by Carolyn Alder
There have been many trends in the exercise world, such as Zumba, water aquatics, and Pilates but the latest is jump rope. It’s similar to what you did in the playground at recess with your friends when you were a child.
Owner of Rise Jump Rope, Danielle Maia Carney, is hoping to bring back that playfulness with her online classes of interval jump rope.
“The reason I wanted to do this is because a lot of workout programs out there are by people in their late ’20s or ’30s and often times men, and I found I couldn’t keep up with a lot of those workouts so I wanted to create something that was an opportunity for people wherever they’re at to try something out,” Carney said.
Carney started jumping rope for exercise a couple of years ago at the suggestion of a friend. She’d not been as active as she would have liked. The single mom says when she first picked up her rope, she was shy to do it in front of friends and so began at home by listening to music and jumping in front of a mirror.
“At the beginning it was a bit more clunky and awkward because I was trying to figure out technique and posture. As everything was coming together it became easier.”
Carney then began holding her high intensity, low impact, interval training classes for her co-workers outside at Living Librations in Haliburton. She was going to expand her classes to include more when the pandemic started and she changed her idea to teaching online.
“It inspired me to keep going as a way to engage and move at home and stay connected with people. [The online classes] feel warm and being able to see and talk with each other supports that. It’s a social space. I wanted to create a safe supportive space as a woman for women without excluding men.”
Angela Andrews has been taking the online classes from the start. She said, “if you’re looking to try something new, it’s a lot of fun and a great workout and no one can really see you because you’re too focused on jumping that you don’t often look at the screen.”
Beginning classes run Monday and Wednesday at 6 p.m. while intermediate classes are Tuesday and Thursday at 6 p.m. Blended classes are offered Saturday mornings at 10 a.m. Carney is offering a complimentary class Dec. 6 at 10 a.m. For more information and to register, email risejumprope@gmail.com before Dec. 4.
