Skipping - how efficient is it?

DOLEMAN

Hey all,

I used to be very fit, but over the past few months too much work has gotten me distracted.

I don't want to join a gym, but want to start doing an efficient, not-much-space-required routine.

I'm thinking skipping.

Waste of time or great workout??

retrograde

Any exercise is good but skipping is tough for an untrained person. Try and progress over few weeks. Starting for 1 minute and biult it to 5 etc. Its tough goin but its a good cardio workout

r3nu4l

I fully agree with retro

Ideally if you stand on the middle of the rope the handles should come to just under your armpit. Start with a leather rope and when you have improved move to a high-speed rope if you prefer.

Skip for one minute
rest for one minute
Skip for one minute
Cool down with some walking

Build SLOWLY to five minutes continuous skipping.

Remember to drink lots of water as skipping really makes you sweat, especially when you are just beginning and you need to replace the fluids.

If you start getting dizzy, you are doing too much so stop and the next day you try it, do less or skip the rope at a slower pace.

Easygainer

It's not particularly good for fat burning. What are your goals? To get fit or to lose fat?

PS I used to be made skip for 5 mins with gravel in heels of runners so I couldn't stop - oh yeah.

padraigcarroll

Easygainer wrote:

It's not particularly good for fat burning. .

but its great for water loss........
anyways........skipping?
well
if you want to know how good it is> then decide if boxers/thai boxers are skinny/fit/ripped????
that answers the question i think!

->edit---> actually i can honestly after thinking about it, testify that boxing training including skipping, helped me lose a shed load of body fat.
in a short amont of time too.

Rogueish

Skipping is an excellent way to get fit and lose weight. Just be careful to make sure that your footwear has sufficent shock absorbtion. If not it can lead to nasty stress injuries e.g. shin splints/ stress fractures/ knee injuries.

As the rest of the guys have said build up slowly and listen to your body.

Good luck

Running Bing

padraigcarroll wrote:

if you want to know how good it is> then decide if boxers/thai boxers are skinny/fit/ripped????
that answers the question i think!

Thats rubbish, boxers do more than skip you know! its equivalent to saying "if you want to know how good kicking a ball is just look at how skinny/fit/ripped footballers are". Skipping is no good on its own. It takes a long time to be able to do a good amount of skipping and until then youll only be doing a couple of minutes excercise at a time which isnt much use. Its for coordination and stamina building rather than general fitness or fat burning. It is excellent as part of a training routine but on its own you arent gonna get very far. Why not just go out for a jog?

r3nu4l

Babybing wrote:

It is excellent as part of a training routine but on its own you arent gonna get very far. Why not just go out for a jog?

I agree that skipping must be incorporated into the rest of a bigger reoutine. Also, while footwear is important to prevent injury, so too is a sprung floor if possible, not concrete!! I used to train early in the morning so I had plenty of room to skip on the sprung floor of my gym between my rowing and treadmill sessions. I always found the skipping the hardest part, the rest felt like a breather compared to that

Running Bing

r3nu4l wrote:

I always found the skipping the hardest part, the rest felt like a breather compared to that

Yeah skipping is one tough excercise. I dont think people realise how tough it is until they actually do it. When starting things like treadmill, rowing machine, cycle machine your talkin minutes but with skipping its seconds(and thats after youve actually learned how to skip properly. Its a difficult skill to master as well as excercise).