Are you a sporty person? Do you like to skip rope or do it as part of your daily fitness routine? Well I'm not any of the two that's why it seems like I've been "living a lie". 😆 Let me tell you how I realized I've been doing something so simple in a wrong way my entire life.
♦ Skipman Breaks World Record For Most Number of Double Skips in 12 Hours
Last week Ryan "Skipman" Alonzo was in the news for his attempt at a new Guinness World Record of most double skips in 12 hours. (Official result is still pending as far as I know.) Watching him do it made me wonder, why were his knees straight in every jump? 😮
Watch this:
See, I just realized I've been using the skipping rope the wrong way since forever! 😂
♦ 5 Things We SHOULD NOT Do To Jump Rope Properly
Since I think I will be switching to skipping rope instead of biking as my exercise routine, I did some online searches on what NOT to do. Looks like I've really been doing everything wrong. Haha, here I thought I was only doing one thing wrong (knee bends). Apparently I was doing many inaccurate things! 😂
Read through these so you don't make the same mistakes too!
1. Don't do warm ups.
Yes, this is the very first wrong thing to do when jumping rope. Do not forget to do warm up exercises. Our bodies need to be primed for most physical activities otherwise we will get all kinds of body aches later on.
2. Use a lightweight jump rope.
Who knew using a light skipping rope is not good especially for beginners? I certainly didn't before I did any online research. No wonder I have been doing it incorrectly for years. I've never had one that's noticeably heavy.
You can do a search online and sports websites will tell you the same thing. Why is it wrong to use those that are not weighty? Because if you use it your coordination would not be the best. Aside from that, you'd need to exert more effort when you make it go over and under your body.
Seriously, I tried doing it with my short skip rope and the effort I make to rotate it is really noticeable. That's definitely two of the reasons I make a lot of mistakes.
3. Use the wrong rope length.
Did you know there is actually a proper length to use for skipping rope? I never knew it until I tried to do the double skips. 😆 My decade or so old cotton jump rope happen to be too short for me. 🤔 I think it's the reason why I tend to bend my knees for fear of not being able to go over it.
How to determine the right length? The usual way is to make sure the end of your rope handles are just below your armpit if you pull both with the rope under your foot. Otherwise there's another way to do it. Watch this:
4. Move your arms around while skipping rope.
Oh my, here is another mistake I didn't know I was doing. Why is this incorrect? If we do this then we will also get tired faster than we should. The rope can also get caught between our legs and cause us to stop or even trip.
With the right rope length we can be confident to keep our arms steady at our sides while we jump rope. As you can see in the above videos, the guys don't really move their arms much or away from their bodies. Only their hands make most of the movements. Watch other visual records and you'll see the same thing.
5. Bend the knees when jumping.
Huhu. As mentioned I've been doing this since forever. As kids this is how we usually skip rope. We would jump high and have fun with it. It's what children normally do because it is treated as a game and not really a sports activity.
Remember, as a form of exercise, bending your knees too much is the wrong way of skipping rope. Why? Because it is more tiring to do such. Jumping high will make you exert too much energy.
I usually do the less than 90° bend like in the picture above and that's really all I knew. When I get a new jump rope I will practice the right way of doing it. Very minimal knee bends is the key!
♦ Skipping Rope While Doing The Above 5 Won't Make You Good at it.
Two days ago I tried and tried to stop bending my knees when skipping rope. Too bad my legs are just too stubborn. Muscle memory keeps kicking in. I just can't help but bend my legs whenever the rope reaches the floor. Yesterday I tried again but since everything with this exercise tool is wrong, I couldn't do it properly. It might take me a while to do it right because I need to get a new and better one.
If it's just for fun and games I could definitely just use it and jump around thinking it's good exercise. Haha. Maybe, but I still want to do it properly very soon. I don't want get frustrated with what I have so I will buy the right one as soon as I can.
They say it is way better than cycling when it comes to burning calories and such. Since I haven't been using my bike for half a month, well I should start doing this properly ASAP. 😁
In my next article perhaps I will write about the benefits of this exercise. Or not. Haha. Anyway have you tried skipping rope as a fitness routine yet? Feel free to share your thoughts too.
XOXO,
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Lead photo is mine.
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I've been doing skipping rope since last year. And it do impact on my health and my body. its really great to have determination, focus and regular exercise like skipping rope everyday.