Skipping is great for your overall fitness, whether it’s part of a warm-up or included in your main exercise session.
Skipping is pretty straightforward but to get the most from your routine you should make sure that you adopt the following correct technique:
1. Jump off and land on the balls of your feet.
2. Avoid looking down at your feet, keep your head up and look straight ahead.
3. Avoid hunching over; always skip with a straight back.
4. Jump only a few centimeters into the air each time that the rope passes.
Once you’ve mastered the basics, try some of these variations to bring variety into your skipping workout, improve your hand-to-eye coordination and impress your friends!
* Double Jump. Swing the rope slowly and complete a double jump for each revolution.
* Skip Jump. Instead of jumping with both feet together, jump on one foot only, kicking the other out in front or behind on each revolution. Alternate your feet between each jump.
* Hop Jump. Hop continuously on one foot as you skip. Start with a couple of hops before using the other foot, then gradually build up the number of hops that you can complete on each leg.
* Jog Jump. Adopt a ‘jogging’ style by keeping the rope low and ‘jogging’ on the spot as you twirl the rope.
* High Jog. This is more demanding - lift your knees as high as possible on each skip.
* Ski Jump. A double-footed jump - but this time, as well as jumping a few centimeters off the ground, you should also jump from side to side. Start with short sideways jumps and gradually extend the width of your jumps as you improve.
* Cross-over. The boxer’s classic - and it looks impressive too.
Using a standard double jump technique, as the rope comes above your head, cross your arms over as far as you can and perform a higher jump so you don’t catch the rope. Return to normal skipping and then repeat. Build up from one cross over in 10 skips until you can alternate.
Interested in a fitness/wellness consultation or have some questions about nutrition and your current fitness program? Join any of my groups online (Facebook) and/or pick up my book, How to be Fit for Life - Eight Proven Steps to Reaching Your Fitness Goals, Getting Results, and Living the Fitness Life for more help with your fitness journey. And please feel free to contact me and I'd be happy to answer any questions you may have:).
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