A new twist: Getting 'punked up' in gym with jump ropes By Sara

0 Comments | Oakland Tribune, Feb 26, 2005 | by Sara Blask, COLUMBIA NEWS SERVICE

NEW YORK

IT'S FAST, it's loud, it's in your face and, after a few minutes, your arms and legs start to burn.

"Punk rope" is not an exercise like double dutch rope jumping. It's a new fad that is quick, sweaty and, according to class participants, a terrific workout. It is also the only fitness class where you can jump around to classic punk music like the Ramones and the Clash or newer punk like Green Day, Dead Kennedys and Social Distortion without having to risk a limb in a mosh pit.

Punk roping is a new twist on jump roping, which has long been the domain of boxers, wrestlers and children on the playground. It is winning over adult exercise enthusiasts in their 20s as well as those in their 40s by combining high-speed jump roping with schoolyard acrobatics like leap frog and wheelbarrowing.

"You feel a little foolish, but that's half the fun," said Ericka Sullivan, 26, a newcomer to punk rope. "You always use a jump rope when you're a little kid. And wheelbarrows? I thought, 'Who does this?'"

Designed by Tim Haft, 44, a certified personal trainer, punk rope combines punk music, jump rope and other exercises, often requiring partners, to improve conditioning, strength and endurance.

"I think that's really where we're coming up short," Haft said. "It's not that yoga isn't a wonderful form of movement, but if all you do is yoga or Pilates, you're not going to catch the bus when you run for it and you'll probably be out of breath climbing up the stairs."

Jump faster, burn more calories

According to the National Institutes of Health, jumping rope burns approximately 750 calories per hour, which is more than any other popular exercise except running. The faster you jump, the more calories you burn. And punk ropers jump fast, on average between 120 and 180 revolutions per minute. Participants use specialized jump ropes with ball-bearing handles that allow for faster and easier turning.

And then there is the music. Two decades after Jamie Lee Curtis appeared as an aerobics instructor in the film "Perfect," the looks

and sounds of the 1980s are back in style.

"There's been a resurgence in '80s music and garage rock," said Julie Hecker, 40, who founded Punk Fitness Detroit last year and holds her exercise classes three times weekly in punk bars. "I get 20-somethings and 40-somethings. It's like deja vu."

Fitness and punk first came together in 2001, when two Bostonians, Hilken Mancini and Maura Jasper, founded a fitness business, Punk Rock Aerobics. They were looking to blend their passions for punk music, pogoing and fitness and later published a book, "Punk Rock Aerobics: 75 Killer Moves, 50 Punk Classics, and 25 Reasons to Get Off Your Ass and Exercise."

Haft, the punk rope master, began listening to punk in 1977 and hasn't stopped since. The fast pace of the music, he says, is ideal for high-impact workouts because "people are so distracted that they don't realize they're working so hard." He also wanted to appeal to people who enjoyed punk, an audience that had traditionally been left out of the gym mix.

Haft's class is held at the Sol Goldman 14th Street Y in New York's East Village. Class size averages 21, but don't expect to see pink mohawks or spike collars.

"I love the music and their subculture," Haft said, "and this isn't meant as a slight, but stereotypical punks are probably more interested in going to a show and jumping in a mosh pit, drinking beer and smoking a cigarette than jumping rope."

Classes have a theme

Each class is meticulously planned. Haft spends at least two hours each week mixing and matching 16 to 17 tracks to burn onto a CD. Each class has a theme. One week will be devoted solely to British punk, another week to punk cover songs, and on St. Patrick's Day, Haft will play punk drinking songs like "Drunken Lullabies" by Flogging Molly, "Barroom Heroes" by Dropkick Murphys and "Droppin' Like Flies" by Real McKenzies.

"This is becoming a little movement," said Hecker, the fitness instructor. "These people don't want to listen to J. Lo or Britney. I'm just so glad more people are doing this because there are a lot of people who are mortified to go into a health club."

Sara Blask is a master's candidate at Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism.