Does skipping rope hurt your joints?

Rope skipping must be a sport that is very familiar to everyone. Jumping with all your body and mind can improve your cardiopulmonary function on the one hand, and it also has a significant effect on weight loss on the other hand. The calories consumed by skipping rope for one hour are far more than running or walking for one hour. Some people have raised questions, is skipping rope harmful to our knee joints, and how much is appropriate to skip every day?

Rope skipping is a sports game in which one or more people perform various jumping movements on a swinging rope. This game was called "Tousuo" in the Tang Dynasty, "Tiaosuo" in Song Dynasty, "Tiaobaisuo", "Tiaobaisuo" and "Tiaomasuo" in Ming Dynasty, "Shengfei" in Qing Dynasty, and "Tiaosheng" after the late Qing Dynasty. As an ancient folk entertainment activity of the Han nationality, rope skipping has been practiced during every festival since the Southern Song Dynasty, and every household has a competition.

Jumping rope with straight legs is not a good idea as it can easily cause soft tissue damage to the knee joint.

Because when the legs are straight and stiff, the knee joints will be shocked and impacted by the ground the moment they land, causing unnecessary damage to the knees.

How to skip rope without hurting your knee joints:

1. Don’t jump on concrete

If the venue for skipping rope is not chosen well, it is easy to cause damage to the knee joint. The most suitable venue for skipping rope is a lawn, wooden floor, mud floor or PU sports field with moderate hardness. Do not skip rope on hard cement, hard tile or marble floors.

2. Pay attention to coordination and avoid sprains

When jumping rope, you should relax your muscles and joints, and coordinate the force of your toes and heels to prevent sprains. It is best for overweight people and middle-aged women to jump with both feet at the same time. Don't jump too high to avoid injuring your joints from excessive weight.

3. Wear high-top shoes with high elasticity

When skipping rope, you should wear high-top shoes that are soft, light and elastic to avoid ankle injuries. Clothes should be loose and light.

4. It is best for beginners to use hard ropes

The rope should be soft, hard and of moderate thickness. Beginners usually use hard ropes, and can switch to soft ropes after becoming proficient.

From this we can see that whether skipping rope will hurt the knees depends entirely on the intensity of our exercise and the venue of exercise. If we jump reasonably within our ability and choose the right venue, the damage to the knees will be almost negligible. The elderly should do more gentle exercises such as walking or Tai Chi, and it would be better to avoid running and jumping as much as possible.