Endurance: running and rope skipping

1Why this matters

The World Health Organization recommends that children and young people aged 5 to 17 build up at least 60 minutes of moderate to vigorous physical activity every day. Two PE lessons a week cannot supply that on their own. The rest has to come from things you can do on your own: walking or running to school, football at break, skipping with friends. All of them build endurance, which is the ability to keep exercising for a long time without tiring.

2Aerobic and anaerobic exercise

Cardiovascular endurance is how well your heart, lungs and blood deliver oxygen to working muscles over a long period. Exercise can be done in two ways:

• Aerobic exercise ("with oxygen") is steady and moderate. Your breathing keeps up with the muscles' demand, so you can continue for many minutes. Examples are a 20-minute jog and steady rope skipping.
• Anaerobic exercise ("without enough oxygen") is a short, all-out effort. The muscles work faster than oxygen can arrive, so you tire within seconds to a minute or two. Examples are a 100 m sprint and 30 seconds of the fastest skipping you can manage.

3Running for endurance: technique

1. Posture: run tall, leaning very slightly forward from the ankles, not bent at the waist.
2. Shoulders and hands: keep them relaxed, with loose hands as if holding an egg.
3. Arms: swing forwards and backwards, elbows bent to about 90°.
4. Feet: land under your hips, not far in front, using short and quick strides.
5. Breathing: find a rhythm, for example breathing in for three steps and out for three steps.
6. Pacing: start slower than you feel you could. A runner who goes out too fast turns an aerobic run into an anaerobic one and has to stop.

4Three ways to train endurance

• Continuous training: steady exercise with no rest, for example jogging for 15 to 20 minutes.
• Interval training: periods of hard work separated by rest, for example running fast for 1 minute and walking for 1 minute, repeated 6 times.
• Fartlek training: from the Swedish for "speed play". You change pace freely over varied ground: jog to a tree, stride to the next corner, walk up a slope, jog again. Kigali's hills make this easy.

5Rope skipping, step by step

1. Check the length. Stand on the middle of the rope with one foot. The handles should reach about to your armpits.
2. Grip. Hold the handles lightly, with your hands at hip height and your elbows close to your sides.
3. Turn with the wrists. Small circles of the wrists turn the rope. Big arm circles tire you quickly and make the rope uneven.
4. Jump low. Only 2 to 3 cm is needed. Land on the balls of your feet with soft knees.
5. Time the jump to the rope. Swing the rope and jump as it reaches your feet. Keep your eyes forward, not on your feet.
6. Progress: basic two-foot bounce, then the jogging step (alternate feet), side-to-side, forwards-and-backwards, and finally double-unders (two turns per jump).

Skip on a flat, non-slippery surface such as a classroom floor, hard earth or a paved yard, and wear shoes if you can.

6Planning training with FITT: a worked example

The FITT principle describes any training plan in four words: Frequency (how often), Intensity (how hard), Time (how long) and Type (which activity). Progressive overload means increasing one of them gradually so that the body keeps adapting.

Practice

Solution. (a) anaerobic; (b) aerobic; (c) anaerobic; (d) aerobic.

Solution. The rope is too short. It will catch her feet or head, or she will have to crouch to clear it. She should use a longer rope, whose handles reach about her armpits.

Solution. Interval training. Total fast running = 8 × 1 = 8 minutes.

Solution. At least 60 minutes a day × 7 days = 420 minutes a week.

Solution. Increase Time (for example 6 sets instead of 5), or increase Intensity (for example skipping faster, or using the jogging step instead of the basic bounce).