How Lise Lost 20 Kilos and Found a Jump Rope Family (Ep. 29)

Dizzy Skips (00:27)
Lise Andresen. Thank you so much for joining me on The Jump Rope Podcast. I’m so thrilled to have you here.

Lise (00:32)
Yeah, thank you. I’m happy to be here finally. Yeah.

Dizzy Skips (00:35)
Yeah, yeah.

I was looking up earlier on Instagram to see if I could figure out when we were first connected. And I didn’t actually come up with an exact date, but I think it was around a year ago, maybe a little more than a year ago. And I think we really connected through Coach Ghadi and Timeless Jump, if I remember right.

Lise (00:55)
Yeah, I think it was,

yeah, I think you’re right there. It’s like probably a year ago when we, he had this Timeless Jump school and he has these live Zoom meetings and yeah, we met up there some, several times. Yeah.

Dizzy Skips (01:06)
Yeah.

Yeah, those. Yeah, the master classes. Those were always

fun because I’m just sitting here in, you know, the middle of the country in Minnesota and at like 11 or noon my time, I would go outside with a jump rope and all of a sudden I would be connected with you in Norway and someone in the UK. And I think we had a guy joined from Africa one week and I was like, this is crazy.

Lise (01:32)
Yeah,

yeah, that’s what I love about that. The Zoom meetings we had there because I don’t have any anyone to jump with here. It’s been kind of a lonely ride. having the timeless and the coach, Ghadi, he’s been with me all the time. yeah, he’s kept me going. And because sometimes you feel you want someone to jump with would be nice. But I don’t know anyone else here around my area. So.

Dizzy Skips (01:44)
Yeah.

Yeah.

Lise (02:02)
always jumping alone.

Dizzy Skips (02:04)
Yeah, so

I know you’re in Norway. Where in Norway are you?

Lise (02:08)
I’m born and raised in Norway and I’ve been living in Oslo, the capital, for the last 35 years. So live in an apartment downtown, work nearby. ⁓

Dizzy Skips (02:16)
Wow.

It’s…

That’s cool. love, I noticed

in a lot of your videos that architecture, like you jump out on the street oftentimes and the architecture seems very Norwegian.

Lise (02:32)
Yeah, I live in the old part of the town. my apartment is the house is from 1895. It’s like, yeah, it’s like very much room under the ceiling and it’s old. It’s nice. So yeah, yeah. Try and jump outside.

Dizzy Skips (02:37)
Okay.

wow.

Yeah. Yeah. Nice. Yeah. I have a very old house too.

So when did you actually start jumping? Like I know we met through Timeless about a year ago, but did you start jumping just a little over a year ago?

Lise (03:04)
It was in August 2023, almost two years now. I started a little bit slowly with Ghadi and his Timeless Jump. I kept going after that, so almost two years now.

Dizzy Skips (03:09)
Okay. So yeah.

And what got you started, Lise?

Lise (03:26)
Yeah, I wanted to… I’m a person that when I do something I go all in. So I’ve been running for a while and I got a problem with my hip. You know, it’s like I’m really passionate about food. I eat too much and I gained a lot of weight and it’s like, I have to do something. I wanted to lose weight. And suddenly I saw this jump rope and I think, maybe I should try and…

Dizzy Skips (03:32)
Hahaha

Hmm.

Lise (03:51)
got connected with Ghadi and helped me because he has this program for the strengthening and nutrition and all that. then, yeah, I think I thought as an old gymnast, a long way ago, I love dancing and the coordination. I thought maybe jump rope would be something for me. And it was, so it helped. So the first six months, I think I lost like 12 kilos. And then it’s like, yeah. So.

Dizzy Skips (03:57)
Mm-hmm.

Wow. Yeah.

Lise (04:19)
Yeah, it’s… Yeah,

Dizzy Skips (04:20)
When you see benefits like that, it’s hard to stop, right?

Lise (04:24)
it was. So, primarily it was to lose some weight, get some, because I hated going to the gym, the running. It’s like you have the winter here. It’s hard. It’s cold, it’s dark, and keep going all year around is quite difficult. So, just trying to find something you can enjoy.

