I haven't posted about Everesting in over a month because, as you have doubtless guessed, I'm not Everesting. I could claim it was because of the oppressive summer heat, but ultimately, it comes down to just being "damn lazy," as my mother used to grouse.
In my defense, I've been trying to get more serious about jumping rope (which I do at 1AM, in the park, with no one looking), and to that end, I followed the Zen Dudes' advice and bought myself a Crossrope kit, which comes with a light rope and a heavy rope. The ropes I bought are perfect for a guy of my height (about 6'1", or 185.4 cm), and I can now skip almost a full minute before my uncoordinated feet get tangled. I'm not at a point where I can do anything but "regular bounce," as the Zen Dudes call it, but regular bounce is workout enough: funky tricks (like double-unders, boxer skips, and side swipes) can wait. Jumping rope is a surprisingly intense activity, given how light and fluffy everyone looks while doing it. Technically, it's a plyometric exercise, i.e., a form of "jump training," so the intensity makes sense. One of the main points of jumping rope is to engage in an intense activity that's also fun, thus allowing for workouts that are productive yet blessedly brief. Supposedly, it's a 1:3 ratio between jumping rope and running, in terms of cardiovascular intensity.*
Below: pics from the night I unboxed my Crossrope kit.
*Author Ken Cooper, who wrote the bestselling Aerobics back in the 1970s, claimed there to be a rough 1:4:16 ratio between and among swimming, running, and biking (i.e., swimming a mile gives you the cardio benefits of running 4 miles or biking 16 miles). He based this on test results done on the relative oxygen consumption of swimmers, runners and bikers, both male and female. I have no idea whether that ratio can withstand scrutiny today, but as a rough comparison of three common activities, it seems reasonable.
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