For many, it’s quite challenging to maintain a workout schedule, especially at the gym. However, health experts say that home workouts, like skipping, or jumping rope, is excellent for improving your cardiorespiratory fitness can be an alternate if the goal is to stay fit.

Theogene Nteziryayo, a fitness trainer at Modern Gym Kimironko-Kigali, says skipping is one of the most convenient, easy, and effective home exercises one can opt for.

He says skipping is a great exercise as it helps to tone calves, tighten your core, and build stamina.

Experts are also quick to note that skipping alone won’t aid weight loss, and should go hand-in-hand with a healthy diet and exercise routine to boost your metabolism.

Jumping rope is excellent for improving your cardiorespiratory fitness. Photos/Courtesy

Nteziryayo says skipping has many benefits, like losing weight, and toning the body in general. He also says that it is a great calorie banner.

"The great thing about skipping is that it is all about having fun, and so making it part of your fitness routines can serve you better,” he says.

Nteziryayo, who is also a personal trainer, explains that it has been established that skipping is a great cardio workout. One can do this on a regular basis as it helps reduce the risk of heart disease and stroke.

"For those who want to cut off some weight, skipping has been shown to burn calories,” he says.

In fact, he says it’s known that skipping helps burn almost 200-300 calories based on half an hour of skipping a day.

Regular skipping for at least 30 minutes in a day, he says, can ensure this.

Sandrine Twagiramariya, a personal fitness coach in Kigali, says skipping is a great full-body workout, as it’s all about using muscles to stabilise the body, thus giving one full stamina.

She says that because skipping involves so many parts of the body, the exercise could improve coordination and focus while at the same time reduce fatigue.

"Skipping could be a great alternative workout for anyone, what is needed is only a rope,” she says.

Twagiramariya says skipping is a convenient workout for many fitness lovers, as one can control the pace they work at and how long they skip for.

She notes that skipping also helps increase the heart rate, and keeps non-communicable diseases at bay that come with living a sedentary life.

Nelson Mukasa, a fitness coach, says skipping exercises can help improve concentration.

He says that this is so because studies indicate that every cardio exercise will help one focus on their goal, and skipping is one of them. In addition to this, he says that skipping also helps improve coordination and stamina.

Mukasa says the more one skips, the more stamina increases. "It also increases body flexibility, as skipping makes the body calm and flexible. It also gives great strength to the muscles and relaxes them,” he says.

From studies, Mukasa says, skipping at moderate intensity has been found to reduce anxiety and depression, as this form of exercise can help increase blood circulation to the brain.

Skipping can also help reduce belly fat, especially when done during high-intensity interval training exercises, and strengthen abdominal muscles.