054 Let’s get skipping! with Steve Shreeve

In this week's episode I am joined again by Steve Shreeve who is talking to us all about skipping. It's definitely the right time to talk about it as it was National Skipping Day on 24th March. We are so used to thinking about skipping in the playground but there are so many benefits for adults. Let's learn more. 

Hear us talk about:

• the general health benefits of skipping
• the sports benefits of skipping
• how to choose the right rope
• some tips to making skipping more accessible

Skipping provides both fun and health benefits. Why not try it today.

About Steve:
Steve has worked in the fitness industry for over 2 decades and helps clients manage back and joint pain, experience pain-free pregnancies, age ‘fitter’, and enhance sports performance.

Through running his own company, Shreeve Health and Fitness for over 10 years, Steve has developed a reputation for truly caring for his clients and is massively passionate about the ability of exercise, particularly resistance training, to keep our bodies young.  As well as his fitness work, Steve is also a youth basketball coach and jump rope coach, nurturing a positive and inclusive attitude to sport and fitness in young people.   

Steve Shreeve first started skipping at 17 years old as part of his fitness training for basketball. Over 23 years of skipping participation, Steve has: 

• Certified in multiple skipping instructing qualifications 
• Competed in, and won medals in speed skipping championships and competitions
• Featured in Men’s Fitness Magazine demonstrating skipping techniques 
• Run skipping classes and taught his PT clients how to skip
• Continued to teach skipping to aspiring young basketball players. 

In his spare time, Steve enjoys reading, watching sci-fi, and supporting nature and conservation charities.

Facebook:  https://www.facebook.com/shreevehealthandfitness

Website: https://www.shreevehandf.com/

About Sarah Bolitho:
Sarah Bolitho helps fitness and health professionals develop their careers and grow their businesses by providing specialist training in teaching, assessing, and internal quality assurance, together with qualifications in exercise referral and disability.   

With over 30 years in the health-related fitness and physical activity fields, Sarah has a wealth of experience and knowledge.  She has worked in most roles in the industry from group exercise to personal training but specialised in working with specialist populations.  For over 25 years Sarah has trained fitness and health professionals to work with clients with long-term conditions, mental health issues, disabilities, older adults and pre/post-natal women.  She has a post-graduate diploma in exercise and health behaviour and extensive training in supporting behaviour change.  She has worked with awarding organisations to develop qualifications and training and with accreditation bodies to endorse high-quality non-regulated training. 

For more about the training and support Sarah offers, visit www.sarahbolitho.com or contact her at admin@sarahbolitho.com.

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Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/sarahbolitho

Transcript

Sarah (00:01.71)

Hello and welcome to Creating Active Lives with me, Sarah Bolitho and my guest, who is a returning guest, Steve Shreeve. Steve has been on a couple of times before talking about pregnancy, talking about why activity is so important for older adults, but we're on a completely different topic this time, still to do with activity. It was National Skipping Day earlier this week, so we are talking about skipping. And the reason I want to talk about skipping is it's something I've always wanted to be able to do and I watch people skipping I think I'd love to be able to do that but I'm the sort of person that ends up tangled up in the rope to the point where I can barely move and someone has to cut me out so Steve tell us a little bit about yourself and then we're going to talk about skipping.

Steve Shreeve (00:49.013)

Hi everyone. So those of you who've heard me as a guest on Sarah's podcast before will know that I've been in the fitness industry for a very long time, for 21 years in fact, and I'm just coming up to my 11th year of running my personal training business, Shreve Health and Fitness. But I first got into skipping a long time ago. I was 17 years old and a basketball coach suggested to me that skipping might be beneficial. I was very, very into my basketball as I still am in fact, but I was playing under 18 international league at the time. And, uh, and I was always a big sponge for anything that might help my basketball game. And so I quickly took up a skipping rope and endeavored to learn everything that I could about it. And, um, and just fell in love with it very quickly because the benefits of it came through very quickly and.