Dizzy Skips (04:42)
Mm-hmm.

Yeah.

Lise (04:47)
at

the same time you work out. yeah, that’s what caught my eye.

Dizzy Skips (04:50)
So where did you first,

where did it first catch your eye? how did you, did, were you just curious about jump rope and you went on Instagram or like, how did it happen?

Lise (05:00)
Yeah,

I just saw it on Instagram. caught my eye, I think. I didn’t even know it was a community. I didn’t even know that people were jumping rope. So it’s just by accident, probably, I saw this. Ghadi he has this T-shirt with a Superman on. It’s like, hmm. And then he had this challenge. I think, OK, I can try. It was even very hard to get the jump rope here.

Dizzy Skips (05:07)
Mm-hmm.

Right.

Yeah, I know.

Lise (05:29)
It’s like, yeah, I struggle, but I got one and try and follow his program for a little while. then, yeah, that’s how it started, just by accident. And I’m really happy about that because now I love to jump, try and get other people around me to love it too. But it’s not so easy to get so passionate. Yeah.

Dizzy Skips (05:30)
really?

Yeah.

Yeah, right. I know it

feels like it’s it’s really relatively easy to impress people, but it’s harder to get them impressed to the point where they want to like do it themselves.

Lise (06:03)
Yeah, I know because I have my colleagues, it’s like, oh, it looks so cool. Can you teach me? And I have actually teach them every second week. But yeah, I do. It’s like a group of 10 people, my colleagues, and they enjoy it, but they don’t do any homework. That’s a problem. When they meet up two weeks later, it’s like, “oh, I haven’t been able to practice.” So I don’t know.

Dizzy Skips (06:15)
Yeah?

Fun. ⁓

Mm.

Lise (06:31)
They’re probably not as passionate or have the same motivation as I have. But yeah, it doesn’t matter. It’s just fun. People have to do. Yeah. Yeah.

Dizzy Skips (06:39)
It is just, it is fun, but it is

interesting. Like when I was talking to Robz recently on an episode, he was talking about trying to figure out what it is in people that trips that gives us that addiction. Like I think you and I have the same sort of thing. Like we love footwork so much and get so much benefit from it that I just look forward to it during the day and other people just don’t react that way. And I, I don’t know.

Lise (06:44)
Hmm.

Yeah, and I think the combination with the footwork, the coordination, you can use music, the rhythm and you need to think, you have to concentrate and it’s so much to learn and even just a simple combination just to remember. I like that. it’s like, yeah, you really need to practice even if you do the easy…

Dizzy Skips (07:21)
Mm-hmm.

Lise (07:28)
plain footwork, you have to remember what you do. And I think it’s good for you because I’m getting older. It’s like I’m 55. So I to, I’ve a full-time job, but it’s like different with the coordination, move your arms and yeah, the swinging and the footwork at the same time, it’s not so easy. Like I see a lot of people struggle with that and that’s what I like. So yeah.

Dizzy Skips (07:44)
Mm-hmm.

Yeah. Yeah.

Yeah, that is funny. I, um, I was working on releases on my non dominant side earlier today while I was practicing and, know, I have not done as much of that and, and I have the motion down and I actually, I was happy to have caught like, I think I caught seven out of 10, which was

Lise (08:04)
Yeah.

Dizzy Skips (08:16)
decent. They were clumsy and they looked bad. but it, that feeling of clumsiness made me remember like, that’s the feeling I had when I tried to learn to shuffle, you know, or like boxer’s step. Like I felt that way so clumsy and like, why do I keep tripping up? And, and now I take that for granted. And so it’s, it’s fun to learn skills and realize that there’s like an infinite number of things that you can learn that will be challenging and that you can

Lise (08:26)
Mmm. Mmm.

Dizzy Skips (08:43)
Even if you’re good at one thing, you can tighten it up, you know?

Lise (08:46)
Yeah, it’s so many styles, it’s so many directions you can go. I’m into footwork because maybe that’s what I do best. It’s like, I’m not so good on the releases and I see a lot of people do all these wraps. I’m not good at that. And I can hardly use a beaded rope. always use my PVC. It’s it’s so much you can change. yeah, you can, many directions, it’s like endless.

