Jump rope for weight loss and ankle / knees rehabilitation.

[Happy-Papi]

Anybody kind enough to give me some advice about learning how to jump rope and do it with a putting more damage on my ankles and knees...

First of all I am over weight with bad ankles and knees and was never good with jump ropes but I want to learn it in hope to be sexy again my son strongly suggested that I should not do jump ropes until I can lose more weight or it will damage my feet even more. He knows about my feet problem first hand because he was the one who cranked my knees and ankles and have seen me crawl up and down the stairs for weeks, lol! My legs were injured many times (worst parts are: left ankle's ball got a crack, both knees had water but are ok now... I hope) and they sometimes still hurts but I hope that I can still find a fix and if possible to strengthen the parts again. As of now I can't run but recently I have been walking for about an hour per day. Problem is that jumping may be more stressful to my feet but I have heard that using jump ropes can help reduce weight faster and may strengthen my legs (or may destroy it).

Another thing is that I am badly flatfooted but my balance is quite excellent (I can stand stationary on MTBs and Trials motorcycles for long period of time) and was able to run long distance when I was younger (still can balance on trials motorcycles without problems though but can't run)

Today I bought a jump rope and only tried a bit but had to stop because my left ankle got painful. A month ago I was 88.5 kgs (195 lbs) and was able to drop it to 84.9 kgs (187 lbs) and 9 days later I dropped to 82 kgs (180 lbs). I am only 168 cms (5.5 feet) and I still need to lose around 7 to 12 kgs to be in my proper body weight. By the way I am now on a strict low carb diet and regular soft exercise (walking 1 hour every day. Some push ups and sit ups but I often cheat). I will try to lose another 3 to 5 kgs next month if possible??? and is hoping to stick to a low carb diet for life if possible... Ketosis is awesome :lol2:

My question is, will wrapping my ankles with tape or wearing tactical/jungle boots help relive the pain if I jump rope? How many kilos should I lose before I can safely learn how to jump rope? Is jumping rope good for weight loss. Never seen a fat guy do jump ropes and have only seen sexy guys like boxers and sexy MAist do it... Anybody here who may have been in the same boat as me?

Many thanks!

 

[rlobrecht]

It seems to me that jumping rope would be killer on already overstressed joints. It sounds like you're making excellent progress with walking and a new diet. What has convinced you to take up jumping rope?

 

[seasoned]

IMHO

I personally would start out with jumping jacks first just to see how the body will tolerate the added stress.

 

[Happy-Papi]

It seems to me that jumping rope would be killer on already overstressed joints. It sounds like you're making excellent progress with walking and a new diet. What has convinced you to take up jumping rope?

Yes I also think that jumping rope will be a killer for my over stressed joints and I am a bit afraid to damage it more but having heard of positive things about jumping rope (not just for weight loss but also for MA feet coordination) I am really hoping that I can learn how to do it someday.

A month and a half ago my left butt and leg got very painful and could barely walk. The chiropractor told me that it was because I spend a lot of time sitting and not moving and this also added problems to my lower spine and neck getting misaligned often from MA and from jumping and crashing on motorcycles before and the best cure was just to take the pain and push myself to do short walks, lose weight and be active again that probably this will cure my problems. These injuries helped me get fat by not moving and pigging out but I'm trying to work on it now. Now I can walk again and my pace is getting faster and will try to push it until I can run again and hoping that I can get back to teaching MA properly again (small baby steps).

What triggered my interest in jumping rope is because of an 8 year old girl who frequently visits me and she noticed that I could not jump over the canal beside my house when we are playing (only 1.5-ish meters across). I told her about my feet problem and she was nice to give me some advice. First she offered to teach me how to ride her small unicycle, lol... and then she told me that maybe if I learn how to use a jumping rope that I can probably jump across the canal again. Her words got stuck in my mind and did a research on YouTube about jumping ropes and saw sexy boxers-MAist who were doing it and even some who said that it is good for weight loss so I got interested. The little girl challenged me to do it so that I can join the kids when they are playing. I know that it will be very difficult to learn but I just don't want the to turn down the kids.

Many thanks rlobrecht!

 

[Happy-Papi]

IMHO

I personally would start out with jumping jacks first just to see how the body will tolerate the added stress.

I did some jumping jacks before I wrote this and was able to do some (only 50) and the pain was just minimal. I forgot to do some stretching but maybe if I did some, there will be no pain. Will follow your advice and will start doing jumping jacks.

Many thanks for your awesome advice.

 

[aaradia]

What triggered my interest in jumping rope is because of an 8 year old girl who frequently visits me and she noticed that I could not jump over the canal beside my house when we are playing (only 1.5-ish meters across). I told her about my feet problem and she was nice to give me some advice. First she offered to teach me how to ride her small unicycle, lol... and then she told me that maybe if I learn how to use a jumping rope that I can probably jump across the canal again. Her words got stuck in my mind and did a research on YouTube about jumping ropes and saw sexy boxers-MAist who were doing it and even some who said that it is good for weight loss so I got interested. The little girl challenged me to do it so that I can join the kids when they are playing. I know that it will be very difficult to learn but I just don't want the to turn down the kids.

Many thanks rlobrecht!

No offense to the kid, but I don't think taking advice on rehabilitation of injuries from an 8 year old is the smartest thing to do. Nor is youtube advice because a boxer is "sexy." If trying to rebuild from injuries, see any of the various medical professionals (standard or alternative medicine) for good exercises specific to your injury. Doing the wrong rehab could worsen the condition.

