Skipgrips is a fantastic new skipping concept, which I can’t recommend enough to my clients! Whether their semi-professional athletes or everyday gym goers working on their health and fitness goals, it’s an amazing training tool we should all incorporate into our workouts.
Skipping is one of the most effective ways to burn calories in a short amount of time. The high intensity, fast nature of skipping requires a higher heart rate and oxygen consumption than many other exercise modalities. The more muscles we engage, the more oxygen consumption is required by the body, and the greater the physiological changes the body undergoes to convert into energy, and the higher our caloric expenditure is. This ultimately results in better fat burning, muscle toning and weight loss!
When we skip, we already engage many of the bodies major muscle groups, however when we incorporate the Skipgrips system and introduce the repetitive gripping action and breathing control techniques, we can take our work outs to the next level! By adding more upper body resistance in the form of repetitive gripping under tension, utilising our forearms, biceps, deltoids and upper back, we are now burning even more calories and at a faster rate. The addition of upper body loading will also enhance upper body muscle development and toning.
Not only can you burn more calories, but by using Skipgrips we can utilise more muscle tissue which requires your heart to pump oxygenated blood to more muscles, faster and more efficiently. Skipgrips will help improve cardiovascular efficiency and overall heart health. The research has proven that low levels of hand grip strength can indicate poor overall health outcomes, decreased functional capacity (mobility) in later life, and shorter than normal life expectancy. With Skipgrips we can incorporate this much needed gripping component into our workouts, especially our aerobic workouts, to improve overall health, wellbeing and reduce the risks of future chronic disease and disability.
A large body of evidence shows there is a positive relationship between hand grip strength and velocity of arm movements in some elite sports, such as water polo, football and baseball pitchers. Research has also shown that hand grip strength is significantly higher in elite athletes compared to sub-elite for the sports requiring throwing, racquet or bat gripping sports, and the martial arts. The Skipgrips system will develop higher levels of hand grip strength, which seems to be pivotal in making the transition from sub elite to elite levels in a wide number of sports. Skipgrips, just like many competitive sports requires performing both active grip strength whilst under aerobic stress, and exceptional upper limb fine and gross motor control making it the perfect tool for sport specificity training!
Another component Skipgrips ads to your training, is a higher emphasis on rhythm, timing and good hand eye coordination. The cyclic gripping and use of controlled breathing techniques in your routine further improves coordination between your hands, feet, and eyes, and enhances breathing control, optimal for daily life and many sports. The added complexity of more tasks under aerobic stress, challenges your brain to relay multiple signals to your muscles, regulate breathing, timing, and tempo. This ability to perform multiple tasks especially when under physical duress and fatigue, will develop better concentration and reaction time in response to external stimulus, great for training for sports that require fast decisions and rapid motor output, such as sparing in the boxing ring or rallying back and forth on the tennis court!
Rob Barker
Senior Musculoskeletal Physiotherapist and Exercise Physiologist
- Physiotherapy
- Sc. Ex Sci & Rehab
- Sc. Ex & Sport Sci
References:
Abraldes JA, Canossa S, Soares SM, Fernandes RJ & Garganta JM. Relationship between hand grip strength and shot speed in different competitive level water polo players. 2014: 9
Gale CR, Martyn CN, Cooper C & Sayer AA. Grip strength, body composition, and mortality. International Journal of Epidemiology. 2007;36:228–235.
Meier J, Quednow J & Sedlak T. The effects of high intensity interval-based kettlebells and battle rope training on grip strength and body composition in college- aged adults. International Journal of Exercise Science. 2015; 8(2): 124-133.
McMaster JC, Lawton T, Harris N, Kilding A & Travis D. A brief review of handgrip strength and sport performance. Journal of Strength and Conditioning. 2017; 10: 1519
