These videos are not about what I can do, they're about what you can do - and why you'd want to do it. The short answer is it's fun, easy, and makes you feel good.

Ultimately It's about music and dancing. That's why it's fun and that's why you don't mind getting tired. Want to be never too old to rock and roll? Get up and dance every day. It doesn't have to be Jump Rock, it can be anything you can do to music.

If you can stand, walk and maybe even jump a little, you can learn Jump Rock. It's just timing, and muscle memory will take care of that.

Once you can jump, it's not the jumping per se that's important. It's what you do while you're jumping - which just comes naturally as you jump to the beat and build stamina and flexibility.

For those who think it's only for girls or looks gay - first, why do you care, and even then, do you really make decisions on doing something that's fun, makes you feel good, and even makes you fit, based on stereotypes and 'what it looks like'?

May 21, 2008

I hope you can see from these videos how much fun I'm having. That's most important because it's the most likely thing to make you want to do the same thing.

Second most important is that I'm 62 and in the best shape of my life - and I never expected to be - I never expected to jump rope in the style I call JumpRock or to be able to jump as long as I can.

If you don't think you could do it, neither did I. Just hang in long enough to be able to jump consistently and from there on it's all fun.

Maybe best of all, if you hate exercise so much you don't work out regularly: unless you can already jump rope, it's impossible to do a long workout in the beginning, maybe 5 minutes or a little more and you're done.

So just decide to jump a little every day, and stick to it - you can do it, because you're not committing to "exercise" for some specific period of time. If you're like me, that's just torture. You're just deciding to jump rope until you want to stop, which can be in 2 minutes if that's what you want. Starting is the important thing. It's how you build a habit and how you get the positive feedback day after day.

The same approach works for other exercises - it's how I got started riding an exercise bike every day thirty years ago. But it's better if it's something you can grow to love - as I discovered when I started jumping rope at age 55.

By the time you're able to jump for more than a few minutes, you're having fun. Just be sure and jump to music, otherewise it's just the same old drudgery.