Possibly the Only Piece of Cardio Equipment You'll Need at Home

In my elementary school years, the American Heart Association sponsored a program called “Jump Rope for Heart”. Thinking back at that time, I always wondered, why did they pick a jump rope? There must be something to it!

The jump rope is an inexpensive yet very effective tool in your cardiovascular health. You can pick one up from Amazon.com or from any other store for about $5 to $15 dollars. Compare that to a $2000 Pelaton bike and that’s a pretty great deal. It is relatively safe as you are leaping only a few inches off of the ground. It doesn’t take up a lot of space in your house like a treadmill or elliptical machine. You can travel with it on business trips, working out in the fresh air or in your hotel gym.

The key to successfully using a jump rope for your health is consistency and intensity. It only takes a few days a week to reap the benefits, but you’ll need to reach a high enough intensity in your workouts for weight loss. Utilizing jump roping with High Intensity Interval Training (HIIT) is a great way to work out. There are many apps out with timers and workouts that can help guide you with your jump rope workouts. The Cross Rope App is a free app that I personally use. Just turn on some music and run the app, and your workouts will be done in 15-25 minutes. That’s it and your workout is done for the day!

Another great resource is “Jump Rope Dudes”. They have a youtube channel with a lot of good information on jump roping and they even have great workouts.

Again, the jump rope is only effective if you are consistent with it and if you do it at a high enough intensity. The Jump Rope Dudes continually quote Ralph Waldo Emerson when he said, “Do the thing and you will have power.” That’s the challenge for you today. Do the thing that will help you to take control of your health and you will have power.