Dizzy Skips (09:01)
Mm-hmm.

Lise (09:14)
what you can learn. So you can go on forever. So that’s what I like. doesn’t, yeah. Just to make another combination or do some releases, I have a lot to learn. This is only the beginning, I think. It’s like, yeah, I come to a decent level. Yeah, I love it. think it’s, yeah, I always been looking for something that I can do.

Dizzy Skips (09:15)
.

Yeah.

Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. And it’s great that you find it fun.

Lise (09:38)
It’s not like any workout is more like a hobby, know. It’s like I always be looking for… I’ve been a little bit envious on people. It’s like they play golf, use the whole weekend and I’m very passionate about that. And people watch soccer. I love that. I feel the same about the jump rope. It’s so fun. And sometimes I have to say, today you need a break. Or think about your legs. I never had that before.

Dizzy Skips (09:42)
Mm-hmm.

Mm-hmm.

Yeah.

Lise (10:03)
So that’s what I like. It’s like I feel this passion and I love to jump. I could go on forever, you know? So, yeah. Yeah.

Dizzy Skips (10:09)
Yeah, I totally know what you mean.

having to have forced breaks. actually, interviewing people on a Saturday is great for me because it means that there’s at least two hours that I’m not jumping, you know?

Lise (10:15)
Yeah, I never. ⁓

Yeah, I’m impressed to jump all the time. I can feel my age there. I have to be a little bit careful because the legs and all that. And that’s been great with Ghadi He’s young and he’s been very strict with me. You need to do your strengthening. You have to be a little bit careful because sooner or later you will get… I always have pain someplace.

Dizzy Skips (10:30)
Yeah, ⁓ I do too, yeah.

Mm-hmm.

Lise (10:49)
If I don’t feel any pain, I’m dead, think so. Always, yeah.

Dizzy Skips (10:49)
Yeah.

Yeah, yeah. Well, Lise,

I wanted to just take a moment to tell you a few things that I just love about you and cherish about being connected with you on Instagram. Like one thing that you’re very supportive, of other people in the Timeless community and outside the Timeless community. I just think that’s great. And

we were talking about doing those master classes where we would connect via zoom and jump with people all around the world. And, that was a little nerve wracking for me, honestly, because I felt like such a junior and, coach would say, all right, Lise, like what footwork do you have for us? And then you would just get out there and start hammering away footwork or, we’re going to work on releases today. And I would be, you know, smacking myself in the head over and over again. But,

Lise (11:27)
Yeah.

Dizzy Skips (11:38)
but you are fearless and just getting out there and doing it. And I just think that’s great. And also the fact that you love footwork, you know, I’m a footwork nut. so it’s always fun to watch your footwork. And you put some reels out there where you kind of show the footwork before you introduce the rope. you’re doing the footwork, demonstrating it, and then you introduce the rope and people respond really well to that. Like people love those footwork.

Lise (11:49)
Yeah.

Dizzy Skips (12:02)
tutorials. think they’re great. And then so you’re inspiring. And then the last thing I’ll say is that you’re so gracious. Like I, I, I love Coach Ghadi Always Ghadi and you, you are his biggest fan if there ever was one, like you are so, he’s done so much for you and you make it known all the time that you’re so thankful for what the Timeless community has done for you. And I just think that’s lovely. So

Lise (12:06)
Alright.

Dizzy Skips (12:28)
So thank you for being such a great member of the community. It’s just lovely to be connected with you.

Lise (12:28)
Yeah. Yep.

Yeah, likewise. And I should probably have done much more, but I try. That’s the thing. have to be… You can use an endless time on your phone to support people, watch videos. It’s endless. But sometimes, I have a full-time job, I three kids. I have to… Hey, I need dinner. I’m out jumping. It’s like, hey, where are you? We don’t have any food.

Dizzy Skips (12:51)
Right.

Right?

Lise (13:01)
It’s like I have to find a balance, I try and be supportive. I am very grateful to Ghadi and I want to help him too. He’s young, he’s passionate about jump rope and want to make his own business. And it’s quite hard. There’s a lot of people out there doing the same thing and everything changed quite quick, I think. yeah, just try and support. Like you too, Dizzy like always so supportive.