 

[Happy-Papi]

No offense to the kid, but I don't think taking advice on rehabilitation of injuries from an 8 year old is the smartest thing to do. Nor is youtube advice because a boxer is "sexy." If trying to rebuild from injuries, see any of the various medical professionals (standard or alternative medicine) for good exercises specific to your injury. Doing the wrong rehab could worsen the condition.

Yes you are right. I will visit the doctor and get his advice.

Many thanks aaradia!

 

[granfire]

I am not a doctor, my joints have nowhere near the damage you described....I don't jog. I loathe jumping jacks - which I consider to be a huge strain on the joints, not only because of the jumping impact, bu as well as considerable side way tork. But there is a cheater variation avaialbel, you just step side to side instead of jumping. I learned that from a friend with shot knees and hips.

But swimming, or biking (two wheels) might be your best bet, low impact and all.

But over all, you will have t find a nutrition program you can stick with and eat better.

 

[jks9199]

Walk.

Walking is great exercise, it will help you lose weight, and will help strengthen your joints to do the job they're intended for -- which is supporting your weight and moving. And it's nowhere near as stressful as any sort of jumping.

 

[K-man]

My knees are not as healthy as I would like and as a result I do not run much. I do skip most days every week and it certainly is great exercise from a lot of points of view. From what you have said, the main problem might be the ball of your foot because it is from here you are generating the lift. Strapping the ankles will not help as strapping is only designed to restrict the sideways movement and allow the foot to move up and down.

What I would suggest is to start on a softer surface such as rubber mat or carpet, without the rope, and just bounce up and down off both feet so that you just lift about an inch (2.5cm) or so off the floor. Start off with say 10 and add to it each day if you do not experience any discomfort. If you can do fifty of those without the ball of your foot causing grief, I would suggest you could then add the rope. Make sure the rope is not too light and not too long. Take it slow even to the extent that you add a beat to the rotation. That is jump, pause, jump, pause, jump. If you are managing that ok, turn the rope a little faster and take out the pause.

Once you have that off pat you can start using alternate legs. Take it easy here because this doubles the stress on everything i.e. the weight that was evenly distributed on both legs is now all on one.

Give it a try and see how you get on. :asian:

 

[Happy-Papi]

My knees are not as healthy as I would like and as a result I do not run much. I do skip most days every week and it certainly is great exercise from a lot of points of view. From what you have said, the main problem might be the ball of your foot because it is from here you are generating the lift. Strapping the ankles will not help as strapping is only designed to restrict the sideways movement and allow the foot to move up and down.

What I would suggest is to start on a softer surface such as rubber mat or carpet, without the rope, and just bounce up and down off both feet so that you just lift about an inch (2.5cm) or so off the floor. Start off with say 10 and add to it each day if you do not experience any discomfort. If you can do fifty of those without the ball of your foot causing grief, I would suggest you could then add the rope. Make sure the rope is not too light and not too long. Take it slow even to the extent that you add a beat to the rotation. That is jump, pause, jump, pause, jump. If you are managing that ok, turn the rope a little faster and take out the pause.

Once you have that off pat you can start using alternate legs. Take it easy here because this doubles the stress on everything i.e. the weight that was evenly distributed on both legs is now all on one.

Give it a try and see how you get on. :asian:

Wow this is golden, thank you very much! I just called the doctor and he said that he saw me a few night ago walking fast and he also noticed that I lost a few kilos and he sounded happy. He said that jumping rope will put a lot of stress on my feet and said that based on my character that I will still push it even if he says no. He reminded me about my MA, motorcycle and skiing accidents before that he had a hard time stopping me from doing the same stuffs even when I was still in rehabilitation. I got his blessing but I have to do it very slow and should rest if there is pain and also strongly reminded me about my age and even reminded the areas of my injuries (bad knees, cracked left inner ankle and heel and twisted ball, bad right foot, etc. and a stubborn brain... he was preaching, lol!). He also advised that I should also include practicing MA kicks again but slowly. I didn't told him that I have been doing light kick sparring with my son even when there is pain, hahaha! Yes he also said that strapping/taping my feet is basically useless and I just have to take it slow. He also mentioned that jumping rope is one of the best exercise for cardio and coordination training but it will not be easy.

I did 50 jumping jacks a few hours ago following rlobrecht's advice. I also tried your advice just now jumping on a mat without the rope and was able to do 100 jumps then another 41 but had to stop since my left foot's inner ankle started hurting. Your 2.5cms jump advice is very good and did not put a lot of stress on my feet. Last night I tried using my jumping rope but I was getting entangled and was jumping too high and just a few jumps only and my feet was painful. I found out that putting my feet very close together did a lot of help plus jumping on a mat (thanks to your advice) reduced the impact. I still couldn't land on the heel of my feet but maybe someday. I will follow your advice and do only 10 plus the jump and pause and try to increase it gradually. Maybe if I learn the proper timing that I would not have to jump that high anymore.

Thank you very-very much K-man!

 

[mook jong man]

Buy one of those little mini trampolines used for fitness.
My wife has one of those , and I use it quite a lot when my legs are too injured to use the skipping rope or anything else.

You can go pretty hard on it with no impact , it may enable you to get your weight down to a level where you can then start to gradually use the skipping rope.
With a bit of skill you might even be able to use the skipping rope on the mini tramp.