Hop to it!

I bought some weighted jump ropes in late April. We were home (like everyone else) due to the pandemic. I had been walking, doing some weights and even joined a dance class online. My intention was to jump a little at home and bring them with me to the kickboxing gym once it reopened.

Woah! The first time I jumped, I thought these ropes are great! They’re weighted and you get feedback from them. So much better than my cheap rope that will twist up. The ropes come with a free app with workouts. I started doing a beginner workout that was 16 minutes long. I could only make it for 6-7 minutes with breaks. My heart was pounding with this workout. Yikes, it was time to get in shape!

In the first few weeks, I could feel my muscles recovering after the workouts. It felt like they were humming and throbbing. I could feel it most in my legs, arms, and butt. One of the things I learned is that you need to have a day or two break in between to let your body recover. I overdid it in week two. I was jumping and kept going faster and faster. That night I had trouble sleeping and couldn’t lay on my left side. The lateral muscle in my quadriceps was aching. I was concerned I had done some serious damage to my leg but the pain went away in a day or two. I decided I need to take 3-4 days off from jumping and start over.

Why am I doing this? When I was in my twenties, I decided that I wanted to stay healthy for the long haul. I ran a lot during that period then, then I started weight lifting in my thirties. Later I started cycling then took up yoga. Now, I don’t want to do long workouts but like to get my heart rate up and maintain my muscles. Jumping rope is a great solution because you can do it anywhere and the ropes are portable. I didn’t think about nutrition much in the early days. I’ll write about that journey in another post.

I’m improving now and jumping 3-4 times a week. My stamina has improved and can jump longer without a break. I’ve worked up to 30 minute workouts. I also realized quickly there is so much to learn. I watch people in the online group jumping rope and admire their speed, fluidity and skill. I’m working on the basic bounce, alternate foot, boxer step, crossover, and jump jacks. I can see a difference comparing my videos from the beginning to now, but the improvement seemed slow to me. My kickboxing trainer told me to keep practicing and it will come. Then I heard from more experienced jumpers that I need to be able to jump 100- 200 times in a row before I move on to the advanced jumps and increase my speed. Okay, back to the basic bounce now!

Is anyone else trying something new for fitness? I’d love to hear!

Sarah 💕