No motivational fitness montage is complete without a skipping rope scene. And it's not surprising, considering that just a few minutes of jumping can take your breath away.
But if you want to channel your inner Rocky and make the camber your new cardio machine, you'll want to do everything you can to avoid back pain. While doing this new form of exercise, avoid these five common mistakes.
5 mistakes that cause your back pain when skipping rope
You shrug your shoulders
If you're new to jumping, it's normal to feel like you need more slack to clear the rope. To facilitate jumping, many people tend to shrug, but this can cause pain in the upper back and neck area.
How to avoid it? Maintain an upright posture, keeping your shoulders back and away from your ears and activating your shoulder blades. This will help improve the alignment of your entire spine as you jump. At first it may seem difficult, but trust that you will clear the rope without problems. If you don't, you will need a longer rope.
You're arching your back
With so many moving parts at once, chances are you're not focusing too much on your spine alignment as you jump rope. But arching your lower back too low while jumping is a recipe for back pain.
Ideally, your body should be in a fairly straight line from the head to the toes without any part of the body sticking too far forward or backward. Your pelvis should remain in "neutral alignment" without rolling too far forward or backward.
To prevent this from happening , activate the core while jumping and think about pulling the navel towards your spine. This will help keep the body in line. Gradually, this will become second nature and one less thing to focus on.
You hit your feet on the ground
In theory, jumping rope is a simple activity. You jump rope, that's all. But there is a sure way to land (spoiler: hitting the ground with a slap, right?). But do not be discouraged, many people do not know how to land correctly while jumping.
Weak calves may be to blame. As you jump rope, you should be alert at all times, with your heels off the ground. But if you don't have enough strength in your calf muscles, you're likely to tire quickly, causing your heels to hit the ground. Over time, this can cause pain or stiffness in the lower back.
Low back pain would likely be caused by inadequate shock absorption due to repeatedly touching the ground with a hard landing. Every time you hit the ground, your spine and body are 'compressed' in a sense, and this shock travels down your feet toward your spine, often causing a feeling of 'pressure' or discomfort in your lower back.
How to avoid it? Focus on a smooth landing without touching your heels with the ground. Your goal is to absorb the force of your body through the balls of your feet. Then use your toes to drive down to the ground for your next jump. Plus, keep your stiffness across your legs as you jump with just a slight bend in your knees.
You extend your arms too far
To avoid hitting yourself with the rope, you may feel inclined to extend your arms directly from your body. This mistake may not only be causing back pain but is technically nonsense.
Think about it, the more you extend your body's elbows and hands, the less slack it will have on the rope. As a result, you will have less room to clear the rope as you jump. To compensate, your body will begin to lean forward, making the first mistake on this list.
To avoid doing this , keep your elbows close to your sides as you jump rope. This will allow more slack in the rope, giving your body more vertical room to jump.
You look at the ground
As you tire, you may feel inclined to look down at the ground as you jump. Focusing on the rope as you get tired can help you time your jump properly, but it can also cause strain or discomfort in your neck and upper back if you hold this position for too long.
What to do to fix it? As you jump, keep your head and neck aligned with the rest of your spine. Trust your time and judgment without looking down: if you are new to this activity, it will take some time. You can also lightly tuck in your chin to help protect your neck from tension.
