Jump Rope

[Arhat of Fury]

Iron or seven or anyone....

What are the benfits of jumping rope versus running or stairmaster. I have heard that Jump rope works at a lowwer impact while making the heart work harder(cardio) and improves hand speed.
I am considering replacing only some of the cardio I do with this and am curious on what are your thoughts/experiences on this
are?

AOF

[Suntzu]

jumping rope, IMO, is more 'total body' workout… my shoulders and forearms seem to give out on me before I get winded… plus it dosent tear up my shins like running… and if u wanna taste of hell, use the weighted ropes…

[Kope]

Rope jumping also can build timing if you do any of the various double jumps, cross-overs and other tricks you can toss in ... it helps train balance and foot-timing as well as building general foot-speed.

There's a reason boxers love it :)

[Helicopter]

I can't skip for ****! My Instructor occasionally throws some skipping in when we do circuit training. It's truly embarrassing, last time we did it my Instructor was stood at the back of the hall s******ing at my 'attempts.'

[fa_jing]

Jump rope rocks, it improved my footwork tremendously. But You have to remember that for martial arts, it's a different kind of training than for jumping. You want to just glide over the rope, light on your foot, work shuffling, alternating, picking your feet up backwards, etc.

[SevenStar]

I swear by jumping rope. it is a great total body workout and also helps foot work and coordination. It's easy on the knees and yields great results. A word of advice though - do something to make it fun - jumping rope for 20 mins can get boring. Keep the fun level high by trying various skipping movements or skipping to music.

[Serpent]

I find that skipping with high school girls helps to make it a lot of fun.

[Helicopter]

Thanks Serpent,

There's a "Nubile 20 to 21 year old Cheerleading and Jump Rope Squad" near me and they're always looking for older men to practice with, I hadn't thought joining them til now.

[SevenStar]

yes, double dutch with them

[Arhat of Fury]

Well, I have started training with the jump rope and I am diggin it a whole lot. I do notice that jumpin rope when your little for fun and jumpin rope for a workout is 2 different things but I do like the heavy cardio workout it puts on me combined with the low impact and coordination factor, it has done me good. I got the weighted one(5lb) and that works fine.

Now just to integrate with my weighted vest(20LB):D


AOF