Hoi skipper!

When I think of skipping rope I think of being in 3rd and 4th grade on the playground singing little rhymes as my friends and I skipped ourselves silly. "Cinderella Dress in Yella" and "Fudge Fudge call the Judge" were a few of my favorites songs. We used to laugh as we chanted "texaco texaco over the hill to Mexico". We even learned double Dutch which too way too much concentration to even think about singing cute songs.

Last night's skipping wasn't quite the merriment I used to remember it being. Oh it was fun at first but 10 minutes into it I wasn't singing "Fudge Fudge call the judge" but I was crying out "Marco Marco GIVE ME OXYGEN". Oxygen doesn't really rhyme with much.

I had set the time on the stove for 30 minutes because that seemed like a good starting point since it was my first time trying it since my school yard days. I had googled 'jump rope for exercise' before I began and most sites recommended skipping for 20 counts and resting for 20-30 building up your stamina slowly.

Twenty counts seemed a bit simple so I decided I'd skip for 50 and rest for 30. That was an enthusiastic goal I learned quickly. I jumped in my living room on the carpet to try to help with the impact but it did bother my knees a smidgen. My legs were burning nicely fifteen minutes into it and my arms were getting a bit fatigued. Surprisingly enough I was actually sweating. I continued on my 50 jumps but began needing to rest for 30-40 counts in between sets. I found that by counting up to 25 and then backwards down to 0 it helped to make it seem like time was going quicker. Sometimes you just have to play head games with yourself to make it through.

I ended up having to stop at 25 minutes because I was getting a bit dizzy. I'm all for pushing yourself but you also have to know when enough is just enough. I really felt the workout all over my body though. My legs and feet were tired (I jumped in socks to try and strengthen my foot muscles). My forearms were a bit tired for all the rope twirling but what really surprised me most was how bad my abs hurts afterwards. I could feel the burn within minutes of stopping the workout and I still feel the soreness in them today. Apparently jumping rope is a really good full body workout.

All in all I was really pleased with the workout. It took no time and I feel the results. Not to mention I can feel good that I actually did some movement this week. It's something that I can do and bring with me anywhere and I can do it in the house too. I'm really glad I decided to try it out. Now I just need some clever little rhymes to make the time pass quickly... "Sarah and Marco sitting in a tree..."