Yes, in this day and age a jump rope is still a good way to improve your fitness and your cardiovascular efficiency. All you need is a few new alternatives to exercise different muscles. Try these to jumpstart your day…

1. Jumping Jacks – Move your feet out and in laterally. This will work your inner and outer thighs.

2. Front-Back Shuffle – Move your feet forward and backward into a shallow lunge, putting your weight slightly more on the front foot and the back heel, while leaning slightly forward. This move will work your quads, hamstrings and glutes.

3. Run In Place – This simply involves a light jog where you continuously exchange your weight from one foot to the other.

• Bring your knees to the front, to work your hip flexors, quadriceps, and lower abs.
• Bring your heels to the back, towards your buttocks to work your hamstrings, and glutes.

4. Lateral Jump – Jump side to side with both feet. This will work your entire thigh area and your hips.

5. Front-Back Jump – Jump forward and backward with both feet. This will work your entire thigh area and your hips.

6. Twist – Your shoulders should face straight ahead while your lower body rotates to the left and then to the right. This will work your waist / obliques.

7. High Knee Lift – Raise and lower your one knee as close to your chest as possible, then raise and lower the other. Bring your one leg back down before picking up the other, to produce a hop-jump-hop-jump pattern. This will work your hip flexors and your lower abs.

8. Hamstring Curl – Raise and lower the heel to the back of your body, as if trying to kick yourself in the butt, then let it fall back down. Producing a hop-jump-hop-jump pattern Repeat, alternating your legs. This will work your hamstrings.

9. Heel Touch – Reach one leg out in front of you, tapping your heel to the floor, then pull it back in. Repeat this, alternating your legs. Remember to bend your rear leg slightly in order to reach the ground with your front leg. This will work your entire thigh area.

10. Cross Jack – This is like the jumping jack, but instead of moving your feet out and together, rather move them first out and then all the way across each other. Alternate the front foot. This will work your inner and outer thighs more intensely than the regular jumping jack and also works the calves.

Start with one or two of these steps and then go back to normal jumping to keep your rhythm. Do up to 10, 20 or 50 repetitions in a row and then introduce a few more steps. Once you can switch from one step to another for a minute or two, repeat one particular move for 1-2 minutes and then switch to another for 1-2 minutes.

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