• dave
• Feb 9,2009
• In: Health & Fitness, Workouts

Get Lean With Old School Cardio

Spinning, running, and elliptical training are exercises you see most people doing everyday at the gym. Although all are very effective in achieving results, there is one exercise that trumps them all, but for some reason has become a lost art form in many gyms. Jumping rope is one the most old school and dynamic workouts you can do, and it allows you to burn double the calories in half the time you spend chugging along on the treadmill.

Jumping rope is a great way to burn calories and target fat loss. 10 minutes of jumping rope is the equivalent to 20 minutes of jogging. Since jumping rope is an aerobic form of exercise, you will not only increase your fitness level significantly, but your body will also begin using and burning up fat stores, making you leaner than Rocky Balboa. Other forms of aerobic exercises are running, rowing, and biking. Still doubting me? Wrap your rope around this; 45 minuets of jumping rope burns approximately 500 calories. If you were to jump rope 3 times a week for a year, you would burn 80,000 calories. At this rate you’ll burn off that late night pizza you ate this weekend in less than 20 minutes.

Before you start a program, it is very important to make sure that your jump rope is the right size. It can become very discouraging when you can’t execute the exercise just because the rope you are using is too short or too long. Here is the general rule of thumb; stand on the middle of the middle rope, pull the two handles up, if the rope reaches to your armpits then you are good to go. I use the Valeo Speed Jump Ropebecause the fit is perfect and I like the feel of it. It’s great for beginners or pros and I definitely recommend it for all of you.

Now that you’ve got your jump rope it’s time to get started. There are many different workouts to try, but I suggest beginning with 30 second intervals for 30 -45 minutes. This means 30 seconds of jumping followed by a 30 second rest. As an alternative, you can perform 30-45 second intervals in between your weight training sets. I’ve used both of these programs and have gotten great results in each case. Feel free to set up your own unique program, but remember that some form of interval sets will yield the best results.

One of the most important things to remember is to not give up. If you happen to mess up a set, it is very important to keep going for the full 30 seconds. As you practice more and more, you will start to be able to do skip jumps, double jumps and other moves that will enhance the exercise. You’ll also finally start to get those good stares from the spandex wearing, elliptical riding chick with the tramp stamp.

A great advantage of jumping rope is that you can do it anywhere; Gym, house, backyard, park, etc. The only reason not to start jumping rope is if you happen to jump like a little girl. Anything short of that, no excuses. Still not convinced? Think of this, boxers jump rope, and then they bash each other in the face. If that’s not alpha, then nothing is.

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