Thinking about my mother this morning fostered me to think about how she stays in shape. She is a very busy CFO, yet manages to stay in very good health without working out at the gym very often. Besides eating well (no fried foods, no sweets, etc.) and drinking a great amount of water and juice daily (I personally think she has an addiction to water, but that’s another story), she takes the stairs to her 6th floor office every day, every time she leaves the office. She has gotten a few of her co-workers to follow suit, and I hope that more will join the healthy lifestyle crew.
Anyway, my mom does something every Friday that most people would overlook as a way to stay in shape. She is a member of a double-dutch team, and she manages to stay fit by reliving a childhood favorite of hers. Here’s a video of her that was shown last September on the local news in DC. She’s the one with the Nike shoes that looks kind of purple/blue with white stripes going across the shoe. She’s also the one who says something about friends coming together to do what friends do best.
I’m not suggesting that you go out and join a double-dutch team, but I want you to know that jumping rope is a cheap and very effective way to reach your fat loss goals and to improve your cardio. All you need is a jump rope, which you can get for as little as $4-$5 at Walmart, or about $10 at sports stores. There are leather ropes, weighted ropes, and speed ropes. I am a fan of the speed rope because I can jump faster, and I like to focus on anaerobic fitness due to my sports.
To get started, start out slow. Like any other exercise, you want to get the form correct before you perform at speed. The most simple movement is turning the rope and jumping with both feet. Once you get that right, you can add many other variations, like alternating feet, jumping in a triangle figure, double jumping, jumping from side-to-side etc.
Trust me, jumping rope burns fat at an amazing speed. It’s hard, but it doesn’t cost much, you can do it just about anywhere and anytime, and it works. Adding jump ropes to your circuit routine is also a guaranteed way to blast through any fitness plateaus you have encountered. Your body will thank you for it later! I will post video demonstrations on variations of jump rope exercises later.
As usual, leave your questions and comments for me! Give me something to do while I rest my leg.
She sounds so cool.
I love my jump rope. And my hula hoop. It’s really silly when people use the excuse that they can’t exercise because a gym is too expensive. Besides, jumping rope is heaps of fun! Why else would kids do it for hours at a time?
My mom is the coolest
And that’s exactly my point: you can exercise anywhere, anytime, with just about anything!
Hula Hooping is hard, can’t deny how it can work the midsection.
[...] jacks are free, too. And a jump rope isn’t expensive, yet is an extremely effective fat-loss and conditioning [...]
[...] jacks are free, too. A jump rope isn’t expensive, yet is an extremely effective fat-loss and conditioning [...]