REPs Magazine Spring 2016 | Page 25

SKIPPING Don’t skip it ose Carlos Moreno, personal trainer and Managing Director of Moreno Boxing explains why you shouldn’t skip out on skipping W ith an investment of just a few pounds, this simple piece of equipment can significantly benefit cardio training. In boxing, skipping training helps boxers find a rhythm for the necessary footwork that allows them to move around the ring efficiently. The bouncing up and down on the balls of your feet while skipping simulates the way you would glide around the ring also on the balls of your feet, so the more you practice your skipping the better you will get at footwork or movement.  Skipping training can be beneficial for virtually any activity or sport. I’d recommend it to tennis players who need a lot of agility and have to move quickly for prolonged periods of time. However this form of training can be used for anything and anyone. Skipping provides an efficient method of supplementing cardio training which does not involve travelling. Skipping can be done outdoors as well as indoors. It can also be very intense when done properly so it can offer a good form of HIIT cardio or you can pace yourself or your client for a more aerobic workout.  Some of the biggest benefits associated with skipping include improved cardiovascular endurance and performance, improved coordination and stronger legs. Bouncing up and down on your toes really gets your calves firing and helps to increase their strength. As for coordination, you can learn some pretty neat tricks with the skipping rope which actually improves the coordination between your eyes, hands and feet. When skipping you need to sync up different parts of your body to work well together and your actions need to correspond between different parts of your body, the more you practice this the better your rhythm, timing and coordination gets. By improving coordination, skipping helps your agility by improving your balance also, which means you will be able to move quickly in different directions without losing balance. You can incorporate skipping into almost any workout, whether you’re indoor or outside. With such an affordable and transportable piece of equipment, it’d be a shame not to. If you only have 10 minutes you can still get a really good workout with a skipping rope. TRY THIS Warm up by skipping for 5 minutes straight at a low speed, keeping your heart rate at about 50-60% MHR. Once your warm start increasing the speed slight until you hit above 75% MHR and keep it there for another 5 minutes. Alternatively for a more anaerobic workout, after your warm up opt for some intervals of 30 seconds sprints with a 30 second rest, doing 5 sets of these. With the above workouts you will be able to hit both your aerobic and anaerobic fitness. @REPsUK 25 REPs 24-25 SKIPPING.indd 25 21/04/2016 10:46