Whether you've taken classes or have been busy studying the sports documentary series Rocky I-VIII you would have noticed the ubiquity of skipping rope in boxing class. You may have even asked yourself "isn't skipping a children's activity that we grow past" (like recess or washing your hands for 26 seconds). Well if you were significantly smarter than a child you probably wouldn't be boxing so get rid of that judgemental tone and learn the core benefits of skipping rope.
Improves Cardio - Constantly moving your feet, transferring your weight, jumping each rotation of the rope means your body is in a constant state of motion. When you start skipping it might feel awkward and harder than running. Like everything in life, getting proficient takes time and effort. After time when skipping becomes an easy task you can very easily adjust your skipping to goal for cardiovascular health. You can switch to intervals of fast skips and slower skipping to simulate sprints. Double skips (one jump over two rotations of the rope) to work explosiveness, or simply increase the overall pace and intensity of skipping.
Low Impact - There are many ways to work your cardiovascular health. In the Lower Mainland we are blessed by the weather so that is you don't mind the rain you can run nearly 12 months of the year. Running is one of the simplest and historically the most practiced form of cardio. But there is a flaw in road work, the road. If you have bad knees running outdoors can be a hassle. Find a track can be hard and running in a circle can be dull. Treadmills may help but depend on the machine it can also leave you aching. When skipping the goal is to constantly move your feet while leaving as little space between your foot and the rope. This has less impact on your joints over long strides that come from running allowing you to spend less time on recovery. Moreover you can skip in or out-doors, with or without proper shoes.
Work Coordination - It's awkward, its constant, and, ideally, skipping is fluid. The ability to skip, even at a basic level, requires the ability to move feet independently. Though not in a fight stance you get the chance to practice weight transfer from one foot to another in a situation where you don't have to worry about getting punched in the face.
Build Shin Density - Most people that start kickboxing quickly learn that land kicks can hurt. At first even landing on soft target (thigh and ribs) can leave an unconditioned shin sore. As a practitioner gets better and get used to impact hitting hips, elbows, knees, and even the head can still result in an inoperable leg. Pain sucks, and it quickly the conditioning of bones between novices and advanced practitioners becomes apparent. There are no short cuts to conditioning your shins. Whether it is youtube or someone that has been around the sport you will hear about the "hacks." Rolling your shin with a rolling pin, beer bottle, et cetera. This method will leave your shin sore but eventually you will notice a decrease in pain whilst kicking. This is not a good thing. Pain is our body telling us something is wrong. If I develop a micro fracture I probably don't want to use that leg and further compromise it resulting in a serious injury. The best way to getter better at kicking is through kicking (and progressive kicking harder objects). This should simultaneously develop technique and the micro-fractures that develop in kicking should result in denser shins. So how does skipping fit into this? After a hard session of kicking, when you skip the impact on the ground will expand micro-fractures to heal denser, without killing the nerve that inform you how much integrity your shin has. Over all this method will still result in dead nerves but the negative effects of this are mitigated by developing proper technique and a denser shin that can now take more impact (pain threshold and strength of body are more proportionate).
What rope to use?
Weighted Rope - Handles are weighted providing. an additional workout for your arms and shoulders.
Speed Rope - Thin metal skip rope. Purpose is in the name, speed.
Materials
Plastic - inexpensive and lightweight. Tend to get a little stiff in cold temperatures.
Leather - soft doesn't hurt when hitting your toes when learning how to skip.
Metal - Thick or thin. Thin metal ropes are focused on speed and thick meatal rope and weight that make momentum a little easier to use than light ropes that require more active wrists and hands. Teaches you how to be light on your feet very fast (any type of metal rope) because it hurst when you clip your toes.
Beaded - composed of segment plastic. Lightweight and doesnt kink in the same way was standard plastic ropes
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