Skipping is a workout that you can do virtually anywhere, with minimal equipment. As long as you’ve got time, enough space and a skipping rope, then skipping can be an effective way to burn calories and get your whole body moving.
Skipping is a great at-home workout option for the summer months when it’s warm enough to exercise outdoors. Let’s take a look at exactly how beneficial skipping can be…
The Health Benefits of Skipping
Skipping can have many health benefits, including:
Improves Co-ordination
Skipping can help to improve your coordination, agility, balance, cardiovascular fitness and endurance levels, so it’s a great exercise to start working in to your regular workout routine.
Burns Calories
Skipping gets your whole body moving and raises your heart rate, meaning it can be an effective way to burn calories, so could support weight loss goals. Just one minute of skipping could burn 10-20 calories, depending on your size and the speed you’re exercising at.
Boosts Your Mood
Skipping helps to release endorphins, also known as happy hormones, which can help to boost your mood, leaving you feeling uplifted after a skipping workout.
It’s Affordable
Compared to some at-home exercise machines or the cost of joining a gym, skipping is an extremely affordable exercise, requiring only a skipping rope – or even just a length of standard rope.
What Muscles Does Skipping Work?
Skipping can be an incredibly effective full-body workout; the repeated jumping works the muscles in your core and lower body, including your calves, quads, hamstrings, glutes and abs.
Meanwhile, swinging the skipping rope repeatedly works the muscles in your shoulders and upper arms.
Skipping Dos and Don’ts
If you’re new to skipping (at least as an adult), check out these dos and don’ts:
Dos
- Jump on the balls of your feet: when you’re about to start skipping, begin by slowly and softly jumping up and down on the balls of your feet. This will help you to get into the right rhythm without putting too much strain on your legs.
- Use the correct rope length: the ideal skipping rope length should be from your feet to your sternum. Anything higher than this will disrupt your rhythm and make skipping a lot harder.
- Cool down and stretch: like with any workout, finish your skipping session with a cool-down to help maximise recovery and reduce the risk of injury.
- Practice regularly: practice makes perfect – the more you practice, the more skipping will become second nature and a lot easier…and more fun!
Don’ts
- Don’t jump too high: it can be easy to jump higher than needed when skipping, but by making sure your jumps are relatively small, you’ll be able to get into a good rhythm for longer.
- Don’t swing too wide: try to use small controlled wrist actions, keeping your arms at waist height.
How to Get Into Skipping
Skipping can be a great HIIT workout to get your heart racing and it can be incredibly enjoyable.
We recommend starting by skipping for just 10 minutes at first, slowly increasing the number of minutes each week to keep challenging yourself.
Always warm-up before starting skipping to prepare your body and reduce the risk of injury.
Start by skipping for 30 seconds, then rest for 30 seconds. Repeat this cycle for five minutes, then increase those 30 seconds to 45 and repeat, before doing a cool-down routine. This is a great way to ease yourself into skipping, and you can keep yourself motivated and challenged by switching up this cycle.
How to Fuel Your Body for Skipping
Before any high-intensity workout, you should make sure you’re preparing and fuelling your body properly.
Make a simple protein shake or even a protein smoothie using our Raw Organic All-in-One Protein Powder, which comes in Vanilla and Chocolate flavours.
