Although the idea of skipping may bring back fond childhood memories of time spent with your friends, you may want to consider digging your rope out of the box in the garage attic because it is a wonderful (and fun) way to lose weight even though you are slightly older. In fact, this particular activity brings about three distinct benefits.

They are:

Increasing your calorie burn. Like any other cardiovascular activity, skipping gets your heart pumping and your body using your fat stores for energy, leaving you thinner and trimmer.

Building your muscle. Even though skipping is very cardio focused, you’ll build some wonderful leg muscles from the jumping up and you’ll also increase your arm muscles when twirling the rope.

Improving your coordination. At first, you may find it difficult to get too many skips in before entangling your feet in the ropes, but stick to it and pretty soon you’ll notice your eye and hand coordination improve to the point where you won’t miss a step!

So, how do you skip for fitness? Just like you did for fun. Here are a few methods you may want to try that will bring you as much pleasure as they do fitness:

• Skip, alternating feet each time you step down, like when you jog or run
• Skip on one foot for a certain number of skips, then switch to the other foot
• Skip, landing on both feet at the same time, as if you are hopping in place
• Skip, landing with feet together one time and apart the next, like when doing a jumping jack

Play around with skipping and have some fun with it. Not only will you relive some wonderful times from your younger years, but you’ll also lose weight and tone up in the process!