This article looks at the effects of skipping (jump rope) training on endurance running
What’s the deal?
Skipping (jump rope) is a great overall workout and can also be used as a warm up in a variety of sports. Skipping also improves the muscles in the foot, but can these improvements lead to better endurance running performance?
What did they do?
96 participants were recruited for this 10 week study. Roughly half of the participants continued their regular endurance training programme (control group), whereas the other participants were told to include 10-20 minutes of skipping in their warm up, 2-4 times per week. After 10 weeks, participants underwent multiple tests to determine their jumping ability and also performed a 3km time trial run. Results were compared to pre-study values.
What happened?
Participants who included skipping in their warm up for 10 weeks saw an improvement in every test relating to jumping ability, whereas the control group had no improvement. 3km time trial performance was improved by 3% in the skipping group (about 20 seconds faster), whereas the control group only had a 1.5% improvement.
What can you tell me about the people?
Participants were aged 18-40 years old, seasoned runners with multiple training sessions per week, and they were required to have a 10km running time of under 50 minutes. Roughly 50% of participants were women.
What else should I know?
Skipping is regarded as a type of “plyometric” exercise. Plyometric exercises are often jump-related, requiring repeated short and powerful muscle contractions (e.g. jumping upwards), followed by a short period of relaxation and stretch (e.g. landing and preparing to jump immediately again). Many sports use these types of movement, so plyometric-specific training is vital for elite athletes.
What will I do differently?
I recently started skipping before running and I’m enjoying it so far. I’m not convinced by the minor improvement in 3km running time in this study, but the jumping ability data is pretty solid! I worry about potential shin bone damage though, but so far so good. There is even some evidence to suggest that skipping might actually strengthen bones, so fingers crossed for that!
Acknowledgements
This research was published in March 2020 by F García-Pinillos and colleagues from the University of La Frontera, Chile.
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