Description: More and more people are starting to incorporate a workout into their daily routine to improve or maintain their physical condition. You can certainly do plenty of excellent exercises for your health, but there is one particularly beneficial. We will talk about workouts with a jump rope.
Probably, everybody in the world tried to play with a jump rope at least once during childhood. Many of us had to do it in PE classes but also liked skipping rope in our free time as well. But did you ever give a thought as to whether this activity has some actual significance or it’s just a fun way for children to spend that extra energy? After seeing Sylvester Stallone jumping rope as Rocky Balboa while preparing for the match of his life, some may consider it beneficial for boxers and bodybuilders.
But interestingly, no one talks about why jump rope is good for you, and why everybody should add at least a few minutes of it in each workout session. Like in many other cases, gear expert reviews this topic as well, hoping that you will find it useful and include some jump rope sessions in your daily exercise routine.
Benefits of Jump Rope
It is necessary to point out that jump rope fitness is suitable for people of all ages, and it can significantly help to achieve their goals. That’s, probably, the main reason why it is utilized more and more in all kinds of fitness classes. There are numerous jump rope benefits, but maybe one of the crucial for adults is improving cardiovascular health. You would never guess, right? Well, it’s true, good jump rope workout will do wonders for your heart. It raises heart rate 2 or 3 more times faster than any other exercise, keeping it elevated for a longer time. Another thing about jump rope training is that it requires the entire body to get involved, not just arms and legs. However, professionals believe that this activity gives useful results only if you do it regularly. If you want to improve the heart function, it is recommended to jump rope 3-5 times a week for about 15 to 30 minutes per session. Cardiovascular benefits of professional jump rope routine are:
- Reduced blood pressure
- Increased good cholesterol
- Reduced bad cholesterol
- Better workout endurance
Improved cardiovascular health is the most essential, but, certainly, not the only benefit that comes with a jump rope workout. Let’s see other advantages of this exercise and how it can contribute to our overall wellbeing.
Burns Calories
Believe it or not, jump rope for weight loss is a super effective and efficient exercise. People think that jogging burns a lot of fat, but because it is a full-body workout, jump rope burns more and in a shorter time. To give you an example, we will say that an average person who weighs around 150 pounds (around 70 kg) can burn more than 10 calories per minute during a mid-intensive jump rope session.
Of course, different factors impact how many calories you will burn in one session, such as your weight, jumping speed, and the length of a session.
Improves Coordination
The funny thing is that even if you aren’t looking at your feet when you jump rope, your brain knows what your feet are doing. It’s a cyclic activity, which means that you perform in a regular rhythm, and the more you do it, the better will be the coordination between your eyes, feet, arms, and brain. People whose weak point is coordination usually avoid this exercise. If this is your case, we are here to tell you that you shouldn’t be worried because there are plenty of jump rope techniques for beginners that can help you overcome the challenges.
Improves Intelligence
It may sound funny, but it is true. Because it requires focus, it contributes to the development of both the right and left brain hemispheres. Consequently, it improves memory, reading skills, and makes you mentally focused.
Tones Muscles
Okay, jump rope won’t make you stronger, you need a strength training for that. But it will tone the muscles in your legs and lower body. You may be sore after the first session. This happens because you started to use muscles that have been inactive for a while. However, after a few workout sessions, you will begin to notice how your muscles change.
Helps With Osteoporosis
Studies show that jump rope workouts increase bone density. It is enough to do it for a couple of minutes each day, and you will be protected from osteoporosis and other problems that are caused by sparse bone density. What makes it better than running is that the impact of jumping is absorbed on both legs at the same time, so it is unlikely to be hard on joints.
Affordable and Portable
When you are running, you have to pay a lot for a good pair of shoes, but you can buy a perfectly good jump rope for just a few bucks. Even if you want to get super serious and do jump rope bodybuilding, it won’t cost you more than a couple of tens of dollars. Besides, it doesn’t take much space and is super flexible so that you can take it to all of your travels without a problem. There are no excuses for skipping exercises on vacation when you have a jump rope.
Conclusion: With all this in mind, you don’t have to avoid jump rope anymore. As you could see, it is an ideal exercise for anybody and not difficult at all. It does take some time getting used to it, but once you do, you will enjoy it. Have you already tried skipping? How does it seem to you? Do you know any other health benefits that we didn’t mention in this article?
Author’s Bio: Richard Browny is a fitness instructor. Also, he is a semi-professional boxer. Richard has a video blog where he advises people on how to improve their fitness levels ad overall health condition. He likes jogging along the beach with his girl and their 3 dogs.