They keep jumping rope, not knowing the activity is great for the heart, in addition to being an exercise and burn calories.

Laura Filoso, coach of Saguaro Skippers jump rope, made his team the Phoenix Suns, Phoenix Coyotes and Arizona Diamondbacks games, as well as, Arizona State University men's basketball games women's basketball. The skippers have also performed at school assemblies.

The skippers, located in Peoria, have been around sine August 2007. Team members range in age from 8 to 14 and meet for practice at Rio Vista Recreation Centre.The skippers have a mission to promote heart health and jump-roping encourage children to fight against obesity with physical activity. When Rio Vista got wind of the boats, they have offered their space for free practice, in exchange for teaching the clinic.

Jumping rope is an excellent cardiovascular workout that is easy to do at the gym, as an exercise while traveling, when you're with children, or even at home watching television. It is lightweight, easy to store and you do not need much space.

It is also an excellent fat burner. According to the National Institutes of Health, jumping rope burns about 750 calories per hour, which is more than any other popular exercise except running. On average, jumping rope burns about 11 calories per minute.If you mount the intensity of your jumps, you can burn in the neighborhood of 20 calories per minute. The faster you jump, the more calories you burn.

It is easy to see why this exercise is easily one of the best cardio activities, you can try....

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Special to Grouptrails.

While on medical rotations, I rediscovered a lost art – the jump rope.  I’m too busy and too poor to have a gym membership, so one day I decided to buy a jump rope from a local thrift shop.  The rope cost me a whopping buck fifty.  It travels with me via air, car or train.  It’s compact and I can whip it out whenever I please.  The best part is, I can achieve high cardio activity by jumping in intervals in as little as 30 minutes.  Depending on what other exercises I’ve done for the day I’m guaranteed to burn at least 600 calories.  A brisk walk or core repetitions between jumping can really pile up the number of calories burned.

Jumping rope ranks high among the most cardio driven activities; it’s second only to jogging.  No treadmill is required for this healthy past-time.  It took me a minute to relearn the technique for jumping rope, as there is a rhythm one must achieve for high cardio quality.  You can jump rope anytime, anywhere, and most importantly, it’s fun!

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