While I was in Tampa last week, I worked out in the parking lot of Motel 8. I did look a little strange being out there at 6 am, skipping install number 134. I was going through a workout that Shawna had sent me. When I travel, I pack a jump rope with me as it’s something that easily fits into my backpack. Here are five tips from Shawna on the jump rope.
Enjoy.
Rick Kaselj
Hey, Shawna Kaminski of ChallengeJumpRope.com. I want to make this video for my good friend and fellow Canadian at EFI, Rick Kaselj.
I want to give you some jump rope tips, especially if you are new to jumping rope or haven’t done it since grade school.
1. Better than Running
Jump Rope is a great alternative to running.
Here are some of the benefits that I have found from it:
- more effective for fat loss
- easy on your joints
- higher intensity than running
- burns more calories than running
- great way to up the intensity of your workout [¹]
Often I will throw a set of jump ropes in with my strength training.
If you are not a great jump roper, your goal is to become a more efficient jump roper. This will make jump roping easier for you to do, and then you can increase the intensity.
2. Best Place for Your Hands
First, I wanted to talk about the hand position with the rope. You would see elementary kids swimming with their arms when I was teaching elementary kids.
Make sure you are not swinging your arms. There’s no movement with the arms.
I don’t want any butterfly movements with the arms.
You want to keep the elbows tight to the body, and it’s just the wrists that are moving.
Focus on keeping the movement smooth and efficient.
3. How High to Jump?
The other thing is you do not want to be jumping very high.
The biggest mistake that I see when people are starting to learn to jump rope is they jump high, and the problem with that is you can’t get into a good rhythm, and it’s going to cause you frustration.
The exception is when to jump high if you are doing double unders.
You want to be half an inch off the ground because it impacts your body, knees, ankles, hips, and spine less.
You want to make sure your jump is smooth and low. Plus, to lessen the impact, do a two-foot jump because your entire body weight is coming down on two feet instead of one foot.
Remember, when I am doing a jump rope, you see my feet are barely coming off the ground, and my elbows are nice and tight. Movement is only happening at my wrists.
4. How to Get More Out of Jump Roping?
To increase the intensity, I can go to a running skip. Notice that I am always on my toes and my heels never touch the ground.
There are so many different variations with a jump rope [²] . I can increase the intensity with higher knees, double under, forward and back, and side to side.
There is a ton of variety that you can do with the jump rope, and you will never run out of variety with the jump rope.
One of the big reasons that I like the jump rope is to look where I am. I am in my living room. You can do jump roping anywhere and pair it up with any workout. You can pair it with strength and get an effective fat loss workout.
5. What to do After Your Jump Rope Workout
You will notice that your calves are going to be sore and tired.
Make sure that you stretch out your calves after jumping rope.
That is it.
Jump rope is awesome and a lot of fun.
If you need some quick jump rope workouts, check out ChallengeJumpRope.com.
Shawna Kaminski
