When kids skip, it rarely looks like work. There’s something playful, almost primitive, about the urge to bound yourself forward through space, your body briefly levitating with each stride. And yet, as adults, many of us quit.
But skipping has entered the social media conversation, thanks in part to a recent episode of Andrew Huberman’s podcast, during which the track coach Stuart McMillan touted the activity as an overlooked form of exercise for athletes of all levels.
The enthusiasm is deserved, fitness experts told The Times. The movement, which is a form of plyometric training and basically involves a step and a hop on repeat, can help build power, agility and speed, and improve coordination, balance and mobility.
Here’s how to make skipping work for you.
Can skipping really improve your fitness?
When you’re a kid, skipping is a key part of motor development — it helps you develop the power and coordination needed for running, and an awareness of where your body is in space, known as proprioception, said Mary Winfrey-Kovell, a senior lecturer of exercise science at Ball State University.
As an adult, you can benefit from going back to these basics, she said. “You’re challenging just about every muscle in your body” when you skip, she added, particularly if you swing your arms — and you’re training your brain to react more quickly.
Skipping can also improve balance and stability, since it requires hopping on one leg at a time, said Grayson Wickham, a physical therapist in New York City and the founder of the stretching and mobility app Movement Vault.
“When you’re on that one leg, your body wants to kind of crumble,” he said, so it enlists the muscles in your core, glutes, hips and legs to stay upright, stabilizing and strengthening these muscles along the way.
Like other bouncing exercises, skipping can also help to keep your connective tissue, or fascia, supple and strong, which can help you stay mobile and pain-free as you age. And it can strengthen your bones, too, by strategically putting force on your musculoskeletal system, which builds density.
And as a form of plyometrics — explosive exercises that require your muscles to produce a lot of force in short bursts — skipping can help you become a faster, stronger runner, said Jessica Movold, a running and strength coach in Austin, Texas, who uses the exercise as a training tool for her athletes.
Skipping can also help limber up your hips by taking them through a bigger range of motion than is typical while running, Dr. Wickham added.
Is there a right way to skip?
Skipping is easily adaptable. “You can kind of scale it up or scale it down, based on the intensity that you put into it,” Dr. Wickham said.
If you haven’t skipped in a while, see how it feels to move the way you might have moved as a child.
If you’re concerned about your balance, Ms. Winfrey-Kovell recommended slowing down the exercise and breaking it into parts: Take a step, hop on that foot, then switch sides. As you feel more steady, pick up the pace and ease into a more fluid motion.
For more experienced athletes, skipping can become a propulsive, fast-paced drill, in which you lift your knees as high as you can, while simultaneously raising the opposite arm and elbow — and quickly hopping on your standing leg. Think of your arms as pulling up your legs, Ms. Movold said.
How can you incorporate skipping into your fitness routine?
Try it as a dynamic warm-up
Experts now generally recommend warming up the muscles with gentle movement, rather than static stretching. A relaxed, playful skip is a great option, Dr. Wickham said. Before your next workout, try skipping for 30 to 60 seconds.
Add skipping intervals to your runs or walks
To add some variety during a walk or run, incorporate a few skipping intervals. Skipping can help to offset some of the potentially damaging effects of doing the same movement over and over again, by offering your musculoskeletal system some variety, Dr. Wickham said.
Drills, baby, drills
Many competitive athletes perform drills to improve their speed, power, reaction time and coordination. But without a coach to guide you, these moves can feel intimidating, Ms. Movold said. If you’re in this camp, skipping drills can be an approachable entry point.
Ms. Movold recommended doing a series of three different skipping exercises — which track athletes may know as A Skips, B Skips and C Skips — that involve different degrees of knee raises and leg positioning.
Turn it into its own workout
You can also make skipping a stand-alone activity. Some very limited research suggests that skipping can be easier on the knees than running while offering comparable (or greater) aerobic benefits.
For a 30-minute skipping workout, consider incorporating the A, B and C skips mentioned above. For an added challenge, add in a round or two of skipping backward or side-to-side, Dr. Wickham said.
“It has more of a fun factor versus just straight-up jogging,” he said. “You almost kind of float.”
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