If fitness-routine videos of influencers on social media have led you into believing that lockdown was essentially announced to allow people enough time to work out and lose weight, let me clear that misconception right here, right now.
For some of us, lockdown was an extremely difficult time, made much worse by anxiety, emotional eating, work-from-home stress, loss of routine, laziness, and the consequential weight gain from all of it. At least that’s what it did to me.
For two months, I succumbed to my laziness and let it get the better of me—the same laziness that helped me discover the best workout of my life—skipping.
As I stumbled upon an untouched skipping rope while searching for an old pen drive, it occurred to me how using it for 10 minutes could take me back to the childhood days and be an absolutely fuss-free distraction from stress.
The emotional high that I got from just 10 minutes of skipping made me pick up the rope again for 10 minutes the next day, 15 minutes the week after, and now—20 minutes every day.
All this, because for me, skipping was a blessing in disguise
From being a not-so-time-consuming form of exercise to helping me shed the extra weight I had managed to gain during the lockdown, skipping helped me a great deal for sure.
This mess-free, convenient workout needed no set-up, yoga mat, or dumb-bells. A humble skipping rope that could be carelessly thrown on the sofa once the session was over was just about what I needed to kick off the laziness and well—the extra weight.
That’s not all. Skipping also boosted my mood and helped me cope with the work-from-home stress as well as covid anxiety. One month into regular skipping and I felt stronger and happier. I couldn’t have asked for more.
FYI, skipping surpassed my weight-loss expectations
Y’all know how running is just a great exercise to get your heart rate up, burn tremendous amount of calories, and obviously, to shed those extra kilos and feel great. Well, I used to worship running, TBH. Because, nothing—absolutely nothing else made for a better cardio session—until I discovered skipping and its miraculous effects on my body.
I used to go out for a run for almost an hour every evening for years. However, the lockdown happened and took that part away—only to lead me to something better, I guess.
Skipping for just 20 minutes (less than half the time spent on my evening runs) gave better results in terms of weight loss and stamina. Yup, I was just as surprised as y’all. So, I decided to look into the ‘why’ of it.
According to the American Council on Exercise, a person weighing 155 pounds can burn up to 420 calories from skipping for 30 minutes. The same amount of calories can be burnt by running for almost 8.5 miles in the same amount of time.
Basically, skipping is a full-body workout and involves your leg muscles, arm muscles, and core muscles. Thus, it makes you burn more calories.
BTW, my knees also felt stronger
Surely, those runs were exhilarating. But, I did sometimes feel a slight discomfort in my knees. Now, skipping involves jumping, which I thought would put more strain on my knees. On the contrary, though, my knees felt stronger and better.
When I researched to understand the reason, I found out that it happened because the tibiofemoral joint pain (the knee hinge) is 30 % higher in people who run compared to people who skip as per studies conducted at the East Carolina University and the Appalachian State University.
Also, listen:
The last word
If you’ve been advised by a doctor to refrain from high-intensity workouts, do steer clear of skipping or running. If not, do give it a try and get ready to witness its magic.
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