As kids we have all used skipping rope to skip alone or play with friends. Remember the fun you had skipping! Now that you are all grown and struggling to find time to juggle in fitness routine, skipping can come to your rescue. Rope skipping is an excellent high intensity exercise to burn calories and lose weight. Since you have lost the habit of skipping, it will take some time for you to get used to well coordinated movements. But once you re-discover it let nothing stop you.
It’s a great cardio workout even better than running since it burns more calories comparatively. However, it requires high energy if you want to continue skipping for even 15 minutes. Skipping rope will not make you burn fat directly but will greatly increase your stamina for other workouts.
The benefits of rope skipping are many. You can do a high intensity or a low intensity workout depending on your stamina. Skipping will help you strengthen bones and muscles of legs and thighs. It will tone calves and problematic areas like hip and butt. Since bones are strengthened by skipping, chances of osteoporosis are greatly reduced. In fact Osteoporosis Society suggests 2 to 5 minutes of skipping every day to maintain bone health.
Skipping is more beneficial than running. While running is mainly lower body workout, skipping involves entire body workout. 40% of upper body and 60% of lower body receive a great cardio workout in just twenty minutes of skipping. Rope skipping engages biceps, triceps, chest and abdomen muscles, legs, thighs, hips and calves. Studies show that skipping burns twice as many calories as running. What’s more there are variations of rope skipping exercises unlike running which can become monotonous after some time.
Plenty of professional athletes like boxers, footballers and tennis players skip rope to remain fit and improve their mental agility and co-ordination. A skipping rope does not cost much and is easy to use. You do not even need to visit the gym to skip. You can do without costly equipments to lose weight and remain fit. Besides, if you can include your friends in your fitness regime you will end up having fun while maintaining your health.
