As a child, skipping was probably one of your favourite ways to spend time with friends. It is a childhood game that never goes out of fashion. As you grow older, you’ll naturally outgrow the game. However, the game is a vital form of exercise that boosts development in children. While it’s only a game, there are numerous benefits of rope skipping even as a grown up. There are a number of factors that determine how long you can skip for in a day, which include your fitness and what you want to achieve from skipping as an exercise. When you skip, you involve all muscles of your body while at the same time not needing too much equipment or space. When work out with skipping, the longer you do it, the more effective it is.
Benefits of Skipping
Improve your heart rate
If you are looking for an effective form of cardio exercise, you should definitely consider skipping. Your heart is part of your cardiovascular system. Your heart has veins and arteries that play part in blood circulation and distributions of oxygen in different parts of your body. When you enhance your cardiovascular system, you allow your heart to pump blood more effectively. With consistent skipping, you will realize you suffer less from shortness of breath and you also advance your stamina.
Tone your upper and lower body muscles
Skipping engages all your body muscles. This ensures you tone your body as a whole every time you skip. It is normal to encounter soreness when you are starting out. This is a clear sign of muscle inactivity. Allow your muscles time to heal and the next time you skip, you will find it easier to do. With time, you will have stronger and well-toned legs, arms and other body parts.
Aid in Weight Loss
If you are looking for a way to cut some pounds, skipping can be an effective way to do so. When you skip rope for half an hour, you burn up to 300 calories. When you do the math, together with reduced calories intake, you can lose up to a pound or more each week. This may seem a bit hard when you are starting out, but with time you will appreciate the fact that you have managed to lose weight and create a skipping habit.
Improve Your Skin Condition
Developing beautiful, glowing skin is one of the benefits of skipping. Like all other exercises, skipping allows your body to sweat. When you sweat, you not only burn calories but also help to excrete toxins and open up skin pores. It also improves blood circulation throughout your body and nourishes the skin with beneficial nutrients. This explains why your face glows after workout.
Improve Bone Density and Control Osteoporosis
Osteoporosis is a health condition where the human bones become fragile and prone to fractures. This is because inactivity decreases the bone mass and leads to muscle wasting. This condition is especially common in women above the age of 35 and in their menopause stage. When you skip, you stimulate your bones and strengthen them.
Increase Your Height
This is the most common benefit of skipping. If you are planning on increasing your height, skipping is a good exercise for this. However, this will go together with the right lifestyle, diet, age and also genetic makeup. While you may not gain 5 inches at a go, skipping has been known to increase on the human height. This is made possible because skipping engages your spine and back muscles. It is especially ideal for pre-teens and teens as they are in their developing stages.
Improve Your General Health
When you skip, you engage your lymph system. The work of the lymphatic system is to get rid of body toxins. When jumping up and down during skipping, the lymphatic system notices the movement and works the body system to excrete toxins through sweating. Also, skipping helps in keeping the heart rate in check. It also helps in controlling blood pressure. In the process, you also become physically fit, which goes a long way in keeping infections at bay. This is one of the benefits of skipping that no one can say no to.
Do Not Need Equipment or Specific Location
Unlike other workouts, where you need to go to the gym and have special equipment to work out, skipping does not come with any specific requirements. You can skip anywhere and whatever time is convenient for you. All you need is a skipping rope and comfortable shoes. Also, you do not need too much space to skip rope. A small corner in your house or office is good enough for this exercise.
Increase Your Speed and Enhance Your Strength
When you push yourself beyond your limits when skipping, you will notice that your speed will improve. Also, you will notice an improvement in your agility and also reaction time. When you become a pro in skipping, you will enhance how you perform in other athletic events as you will have developed your ankles and feet strength. You can try jumping barefoot in the grass or on rubber surface if you want to improve on your strength.
Improve Stability and Coordination
As you start off, you will find it a bit hard to skip consistently without missing a step or tripping. As you go, you develop stability and can go over a long period without stopping. As you skip, you can create a rhythm and pace. You can even learn to include a few tricks like skipping on one foot and alternating. When you skip, you also improve your ankle stability and this keeps sprains at bay. This is especially ideal for basketball players as well as soccer players.
There are many more benefits of skipping. With time, you will learn to love it as a form of exercise.
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