Skipping - a great home-based HIIT exercise
Last lockdown we published a skipping program for home fitness, targetted at our netballers. We thought that given the cold weather and current lockdown, it would be a great time to revisit this program developed by Mary.
Skipping has always been good exercise in preparation for netball (and sport in general) as it requires quick footwork, leading to improved agility, it involves your whole body, as your arms work hard with spinning the rope and you have to maintain good body posture or your feet will trip up the skipping rope. You work hard when you skip well.
If you haven’t skipped since you were a kid, now is the time to get out that old skipping rope, or purchase one and get started. You need a good quality skipping rope to start with – a leather ‘rope’ has better weight and good quality handles. You need to remind yourself of the basic technique of skipping for efficiency before undertaking a high intensity skipping workout – standing up tall, hands down by your side, on your toes, lifting your feet up high enough not to catch your toes in the rope all the time. You need to master maintaining a steady state alternate foot skip routine before starting this high intensity one.
Give it a go, see how you like it!
(If you haven't skipped for a while, you might like to reduce everything by half just to be on the safe side! And remember, this program is of a general nature, and is not designed to suit everybody. Please contact us directly if you have any concerns about commencing exercise)
Requirements:
Good quality flooring, ideally not concrete, as concrete is very hard on your joints.
Enough space around you to be able to swing the rope without it catching on anything – think above, to the sides, in front and behind you, remembering that you are likely to move a bit from the spot where you start, so look at how much you think you might need and add another 50% in your estimations.
Good quality skipping rope – you can look online or Barossa Physiotherapy will have a range of different sizes of good quality skipping ropes for sale in the very near future.
The right length skipping rope – when you stand on the middle of the rope and pull both ends up towards the sky, the tips of the rope should reach your armpits.
Good quality shoes – do not try to skip in bare feet. Your netball or running shoes would be best.
Shut pets and small children out of the way so they don’t get hit with the rope and your workout is not interrupted.
When you are finished, you should feel like you have worked hard in your arms, trunk and legs. Go for it and good luck!
Okay, here we go…
Warm-up:
3 minutes of gentle, easy skip, foot to foot,
1 minute of both feet skipping,
1 minute of foot to foot.
The rope should pass under your feet without time for you to take more than one jump between rope swings.
Interval program:
60 seconds at maximum speed foot to foot – go at it as hard as you can
30 seconds at the warm-up speed, focusing on getting your breathing under control by taking deep breaths into your belly and blowing out slowly through your mouth
30 seconds at maximum speed on one foot, then 30 seconds at maximum speed on the other foot
30 seconds at the warm-up speed, focusing on getting your breathing under control by taking deep breaths into your belly and blowing out slowly through your mouth
60 seconds at maximum speed, 2 steps on one foot, 2 steps on the other foot
30 seconds at the warm-up speed, focusing on getting your breathing under control by taking deep breaths into your belly and blowing out slowly through your mouth
60 seconds break, walk around, get your breath back
(TOTAL TIME = 4.5 minutes)
Repeat the sequence x 2
Cooldown:
3 minutes of gentle, easy skip, foot to foot, gradually controlling your heart rate;
easy walk around, with gentle arm swings over your head;
followed by arm, trunk & calf stretches (see below)
Note: with all stretches, hold the stretch while you take a minimum of 3 slow deep breaths, focusing on fully relaxing into the stretch on the outward breath.
TOTAL WORK-OUT TIME: 20-25 minutes
Arm stretches:
Take one arm across your body, hand past the opposite shoulder, add a stretch to the position with your other hand behind your elbow
Take one arm over your head, elbow up high, hand down your back, add a stretch to the position with your other hand on your elbow
Catch your hands together behind your body, elbows straight and stretch them out behind you as far as you can without bending at the waist
Trunk stretches:
Slowly roll your back forwards, trying to move at each vertebra, curling down while stretching your hands down towards your feet. You should feel that you are moving your back, as well as stretching your hamstrings. Do not force the movement, use the breathing technique to gain further range.
Hold your hands together, stretch them right up over your head as far as you can, reaching upwards and backwards so that you get a gentle arch in your low back and between your shoulder blades. Use the breathing technique to gain further range.
Take both arms up into a stop sign position, thumbs pointing backwards, elbows bent, squeeze your shoulder blades together and take your arms as far back behind you as you can comfortably get them – you should feel a stretch across the front of your chest and upper arms. Use the breathing technique to gain further range.
Bend forward at the waist, feet apart, arms swinging down towards your feet, then swing your arms in a windmill action as far each way as you can. Aim for 10 swings in each direction, easy movements without force
Calf stretches:
Note: even if this is not how you would normally stretch your calf, it is, in fact the best way to target the muscles you have just worked very hard with your skipping. There are two parts to your calf and you need to stretch both.
Stand up tall, one foot slightly behind the other, both feet pointing directly forward.
With your back foot, imagine you have a bug under your heel that you want to squash – drive down through your heel to keep it on the floor
Now deliberately tighten your thigh muscles and straighten your knee as far as you can.
Hold your knee as straight as you can, squash the bug, while you slowly lean forwards so that you bend at your ankle. You won’t move as far as you do with a traditional stretch, but this is much more effective.
Breathe into the stretch for a minimum of 3 slow deep breaths, focusing on relaxing into the stretch on the outward breath.
Now hold the ‘squashed bug’ position of your foot and slowly bend your knee as far as you can – the stretch will move down lower into your calf.
Repeat the breathing.
Dr Mary Magarey is a Specialist Musculoskeletal and Specialist Sports & Exercise Physiotherapist, as awarded by the Australian College of Physiotherapists. She has a wide range of experience, from supporting Olympic-level sporting teams to our local netball teams here in the Barossa, Light and Gawler Association.
Mary lives locally, and consults one day per week at Barossa Physiotherapy.
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