Burning Calories with Skipping

The least expensive and most effective workout ever, skipping also improves your agility and reflexes.

A simple, inexpensive jump rope and some nice music can help you too, if you are consistent with it and do it right. Some points you need to keep in mind...

- An hour of skipping burns off over 1,000 calories. And 10 minutes of it burns around the same amount of calories as running a mile for that duration.

- Start off by skipping for a few minutes daily and gradually increase the duration.

- Remember to keep changing your skipping style every 30 to 40 seconds to avoid getting tired faster.

- Skipping can do wonders for your arms — it gives a great workout to your shoulders and also works wonders for your legs and abs.

- It increases coordination between your feet and hand movements, improves your agility, reflexes, posture and flexibility and is also known to strengthen your bones.

- Being an amazing cardio workout, it allows your body to burn fat more effectively, when you are doing other less intense exercises. Besides, it increases your endurance levels and makes you more vigilant.

- Avoid jumping on the carpet (you could slip or twist your ankle), grass, concrete, or asphalt. Your exercise surface should be a wooden floor or an impact exercise mat.

- You need to consult your doctor before you take up skipping especially if you have problems with your knees, ankles and legs.

How to jump rope:

- Jumping rope needs coordinated movements and if you are new to it, you need to do both movements separately first and then merge them together.

- Jump without the rope first and later, hold the rope handles and swing it. Later combine both movements.

Why skip?

- For skipping rope, you do not need a gym; you can skip and jump anywhere.

- It exercises your entire body.

- You do not need an expensive trainer to tell you how to do this — just take a rope and skip away.

- It is the least expensive workout ever created

You don't have to worry about the weather, like you do when you have to go for walks.

Tip:

Don't jump too high — ideally, it should not be more than an inch off the floor.