Skip Yourself Slim
I recently helped the hubby compile a review of fitness skipping ropes for his article in the IndyBest section of The Independent. The work that was involved in pulling together the review was lengthy as it was really important for a fair comparison to be made between all of the skipping ropes. Who knew so much variety was available for such a simple, low cost product? Within the mix we tested were a variety of brands, materials, lengths and even some that used modern technology. Did you know that you could buy skipping ropes that calculate your work-out stats and feed into an app? Well I certainly didn’t.
Skipping ropes are a serious bit of fitness kit so if you have in your mind that they are for little girls with pigtails wearing gingham school dresses, you’d be so wrong. Of course my kids absolutely love them too and spending time with grandparents has definitely resulted in them both mastering the art of the more traditional sporting skills such as the use of hula hoops, bean bag throwing and of course, skipping. For us grown ups the fitness benefits are astounding. There’s a reason you see boxers skipping in the gym. It’s not just for girls!
Within just a minute of trying out the skipping ropes my heart rate was up and my biceps were tingling. It’s a full body work out. Your core is used to stabilise and balance your whole body, your legs are used to jump over the rope and your upper body is used to execute the swing action. Speed it all up and you have yourself a great, full body, intensive cardio work out. If you’re driven by technology and tracking your progress then a set of digital skipping ropes could be for you. However, my favourite set of skips out of the full range we tested were the traditional leather boxing gym style ropes. They were so easy to use yet the weighted handles really made me feel like I was giving my arms a good work out.
Here’s a time-lapse we managed to capture while doing the review. I love watching the kids messing around in the background, ha!
I’ve done some digging around and found some information that suggests 10 minutes of skipping is the equivalent to an 8 minute mile run and much easier on the joints. With two young children that I can’t just leave in the house while I go for a run, this seems like a work out suited to a lots of Mums out there. The beauty of skipping is that it’s a bit like when I get my weighted hula hoop out. The kids like to join in with me and enjoy making it into a bit of a competition. Or we put really fun music on and have a sing-a-long while we go. If your kids enjoy skipping too, this is something you could all do together. My aim now is to slot in ten minutes of skipping at least three times a week. The question is, will I manage to skip for ten whole minutes? I’ll keep you posted with my progress.
Do you use skipping ropes as part of your weekly fitness routine? Do you have a preferred style of rope?
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What a great tip! It’s been known that skipping is a great workout for a while now, but for some reason a lot of people are less inclined to try it. You make a great point that it’s a great workout when you have kids around too!