Tag Archives: jump rope

Posted on 09/24/2018

By Bryanna Fissori 

Jumping rope is one of the best exercises you can do. It builds cardio endurance, agility and strengthens the calf and supporting muscles to allow you to stay on your toes. Being able to stay on your toes is really important for boxing. This is why jumping rope is such a staple exercise for the sport. 

Though jumping rope has a number of benefits some people report having pain in their arches when jumping. This is not uncommon and there are a couple of things that could be happening. 

Weak Supportive Muscles

Sometimes the arches of the feet may drop because the foot has not been trained to support weight properly. The act of moving around on one’s toes is not a natural movement that people tend to do when not engaged in an athletic activity. If this seems to be the issue, then making sure to rest and stretch in between jump rope workouts is important. Start with short periods of jumping as your feet catch up. 

Bad Insoles or Need to Wear Shoes

There is no right or wrong answer when it comes to the concept of wearing shoes or jumping rope barefoot. Ideally, you should be able to do either depending on the surface of the floor. If you are jumping on concrete put some shoes on. If you are training on a padded mat, you probably don’t need them. When this starts to get specific to the individual jumper is if you find yourself having pain when jumping. Again, this is usually in the arches. 

•  If you are a shoe-wearer, the first step would be to re-evaluate your shoes. Specifically your insoles. You may need additional arch support to jump comfortably. Adversely, you may want to try jumping barefoot if you are on a padded surface. Both corrections stem from the concept of changing the level of support on your arches. 

• For those that typically go barefoot, it may be beneficial to try wearing shoes. The important part is the insole. If you can get custom insoles made, that is ideal. No two feet are exactly the same. Not even your two. 

Plantar Fasciitis

This is a much more serious situation and will require medical treatment. Plantar fasciitis refers to inflammation of the arch-supporting ligaments that extend from the heel to the back of the foot. This pain is usually targeted more in the heel rather than the arches. According to The Feet For Life Podiatry Center, more than 95% of heel pain is caused by plantar fasciitis. This is not something you want to just work through. 

Balance and Weight Distribution for Jumping Form

Yes, there is good form and bad form in jumping rope. Just because you aren’t stubbing your toe every 10 jumps does not mean your form is correct. Here are some tips on how to perfect your form through balance and weight distribution. 

•  Keep your knees either over your feet or rotating outward to avoid inward collapsed arches
•  Face feet straight ahead
•  Weight should be evenly distributed around outside of foot and toes. Imagine a tripod of support from your heel to pinky and big toes.
•  Play with balance points and weight distribution by raising all your toes off the ground and holding tight for 30 seconds
•  Bring just the big toes off the ground while following the same guidelines mentioned earlier
•  Lift just the four smaller toes off the ground

Stretches and Recovery for Feet

Lacrosse Ball – Foam rolling and myofascial release are important for muscle recovery and this does not exclude feet. Sit on a chair with your feet on the ground. Put the lacrosse ball under your foot and apply enough pressure to stretch the muscles and fascia in the foot. 

Towel Stretch– Sit on the ground with your feet straight out in front of you. Place a towel around your toes and pull the towel back toward your body, stretching the feet. Move the towel lower or higher on the foot to change the stretch. 

Yoga Stretch – From a standing position reach your hands down toward your toes and touch the ground. You do not have to be flexible enough to touch your toes. Walk your hands out to a comfortable position so that they are flat on the ground and both your arms and legs are straight, creating a triangle with the ground. Your butt should be the top of the triangle. In yoga, this is called “downward dog.” 

In the position focus on stretching your feet by lowering your heels to the ground to achieve a stretch and then raising up to your toes. You can also pedal your feet to achieve a stretch. 

Posted on 09/02/2018

By Bryanna Fissori

Just because there are no kicks in boxing does not mean you get to skip leg day. Power starts from the ground up. Follow this boxing workout to build beautiful calves and generate power in those punches.

Warm Up:

Jog around your boxing workout space or outside if necessary.
1 minute: Jog normally
30 seconds: High knees- raise your knees to at least waist level as you jog
30 seconds: Butt kickers- kick the heels of your feet toward your butt as you jog
30 seconds: Shuffle to the inside (keep legs wide and hips low)
30 seconds: Shuffle similarly to the outside
30 seconds: Skip like you are bigfoot. Jump high and swing your arms freely
30 seconds: Jog normally
30 Seconds: Shoot hoops- Plant both feet and jump up as high as you can, swinging your hands upward just like as if you were shooting a basketball. Take several jogging steps between shots.
30 seconds: Jog normally
30 seconds: Job backwards (carefully)
30 seconds: Walk/recover

Use this 1-3 minutes of rest time to stretch out your calves. This can be done by placing your hands on the ground (like downward dog in yoga) and shifting your weight from one heel to the other, causing a stretch in the calf of the downed heel.

2 minutes: Jump Rope (jump rope is often used as part of a boxing warm up but for this workout it is part of the exercise routine)

1 minute: Frog jumps – start standing with your feet parallel. Jump forward as far as you can, landing in a low squat position to absorb impact. These will assist in explosive boxing movement.

1 minute: Inch Worms- Place your hand by your feet as if you were touching your toes. Leave your feet planted on the ground and walk your hands as far forward as possible without falling on your face. Then walk your feet up to your hands and repeat. This serves as an ab workout as well as a stretch to increase mobility in the legs, primarily calves and hamstrings.

*This is a low intensity move and should also serve as a recovery period.

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2 minutes: Jump Rope

Try and stay on the ball of your foot
30 seconds: Hop back and forth on one foot
30 seconds: Switch and hop back and forth on the other foot
30 seconds: Hop side to side on one foot
30 seconds: Switch and hop side to side on the other foot
10 second: break
30 seconds: With both feet together hop front to back
30 seconds: With both feet together hop side to side
These will assist in balance and endurance

1 minute: Inch Worms

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2 minutes: Jump Rope

1 minute: Bounding:- Standing on one foot in a fighting stance or with feet even. Leap with one foot as far as comfortably possible either at an angle or side to side depending on your space. Once you land on you lead foot, quickly regain balance push off in the opposite direction leading with your other foot. This should create a zigzag pattern if moving forward at 45 degrees per leap, or side to side if space does not a lot forward motion. This will help with explosive lateral boxing movement.

1 minute: Inch Worms