Dizzy Skips (13:01)
Yeah.

Yeah. Yeah. Yeah.

Yeah, yeah, he would.

He works hard.

Lise (13:27)
That’s what

makes it fun, I think, with the community.

Dizzy Skips (13:31)
Yeah. Yeah.

It’s just the best community, isn’t it? So.

Lise (13:35)
Yeah, I told

my son before I came in here, I’m going to have an interview with he and he said, I didn’t know anyone was jumping rope. I didn’t know there was a community. And then the same with me. I didn’t know. There’s lots of people out there. Super good.

Dizzy Skips (13:47)
Yeah.

Yeah, you know, I think like I didn’t know upfront what the community was. I, you know, once I found Lauren and I found other jumpers and stuff on YouTube, I realized, there are jumpers out there. There’s a community of jumpers, but I didn’t realize how the community interacted with each other and that it was such a supportive thing. And it didn’t matter your skill level. Like if you’re trying to learn basic bounce or boxer skip,

There are people rooting you on if you get your first, know, triple double under backflip, you know, TS – Toad You know, someone is going to be there cheering you on as well.

Lise (14:23)
Yeah.

Yeah, and that’s one of the things I like with the jump rope. It doesn’t really matter what kind of skills you know. You can jump together. One person can do the basic jump and the next one can do the mic release. You can still jump together or exercise together. It’s not like running. If someone runs twice as fast as you, it’s like, yeah, that’s not fun. So yeah, yeah.

Dizzy Skips (14:40)
Yeah.

Yeah, right.

Lise (14:51)
So that’s another great thing about the jump rope. It’s for everybody. It’s like, you don’t need to do fancy stuff. It’s a good exercise anyway. You can just do the basic jump. Yeah. Yeah.

Dizzy Skips (14:57)
Mm-hmm.

Yeah. Yeah, absolutely.

So can you talk a little bit about like what, what do you workouts look like now when you’re, often are you jumping and when you jump, do you have a warmup routine that you do? Do you have a cool down routine?

Lise (15:15)
Yeah, it varies a little bit. After the first six months, I think I just worked out or jumped too much. I got really bad shin splints. So I had to take it easy a bit. then, Ghadi even got me to go to the gym. I hadn’t been there for 30 years.

He made me a program where I do strenthening my legs and my upper body and all that. I’m working on making one pull-up this year. One pull-up. So now in the summertime it’s like I go to the gym three, four times a week and then I try and do warm-up. I’m not always so good with that but I’ve been much better with stretching. I always do some strengthening.

Dizzy Skips (15:44)
Nice.

Lise (16:00)
the legs maybe and after that I maybe jump rope for half an hour. It depends a little bit because it’s sometimes very crowded and that’s a little bit the issue with the jump rope I think. I’m the only one jumping rope and people like sometimes get a little bit, I try to find a quiet corner but I find times where not so many people.

Dizzy Skips (16:00)
.

At the gym.

Mm.

Yeah. Right.

Lise (16:27)
And now it’s like warmer, I can jump outside. I like that most. So I go to the gym three, four times a week now and jump outside two or three times. Then I just go out for having fun. know, then it’s just jump rope. But then I, yeah, and you know, there is a challenges. I’m joining this shuffle group. They have this.

Dizzy Skips (16:27)
Yeah.

Yeah.

Mm-hmm.

Lise (16:50)
monthly challenge and Peta’s group every day. I’m not able to post every day, but I try to jump a little bit almost every day. Yeah, yeah. I jump every day, but I’m not able to make a video because I think that also takes a lot of time to make a video. I’m not so good at this making the videos and posting it’s like…

Dizzy Skips (16:58)
Mm-hmm. for the Jump for Joy 100. Yeah.

Mm.

Yeah.

Lise (17:16)
like a 30 seconds video can take me sometimes one hour you know you mess up and yeah but I almost jump every day now and my leg is quite good so I can push quite hard and just be careful with the outside I jump a little bit on concrete you know it’s a could be a little bit rough but yeah and try and make the balance with the

Dizzy Skips (17:16)
Yeah.

