If you subscribe to Muscle and Fitness magazine then you’ve probably received the January issue featuring Dallas Cowboys Terrell Owens on the cover. Whether you like him or not, Terrell Owens has one of the best bodies in the NFL today. His workouts are intense on-season and off-season. One of the items that stood out for me was that Terrell includes jumping rope in between sets to help build his endurance. Many people haven’t jumped rope since they were kids if at all. I also fall into that category. However, there are some cool benefits to adding a jump rope into your workouts.
How jump roping works well with intervals
The best thing about interval training is that you can mix and match exercises to get a full body workout. That is why you rarely encounter boredom when interval training. Adding jump roping to your routine is as easy as jumping in between sets like TO does. For instance, if you are doing an upper body exercise you can immediately jump rope for 30 seconds after the set, then go into a lower body exercise.
The health benefits of jumping rope
When you think of athletes jumping rope, you may immediately think of boxers. A jump rope is good part of their training and here are a few reasons why:
- Develop muscular and cardio endurance
- Build coordination
- Become more agile
- Improve speed and explosiveness
- Awesome fat burner
- Works out your whole body
Jumping rope takes practice and the benefits are well worth it. They are inexpensive and you can jump rope just about anywhere you have space. The video below is a great intro to learning how to jump rope properly:
Jump rope workout video
Just for fun, if you get really good, maybe you can jump rope like Floyd Mayweather too!
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that way was a great way to lose weight. Is is true that jumping rope on your tippy-toes is more effective? Thanks for the post.
I absolutely love my jump rope! It is such a tough, yet convenient workout that I can do almost anywhere.
I, too, read the M&F issue with Terrell Owens, and the jumping rope part “jumped” out at me, too. As a result, I’ve started jumping rope in between sets. I do a split routine (i.e. Day 1 Chest/Back, Day 2 Bi’s/Tri’s, Day 3 Legs/More Chest, Day 4 Shoulders/More Bi’s, Day 5 rest, Day 6 Start over again). Between each and every set, I jump rope for 30 seconds. Then I do an hour of cardio at the end (i.e. jog for 30 minutes, bike for 30 minutes) and try to do various kinds of cardio each day to keep it interesting and switch it up. Either way, I’ve lost a tremendous amount of weight over the last few weeks. After a week of jumping rope, I was able to run on the treadmill longer than ever before. Of course, you have to watch what you eat, too. I’ve been really good about cutting out “bad” carbs and I think this has helped, too. I go to the gym at 5:30 AM and workout until around 8:00 AM. I get home, drink a protein shake and then scramble some egg whites. 2 hours later I drink another protein shake (powder mixed with really cold water). Lunch is tuna fish with a little cottage cheese and tomato slices. 2 hours later another protein shake. Dinner is chicken or fish with some vegetables. Sometimes I drink a protein shake before I go to sleep, but that is rare. Once you get into the groove, this lifestyle rocks! Oh, and I don’t drink soft drinks any longer, either. And I switched from coffee in the morning to green tea.
Hope this helps!!