Exercise and Fitness - The Effectiveness of a Skipping Rope Workout

For many of us, the term skipping rope may induce memories of our days in our primary or elementary school school playgrounds, surrounded by giggly, pony-tailed girls desperate to impress and beat their friends with the amount of consecutive skips they were able to perform.

Don't let that put you off or fool you, however. They can provide adults with a fantastic and really effective workout opportunity. Using a skipping rope can tone your calves and thighs, and strengthen your chest, abdominal, shoulder and back muscles. It is also a great all-round cardiovascular workout.

Skipping ropes can be bought cheaply, and have the added benefit of being ultra-portable. Indeed, you can roll them up and carry them about with you wherever you go for an instant, on-the-spot fitness workout without the need for that much free space.

For those who may want to take their skipping workout a little more seriously, you will be pleased to know there are some higher-end skipping ropes with fitness and practicality - not just fun - being the main focal point of their design.

Many modern ropes are made from thin coated wire or heavy, high-tech polymers which make the rope more aerodynamically pleasing and allow them to turn faster and more consistently through the air when turned quickly. In addition to this, some have a kind of swivel action built between the handle and the rope, to ensure that tangling or twisting doesn't occur mid-workout.

Overall, a decent skipping rope (particularly one designed with adult fitness in mind) can prove to be a valuable addition to your fitness equipment inventory, and provide a great all-round body workout. Once you have tried it, you'll never think of skipping ropes in the same way again.