Jumping Rope - Why to Start Today
by Jedd Johnson, CSCS author of Ultimate Forearm Training

Have you procrastinated so far this year with your goal to look good at the beach?

Now that the summer is almost here, do you feel like your back is up against the wall?

Are you looking for a way to shed the pounds quickly without having to buy an expensive piece of cardiovascular equipment?

If you answered yes to one or more of these questions, then maybe it's time for you to get yourself a jump rope and start skipping!

Jumping rope is an outstanding way to stay in shape and get ready for the summer beach season. It may take a little practice to get the hang of the rope, since it requires a degree of timing and coordination, but once you have it down, it is a very efficient way to burn calories, and shed the pounds.

Although it is a simple form of exercise, jumping rope actually burns an impressive amount of calories. According to the HealthStatus.com's Calorie Burning Calculator, in 15 minutes, a person who weighs 150 lbs can burn 171 calories; at 200 lbs bodyweight a person can burn 228 calories; and at 250 lbs, a person can burn 285 calories. So, in 15 minutes the number of calories you can burn jumping rope is equal to roughly 114% of your bodyweight in pounds.

I usually jump rope several times a week, but I do not use it only as a way to burn extra calories. I also use it to serve other purposes in my workout routine.

First off, jumping rope is an excellent full body warm-up. Jumping rope works many muscles in the body. Obviously, the muscles of the upper and lower legs are worked from jumping rope, but many people forget that the upper body is stimulated from jumping rope too. I especially like the feeling I get in my shoulders when I jump rope. For instance, I focus on pulling my shoulders back when I jump rope. This allows me to warm up the posterior delts, rotator cuff, and rhomboids, as well as to stretch out the chest muscles, open the chest, and improve posture. Here at Diesel, we often include the jump rope in our general warm-up when we are going to perform the bench press, military press, rows, pull-ups and other big movements involving the shoulders because it flushes the area with blood and gets us ready to perform some seriously heavy work in the gym.

Another great reason to include some rope jumping in your training is its plyometric properties. Generally when thinking of plyometric exercises, broad jumps, box jumps, and depth jumps come to mind, but actually skipping rope is a simple form of plyometrics. If you play basketball or any other sport that involves jumping, bounding, and other explosive movements, I suggest you jump rope often. In college, at 226 lbs, I was easily able to slam dunk a basketball with two hands from a position directly under the rim. Prior to that, in high school, I always had to get a running start in order to dunk. I attribute this to the tremendous amount of jumping rope I used to do.

No jump rope? No problem! All you really need in order to get a good jump rope workout is a 10-ft length of rope. There's really no need for handles. Just grab it at each end, and start skipping. If it's too long, you can wrap it loosely around your hand to shorten it until it is the correct length for your height.

Are you stinging your shins by whacking them with a short rope? Falling on your face from tripping on a short rope? They make a device called a Jump Snap that is just handles and some short line with balls at the end that feels like jumping rope. So if all you have is short rope, then cut it to length, tie some metal washers at the end, and start moving!

As if you don't have enough reasons to start jumping rope already, here's one more reason to use one to get ready for the beach. You can work on your tan! Take your shirt off, go outside in the hot sun and start bronzing up! In fact, jumping rope can be done almost anywhere with enough overhead clearance and on just about any surface. You can take it with you to the gym and skip in the weight room or on a basketball or racquetball court. If you don't have time to hit the gym, you can skip rope in the drive way or in a parking lot. Even if no pavement is around, you can jump rope in your or someone else's lawn. Throw your jump rope in the back of your vehicle and take it out to sneak in a quick workout whenever or wherever you like!

Chances are by now you have your beach vacation all mapped out. Your time away from work is already scheduled with your boss. Do you really want to show up on the coast with a beer belly and love handles? Go get your rope and start jumping today. That will shed the fat off. To start building muscle, check out my site. We can get you started in the right direction in that department, as well.

Ultimate Forearm Training for Baseball

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