Jump Rope: Easy Kids Stuff or Exercise from ****?

[not2late]

So one of my bosses tells me that he's been jumping rope because it's a good cardio workout, blah blah blah.

Over the weekend, I decided to try out it. Mind you, I haven't jumped rope since I was 11 years old and I was a pretty good rope jumper back then (we used to have contests during recess!).

To my surprize, I was able to jump that rope. The first day, I did 4 sets of 30 jumps, resting a minute between sets. In the middle of my first set, I felt my heart rate increase. By the 3rd set, I was breathless. By the end of the 4th set, my legs were burning. The next morning, my legs ached.

I've been jumping rope daily this week. Next week I plan to increase to 5 sets of 30, but walk in place between sets. And my over all plan is to get back to the jump rope level I had when I was 9 years old: jumping for 15 minutes nonstop and able to jump on one foot.

So far, I like this addition to my exercise routine. It's low cost (I went to Home Depot and bought a length of rope---yeah, yeah, I'm cheap, but I'm not spending $20.00 on a rope that calculates the number of jumps and calories burned. Plus, I can always use my rope for other things, like tying a Christmas tree to the roof of my car!). The equipment is small enough so it doesn't take up alot of space. The equipment is light enough that I can easily drag it place to place. The equipment is low tech, ie, I don't have to have a degree in mechanical science to assemble it.

Editing to add some jump rope articles:
http://health.discovery.com/centers/.../jumprope.html
http://www.findarticles.com/p/articl...9/ai_104682191
http://www.shapefit.com/cardio-exercises.html
http://www.prevention.com/article/0,...4573-1,00.html

[2big4mysize]

Re: Jump Rope: Easy Kids Stuff or Exercise from ****?

good for you Megs. any shin pain when you started?

[not2late]

Re: Jump Rope: Easy Kids Stuff or Exercise from ****?

good for you Megs. any shin pain when you started?

No shin pain. I was a little worried because my ankles are weak and tend to 'roll-in' when I walk, but I jump wearing crosstrainers that stablize my ankles, so I didn't have any problems.

It's my calves that are killing me. On the morning of Day 2, I could barely walk because they ached so much. They've eased up alittle, but they still ache (especially when I walk down stairs). And my quads are achy, but not as achy as my calves. The area between my shoulder blades are alittle achy too (probably from the rope twirling action). While I'm jumping my rope and right after, it's my quads and hamstrings that burn the most, which is why I was really surprized my calves took a beating.