You know, now, you know, I teach basketball, um, teach skipping to young aspiring basketball players. I've taught it to my PT clients who I work with. Um, you know, I, I'm equally as passionate about the sports training benefits as I am the general health training benefits for just the general population. And it is just good fun as well. So, so I love skipping. Um, I've competed in some skipping competitions and won some medals in those.

And off the back of those, I was actually featured in Men's Fitness Magazine in a double page spread about skipping, demonstrating various skipping techniques as well. So yeah, loads of cool stuff with skipping.

Sarah (02:25.612)

It's weird isn't it because skipping is something that we associate with young girls in the playground and boxers and sports people and basketball players. It doesn't seem to be kind of it's like oh if you're a young girl skipping that's great and if you're a sports person that's great but there's this gap in the middle isn't there because like you say it is so beneficial and it's so easy to do you just need a bit of space and a rope.

Steve Shreeve (02:31.069)

Yep.

Sarah (02:51.95)

So what are the benefits? And let's start with health. What are the health benefits of skipping?

Steve Shreeve (02:57.101)

loads of health benefits. So it's really good. I mean, it's probably no surprise to anyone that it's really good for your cardiovascular fitness. And in fact, a standard thing that's often quoted about skipping is that 10 minutes of skipping is the cardiovascular equivalent of 30 minutes jogging. So not only does that show just how outstanding it is for your cardiovascular fitness,

Um, but in a world where time is still quoted as, or lack of time is still quoted as the number one reason why people don't get enough exercise. Um, you know, it's so time efficient. Um, it's lower impact on the joints than running. Um, not that there's anything wrong with running. I'm a fan of running. Um, but for people who do worry about that, that that's, that's a good bonus. Um, it improves. What I love about it is improved so many things at once. So, you know, it's not just improving your, your cardiovascular fitness is improving your balance, your coordination, your agility. And one of the most underrated things I think that it improves is your concentration. It really does improve your ability to concentrate. So loads and loads of benefits.

Sarah (04:06.382)

I mean did you mention bones because I imagine it's good for your bones as well. Yeah it is. Concentration I get I mean because you actually need to concentrate if you've got this good. So what about sport then what are the benefits for sport?

Steve Shreeve (04:10.197)

It's really good for your bone density, yeah. Yeah.

Uh, what I love about skipping for sports again, it's just its ability to improve so many qualities, um, that are beneficial for sports in one package. So you, you know, a lot of people who play in team sports, for example, they want to improve qualities like explosiveness, quickness, balance, agility, and stamina. And they'll probably do different drills with different types of equipment to do all of those things. Whereas you could just cover all of those things in one 10 minute set of skipping. And so sports teams are often like normal people under a lot of time pressures. And actually why get loads of different bits of kit and different training methods out to develop those things all separately when you can develop them all in one package with a skipping rope. Some underrated aspects of skipping, you know, things like your dynamic balance and your change of direction and your explosiveness.

Um, you know, people are often quite surprised that when you're skipping, um, you're only jumping, you know, an inch or less off the floor yet. It really does improve your ability to jump higher because of the, um, effects that it has on your, on your muscle contractions.

Sarah (05:28.3)

Wow.

And let's face it, if basketball players do it, then they need to jump, as we all know. Steve and I are both fans of basketball, so we won't go down that route because we'll be here talking a complete tangent for quite a long time. But go Warriors. But yeah, so you mentioned kit you like. We don't have to get lots of bits of kit out. For me, one of reasons I'd like to do it is I've literally just got to take one small thing with me if I'm out. So it's not quite simple though is it, is just grab a bit of rope and off you go. There's more to it than that. So tell us a little bit about how to choose a good skipping rope.

