Jumping rope or skipping rope is the primary tool used in the activity of skipping played by children and many adults, where one or more participants jump over a rope swung so that it passes under their feet and over their heads. It’s a fun exercise and a way to enjoy a little me-time.
Jumping rope exercises add spice to the usual and boring workout routines. Without a doubt, a common barbell routine with a jump rope exercise incorporated is not only much better but also a fun take on the usual exercises done for cardio such as running or riding a bicycle.
Physical and Mental Benefits of Jumping Rope
Jumping rope is easy to do anywhere. It’s quite portable as it can fit easily into your bag which you can bring along on a trip, to school, work or done in the living room while you’re the kids — or watching TV. The benefits of jumping rope are several. To further inspire you to try the jump rope, we listed 9 health benefits that should be more than enough reason to draw you in.:
1. Improves Coordination
Jumping rope actually improves your coordination by making you focus on your feet. Whether or not you are paying great attention to them, your brain is aware of what your feet are doing. This practice, over and over again, makes you “lighter” on your feet. The more tricks you do with the jumping rope, the more conscious and coordinated you have to be.
2. Decreases Foot and Ankle Injuries
When it comes to sports, it’s quite rare not to find anyone jumping rope as a form of exercise. Many athletes in tennis, basketball, football and other sports often suffer ankle and foot injuries from running and suddenly turning or pivoting. Jumping rope not only improves your foot coordination but also increases your overall strength in the muscles surrounding the ankle joint and in the feet which therefore reduces risk of injury. Jumping rope teaches players to stay on the balls of their feet, as opposed to being flat footed or on their heels.
And since you’re mostly focusing on the toes the entire time, you will find that staying on your toes when playing tennis will become easier and second nature.
3. Burns Major Calories
Compared to jogging for 40 minutes, skipping rope actually burns more calories. This aerobic exercise can achieve a “burn rate” of up to 1300 calories per hour of vigorous activity, with about 0.2 calories consumed per jump. Ten minutes of skipping rope can roughly be considered the equivalent of running a ten-minute mile.
4. Completely Portable and Fun
A jumping rope can go anywhere with you. Take it to school, take it to work. Cool down after a bike ride or warm up before your basketball game. Learn to do tricks and double dutch with your children or have competitions between you and your friends — how long, how low you can jump, how high, spinning — different kinds of tricks can be done with a jumping rope.
5. Improves Bone Density
It has been observed that the best exercise to improve bone density is simply jumping up and down. Jumping is great if your bones are strong enough to take the impact associated with the movement. If the doctor gives you a clearance when it comes to jumping rope, this could be used as a potential to further strengthen your bones!
6. Improves Cardiovascular Health
Jumping rope is highly recommended for aerobic conditioning. In order to increase your lung and heart health, you must do it two to four times per week for 12 to 15 minutes at a time. Boxers mostly utilize this exercise to increase their lung power which makes them last longer than their opponents in a heated fight.
7. Improved Breathing Efficiency
In addition to improved stamina and heart health, skipping rope improves how efficiently you breathe. This becomes immensely beneficial when doing other activities because you would not be as out of breath after running down the court or swimming laps in the pool.
8. Makes You Smarter
Believe it or not, skipping rope can make you smarter. Jumping aids in the development of the right and left hemispheres of your brain, that further improves reading skills, enhances memory and makes you more mentally alert. Jumping on the balls of your feet requires your mind and body to make neural muscular adjustments to imbalances created from continuous jumping. As a result, jumping improves coordination and dynamic balance, bone density, reflexes, and muscular endurance.
9. Improves Your Ability to Stay Calm
Because you are working your brain and your body at the same time, boxers in the ring who jump rope actually are calmer overall than those who don’t. As your dissect this workout further and view this exercise from a biomechanical perspective, this exercise represents a composite movement combining the circular motion with an angular momentum.
The body resembles a projectile subject to all laws that govern projectile motion while the rope becomes a dynamic flywheel subject to all laws that govern rotary motion. It is in the synchronous and harmonious coordination of these movements where the benefits and secrets are received. Your ability to jump rope and be synchronous with your mind, body and the rope can help you be calmer in challenging situations.
Suggested reads: The Ultimate Guide to Strength Training for Weight Loss
