Maybe someone here can help me out with this: I do a lot of rope skipping for my cardiowork. Unfortunately my knees don't particularly agree with me skipping on concrete, even with carpet on top. Does anyone have a recommendation as to what surface to use for protection? I was thinking of a wooden board, but what wood would be the best to use?
Rubber exercise mat
Great suggestions toddseney and Ryukyu Damashi.
JensK, how high do you jump when you skip? I had knee problems too. When I started to skip rope I concentrated on jumping up as low as possible. This really helped keep my knees safe. When you skip your feet should come off the ground just enough to let the rope pass under them. The higher you jump the more energy is transferred to your joints when you land.
-s-
Thanks for the suggestions guys, I'll check into it.
beauregard,
I skip low too. The problem is the surface, not the technique. When I skip at my friends gym, where the aerobic room has a special floor, I don't have any knee-trouble at all.
sand.
The best surface to do it is on a hardwood floor. Ie in a gym or in a dance studio or even on a rackeball court. You can jump on other surfaces but those are by far the best. When skipping jumping varies emensely on what you are going for. If you do power routines and are trying for tripple jumps then jump as high as you possibly can. Now if you are just going for timming/fatburning just try to barely clear the rope and try to get atleast 120 jumps a minute. So thats 2 jumps a secound if that sounds better. I've had kneed problems and surgery on my leaft knee and doing what I just described have no pain in my knees afterward or during the workout.
In my opinion the surface is really not that important, just make sure you're using confortable shoes...
The surface is important if you intend on getting any benefit out of skipping. If you plan on loosing weight or getting a better vert its not healthy to pound on your joints on a surface like concrete while doing the neccessary jumps. You need a surface that has some give to it yet is firm enough you can get a good jump. Also you can't be on a surface that interefers with the rope.