Backyard Leg Blasters & How-To Jump Rope

Ski season came to an awkward stop over the past few weeks. Day to day life has changed for everyone, and learning to adapt is a process. Personally, my physical, mental, and spiritual well being is highly influenced by my ability to move through the mountains. Dynamic movement immersed in nature is my favorite way to clear my head, stay active, connect with nature and the greater world around us. 

If you’re like me, you like to move your body. This blog is a quick and dirty guide (literally in the dirt) to using what ya got at home to move what ya got. 

First is a video feeling the flow of jump rope. In elementary school, I performed on a Jump Rope for Heart team called the Ropin’ Wranglers traveling to Wyoming schools promoting the American Heart Association. The theme was 1) Eat healthy stuff. 2) Move around enough. 3) Live tobacco free. Seems reasonable!

It’s still my favorite go-to work out when I have 30 minutes to “freestyle” in place.

If that looks like a fun way to spice up your cardio and agility routine at home, here’s a quick how-to video on basic jump rope tricks. During at home workouts, I often jump rope for 3-5 minutes (a song length) between sets to maintain a higher heart rate and flush the lactic acid out.

Flexibility is important. I don’t mean being able to do the splits. I mean, be flexible mentally to listen to what your body needs each time you work out - from a full blown sweat fest to a calm and peaceful yoga practice.

Flexibility is also about getting creative with how you work out at home. Be creative with what you use. For example, I use an old tire, blocks of wood, and rocks. You may fill up an old duffle bag with jugs of water for weight or fill up plastic bags with rocks or a bag of flour for bicep curls. Figure it out as you go and get creative!

After years of physical therapy and injury prevention training due to multiple ACL knee surgeries, broken bones, injured shoulders and neck, I have an arsenal of physio workouts. The focus is on building explosive muscle, cardiovascular endurance, muscle stamina, and fine tune the proprioceptor muscles for balance and quick reflexes. High performance takes repetition and long term commitment. Might as well make it fun.

This is an abridged example backyard workout. Each day is a little different with focus on various muscle groups. To increase intensity either add weight or quicken the pace with less rest in between. I like to jump rope for a few minutes between various exercises to give that muscle group a rest and/or increase my heart rate. Experiment with it and have fun! 

To see the other backyard training, follow me on Instagram @AmyJaneDavid. 

All photos credit to Hillary Mayberry | @hillarymayberryphoto