Steve Shreeve (06:11.477)

Yeah, well, there are loads of skipping rope options out there these days. And actually I think that can often be a source of confusion. And I think sometimes the reason people struggled to learn skipping is because they're, they're using the wrong rope. So, you know, you can get ropes with weights in the handles. You can get leather ropes. You can get sort of actually rope ropes. You can get metal ropes, metal ropes with plastic coverings. The list is endless. And I often tell people just start with a basic PVC speed rope. You can pick one up for anywhere between three and five pounds normally, and they are normally a really good space to start. The reason why I don't recommend weighted ropes and the like is it does make the skipping harder, but it's not gonna give you the equivalent benefits of a strength training workout. So you know, skipping is not about strength work, skipping is about quickness, stamina, endurance, and any kind of other sort of sports skills that you might want to develop along there. So a plastic, you know, just PVC speed rope enables you to customize the length of the rope to you comfortably. And it's light enough that you're going to be able to turn it easily and time it with your jumps.

And it just allows you to do, you know, when you get better at it, it allows you to do lots of different tricks and things like that. Whereas other types of ropes aren't flexible enough to allow those things necessarily. They might be a bit too heavy. So your wrists get fatigued when you turn in the rope and then you start to miss jumps and things like that. So, you know, like a lot of things in life, sometimes going basic is the best way to go.

Sarah (07:54.542)

We all know that doing the basics well is one of my mantras and things like that. You mentioned length. Is there, I mean, because you can go and buy a rope and they're all different lengths and I think that confuses a lot of people. It's probably why I've never been good at it, is I always got, have we got the wrong length. So how do we know if it's the right length?

Steve Shreeve (08:11.605)

Yeah, so you'll often get a couple of skipping mistakes that often cause people to stumble a little bit. It's just using a rope that's either too long or too short for them. And in the best, the best thing to do is buy a rope that's going to be quite long because you can always shorten it. So basically when you're just beginning to learn to skip, you should stand on the center of the rope with one foot and then pull the handles up straight and those handles should reach your shoulders, just the top of your shoulders. That is the ideal starting point for you to start skipping. If the skipping rope is too long, it will turn too slowly and then you'll struggle to time the turns of the jump, the turns of the rope with the jump. And if the rope is too short, the rope will turn too quickly and you'll have the opposite problem. So just getting that shoulder length starting point is really important. Now, if you're sorry, go on.

Sarah (08:44.462)

Okay.

So I was going to say just so standing on the middle of it with one foot and then the end of the rope is the top of your shoulder or the end of the handle the end of the handle.

Steve Shreeve (09:17.013)

The end of the handle. Yeah. So you just literally hold, hold each handle in each hand with the palms in grip and literally pull both ends of the rope up to your shoulders. And it should literally be at the top of your shoulder, about shoulder height. Yeah.

Sarah (09:28.458)

Aha, so actually quite simple to do and obviously with a PVC rope you can adjust it really easily whereas obviously a metal or a leather one you're kind of stuck with it aren't you? Yeah.

Steve Shreeve (09:39.317)

Exactly. So yeah. So if you need to adjust your rope with a metal or a PVC one, sometimes the metal ones come with adjustments where you can slide it through and then you end up having bits of the rope kind of hanging off the handles and sort of leather ones. It means cutting bits of the rope off and then you can't add any more on if you need to lengthen it. So you might find that you master a technique with a certain length rope, but then if you want to learn a new jump or a new technique, you might need to lengthen the rope again so that it turns a little bit more slowly while you're learning that new technique. So with a PVC rope, all you do is just tie a knot in the rope and that shortens it. So if you need to shorten it quite a bit, you might try two or three knots in it just above the handle and that will help to shorten the rope. And of course, if you need to lengthen the rope again, you just untie those knots. It's really easy.

Sarah (10:30.766)

Brilliant. Yeah, really simple. So technique then. I think this is probably an area where people make lots of mistakes like me. I I'm already, you've mentioned a couple of things and I'm thinking I probably shouldn't be swinging my arms around like a like a whirly, whirly gig, should I?

Steve Shreeve (10:48.085)

Yeah, no, absolutely. That's right. In fact, that's one of the common mistakes when you're learning to skip is using your whole arms to turn the rope instead of just turning the wrists. So we literally, so what I say is that the first swing of the rope should be about the size of a dinner plate. And then every swing after that should be the size of a pound coin. And you're just making those turns with your wrists.

