Skip-to-my-loo

What a beautiful day! Its a day of cleaning and packing, but I also made time for a home workout too. While the littlest was off at gymnastics I put on my gear and headed outside with my skipping rope. 

I really enjoy skipping, and its really great cardio for me as I can't run (remember that nasty petalla femoral syndrome). Here's what Wikipedia says about skipping:

In contrast to running, jumping rope is unlikely to lead to knee damage since the impact of each jump or step is absorbed by the balls of both feet rather than the heels. This decreases the ground reaction forces through the patella-femoral joint greatly. Jumping rope also helps strengthen the arms and shoulders. This combination of an aerobic workout and coordination-building footwork has made jumping rope a popular form of exercise for athletes.

Here's some information on the positive cardio effects of skipping:

According to the U.S. Olympic Committee Sports Medicine Council, an excellent cardiovascular exercise which is far less hard on the muscles and bones than jogging, is rope skipping. From an energy standpoint, jumping rope at about 130 revolutions per minute is similar to running at 6 miles per hour or cycling 12 miles per hour. Just 10 minutes of rope skipping is equivalent to a one-mile run!

So, today's routine was simple (6 sets):

• 4 minutes of skipping (each set a combination of high knees, single feet, double feet, and fast feet)
• Triplet: 10 bootstraps, 20 mountain climbers, 10 burpees

Then I went inside and did a little TRX ab work:

• pikes (10)
• mountain climbers (10 singles per leg)
• knees in to chest (10)
• twists (5/side)
• And I did oblique twists on the ball with a weight overhead (20 per side)

And here's how pretty I look when I'm all done (it took a full hour, including some short breaks):

(no comments about the 40 year old mass of forehead wrinkles!)

Right! Well, its time to get back at the cleaning and the packing!! T-minus 3 days till lift off!

Later!