Strength Source

Benefits of jump rope

Are you bored of running? Do you need to spice up your conditioning training? You don't feel like sprinting today? Are you looking for a quick, cheap and effective way to lose a few pounds? Then give jump rope a try. Let's discuss a few quick benefits of jump rope:

• Cheap. A good quality jump rope shouldn't cost more than a few bucks.
• Can be done anywhere. The rope itself can be carried in your back pocket !
• Very effective fat loss tool. You will burn so many calories skipping, you won't be able to keep count.
• Easy to pick up and learn. After the initial frustration period, and once you get your rhythm going. It's go time !
• Fun. After you get really good at skipping, it doesn't even feel like your exercising.
• Can help maintain or build healthy bones.

In addition to the aforementioned benefits, jumping rope will also help improve your balance, and increase your endurance and agility. Those are just a few benefits of jump rope, there are plenty more where that came from. To get started, all you really need is a good quality jump rope, a pair of shoes, and a place to jump around. That's it !

Jump rope is a great way to add some variety into your conditioning workouts. You can use jump rope in addition to your training, or use it as your main source of cardio.

Be sure to switch it up every once in a while, and always be sure to keep making progress. Try to skip faster, try to skip for longer periods, try doing double unders (all this means is that you take two turns of the rope for every one jump), or try incorporating some cross-overs. The possibilities are really endless here. It's only limited by your imagination.

Check out these great deals on jump ropes.

Be sure to talk to your physician before starting a jump rope routine.

HIIT

What is HIIT? HIIT stands for high intensity interval training. Basically this means you train hard for a few seconds, then you take a recovery break, then repeat it all over again. This is similar to traditional cardio, but better. Way better. A little while back, we posted an article regarding the Magic 50 routine, this is a perfect example of HIIT. We will go over the benefits of HIIT:

• You burn more fat.
• You spend less time training.
• Adds some excitement to your training.
• Will make you feel energized.
• Continues burning calories long after your session is complete.

You can implement HIIT in your current cardio routine. All you need to do is modify your intensity levels a little. Here is a simple example showing how you would use HIIT and sprinting:

Sprint for 10-20 seconds
Rest for 30-60 seconds
Sprint for 10-20 seconds
Rest for 30-60 seconds
Repeat as many times as needed

This will help you get started. You can modify this simple example to best fit your needs. Your whole session can be as short or as long as you want. You will see and feel the benefits, no matter how long or short your session is.

You will want to be careful though, this is something you don't want to be doing everyday. You should be able to safely implement HIIT cardio training at least once or twice a week. Of course this all depends on your current fitness level. If you are just starting out, it's best to keep your HIIT session to a minimum until your body adjusts to the training. When you feel like your body has adapted, feel free to shift your training to the next gear.

You can apply HIIT cardio training to any one of your favourite cardio activities (biking, swimming, sprinting, jump rope, etc).  That about sums it up, if you want to spice up your cardio training, check out HIIT. You won't soon forget your first HIIT session.

As with any intense form of exercise, please consult your physician before starting HIIT training.

Best weight loss exercise

The best exercise you can do to lose excessive amounts of fat, is sprinting. Let's go over some benefits of sprinting:

• Burn more calories versus other traditional cardio activities.
• Your legs will become stronger and more defined.
• You will continue to burn calories long after you've finished your sprinting session.
• It's really fun.
• You develop explosive leg strength and speed.
• Your vertical jump may also increase.
• Improved heart and lung recovery time.
• Better long distance endurance.
• More energy.
• You get to experience runner's high.
• It's free.
• Takes less time than other forms of cardio training.

Hopefully you're feeling charged up and are ready to sprint. To help you get started, here is a basic sprinting session example:

Warm up with proper stretching.
Start jogging to warm up your muscles.
When you are ready, start your first sprint run. Your sprint run should only last roughly 8-10 seconds.
Time to cool down. You can walk or jog here. Try to make the rest period around 6o seconds.
Repeat 3-4 times. If you still have energy left.

There you have it, your whole session is completed withing 30 minutes, maybe less. Please do not jump right into sprinting intervals. As with any new exercise, you will need to gradually incorporate them into your routine. You may want to start off sprinting once a week for a few months, then when your body has adapted to the intense running, you can increase the frequency to 2-3 times a week. Sprinting can easily be added to your strength training routine. Simply sprint on your off days, the days that you are not in the gym.

That's pretty much it. Before you know it, you will have a sprinter's body.

As with any intense exercise program, please be sure to consult your physician before starting sprint training. You will also need to buy new clothes, as your favourite pair of jeans, may become lose after a few sprint sessions.