Sarah (10:59.062)

Right. Wow so that is definitely something I'm doing wrong there. It's always tight, it's always tight and probably the wrong length rope, the wrong type of rope, the wrong technique. Yeah it's also, oh gosh I'm gonna have to go outside, I'm gonna have to go outside and video myself giving this a go aren't I, which I will do. What else?

Steve Shreeve (11:26.869)

Yeah. And these, these things tie in together as well because, because if your rope's too long. So another common mistake that causes people to catch the rope is that when they're turning the rope, they either lift their arms upwards gradually. So they might start turning the rope with their hands about hip height and then gradually just their, their arms will rise up and rise up or their arms will gradually move further away from their body. And both of those things lift the rope higher.

Now some people just do that anyway, even if they're using the right length rope. So you just need to remember, keep your elbows tucked in by your sides, keep your hands at hip height, and then the rope will always turn over your head really nicely and just tap the floor nicely under your feet as you jump over it. But if the rope is too long, that causes you to do those two things. So you'll lift the arms up and or away from the body, and then you end up lifting the rope up higher and catching it.

Sarah (12:19.404)

Oh my goodness. I do know what everybody listening, please, please, please do some videos of you sort of before and after, because I am going to do this. I'm going to do one of me before and then I'm going to really focus on getting it right. And hopefully so. Still still same with technique and again, probably a lot of common mistakes here. I think we've all seen the boxers doing all the fancy arms crossing and all this sort of stuff. Is it best to master just a basic two footed or alternating feet technique before you go and do anything else?

Steve Shreeve (12:50.517)

That's a really good question. Yes. So that the basically jumping on two feet in skipping is called the bounce step, which is quite a nice name, isn't it? The bounce step. And it's literally just bouncing on two feet. And that is the basic fundamental skipping technique and all other techniques progress from there. So it's really important to master the bounce step first. And then you build your other jumps in from there. And with the bounce step, even the bounce step is the most basic technique, but you literally just want to be taking small jumps about an inch away from the surface of the floor. What the great thing about skipping is it is very low impact, but what a lot of people will end up doing is accidentally sort of tuck jumping or kicking their heels behind them when they, when they jump. So, um, you know, a great way to learn is actually put the rope to one side, but pretend you've got the rope in your hands and just practice those low impact, just springy bouncy jumps where you're not tuck jumping or not kicking your heels behind you. You should just have a little bit of flexion in your hips, knees and ankles and just be bouncing up and down on the spot. And it should feel quite rhythmical and it should feel quite nice. Because I think a lot of people when they first start and they're trying to master the jumping technique and master the rope at the same time, it's too much. And you've got to get that footwork right without the rope first and then introduce the rope.

Sarah (14:14.702)

So you see, I can do it without the rope. I'm brilliant at that. But so, so years of aerobics as well coming in. But so soft knees, soft ankles, soft hips, and just a little bounce.

Steve Shreeve (14:17.333)

Yeah. Yeah. And it should be quiet. It should be really quiet. We shouldn't hear a slapping sound as we're hitting the floor. It should just be a very, very quiet, soft landing on the front part of the foot with the heel not touching the floor when you land.

Sarah (14:37.518)

So just, I'm just literally just an inch off the floor. Everything. So practice, practice, practice. Brilliant. So once you've mastered that and you then add in the rope and you've mastered that, you see people doing sort of ultimate feet. Is it worth going back to ditching the rope and practicing that again?

Steve Shreeve (14:39.861)

Yes.  Absolutely, absolutely. Any technique you want to learn, practice without the rope first. And then once you've mastered doing it without the rope, you can literally hold the handles, both handles in one hand and just turn the rope to the side of your body while you jump. And then what will happen is you'll get used to timing the swing of the rope with your jumps without worrying about catching the rope because it's swinging to the side of your body instead of under your feet.

