Tuesday, November 5, 2013

Beginners Jump Rope Workouts



In case you missed the scoop, using a skipping rope is one of the best exercises you can do to help you remain in shape, reduce weight and be healthy. It's simple, easy to learn, inexpensive, readily accessible, can be done almost anywhere and anytime and most of all is safe and reliable. And while you can do fancy techniques like double unders, turns and crossovers, simple jumping rope exercises are as effective for delivering results as a lot more challenging ones.

Making use of a jumping rope offers a lot of advantages it's hard to list them in one single, short, article but here are a few of the main ones to give you an idea as to just exactly how powerful jumping ropes can be!

• Enhanced heart and lung condition

• Enhanced heart and lung health and wellness

• Improved stamina

• Stronger leg muscles

• Stronger shoulders and arms

• Good for burning calories and therefore managing your weight

• Improves your coordination and balance

• Improves eye-hand-foot coordination

• Increases bone mass and strength

• Jumping ropes are very portable, hardwearing and excellent value for money

• You can skip anywhere and anytime

As you can see, it's a long list! But, if you are new to skipping, what is the best jumping rope workout to start with? If you take a look around YouTube.com, you'll discover all kinds of video clips of people doing the most remarkable and complex jumping rope routines and while these are very cool to look at, they do not represent exactly what most people do with their jumping ropes.

Don't feel that you are missing out due to the fact that you can't do these tricks-- as pointed out before; basic skipping exercises are just as effective as the more showy moves.

In order of difficulty, here are the five best jumping rope exercises for beginners...

• Two-footed double jumps

For this workout, you keep your feet with each other and allow yourself an extra "mini jump" between rope turns. This allows you to swing the rope a little bit more slowly and gives you opportunity to master skipping at a moderate pace. In your mind count "one and two"-- the "and" being your mini jump in between turns. Once you have mastered this standard workout, it's time to move on.

• Two-footed jumps

Spin the rope a little faster and you won't have time for your mini jump so now it's time to drop it and do one jump each turn. Again, keep your feet with each other and stay on the balls of your feet. Keep low to the ground and only just clear the rope. The jump should come from your ankles rather than your knees and remember to keep your shoulders down and arms relaxed.

• Two-footed side to side jumps

Rather than just bouncing up and down on your feet, begin to shift your weight a little from side to side. You'll still come down on both feet but your weight will land more on one foot. Push your hips from side to side as you shift your weight.

• Boxers' skip

Ready to look like a pro? From side to side jumps, lift your non-weight-bearing foot and tap your heel a little on the ground in front of you. In aerobics, this is called a heel dig. Do a single double-footed jump in between heel digs so your feet go left heel, both feet, right heel, both feet. As soon as you feel confident, drop the double footed jump and go for alternating heels.

• Knee ups

Lastly, switch over from heel digs to knee lifts. It's basically the same step but you are lifting your knee up so your heel is clear of the floor. Start with low knee lifts and work toward pulling your thigh up to parallel to the floor. Use the same left, both, right rhythm you used before then slowly wean yourself off the double footed jump till you have the ability to do alternating high knee ups.

These five exercises are the best jumping rope exercises for beginners and give an excellent training effect despite their simplicity. If you only ever did these jumping rope moves, you would still gain enormous benefits from your jumping rope training.

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