Jumping rope as a cardio exercise?

[Hotfeet]

What do you think about this? Boxers do it. Is this a good idea or should I stick to running.

[Dude911]

It's great to do before you start working out.
Also as a cardio workout it's excellent.

For example:

- Jump for 5 minutes in a slow speed to warm up.
- Do 1 minute full speed.
- 2 minutes slow.
- 2 minutes full speed.
- 2 minutes slow.
- 4 minutes full speed.
- 2 minutes slow.
- 2 full speed
- 4 slow

This is a good one, but hard to do to.
Whenever you feel you are TOTALLY exhausted, do another 2 minutes slow and stop. Work into this one. You can't do it right the first time. Train for it.

Good luck.
Dude911

[angelo25]

jumping rope, and line drills are a very good cardio workout, its also works good if you want get faster

[Ca1amity]

It depends on what you want with your cardio. As with all cardio exercises you will both build up your base stamina and your "specific" stamina, which only applies to that exercise. If you jump rope your rope jumping stamina will improve greatly, but your base stamina will probably not improve that much. According to my boxing coach boxers do it because its good for your coordination mainly.

[CCarter]

try jumping rope tabata style:

Jump Rope - 20 sec. (high knee jump rope style, sprinting in place as fast as you can)

Rest - 10 sec.

Then repeat 7 more times. It's only a 4 minute workout, but you'll be burnt out. Combine this with other exercises (push-ups, crunches, burpees, etc) doing the same 20 sec. ON/ 10 sec. OFF. Do this at least twice a week along with your normal workouts and you'll see faster more dramatic effects.

[dman]

I say stick to running, but I'm a runner. So I'm biased

Originally Posted by Ca1amity

It depends on what you want with your cardio. As with all cardio exercises you will both build up your base stamina and your "specific" stamina, which only applies to that exercise. If you jump rope your rope jumping stamina will improve greatly, but your base stamina will probably not improve that much. According to my boxing coach boxers do it because its good for your coordination mainly.

he is on the money, skipping will not improve your stamina to the same extent as running but will improve coordination blah blah blah...

[CollegeKid]

I can't remember where I heard this, but I believe jumping rope is one of the top forms of cardio. It's also, imo, one of the easiest to do every day and has got to be tops for the least weather/equipment reliant. At worst, it's no worse than your average dance class/ tai bo/ etc-type deal, and probably quite a bit better.

I use it as a good all-rounder and a "no excuses!" form of cardio when I can't run or swim.

Swimming and running are great...if the weather is holds up.
Indoor pools and treadmills can be expensive, take up room and require maintenance.

Whereas a good jumprope costs $5-15, lasts forever, and can be used pretty much anywhere. I've got a kind with either 1.5lb or 3lb weights in each end, which also work the arms a bit over the course of a longer workout.

The other nice thing about jump rope is that, as others have touched on, you can mix styles and body motions for a variety of effects.

~Semi