Sarah (15:06.574)

Right.

Steve Shreeve (15:20.597)

Um, and the best way to do it when you're first starting, when you do your first jump is you, you start to jump when the rope passes your head. Yeah. And then if you can do that each time, you'll have that perfect timing. Then once you can jump and time the rope, swinging it to the side of your body, you literally hold the rope in each hand with the rope resting behind your calves and just practice doing one jump and stop. Then reset one jump and stop reset and just practice that  timing again, turning the rope as it, so jumping as the rope passes over your head and then just stopping. And then once you've mastered that, then start doing two jumps at a time, then three jumps at a time, then four and so on. And actually you end up learning how to skip so much more quickly, doing it that way and breaking it down into those steps. And I've seen people who thought they could never skip. They said, I'm too clumsy, I'm too uncoordinated, I can't do this. If they follow those steps, I have them skipping within five minutes. Yeah. Looking like they've done it, you know, like their pros. Yeah.

Sarah (16:20.846)

Wow, this is the thing. And it's weird, isn't it? I think because it's such a... It's something that's just so associated with childhood, with growing up, you know, grab a skipping rope and skip. We don't ever think that it's still a skill that we need to learn. So doing it without the rope, then doing it with the rope just to one side, timing and getting used to the rhythm, the timing and things like that, and then adding the rope just makes so much sense. But it's not...

I think we just, maybe we're just so used to diving in and giving things a go that we forget that like anything, it's a technique. And it's, yeah, I mean, that just makes perfect sense to me. Get your basics right. And actually, by the time you add the rope, it's almost, you know, it's a given that you're going to be able to do it.

Steve Shreeve (16:55.797)

Absolutely.  Yeah. And last year I wanted to learn a new trick. There's always new things to learn with skipping. And I've been skipping for decades. And even when I wanted to learn something new, I went back to that beginning step and practiced it without the rope first. Practiced the movements my arms were going to go through as I was jumping. Then I did it with the rope to the side of my body, not actually jumping over the rope. And then I brought the rope in, did it once, did it twice and learnt it really, really quickly. And it was quite a funky advanced trick. But just going through those steps, breaking it down. And once you've done that with the basic steps, anything else you want to learn with skipping, you can revisit those steps and learn anything you want to do with skipping rope really.

Sarah (17:56.782)

It's like brain training, isn't it? You're training your brain to do the movement simply before you add in equipment. And a lot of people do that. I think just thinking back to gymnastics, before somebody's going to competition, you'll often see them, and they're literally standing there, but you can see that they're physically going through the entire routine in their heads. And there's a little bit of movement going on, but it's visualizing it. And in a way, you're training your brain in new skills, which just makes so much more sense than grab a rope, give it a go and practice doing it wrong until you give up. And there is that saying, isn't there? We always talk about practice makes perfect, but actually practice makes permanent. So if you're practicing wrong, then you're just going to keep doing it wrong and you'll never get it. And of course, like we say with a lot of things, especially to do with fitness, but any sport or skill, if you don't get the basics right you're never going to be able to improve because you haven't got that solid foundation. So yeah.

Steve Shreeve (18:35.485)

Yeah.  Exactly.

Well, it's a bit like learning to drive, isn't it? You don't, in your first driving lesson, you don't go on the motorway.

Sarah (19:04.334)

No, no, I know people that don't, after years of driving, they still don't want the motorway, but no, it's, but it's true, isn't it? You start with the basics, you get the basics right and actually everything you then layer on, you're building on a very strong foundation that you can go, like you say, when you want to learn something new, you go back to that, that basic without the rope and build on that, which is really makes sense. So what we've talked about, the length of the rope, we've talked about, you know, going straight in and trying to do it all without doing the basics. What are the common mistakes that people make?

Steve Shreeve (19:06.485)

You've got to practice at least six months.

