Jumproping
<center><font size="1" color="#ff0000">LAST EDITED ON Mar-18-00 AT 12:59PM (EST)</font></center>
LAST EDITED ON Mar-18-00 AT 12:57 PM (EST)
LAST EDITED ON Mar-18-00 AT 12:56 PM (EST)
LAST EDITED ON Mar-18-00 AT 12:56 PM (EST)
Hi, Deandra!
I've only been jumproping since the beginning of the year, so I'm not an expert but hopefully I can give you some insight.
First of all, if you haven't been jumproping you will have no problem elevating your heart rate. It took me about 8 weeks of roping twice a week for 30 minutes to get where I could jumprope continuously for 30 minutes. You will probably have to start off by doing intervals of jumproping for say, 1 minute and then doing step touches or other low impact for 1 minute. You keep alternating until the 30 minutes are up. Each time you do it add a little more time to the jumproping interval. This takes time, so be patient!
You might want to invest in Aerojump with Michael Olijade (I got mine through Collage). It is a good 30 minute workout and he shows lots variations starting with the basic jump and progressing to some very intense plyometrics and speed jumping. He suggests that as you progress you take these different moves and put together your own workout. I was very surprised when I got this tape that I was not jumproping correctly and there is a big difference when you jump right.
The benefits are truly cardio! I wear my heart monitor and it takes some doing to keep my hr in the 80% range. You could definately make this an interval anerobic workout if you wanted. You also get the benefits of increased coordination and it is a full body workout (your arms and shoulders get into it with all the rope turning).
Mindy Mylrea, who is really into jumproping, says on some of her tapes (Jump This, Jump and Jab and Jump Step) that roping correctly has half the impact of jogging/running. This not to say that jumproping is low impact, though! (Make sure to empty your bladder, first!).
Mindy also suggests that beginners can start by not using a rope at all. She has a website at
http://www.jumpincfitness.com/bio.html Another site to try is the Freestyle Roping site at
http://www.ijumprope.com/whyjump.html which has an info page on the benefits of jumproping. I know some of the universities (like Tufts) have done studies of jumproping benefits from time to time, so you might check some of their archives.
At this time I do 30 minutes twice a week and I feel like I get a lot of cardio benefit. I sweat buckets and I wear my monitor to make sure I don't get above my hr range (usually, I wear my monitor to make sure I stay elevated!) With my videos the time seems to fly which seems contradictory because for the most part (especially if you just do the basic jump) the moves are not really choreographed. I've read that jumproping is very good for building up bone strength, too. And, this may have little influence on you, but every time I read about the regime of some celebrity the trainer always seems to incorporate jumproping. Boxers are always crediting jumproping with giving them cardio endurance, coordination and balance. The Freestyle Roping site claims roping will make you much leaner and quicker, a benefit for other sports.
Some advice if you are new: Give yourself time to learn (I am still trying to master this skill after 12 weeks, but I'm a lot better than when I started). If you have pets or small children make sure you are aware of them (you don't want them getting the rope in the face!). Wear clothing that covers your back and the back of your legs when you start out because you will mess up and that rope can sting (the first time I wore just a jog bra top and bike shorts and learned my lesson). You cannot do this on thick carpet (I am fortunate that my workout area is inside with industrial type, low pile carpeting and air conditioning and a fan). Have good venitlation and water (you will sweat and get very warm!). Try to find a place to jump that isn't directly on bare concrete (you can buy a rubber mat if you don't have a wood deck, wood floor or low pile carpet to jump on).
I hope this gives you a little more info on the benefits of jumproping and a couple of spots to look for more info. Even my husband (a natural athlete who has always been lean but muscular and can run circles around me, darn him!) is very impressed at my roping abilities. He tried it and quit after 2 minutes (I was gleeful on the inside but appropriately supportive on the outside!).
Sorry this was so terribly long!
Kristi
