Jumping Rope

Jumping Rope

There are many great benefits to jumping rope regarding your cardiorespiratory system. First off, it's hard! When you were a kid and could do that thing non-stop for hours, boy were you in god shape! It's a tough motion to get used to initially.

Jumping Rope in a forward motion is the most comfortable, and once you are able to do (let's say...) 40-50 in a row, change it up and do it on one foot at a time to make it more challenging on your leg muscles (especially calves). The only problem that I have with Jumping Rope is that of rounded shoulders, since most people only jump forward; this puts all the pushing motion on the anterior (front part of your) deltoid, resulting in somewhat more rounded shoulders. My suggestion? Backwards.

Not only is Jumping Rope backwards darn hard, but it puts more of the motion onto your posterior (back part of your) deltoid. When you get too good at backwards, perform it one foot at a time backwards. This is another challenging thing you can do for your cardio routine.