Real Fitness Experts

Jump roping dates back to early human history, when the Egyptians used to use vines for jumping over. Jumping is a natural human movement-children naturally love to jump. Adults may feel more inhibited, choosing not to jump simply for the fun of it.

Add a rope, however, and you suddenly have a purpose and valid excuse to jump for fun. Jumping is a great way to increase your heart rate. There are several benefits of a jump rope workout.

Aerobic Exercise and Health

Most of us now know that aerobic exercise is beneficial in many ways. Aerobic means “with oxygen,” and aerobic exercise trains the body to use oxygen more effectively. Aerobic exercise involves continuous movement of the large muscle groups that causes one’s heart rate to increase.

Regular aerobic exercise results in a more efficient heart. Oxygen travels through the blood, and a heart that can pump more blood with fewer beats per minute is a healthier heart. Exercising for twenty to sixty minutes (depending on your fitness level) per session is usually enough for most people to maintain heart health.

Continue reading ‘Benefits of a Jump Rope Workout — by Lynn VanDyke’

I’ve got just a quick tip today to help get you started on your summer beach body. With summer right around the corner here in the US, the weather is starting to warm up and people are flocking outside after being cooped up all winter.

Now that it’s getting nice outside, why not take some of your workouts outdoors, instead of the stuffy old gym? Your workouts also don’t have to be long drawn-out 2-hour events in order to get a great metabolism boosting, muscle sculpting workout.

Here’s an idea for an outdoor workout that literally takes me 10-20 minutes, but has me drenched in sweat and pumped up by the end…

There’s a little playground and a softball field at the end of my road. So on a nice day, if I decide I just want to get a real quick outdoor workout in, I run over to the field, spend a couple minutes limbering up, and then… depending on how I feel, do about 10-20 minutes of the following exercises with almost no rest in between:

-50, 75, or 100-yard wind sprints

-hill sprints (if you have a hill nearby)

-pushup variations

-walking lunge variations

-bodyweight squat variations

-box jump, squat jump, or lunge jump variations

-pullups on the playground monkey bars

-mountain climbers on ground

Continue reading ‘Killer Outdoor Workouts in 20 Minutes or Less — by Mike Geary’