Muscles Targeted: Jumping rope is really the ultimate cardio exercise because it targets all of the major muscles in the body, which allows you to burn maximum calories in a minimum amount of time. When you’re jumping, you’re using your legs, calves and butt of your lower body and when you swing the rope, you’re using your forearms, triceps, shoulders and back muscles. You also incorporate your abs and overall core muscles as stabilizers when you perform the jump rope exercise. This is what makes this exercise a total full-body workout that is super convenient and truly portable. You can easily pack your jump rope in your suitcase when traveling, your workout bag when you go to the gym and even your briefcase when you go to work. You can really jump rope just about anywhere!
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Exercise Advice: In this jump rope video workout, you will be doing what is called a “ski mogul” style routine. This routine is like a snow skier who is training for the moguls and jumps side to side using the outer part of their leg muscles. This is great since a typical jump rope workout has you simply jumping straight up and down. This variation really tests your agility since you’re not only jumping side to side but you’re also going forward and backward. This is definitely an advanced routine, so if you’re just beginning to jump rope, you probably want to work on your form and technique before attempting this workout. You can work with different speed variations and length of jumps when doing this “ski mogul” routine. Try to mix it up by jumping farther out on each step and also work at a little faster pace. It’s a great mix to do one set at a fast pace and then slow it down on your second set. This is a little like a HIIT (high intensity interval training) cardio workout where you’re always changing the intensity levels during your workout.
Things To Avoid: On this specific jump rope cardio workout, you really want to avoid attempting this if you’re a beginner. Make sure to work on your technique before advancing to this level of a workout. If your experienced, then you want to avoid going too fast at first. Try to do 2-3 sets at a slow tempo to get the feel of this style of “ski mogul” training. Also, make sure to keep your elbows from flying out when you’re going forward and backyard. Since you’re actually moving and jumping rope at the same time, your technique might suffer a little since you will be so focused on jumping and moving. If you have access to a mirror in your gym, try to jump rope in front of it to check your form and technique. Your elbows should be tucked into your sides and your wrists turning the jump rope while you’re moving forward and backward. If moving backwards is too difficult while also jumping from side to side, just try to focus on doing basic straight jumps when going backward to complete the set.
Reps and Sets: A great cardio workout will be a full set of this exercise which means going all the way down and back for about 10-20 yards in each direction. Rest for about 30-60 seconds and then repeat. Try to do 10-15 sets of this “ski mogul” jump rope workout per session which should last you about 20-30 minutes. For maximum fat loss, try to do cardio about 4-6 days per week and always perform your cardio after your weigh training workouts. You want to use all of your energy and carbs lifting weights and then move onto your cardio at the end. This will allow your body to tap right into the fat stores since you will have burned the carbs during the resistance training portion of your workout. If it’s a cardio only day, try to do this jump rope workout in the morning right after waking up. Have 1 scoop of whey protein powder in water to ensure you have enough protein to preserve lean muscle tissue and to also get your body out of the catabolic state after waking up. You can also drink a BCAA (branched chain amino acids) supplement before and during your cardio workout which works very well for preserving muscle tissue.
Other Exercises To Use: A few great exercises to combine with this jump rope workout are running in place and doing pushups. A killer cardio workout is doing 1 full set of the “ski mogul” jump rope going down and back, and then immediately run in place for 60 seconds. Running in place is basically the running motion but you’re not actually moving forward. Just pump your arms and legs in the same spot and try to bring your knees up as high as possible if you really want to work your abs. Another variation of this combination workout is to do a full set of the jump rope followed up with 20 pushups. Your chest will be on fire after doing a few sets of these and the pump in your pecs will be incredible!
