MARINE CORPS AIR STATION IWAKUNI, Japan -- Civilians and service members participated in Health Promotion’s new 30-minute jump rope class at IronWorks Gym here July 14.
The class is called Foot Fire, and it is likely to challenge any participant’s physical endurance, build up a sweat, and release them in plenty of time to get chow.
Foot Fire, the 30-minute lunch time burst of cardio, is offered every Wednesday from 11:45 a.m. to 12:15 p.m.
at IronWorks Gym.
"We wanted to be able to offer a class that the active duty could come to during their lunch hour,” said Darci Kruse, athletics director at IronWorks Gym.
“Something so that they could still get a decent lunch and time to shower if they wanted."
Health Promotions is always open to new ideas and possibilities for fitness programs, but the idea for the new jumprope class came about when Kruse noticed more sailors and Marines around the air station adding jump rope techniques to their fitness regimes and physical-training routines.
“We had a lot of interest in jump rope so we decided to offer the class,” said Kruse. “Things just kind of picked up from there.”
The course was initially intended to take place in the sweat shop at IronWorks Gym, but due to increase of participation, the class was moved to the sports courts.
The class had nearly tripled in numbers since the first class held during the previous week.
"We are really happy with the turn out,” said Kruse.
“We had a handful, maybe five participants last week when we were just getting started, and I counted 14 or 15 this week so we outgrew the sweat shop pretty fast.”
Kruse led the class in some dynamic warm-up stretches before launching into the more challenging, cardio-bursting exercises.
“(Stretching) opens up your joints, loosens your muscles and gets you ready to exercise,” said Kruse. “It's a great warm up to do for any type of exercise you're going to do."
After exercises were warmed up and stretched out, they picked up their ropes and began jumping.
"We tried to mix in some intervals with some high intensity and low intensity,” said Kruse. "We also set the rope down, did some push ups and quick foot fire. We try to incorporate a lot of exercises so no one gets bored."
Robert Griffin, a first-time participant, agreed jump rope was the perfect exercise to incorporate into a quick lunchhour workout.
“It helps teach you coordination,” said Griffin. “It’s definitely a good workout, and it breaks you off. It’s very convenient and you still have time to eat chow when you’re done.”
“It's definitely a high-cardio exercise so you really burn a lot of calories fast,” said Kruse.“It's also good for muscle strength, muscle endurance, balance, agility and you can do it quick. You can knock it out and get a good workout."
For more information about group fitness classes, call the IronWorks Gym at 253-5051 and ask to speak with the fitness group.