Mistakes? Ttrying to do it too quickly, I think is the big thing and not being afraid to go through those basic steps. You know, even some of the young basketball players that I've been coaching, skipping to this year, um, they, uh, they're all different heights and different abilities and different coordination levels. And some pick it up faster than others. And I say to the ones that aren't picking it up quickly or as quickly as the others.

Um, you know, don't be afraid to go back to those basics practice jumping without the rope practice jumping with the rope beside your body. You're still getting exercise. You're still getting those benefits. You're still getting your body moving by doing that. So kind of not being in a rush, um, trying to build up too soon as well. Um, although I mentioned it, it can be lower impact than running. It's it's different running. So if you kind of do too much too soon, you can start to get things like shin splints and things like that, because it really uses the calves a lot more than a lot of other aerobic activities and anaerobic activities. So, you know, it's absolutely well, absolutely.

Sarah (20:38.702)

So a good stretch afterwards. Stretch that, anterior tibialis, front of the shin, stretch the calf afterwards.

Steve Shreeve (20:45.397)

Yeah, absolutely. But, but build it up in short stints when you're just first learning to skip five minutes is enough. It's absolutely enough. You know, get your body used to it and build it up in small amounts of time. Um, and, and think quality over quantity when you're first learning, you know, people often do try and do too much, you know, too soon and end up with sore shins or sore forearm muscles or things like that. You know, just people underestimate how much work their body's doing. Just turning the rope over and over again you know, so the forearm muscles can ache a little bit afterwards as well.

Sarah (21:14.958)

And I think from the sounds with mastering that soft jump, that soft small jump is important, is really getting that right. Because again, with like anything, but particularly skipping is you need to be consistent with the rhythm, the cadence, the cadence, that's more cycling, isn't it? But you need to be consistent with that rhythm. You can't. So learning that, really embedding that as a skill must help. Yeah.

Steve Shreeve (21:26.549)

Absolutely. And when people transition from jumping on both feet at the same time to then alternating feet, one of the biggest things, in fact, I've seen it almost every time I've seen someone transition into that skill, they start kicking their feet behind them and they end up catching the rope when their feet are catching behind them. So what I always say is knees in front, not knees high, but knees and feet in front when you do it. And then that stops you catching the rope. Now that's somewhat of a contradiction because there is a technique that you can use when you're getting a little bit more advanced called a backwards shuffle. And that is where you purposefully kick your knees behind you, your feet behind you. But by the time you're doing that, you've already built up through the other techniques and your coordination is so much better. Your timing is so much better that you can do that without kicking the rope.

But when you're first learning what's called the alternate footstep or the speed step where we alternate feet in kind of a running type fashion, you definitely want to keep your knees and feet in front of you and underneath you. And that really helps to avoid catching the rope as you're turning it.

Sarah (22:49.934)

Brilliant, so again it goes back to you know get the basics right and the rest of it will start to build on it much more easily. I mean is there anything people need to be aware of, is there any precautions or anything like that that we need before we start? Apart from ladies out there, men cover your ears but ladies I would recommend a good sports bra.

Steve Shreeve (22:52.917)

Yeah that's good advice there. I mean, as always with any type of exercise, you know, make sure you're medically cleared to exercise. If you've got any, if you've got any health conditions, any high blood pressure or anything like that, any bone conditions, you know, speak to your GP, make sure you get medical clearance before you're starting any new kind of exercise. Concrete's an interesting one because people do skip on concrete and you know, kids do it in the playground.

But one of the general precautions on skipping is not to skip on concrete because it has no give. So, you know, sports courts are generally considered good places to skip on. Just a surface that's got a little bit of give. But something that's become more readily available recently is skipping mats. You can actually buy skipping mats now that you can put down on hard surfaces. They're just like thin foam mats that are grippy underneath and you can put them on harder surfaces just to cushion your landings. And there are some really good ones out there. I use one if I want to skip in my garden on a hard surface, I roll out a skipping mat and you can get different sized ones and all of that. And I love my skipping mat, I think it's great. So that can be useful.

