Jump Rope Exercises: A Fun Way To Stay Fit

Introduction

Nearly every kid has grown up playing with the jumping rope or at least trying it, be it during recess or sports practice. While the activity is engaged in a fun manner by kids, athletes train and practice with jumping ropes to build their endurance and get some cardio. For parents, jumping rope is like nostalgia, except it was often the basic borrowed clothesline that many naughty kids used, to skip and jump for hours at a stretch. But kids nowadays often find more pleasure in video games than outdoor ones. This is a result of their busy lifestyles which afford them little leisure, most of which is sedentary. Therefore, it is time to bring jumping ropes back into your kid’s life. Physical activity offers multiple health benefits to your kids, ranging from enhanced stamina and muscle endurance to improved joint mobility and a full-body workout. Wondering how to make this physical exercise appealing to your kid? Then read on to find out.

Fun Ways To Ensure Your Kids Remain Fit Using A Jumping Rope

1. Regular Jumps

Regular jumps are an easy point to start for kids who begin with jumping rope. As there are endless exercise variations using jumping ropes, it is important to master the regular jumps and improve basic joint mobility and tenacity. Your kids should start with the rope moving from the back to the front, over their head, while their wrists are by their hips throughout. After rotating over their head, when the rope nears their feet, they should jump over it.

2. Jumping Jacks

As practice makes a human perfect, diligently practicing regular jumps will get your kid ready for jumping jacks and alternate skips in no time. For jumping jacks with a rope, ensure your kid’s arms are firm by their hips. While doing regular jumps, start with your legs apart in the first jump and bring them close during the next. Repeat this for a minute to successfully complete jumping jacks with a skipping rope.

3. Alternate Skips

Alternate skips are suitable for kids when they are mostly adept at skipping and landing on their feet, with proper posture and balance. For this, all they need to do is skip and land on an alternate foot, while the other foot is slightly raised behind. This helps improve body balance and hand-foot coordination.

4. Running In Place

Running in place is an advanced form of alternate skips as it involves spontaneous landing on each foot with proper balance, without missing a step. It is ideal to engage kids in this for up to 5 minutes at a stretch to build their endurance and challenge them.

5. Butt Kicks

Butt kicks are an excellent exercise for building strength of leg, thigh, and hip muscles. All your kids need to do is jump rope in place, on alternate foot. Only, the spare, resting foot needs to be kicked all the way back to touch their hips. This is an excellent variation of jumping rope exercise as it combines cardiovascular exercises with innocent fun.

6. High Knee Jumps

Another variation of alternate jumps with the rope, this one involves jumping on one foot, while the other knee is raised to chest-level. This high-intensity variation is much-enjoyed by kids as it also enhances secretion of mood-enhancing endorphins and lowers stress in them.

7. Heel Taps

Heel taps take jumping rope to a slightly more advanced level as it requires lots of focus and proper coordination. For this, your kid will have to alternate their weight on one standing foot, while their other foot’s heel will tap the ground in front, simultaneously, while jumping rope. A fun and challenging exercise, this activity will keep your kids engrossed for hours.

8. Double Under

Double under is among the coolest skipping exercises out there. It involves, as you have rightly guessed from the name, jumping high and long enough to let the rope rotate twice under them. As it involves considerable effort and strength, usually kids cannot do more than one or two at a stretch before going back to regular jumps. And that's perfectly okay. Double under is wonderful for adding a little extra kick to their jumping routine.

9. Feet Xs

If your kid has become quite proficient in jumping rope, then it is probably time to try jumping feet Xs. Feet Xs require your kids to swing their ropes normally but jump over it each time with their legs crossed in front of one another, like an X. After every skip, your kids must first land with their feet apart in the normal jumping position, before repeating the next foot X, with an alternate foot in front. This will take some time to get used to, but once your kids are comfortable doing feet Xs, there is no going back from exercising regularly with the jumping rope and having fun.

Conclusion

Jumping rope is not as easy as it looks. While it looks fine and easy on paper, things get real on the playground. But it is not a complex math problem as well. All it takes is some diligence and practice on your kid’s end to become proficient in it. You can even throw some positive reinforcement into the mix in the beginning to motivate them. They may begin jumping rope to appease you but will end up engaging in it for themselves in life's long run.