Thread: Why is Jumping rope

so much harder than running. I bought myself a jump rope since I had to cancel my gym membership. I never realized just how much I'm out of shape or am I? I was running a mile and half about three times a week minimum.

Now I jump rope and find that it is harder than one would think. I go out about every hour and do as much as I can and I find that I'm wiped out after three minutes, my calfs and quad's are sore.

I knew that quickness of the feet could be improved by jumping rope as many boxers do this. I use to and still do feel like I'm sluggish on the dance floor. Anyway, back to original question. Why is it so much harder?

Any exercise physiologists out there?

I assume that it is a combination of lifting all of your body weight at once and the use of your arms. Imagine that you were running and then you added punching your arms - the addition of arm movements makes the activity much more aerobic.

also working AGAINST the gravitational forces of the earth when lifting your body weight, right?

Jumping rope is a plyometric exercise that utilizes fast-twitch (type IIb) muscle fibers.

If your normal exercise routine involves endless hours of jogging and cardio, you aren't training the fast-twitch muscle fibers and they will atrophy.

You might find "Ready, Set, Go! Synergy fitness for time-crunched adults" by Phil Campbell interesting. He makes a very strong case for the need to diversify the exercise portfolio if you will -- by including not only cardio and weight-training but also anaerobic activities like sprinting and plyometrics. Anaerobic exercise also increases the body's production of human growth hormone, which has many anti-aging effects and tends to drop off in middle age.

I am actually trying to condition myself for this kind of exercise routine.

I think there's also the coordination factor in there, you have to work on your timing so you don't trip over the rope, so it's probably a little more mental than jogging, too. And you can make it more challenging by crossing the rope, jumping backwards, jumping on one foot, and it's easy to vary the speed. Then if you're really insane, and get the weighted ropes, you're also doing a bit of weight training as well.

I know my mom swears by it. Boxers do it not just to improve quickness, but because it's insanely cardio.

I used to jump rope for hours when I was kid...no I about pass out.

where did u buy a good rope? i was looking for a good adult rope a few years ago but didnt find anything good!

Hello, Angela! You didn't say if you were enjoying it...
I think there are other much more interesting sports, like swimming, or even other kinds of dance you haven't tried yet, but it's up to you...

If someone held a gun on me and told me to jump rope, I think I'd just tell them to shoot me. I hate jumping jacks too. My ankle makes me hate them!

I picked up a good quality jump rope at Walmart a while back... wooden handles, metal swivels, good weight to the rope itself. It was under $5 if I recall.

I don't have the ceiling height to be able to do it inside, so since it's finally starting to get nice out, I went out on the deck the other day to jump rope for a bit. OMG!!! I couldn't last 2 minutes. It didn't bother my legs at all (maybe because it was so short a time limit - LOL!), but my heart was pounding & I was nearly gasping for breath. I am SOOOOO out of shape. My aerobic capacity is near zilch. And to think, when I was a kid I used to jump rope & ride my bike for hours on end. Now I can't jump for 2 minutes & can't make it to the end of the driveway on a bike without feeling like I'm about keeling over with a heart attack!

At least with the Spring weather coming on I can start walking again. Last summer I was doing 2 miles (40 min) 4-5 days a week. Guess I'd better get back to that before I take on anything more challenging.

Whenever I start jump roping again, I have to ease into as like everyone, I want to pass out after a couple of minutes. So what I do is, ease into it, start with 5 minutes at a slower pace than I normally do so that I can slowly add more minutes to it and build up my endurance and stamina. Also, I learned the hard way to ease into it. I did it for 30 minutes once with 2 minutes breaks and I could barely walk afterwards my calves were so sore. So now I know better and ease into it.

Originally Posted by ANA_bellydancer

Hello, Angela! You didn't say if you were enjoying it...
I think there are other much more interesting sports, like swimming, or even other kinds of dance you haven't tryied yet, but it's up to you...

I do enjoy it, I'm just not in a position where I can spend money on classes or other sports. That is why I cancelled my gym membership.

Originally Posted by aasiyah

where did u buy a good rope? i was looking for a good adult rope a few years ago but didnt find anything good!

I bought one of those rubber ones at Walmart for seven dollars, you can adjust the length and cause it is also rubber I can use it as resistance bands for other strengthening exercises. It works great.

I also bought one of those rubber balls you sit on for ten dollars and it provides the deep ab work that I like.

Maybe because you are in one spot? I find that if I move forward walking, running, etc., it's not as hard, but when I do all of that in place, it's harder.

And I used to play double dutch as a kid all day long. Not to mention Chinese jump rope as well and nothing was hard about it!

Originally Posted by Samirah-NH

At least with the Spring weather coming on I can start walking again. Last summer I was doing 2 miles (40 min) 4-5 days a week. Guess I'd better get back to that before I take on anything more challenging.

I know what you mean about OMG! I didn't realize how difficult jumping rope would be. Its a wonderful exercise cause I enjoy getting my butt kicked.

