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What do you picture in your mind when you hear the wordsJUMP ROPE? Maybe it is a group of girls hitting a beat while playing doubleDutch (very advanced jump rope) on the playground, or maybe you see a wellchiseled boxer covered with sweat from head to toe as he completes a gruelingjump rope set. Either way, many folks do not picture THEMSELVES jumping rope?While these two examples represent the extremes of what folks use jump ropesfor, the fact is, jump ropes are an incredibly useful workout tool and one thatwill burn off fat more quickly than you can say?ROCKY BALBOA!
First of all, jump ropes are fantastic because they areextremely compact. You can keep a jump rope in your car, your office, or justabout anywhere for that matter. The more easily you can carry your workoutequipment with you, the more likely it will be that you will use it on aregular basis. Other than the rope itself, all you need is a good pair ofsneakers and you are ready for a fast paced fat burning workout with a jumprope!
Secondly, jumping rope is much easier on the knees thanother forms of exercise. Seems almost contradictory when you consider that theentire workout itself is comprised of jumping, but it's true. Jumping rope ismuch less harder on the joints, especially the knees, than other forms ofexercise that produce similar results such as running. When you run, the impactis transferred directly to the heel of your foot which in turn places greatstress on the knees. When jumping rope with proper form, you will land on theballs of the feet which helps to evenly distribute the shock through your foot,ankle and calf and will place very little stress on the knees, even for folkswho have some type of pre-existing knee condition.
Finally, jumping rope provides an AMAZING cardiovascular andfat burning workout. You can jump rope at a medium to high intensity and burnas many calories in ten minutes as you would if you ran a mile. Performing thesame actually work and reaping the same benefits as running, but with much lessstress on your body, sounds like a pretty good deal to me! Coupled with thefact that jumping rope actually gives your entire lower body a muscularworkout, this often forgotten, but extremely effective may work its way intoyour regular fat loss routing. For an even bigger fat burning benefit, tryusing jumping rope as the source of a High Intensity Interval Training session.
Simply begin jumping for a few minutes at a slow pace for awarm-up, then begin jumping at a medium intensity for about 2 minutes, thenjump rope as fast as you can for 30 seconds, then slow to a medium intensityagain. Complete this interval training for about 6-8 sets and you willaccomplish in this short time what may have taken up to an hour using otherforms of cardiovascular exercise.
Jumping rope is efficient and effective, so plan to makejumping rope a serious part of your fat burning regimen from now on.