I’m Steve. I found Jump Rope Dudes over a year ago and I can’t tell you how happy I am.
It took me some time to find my groove, but over the past 9 months, I’ve lost 40 pounds and I haven’t lifted a weight. The coolest part? It hasn’t been complicated or cumbersome. I didn’t have to give up everything (or anything) I enjoy. I even drank beer and ate french fries!
IT IS SIMPLE!
Brandon and Dan always say this about getting fit, “It’s not complicated, you need to do two things consistently.” Let’s talk about them.
Nutrition
Diet is a dirty word, that’s my opinion and I’m sticking with it. I prefer to not use that word because, for far too many people, it means temporary. Instead, let’s use the word intake (caloric intake).
I’m no stranger to eyeballing food quantities; I’ve been using a kitchen scale for years, eating a ton of calories to ensure I could “perform my best” when exercising. This was great, and maybe I became stronger, but I never looked the way I wanted.
Enter the calorie deficit.
Yup. I eat 2,400 calories a day. Sometimes more, sometimes less, but an average of 2,400 calories a day. Specific macros have been calculated and I do my BEST to reach those levels, but my main focus is to get 2,400 calories a day and adjust (by eating more or less the next day) when I go over or under (yup, undereating is not good for fat loss).
But I’m always hungry?
Not me! I hated the idea of skipping breakfast, but I love coffee so I gave it a shot. Guess what? Intermittent fasting works! In the morning I drink coffee and water while eating nothing.
End result? I go (about) 16-18 hours without food and I prefer to eat my first meal after I work out. Is this bad? Do your own homework, but here are my thoughts.
There is research out there… Suggesting that Intermittent Fasting (or doing “fasted cardio”) stimulates fat loss in a certain way. This may be true… It may not be. My truth? I don’t even care!
I’ve decided to take the simple approach and say, “You know what? It’s a tool I used to stay in a (small) calorie deficit, it’s sustainable and that IS effective.”
What tools will you use? Are they effective? Are they expensive? I’m sticking with the simple and cheap ones.
Fitness
I’ve always considered myself “fit.” I ride bikes, run, walk, snowboard and lift heavy thing from time to time… When I found the Jump Rope Dudes from this Onnit article, I thought, “Jump rope looks fun!” and I was inspired to jump rope more.
In the backyard with my jump rope and the timer set for one minute, I started with VIGOR!
Something like 18 seconds passed and I was smoked. “Holy s^!t,” I thought looking at the timer, “This is challenging.” Just like that, I was hooked.
That challenge keeps me engaged and makes me look forward to skipping. Because of that, I jump rope almost every day and you know what happened?
I became good at it, which makes it even more fun and makes me want to do it even more!
Through the most simple fitness tool on the planet, the jump rope, I’ve found perpetual motion in fitness.
Strength
A long-time goal of mine has been to do 30 push ups. Yup, that’s all. But I want to do them correctly; perfect form, elbows packed, back straight and a tight core with full range of motion. I started the ZDF Lean Program in May and was able to do 28 push ups! Shy of my goal, again.
Since I have that benchmark I decided to retest the day after I completed the JRD Lean Program. Total push ups? Slow, controlled push ups?? 48! That’s a 78% gain and I’m so happy to have finally crushed my goal!
Stamina
As I mentioned earlier, when I began, jumping rope for 1 minute would have been a great benchmark, but I couldn’t hit that. Now, I put on one of my favorite 8-minute songs AFTER a 20-30 minute workout. I won’t tell you it’s “effortless,” but I can skip unbroken through the entire song. I’m bragging now, but I’ll throw in doubles and crosses to keep it fun (you can see those exercises below)!
Conclusion?
Stop watching friends and fitness role models on social media getting results! GO GET YOUR OWN RESULTS!
Implement a simple eating strategy and activity regimen that you enjoy. Get consistent, adopt a (slightly) different lifestyle and get the body you’ve always wanted! The results you get might end up driving other aspects of your life. Maybe you’ll get that new job or pursue that goal you’ve always aimed at, but talked yourself down from. Maybe you’ll just be more confident and have more fun engaging with other people.
#DOTHETHING
You can do this! Start the same way I did, with the FREE 4 Week Challenge! Be warned, it may be 100% free, but it’s challenging! It took me from May 2016 to December 2016 for my body to adjust in order to complete the challenge as prescribed. Check out this article on what to expect when getting started.