T Nation

Jump Rope for Cardio

Conditioning
#1

I wondering on your thoughts on using jump roping for cardio. I’m not really after fat loss but just keeping a healthy heart while i bulk. I used to be really fast , but in the past couple of months ive slowed down quite a bit and seem to be out breath quicker when i ran.I believe its due to not doing any type of exercises(besides lifting).

Any ideas on how i should implement jump roping to help fix this? Ive tried searching the site for articles but all i get is fat loss methods…Im still trying to bulk up.

#2

[quote]DazeDolo wrote:
I wondering on your thoughts on using jump roping for cardio. I’m not really after fat loss but just keeping a healthy heart while i bulk. I used to be really fast , but in the past couple of months ive slowed down quite a bit and seem to be out breath quicker when i ran.I believe its due to not doing any type of exercises(besides lifting).

Any ideas on how i should implement jump roping to help fix this? Ive tried searching the site for articles but all i get is fat loss methods…Im still trying to bulk up.[/quote]

Jumping rope is good as well as sprinting up hills.

Supplement wise have you ever tried Citrulline? Citrulline malate is sold as a performance-enhancing athletic dietary supplement, which was shown to reduce muscle fatigue in a preliminary clinical trial.

The rind of watermelon (Citrullus lanatus) is a good natural source of citrulline.

#3

This is probably an overanalysis of just jumping rope lol, but I’ll chime in because I just started doing it again two days ago for the same reasons as you. What I usually do is just man up and bust out as much as I can and keep with it. However, this time I’m starting light so that I don’t get joint problems from it lol. People recommend jumping rope on grass but I have trouble doing that.

my plan is:
2 days ago: ~10 mins, just focusing on trying to get 100 skips in a row without tripping. This was sadly tough because of how out of condition I am. Also doing this on a slanted driveway is tougher as my calves got a deeper stretch at the bottom.
today: go for 10 sets of 100, resting about a minute in between sets

From there on I’ll play it by ear and just increase the number of sets I do, reducing the rest periods, and adding in single leg jumps. It’s obviously not a big deal but I’ve had bad joint pain from doing too much too soon on this. For this to be very effective from a cardiovascular standpoint you have to first build proficiency/stamina in the activity. let me know how it goes

#4

If you’re out of breath when you run then run. Jumping rope gets your blood flowing, and can help you if you do it for a looooonnnggg time keep fat off but nothing like running and walking. If you’re bulking you don’t want to run for too long so a few sprints if you’re worried about your cardio, or long walks if you have time for fat loss.

#5

I’ll chime in (1st post lol). I like jumping rope alot, it’s not as boring as getting on the dreadmill at the gym for me. I like to do 10-15 minutes doing 15 seconds on (as quick as I can go) and then taking a 15 second break. After about 5 minutes you’ll start to feel it. I have asthma so I have to keep my lungs pretty active or I start to have alot of breathing issues. This works really well.

I haven’t done it in awhile but I’m planning on starting up again this weekend, I’ll probably start with 5 minutes to get used to it again and add time as my body becomes accustomed to it.

#6

I have a lot of experience with this as I grew up in Brazil and started BJJ competitions around age 7. As you can imagine I’ve spent MANY hours of my life jumping rope and these are the conclusions I’ve reached — to those that don’t jump rope often (can’t do 3x5min without missing, or 10min straight, 15min straight, etc) the exercise itself will feel way more like intensity conditioning training than cardio. If you want to get faster, more explosive, jump higher, I definitely recommend you getting good at it, and honesty it’s pretty fuckin easy so within a day or two I imagine you’ll be getting 1-2min without messing up and from there it only gets better. On the other hand, you say you wanna bulk while keeping a healthy heart, the easiest way to do this without having your cardio keep you from bulking (I’m judging from your picture that you have a hard time putting on weight), is to do some low-intensity long periods of cardio. It worked the best for me, maybe other guys here will have some other ideas that may work better for you.

-LB

#7

[quote]lbraga wrote:
I have a lot of experience with this as I grew up in Brazil and started BJJ competitions around age 7. As you can imagine I’ve spent MANY hours of my life jumping rope and these are the conclusions I’ve reached — to those that don’t jump rope often (can’t do 3x5min without missing, or 10min straight, 15min straight, etc) the exercise itself will feel way more like intensity conditioning training than cardio. If you want to get faster, more explosive, jump higher, I definitely recommend you getting good at it, and honesty it’s pretty fuckin easy so within a day or two I imagine you’ll be getting 1-2min without messing up and from there it only gets better. On the other hand, you say you wanna bulk while keeping a healthy heart, the easiest way to do this without having your cardio keep you from bulking (I’m judging from your picture that you have a hard time putting on weight), is to do some low-intensity long periods of cardio. It worked the best for me, maybe other guys here will have some other ideas that may work better for you.

-LB[/quote]
that’s good advice. The first few sessions I did hardly raised my heart rate. Now that my technique and endurance are up it’s a good cardio workout

#8

I mean a decent cardio workout*…I do agree what something less skill based would be better for just the cardio aspect

#9

sprints

#10

I’m a big fan of the jump rope, I’ve used it for both weight loss and cardio… also have fun doing tricks and stuff because it keeps me interested… but if you were to go slowly… and for about 10 minutes, you’ll definitely work up a sweat without going nuts or really taxing yourself.

#11

Watch out for “jumpers knee”.

tweet

#12

4 minutes regular jumping followed by 100 double unders. Repeat for 30 minutes. No rest.

#13

“I wondering on your thoughts on using jump roping for cardio.”

I thought this question was a joke…I mean, it’s classic Man, you HAVE seen professional
Boxers use it as a conditioning tool over the years haven’t you??
IMO one of the best and cheapest ways to condition yourself…period.

#14

You can do about 25 X on 1 leg, alternate to also work your calves at the same time. To avoid over use issues, walk fast/jump rope/do 15 min up-down stairs/swimming/hiking with 25 pounds, picking a few alterning as per weather, etc… you will be safe.
All the best !

#15

Simple. Set a timer and do rounds. 3-5 3 min rounds.
10/10, 20/20 sprint/rest, 30/30 3-5 rounds.

Now you have your aerobic work working as a warm up for your aerobic work and your done. Just make it a finisher to your weight training twice a week until you can do it after all your workouts.