts of Rope Skipping come together here in a free exercise to music.
Personal training schedule
Every body is different. If you want to jump rope, it is therefore wise to work with a trainer to see what the best training schedule is for you. Usually you start with a 15-minute workout a day and build up slowly. The sport is especially good for getting legs and buttocks in shape. Jumping rope is quite intensive. It is therefore advisable to alternate it with other forms of exercise such as walking and abdominal exercises.
Burning calories
You already burn quite a bit calories by jumping a little. A 60-kilogram jump who jumps for about 30 minutes burns 252 kilocalories. That’s more than what you consume in aerobics, soccer or swimming. You can calculate exactly how many calories you consume jumping rope. This is how you do it: the consumption per 10 minutes is 1.4 kcal per kilo of body weight. That is 0.14 kcal per kilo per minute. Multiply this number by the number of minutes the workout lasts and the number of pounds you weigh. In the example above that means: 0.14 (kcal per minute) x 30 (minutes) x 60 (kilo) = 252 kcal.
Clothing and training room
To get started, sturdy and shock-absorbing trainers and a rope are needed. A 5 euro rope that you buy at the toy store will do just fine, as long as it is long enough.
the skipping rope
When jumping alone, use a rope about two meters long. Feather-light ropes are best for jumping. These run very smoothly. There are also ropes on the market that you can adjust in length. A luxury skipping rope has handles made of wood or plastic in which the rope can rotate. If you want to keep track of how many calories you burn, there are even skipping ropes with a calorie counter.
Tips for beginners
When you first jump, don’t immediately start with a daily workout of an hour and a half. This only brings overload and a lot of muscle pain. Build up your training slowly and listen to your body. So don’t jump if your knee or arm hurts. Also pay attention to your body position when jumping: stay upright. A little variety in jumping is of course never wrong. This ensures that the training becomes less boring. It also helps to jump to music or to practice with several people.
