5 Reasons To Add Skipping To Your Workouts

February 03, 2021 2 min read

Looking for a quick, fun, super low-cost way to get more out of your conditioning sessions? Grab a speed rope and start skipping.

Skipping is an old-school training technique, so why do some of us overlook it or ignore it in favour of more complicated conditioning moves?

A skipping rope is one of the best all-round conditioning tools you can buy. They’re cheap, tiny, and completely portable, meaning you can get a great workout in wherever you are (and however long you’ve got).

Find our range of speed ropes and skipping ropes here.

Burn serious calories

Skipping is a full-body workout, working the major muscles of the legs, shoulders, and trunk. It gets your heart rate up fast (one study suggests upwards of 163 bpm) (1) so you’ll burn an astonishing number of calories in a short amount of time. You could burn 1,000 calories per hour (but you’re unlikely to ever skip for an hour, let’s be honest).

Great cardio

Skipping gets your heart rate up to HIIT workout levels, and crucially it does so very quickly. 10 minutes of skipping is roughly equivalent to running an 8-minute mile. (2)

Stimulate muscle tissue

Skipping is a full-body exercise, engaging the major muscles of the legs, glutes, trunk, shoulders, and arms.

Co-ordination and agility

Even the most basic skipping moves help your brain with spatial awareness, concentration, and agility. Throw in some fancy footwork and double unders and you’ll really boost your brain power. It’s because you need to combine timing, rhythm, and mental focus without losing concentration.

Learn new skills

One of our favourite things about functional training is that there’s always something to learn. Skipping is no different – even if you haven’t skipped since school, you can set yourself challenges and keep making progress.

Add skipping to your functional fitness workouts

The Gravity Fitness team includes weight lifting athletes, gymnasts, and calisthenics experts but they all use skipping as part of their training programmes.

Skipping is useful whether you are in a fat-loss phase, building cardio fitness, or ramping up your conditioning work. It’s fun and really versatile, and offers a lot of benefits even in a 5 minute blast.

Here’s three easy ways to start using skipping in your HIIT, strength training, or cardio sessions.

Include skipping in HIIT workouts or circuits to ramp up the intensity of the workout and keep your heart rate high. Combine it with kettlebell swings, pull ups, or bodyweight moves like air squats and press ups.
Add a few minutes of skipping to the end of a training session for extra cardio and calorie burn. Or set a goal of 100, 200, or 500 skips.
Speed ropes are light and portable, making them a great option for outdoor workouts – keeping your lockdown training fresh!

Join the Gravity Training – Calisthenics and Unconventional Fitness group on Facebook for daily training tips, workouts, and advice from our coaches. Find us here.

1 https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/23897017/

2 https://www.sciencedaily.com/terms/jump_rope.htm