Sarah (24:24.558)

So those of you out there who don't think you're being active in this, you've got all the kit that goes with it. Yeah, you don't just need a rope. You can get a mat as well. But actually that sounds really good, particularly if people do have more solid surfaces. And I'm thinking, gosh, if I can't skip on that sort of surface then what can I do then a mat might well be a good idea and you know it's there's something isn't there about having a rope or a mat it's just it's that preparation it's that mental preparation do you need I mean it sounds daft coming from a fitness thing though do you need to warm up before you skip is there anything you can do or just just do some gentle lower level movements to get you ready?

Steve Shreeve (24:55.741)

That's a really interesting question because skipping is often described as a good way to warm up for other things. Because it does do a really good job of raising the body temperature. It gets blood flowing around the body. It uses the whole body. So even something that can often be underestimated is although you're only turning the rope with your wrists, all of your upper body muscles are involved in that. And you know, your core muscles are working to hold everything together as well. It's just brilliant how the whole body works together in skipping. But my preference is to do some warm up exercises before you skip. For several reasons, obviously you're well aware of this. It takes a little bit of time for our joints to start producing more synovial fluid, which what our body uses to basically lubricate our joints and our cartilage at the end of our bones absorb that and plump up.

And so when you're going to do something that has any kind of impact to it, I do recommend doing some warmup exercises for three to five minutes first that have no impact so that your, your body is better able to absorb the impact that's there when you're doing it. Um, I like dynamic stretching. I like to put sequences of dynamic stretching together to us so that you're doing them continuously so that you're taking your body through a nice range of motion, but also raising your temperature as well. And I think that's a really lovely way to warm up for skipping especially as a lot of people work in seated positions now and things so they'll have tight hips and tight hamstrings and that's a good way to loosen those muscles up before you start something like skipping.

Sarah (26:45.74)

I think that's a future episode. We're always looking for ways to get Steve back on because he is one of my regulars. So I definitely think dynamic stretching would be a really, really good future episode, but we would need video for that one because it is quite a dynamic in nature. What about, I mean, again, thinking fitnessy people cooling down, just presumably just sort of a good stretch, mobilizing through your joints, just loosening everything off again afterwards would be sufficient, wouldn't it? You don't need to sort of go through anything else.

special stuff

Steve Shreeve (27:00.981)

Yeah, absolutely. I mean, it depends what you've been doing in your skipping session. So, you know, if, if you, if you're just doing some steady pace skipping, like you would do a steady pace run or a steady pace bike ride, you can just start to slow down for the last few minutes, you know, just to bring your heart rate down gradually and then, um, and then do some static stretching afterwards for sure. Um, really focus on your calf muscles as we, as we've said before, and the forearm muscles as well. 

But again, dynamic stretches can be used equally as well as a cool down. Do a sequence of dynamic stretches and that, I really like that because it serves as a bridge between finishing what you were doing and then transitioning into static stretching exercises. And again, because it's active movement, you're taking your body through a range of motion actively. Again, you can still bring your heart rate down gradually and keep the body moving and avoid that blood pooling that happens in the body if we just stop exercising when our heartbeat is still going rapidly.

Sarah (28:15.758)

So for most people, and I mean, even if they're only starting off with five minutes of actual skipping, they could probably 10 to 15 minutes is all they need just to get started and get a really good workout. And that would include getting ready, warming up, preparing yourself or whatever and stretching out afterwards, wouldn't it?.

Steve Shreeve (28:33.717)

Absolutely. I think a great way to use skipping as well is for anyone that's already doing their strength training and things like that, like doing a minute of skipping in between each strength exercises or even just 30 seconds of skipping. It's a really, really good fun to turn a strength training workout into quite a nice circuit training workout and build different fitness qualities kind of sustainably. You know, you don't always have to get your rope out and just do 10 minutes.

Um, I mean, I tend to do more interval style skipping these days where I break it up with periods of skipping and periods at rest, but absolutely in between like a strength workouts where the, you know, and then you're not having to find more time outside of those workouts to do a separate skipping session and things like that. That can work really nicely too.

