Jumping the Rope for 30 Days Was the Change I Have Always Wanted
During mid-2019, I decided to give the skipping rope a try, I purchased one without knowing what the differences are between a rope and another, no idea if the length would really matter or if I should care about the material, the speed of the rope, and its weight. I just felt like purchasing one in order to start practicing, so I did. I kept practicing for a week, doing up to 200 skips a day before I put the rope aside for a couple of months. The experience was good but getting committed to something required more than a desire.
The rope kept hanging on the coat rack for around six months before I decided to start a 30-day challenge where I had to skip the rope every single day for 30 days, with zero rest days. I used to take videos of myself, post it on IG and ask friends to join me which means the challenge is now public and I better complete the long 30 days, luckily they were the last 30 days of the year; a good start for the new year.
I was vastly attached to the rope this time for various reasons but mainly because it kept my mood boosted, made me want to be more productive on all levels, and built stamina. It could also be the impact of being proudly committed to these tough and exhausting 30 days, or so they seemed at the beginning.
Starting from day one I wanted to hit the 1,000 skips a day starting with 200 a day to 780 skips on day 5 until I started to do 1,000 skips almost every day for the last 20 days. The last 10 days were a mix of two feet basic jumps, switching foot jump, side to side, front to back, single-foot hops, criss-cross, and side rope swings. Learning these techniques made it more fun.
The thirty days were more about enjoying the process rather than wanting to mark day 30 on the calendar, I was always looking for the next day, never hesitated or felt lazy to do the skips of that day, it didn’t matter if I do it first thing on the morning or last thing before bed, I also stopped sharing my daily progress and replaced it by almost 10 days progress.
To keep things clear, I didn’t want to lose weight doing this as my body mass index is normal, of course, the skipping rope is on of the most effective full-body work-outs to lose weight, but it also tightens the core and tones up the calves, and it has many various benefits especially if you want to improve your lung capacity.
Since the end of the 30-day challenge, which was the new year’s eve, I used to warmup and cool down by jumping the rope at the gym, and it’s a major leg-day exercise under the lockdown at home till now.
It was the journey that mattered the most, not the final goal. I was and still a beginner, I started at 200 skips a day, now my best record is 1,500 skips, I actually stopped doing high numbers because I don’t want to burn more calories, I also achieved 333 skips without tripping on the rope as my best figure by far, my little nephews gave the rope a try and they like it as much as I do, yet nothing feels better than scoring 5 consecutive double-unders.
I recommend the skipping rope for everyone, it will be challenging at the beginning but you will witness progress on daily basis. If you wish to give it a try, I suggest doing 100 skips on the first day, and add up to 50 skips a day for 5 days a week, before that you need to choose your rope properly, google what right length and weight are, and learn the right techniques.
Let me know if you have tried the skipping rope before and how it feels like, also if you want to give it a try just reach me out on Instagram @ mufasa.9 to share with you free schedules and videos from the web for your start.
