Efficient Cardio

I remember when I was younger, playtime always included skipping rope.  If I could recall quite well, it had a wooden handle and a hemp rope.  I would jump until my heart could burst! Ahh, well, things you could do when you are young! 😄

My cousins and I would skip together; and stop only when their moms call out to them. I would then be left alone to continue jumping.  I remember, I used to jump so high, but it didn't bother my knees at all.

Sometime in my college days, I found newer kinds of jump ropes in the market.  I remember, I even bought one that had a counter, it was exactly this item:

Why I came back to jump rope

Sometime in early 2018, I sold my stationary bike.  My knees were really bad as I had a dislocated patella in my left knee and suffered LCL tear on my right.  The stationary bike didn't do much for me.  To this date, I still ponder why a stationary bike would be part of a knee therapy when it didn't really help me that much.

I was overweight for my height and I didn't like what I saw.  During these days, I was still taking hypertension medication.  I was struggling with my weight.  After a conference attended, some new friends tagged me in their twitter posts and I was surprised to see how "big" I was for my body frame.  I knew I needed some change.  It was a horrible sight! 🙈

How I re-discovered the love

After I encountered an Instagram post on weight loss & transformation, it led me to an account for jump rope workouts.  I dived deep into jumping rope, exploring the basics and trying out their video tutorials.  Some time later, I took a chance, bought my lean set of jumping rope from their recommended rope set.  

It's been 2 years now, and their current price for the lean set is at $99 but I was able to get it at only $79.  For me, it was well worth it.  👌

So, why do I jump?

I'm listing here, all the benefits from my own experience.  You may have read a lot of articles about it, but these are the ones that I really attest to:

Calories burned is really substantial.  If you count calories, this is a game changer for you.  If you jump at the end of the day, you'll be able to make a significant deficit enough to account for rapid weight loss.  Below is a chart put together by PinoyFitness:

Cures knee problems.  Now, I know what you think.  It's supposed to be bad for the knees, right? No.  Fortunately, jumping is a low impact workout.  As long as you maintain proper alignment and always land on the balls of the feet, then you'll be safe.  On top of this, always make sure you wear proper shoes and/or a jumping mat.  All of these observed, will not bring you pain.

Great cure for cardiovascular diseases.  I remember when I was still hypertensive, I always get headaches and would always be out of breath.  With continued practice, it helps to get the blood flowing and increase VO2 max.  

Stamina and Endurance will increase.  Before I turned to jump rope, I was doing marathons.  However, I would always be easily out of breath.  Jump rope practice taught me to do cardio for longer and with less exhaustion.

Stronger bones.  With sufficient practice, it creates enough stress to make bones stronger.  In the last two years that I have started jumping, I have forgotten how to complain about bad knees.

Cardio anytime, anywhere.  With only a limited space, you can enjoy cardio equal to marathons only within a small space.  With only my yoga mat and my jump rope, I can travel anywhere and never be without my favorite exercises!

Overall fat loss.  At my current age, I'm so done and over with targeted fat loss.  I no longer do any of exercises that claim "<insert body part> fat loss".  Jump rope takes care of fats everywhere in your body! Just jump and enjoy the fat loss benefit!

Variety is endless! You can buy multiple jump ropes of different weights for a challenge, or different kinds (beaded vs PVC), etc.  Learn different kinds of trick, and jump to a different set of music every time! Only your creativity is the limit.

Toned body.  With proper diet, your body will get toned faster than in any workout that burns much calories.  Over time, I have seen my calves and my legs get more toned.  I no longer feel them jiggle when I jump 😝 and I can see beautiful toned lines now 😉

Where I am at now

I'm still nowhere close to those jump rope masters that you see online.  However, with my continued love for jumping, I have lost a huge weight off the scale and I've increased my stamina.  I made some new jump rope friends online and my rope is still in good shape! (although, it's quite beaten since I don't have a rubber mat to jump on, and I jump outside)

Whenever I jump, I throw in some body weight workouts like pushups, squats, tricep dips, jumping jacks, etc.  So, my strength has also increased.  I've got some new footwork in as well and some tricks that I really enjoy doing much of.

At the moment, I'm able to jump outside for only once a week.  It has become too tedious to go out because each time I do, it's a risk to get infected.  Also, jumping during COVID19 times is quite difficult since I'd have to be in a mask all the time and it really hampers breathing.  My heart rate won't drop that fast when I'm deprived of free breathing.

Nonetheless, I still enjoy jumping.  Today, I had to clean my ropes.  I have accumulated some ropes over time.  Each of them with their strengths.  Overall, my favorite is still CrossRope.  The feedback of the 1/2 lb rope is my favorite.  Always leaves me with a good arm workout afterwards.

The beaded green and black rope is from Unconventional Gainz and the pink one is available locally from Jump Manila.

My plans

I will continue to jump with a minimum of 1000 jumps per session.  I aim to jump on a daily basis but given that my current space is limited inside my unit, I can continue to jump outside, once a week.  My go-to rope will still be CrossRope 1/2 lb rope, but I've got my eye on Jump Rope Coach Chris' beaded rope  🙊 I've got my heart set on the Cheshire rope design!  ..just waiting for quarantine to be lifted from Metro Manila so I can order! Hah!

While I still love to learn more tricks, I aim at getting comfortable with my footwork first.  I learn quite slow because I don't do it everyday, but I add more tricks as much as I can.

I have noticed more people trying to do jump rope since the quarantine.  Are you convinced yet? Get your own rope now.

Need some tips? Check out this video