Jumping Rope
Photography: Jillian Clark
Workout by:
Charman Driver
Jumping rope is the unsurpassed best all-around exercise to be found. There is no other exercise you can spend less time on that gives you more results—not even running. I recently read you’d have to run an eight-minute mile to work off more calories than you’d burn jumping rope.
My mother could have told me that. She jumped rope every day of my childhood, that I can remember. I have tender recollections of being stirred awake by faint sounds of the early morning cadences of her old-school plastic rope rhythmically thwacking the basement floor and the gentle tremor of the walls as her feet landed. She was smart to do it.
Here’s why:
1. Jumping rope is inexpensive. All you need is a rope and you can take it anywhere—it’s like a portable gym.
2. Jumping rope is efficient and effective. Study after study has shown that ten minutes of jumping rope is as efficient as 30 minutes of jogging for improving cardiovascular health.
3. Its convenient. You don’t need a lot of space or equipment. You can do it at home and you never have to worry about the weather or driving somewhere to work out.
4. It’s an easy exercise that most people can do naturally or learn quickly with a little practice.
5. It’s fun. Jumping rope will make you feel like a kid again.
In the “Joy of Jumping”, the author writes that “Jumping rope strengthens your heart, lungs, legs, and wrists. It improves your circulation, firms up breasts, thighs and buttocks. It tones your muscles, improves coordination, improves your skill at sports, reduces nervousness, banishes fatigue, increases endurance, and helps improve your hand and foot coordination from everything from dancing and playing piano to driving a car. Jumping rope gives you a feeling of well-being that comes from knowing that you and your body are in close harmony with one another, and from feeling that harmony”.
Try jumping rope for at least ten minutes a day for a week and notice the physical and mental changes in your body. Keep a journal to keep track of your progress.
It is advised that you obtain approval from your doctor before beginning any exercise program.