The full length mirror..

I had a full length mirror in my garage.  I decided it is time to get my body in shape.  Lots of little things to get rid of the layer of fat that covers my upper body.

I have moved my mirror into my workout room.  I now understand why Gyms  often have morrors lining the walls.  It is motivating to see what I want to change.

I'm 6'3" and 207 pounds as of 1/1/20.  Not terribly overweight just not nearly as fit at I would like.  As a regular cyclist my lower body is in pretty good shape but my upper body is not.

I want to build muscle, and lose flab.  The weight is not as important as getting rid of the flab. 190 without flab or 205 without flab, either are acceptable.    I have watched some Youtube videos of jump ropers that have changed their bodies and I have also seen some videos of people who have done the 50 or 100 burpees, or pushups per day challenges that have made pretty good progress.

Twenty years ago I bought a Bowflex.  Their ad said give us 3 workouts a week for 20 minutes and we will change your body in 6 weeks.  It worked for me way back then.  However I kept hurting my shoulders and kept having to lay off the machine.  Once you lay off it is hard to start again.  Needless to say the Bowflex became a dust collector.

Jumping Rope

My Jump Rope Measure

My jump rope challenge. I am 6”3” but it seems I raise my hands while jumping so I need a longer than normal rope. I have bought 4 different ropes to cure my problem. Most ropes are 9 foot long and can be shortened. I found a 10 foot rope---it was really only 9’6” and it works just ok. So I bought one of those jointed plastic ones with the rope in the middle that they make for group jumping (two people holding the rope for the jumper) that is significantly longer than I can use. I have shortened it 3 times now it is right at 10 foot long.  That seems to be the right length for now.

At first I left the inner rope long after taking out the plastic links.  It got all windy because the rope spins inside while you are jumping.  I cut it off and it works better.

When I was in grade school we were graded on our jump rope numbers. I got to be pretty good. However It is not like riding a bicycle, I have lost my skills over time.
Time to rebuild my jump rope skill.

Why I am jumping rope.
I have not downhill skied much for many years.  When I was growing up there were two seasons in life.  Ski Season and waiting for ski season.  I have done a lot of cycling through the years as it is one of my main hobbies.

I have downhill skied a few times lately and realized that while I am a strong cyclist those muscles do not transfer into skiing muscles.  I am now working on jumping exercises---especially jumping rope and double jumps to improve my skiing.