I just hate that it reminded me of how OLD I am! ..l;,..l;,..l;, It's been over 30 yrs since I last jumped rope. LOL

Originally Posted by AngelaDiCaprio

I do enjoy it, I'm just not in a position where I can spend money on classes or other sports. That is why I cancelled my gym membership.

I bet your drills on the balls of your feet will improve tremendously. I have done a lot of sprinting type of exercises when I was younger I think the reason of dancing on the ball of my feet and also making quick steps, moves around the dance floor without sweating so much comes from my exercises in the past. I have dont short distance running, drills for short distance running for handball practices, taekwando practices and some kickboxing gym drills...
I know it is important to be light weighted when you are doing some moves on the ball of your feet (like chasses, pas da berres) if you need to move rather quick.

Originally Posted by AngelaDiCaprio

so much harder than running. I bought myself a jump rope since I had to cancel my gym membership. I never realized just how much I'm out of shape or am I? I was running a mile and half about three times a week minimum.

Now I jump rope and find that it is harder than one would think. I go out about every hour and do as much as I can and I find that I'm wiped out after three minutes, my calfs and quad's are sore.

I knew that quickness of the feet could be improved by jumping rope as many boxers do this. I use to and still do feel like I'm sluggish on the dance floor. Anyway, back to original question. Why is it so much harder?

I can't do anything involving running or skipping ropes... my boobs are too damned big!!!..c::

Originally Posted by kharis_UK

I can't do anything involving running or skipping ropes... my boobs are too damned big!!!..c::

do they hit you in the face?

Originally Posted by kharis_UK

I can't do anything involving running or skipping ropes... my boobs are too damned big!!!..c::

I'm with you on that; also, anyone with joint issues (feet, ankles, knees, hips) is probably gonna hurt big time jumping rope.

I got big boobs too, and they have to be tied down to do anything involving gravity changes.

Hmm, if you're still wondering, I would guess it has a lot to do with momentum. When you're running, you keep a forward momentum going... but after jumping, gravity pulls you down and so you have to overpower your downward momentum to lift off of the ground again... Also when you are running, I think there is less time, relatively speaking, when both feet are off of the ground. So jumping rope has a longer float phase, which is going to take more power to generate.
Just guessing.

Originally Posted by Georgine

I got big boobs too, and they have to be tied down to do anything involving gravity changes.

And then there's that - seriously. I am not that big in the boobs but I do have the textbook case of fibrocystic breasts and sometimes I am so sore that even walking is very painful.

I knew it had to be over when I got my first "menses" while playing Chinese jump rope at eleven!

I can see it now...double dutch belly dance routines.....a new trend
I am inspired now to try this, jumping rope again. Just hope I can keep my bladder from revolting.

I hate jumping rope, but I have a trampoline and enjoy jumping around on that. It isn't as stressful on the knees/hips.

Yep, it's plyometrics and is an awesome exercise. Pro boxers do it, pro basketball players. If those pro trainers have their star athletes doing it, I figure it's good enough for me.

Speaking of trampolines: I read in several places that bouncing is wonderful for stimulating your lymphatic system, which helps you with detoxing. I have a trampoline, but those small rebounders you can bounce on inside will work too.

I've never been able to skip, not even when I was a child. I used to like holding the rope though. (ETA I mean with another person at the other end, for skipping games. Shirley Temple is a star, S T A R etc)

total side note- there was a recent PBS special on running- an Allen Alda, I think... (I didn't watch it, hubby did) basically wondering why running didn't do much as far as general weight loss in some study they were doing- amoung other things, one thing they suggested was that on an evolutionary scale, we ran a lot & therefore developed a physique that favored running- so even walking is actually physically harder than running. or something like that. I should probably go watch the show before I start spouting stuff like that, but I wondered if anyone else had heard anything along those lines?

Originally Posted by Lara L

....one thing they suggested was that on an evolutionary scale, we ran a lot & therefore developed a physique that favored running- so even walking is actually physically harder than running. or something like that....

There is something to be said for that. I used to do adventure racing, and our team leader told us early in our training it was easier to run, and he was a personal trainer by profession. Then as I got more proficient in it I knew what he was talking about. You can be walking so fast that it is actually easier to go ahead and just break into a run. Of course we were covering a lot more miles than most people do.

I've actually thought a lot about the kinds of things I did as a kid...climbing trees, playing on the monkey bars, swinging, jumping rope, biking everywhere. Then you grow up and everything is 'exercise'.

I think there should be a playground with swings and jungle gym for grownups. Though if I went to it, I couldn't yell for my dad to get me down off the monkey bars (fear of heights set in young)!

A few years ago some of the fitness magazines were mentioning a 'recess' exercise class. Basically you'd be jumping rope, tossing balls, using hula hoops, whatever they were coming up with for adults to do that were activities children usually did. I had thought it might catch on at gyms and health clubs but it never did.