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Grab that Skipping Rope or Jump Rope as it’s more commonly known in the USA, we’re going to get the heart going and revive some old school skills with my September Skipping Challenge.
This challenge has been adapted from my Skiptember exercise challenge, the monthly exercise challenge for September.
Challenge yourself with some heartwarming skipping action, good skipping takes practice, and this is an excellent opportunity to practice your skipping skills or even learn how to skip.
It’s never too late to learn! Start the Skipping Challenge today.
It’s all about the heart this month. Looking after your heart with diet and exercise is one of the best things you can do for your body!
Benefits can be achieved with just doing a few minutes of high-intensity exercise each day. And this type of ‘ HIIT’ training has a significant positive impact on your heart and lungs. As a result, this helps to lower your blood pressure and promotes weight loss.
Skipping ropes are cheap and portable and you can take them anywhere!
Skipping can help improve heart & lungs, stamina, flexibility, coordination, balance, rhythm and symmetry. And It is both aerobic and anaerobic and it can also be high impact. This helps to increase bone density and toning of thighs, glutes, hips and calves. Furthermore, It also uses both sides of the brain and body and has benefits for your mental health too.
Benefits of Skipping
If done correctly, Skipping is low impact on knees, hips and ankles. As a result, it is a lower impact activity than jogging or running. It strengthens the upper and lower body and burns a lot of calories in a short space of time.
The better you become at skipping, the more economical you will be with your movements. The key is to jump just high enough so that there is only enough space for the rope to pass under your feet. This means minimising the action in your arms to make the pivotal point the wrist. By doing this the arms and shoulders are given a workout by just clenching the muscles to turn the wrists.
In modern-day fitness, the skipping rope is much overlooked, it’s simple, effective and cheap. You don’t need a lot of money, an expensive gym membership or a state of the art treadmill to stay active and keep fit. The skipping rope is worth its weight in gold for how useful it is.
Skipping Challenge Tip
Try to find a place to skip that is not on carpet or grass as you may injure your ankles. Rather, go for a wood floor or flat concrete such as tennis courts which are excellent. And your garden patio will do just fine.
Skipping Challenge Design
Scoring the skipping challenge
A challenge needs to be tracked and scored because that helps you track personal performance. And you can do that by keeping a track of your points. It’s very simple, you will get 1 point for level 1, 2 for level 2 and 3 for level 3. And if you miss a day that means no score.
I’ve built you a tracking sheet to make this much easier, all you need to do is download and print it. And stick it to your fridge.
Download the Scoring Sheet
28 Day Skipping Challenge Scoring Sheet 108 KB 223 downloads
Scoring sheet to help you track the 28 Day Skipping Challenge. …How to Skip
- Jump 1 to 2 inches off the floor, giving rope just enough space to slip under feet — only the balls of feet should touch the floor.
- Keep elbows close to sides as you turn the rope. The movement comes from the wrists and forearms, not the shoulders.
- If you tire out before you finish the workout you can drop the rope but keep your arms and legs going (this is called Shadow Skipping). Work up to using the rope full-time.
- To find a rope that fits, place one foot in the centre of the rope and lift the handles — they shouldn’t go past your armpits.
The 28 Day Skipping Challenge
Get a skipping rope; if you don’t have one head over to Amazon and pick up a cheap skipping rope, leather is a better choice if you are willing to spend a bit more.
Use the skipping challenge target guide below to check your skip target each day. You can do them in blocks of 10. 50 or 100 or whatever you fancy, the key is to SKIP every day.
Skipping Challenge Target Guide
You don’t have to use a rope!
Shadow Skipping (Alternative to Skipping)
Although this is a Skipping Rope challenge, we understand that some of us either don’t the skill of skipping or struggle to maintain a constant rhythm. Well, good news you can still take part in this challenge without a skipping rope. And It is a called Shadow Skipping; it is exactly as it says. You will perform the skipping action imagining you have a skipping rope. Your hands will be at your side, and you will perform the short jumps on your toes while performing a rhythmic circular action with your wrists, as if you were skipping. This is just as beneficial as skipping, there, no excuse. We can all take part.
Daily Skipping Challenge Targets