Sarah (29:15.086)

So you mentioned that you run skipping classes. What would a class involve?

Steve Shreeve (29:24.597)

Well, I don't at the moment, I have done in the past. At the moment, most of the people I'm teaching skipping to is in sports environments. So, the basketball team that I currently coach, we do skipping in our basketball sessions. But when I was running a class previously, it would literally be almost like a week by week progressive course. So we would start, you know, with a good warm up and introduction to skipping, why we're doing it, what the benefits are.

And then we'd start with the steps that I outlined earlier in terms of learning to get the correct jumping technique without the rope, then introducing the rope gradually, learning the basic techniques. And then, you know, week on week, we'd add different techniques and then start to build up the length of time participants could skip for. And, you know, it's, it is, you know, I mentioned earlier that 10 minutes of skipping is, you know, often cited as the cardiovascular equivalent of 30 minutes jogging.

You know, you'd be amazed to just see how much it takes for some people to work their way up to three minutes skipping, you know, because so many muscle groups are working at once. Um, so you do get a really good workout, you know, in a short space of time and, you know, to, to just build up to doing just a few minutes skipping is a real achievement. And people who are learning to skip shouldn't take that for granted as well. You know, if you, if you can skip for a few minutes, you're doing really well.

Sarah (30:45.838)

I think that's encouragement for all of us. So one final message then, if you were to sort of have a like a strap line, if you were advertising it, do skipping because what would your message be?

Steve Shreeve (31:00.693)

Because it gives you multiple fitness benefits in one package and it saves you time because of that.

Sarah (31:09.23)

And what more can we add to that really? And most of us, you know, are looking for time efficient ways to maintain our fitness, but also fun, because I think skipping is fun, isn't it? It's the sort of thing I imagine brings a smile to people's face, particularly when they actually master the technique and start to get better. Presumably a lot of people just come away from it smiling because it's like, I can do this. It's really, it's really good. It's good fun.

Steve Shreeve (31:19.477)

Yeah. And I'll tell you something else that's underrated as well. And, and ties into the fun element. When I'm teaching people to skip something that I'll often say to them is, isn't that whooshing sound really lovely and calming. And they get, they always doesn't matter young, old, anywhere in between. They always say, yeah, it's really nice. And as you, as you start to master it, that lovely whooshing sound as the rope passes by your ears becomes really meditative and just really calming. And, and, you know, I encourage people to count their jumps.

Um, and, and that again is something that really improves focus and concentration. And a lot of people are working in front of computers and at desks and things like that. And skipping is great for your posture because you have to stand up tall and you have to keep your shoulders back to be able to turn the rope properly. So yeah, just, and that, you know, that, that feels good when you do it. Standing with good posture feels good. Having that lovely calming, whooshing sound as well as you know, the sense of achievement you're getting from mastering something new and learning new techniques step by step, it all adds to that fun element.

Sarah (32:41.294)

It sounds absolutely brilliant. As I say, I am going to give it a go. I've got a couple of ropes, which I know are too long, so I'm going to go and adjust the length, get outside of the garden. It's actually quite sunny at the moment. Get outside and give it a go and I will keep everybody posted with some with some videos of me doing my best. Steve, thank you so much for coming in. And as I say, I definitely think we'll get you back in to talk about dynamic stretching, what it is and how to do it, it adds an element of time efficiency to workouts but thank you so much. I'll put the links of where people can find you but on Facebook your Shreve Health and Fitness and your website is www .shreevehandf.com but all the links will be in there and again thank you so much for coming on to talk about this because I think it's I know it's something you're really passionate about but also I think it's something that a lot of people will just find such a fun way to increase their activity.

Steve Shreeve (32:59.797)

Brilliant. Thank you so much, Sarah.

Sarah (33:40.334)

Thank you. You've been listening to me, Sarah Bolitho and my guest, Steve Shreeve on Creating Active Lives. Let's get skipping and we will see you soon.