Yeah, yeah, yeah, I totally know what you mean.

Good. Yeah.

Mm-hmm.

Yeah.

Lise (17:43)
Sometimes I work a little bit of the double unders or I do the mic release or yeah, I try and vary a little bit.

Dizzy Skips (17:51)
So when you say you try to vary, you have like a focus skill you’re trying to learn most times you go out or you’re trying to improve?

Lise (18:01)
It’s like we have this challenge with a shuffle group and sometimes they’re quite hard to learn and I used some time on that. When I had the shin splints, I did a lot of mic release to practice that and then I got the tennis elbow, you know, after all the mic release I had to take easy and then I started to do footwork without the rope and that quite helps me a bit because I always now try and make some new combination and

Dizzy Skips (18:08)
Mm-hmm.

Nah.

Mmm, yes.

Lise (18:28)
⁓ try and use known footsteps and twist them a little bit. That’s what I like. So sometimes I work on that and I don’t really have a schedule. I go out and my legs are heavy. I do maybe some mic release or do some wraps or mostly I try and do some shuffle. You know, that’s what I like the most. Sometimes I see some videos like, that looks fine. I try and copy but

Dizzy Skips (18:28)
Mm-hmm.

Mm-hmm.

Sure.

Mm-hmm

Lise (18:55)
I do remix is also quite hard, think, to get the… Yeah, it takes an enormous amount of time. Yeah, but… ⁓

Dizzy Skips (18:59)
Yeah. I’ve seen you do a few of those. Yeah. And so when you, when you do those, are you watching?

Like I, I’ve not done a remix yet, but I understand there’s a feature where you can kind of like watch the person and then film yourself at the same time.

Lise (19:13)
Yeah, maybe it is the only thing I do is like you can, I make my own video but it’s very hard to get the right timing you know. It’s supposed to be exactly the same amount of time. ⁓ So maybe it’s a feature for that but I make the video and then you have this in the Instagram you can just upload. But it’s hard to get the perfect

Dizzy Skips (19:21)
Mm-hmm.

Right.

Mm-hmm.

Lise (19:39)
perfect remix. I haven’t done that much. yeah, I try and focus on my jumping and not so much making the videos. But it’s fun. have to, yeah, I like it to post sometimes. yeah, it’s not the most important thing.

Dizzy Skips (19:40)
Yeah.

Yeah.

I

made a little remix folder in Instagram that when I come across videos that I think, I want to remix that I put it in there. So far I haven’t remixed anything, but someday I will.

Lise (20:01)
Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. No.

I told you one time I want to make a remix of you, but it’s impossible because it’s so many steps. You have to make a shorter video. You have to make a shorter one, like 20 seconds maybe. It’s like, because if you want to do exactly the same, it’s quite difficult. Even if I know your steps, everybody does it a little bit different and you get out the timing and…

Dizzy Skips (20:12)
I know, right?

Yeah. Yeah.

You know.

Lise (20:30)
When you have a long video it’s difficult.

Dizzy Skips (20:32)
I’ll have to shoot to make like

a 20, 20 second, 15 or 20 second video. Yeah.

Lise (20:36)
Yeah, Yeah, next time

you come up with a short one, I try and remix. yeah, I pick some videos. I see some skills. And it’s like, well, that’s cool. I try and do that. So yeah, follow this.

Dizzy Skips (20:42)
Yeah.

Yeah. I

want to redo one I did last year with Joan Jett and the Black Hearts. I Love Rock and Roll. Like just like one bar of I Love Rock and Roll is such a good song and it’s great to jump to.

Lise (20:55)
Yeah.

Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, put it out there and I try and make a remix. Yeah, yeah, yeah.

Dizzy Skips (21:02)
Yeah.

Right on. So how often are you jumping

with music, Lise?

Lise (21:10)
Always. Always, yeah. Always have music on my ears. yeah, I can’t miss.

Dizzy Skips (21:11)
Always.

Do you

like use Spotify or some service like that and make playlists?

Lise (21:20)
Yeah, I make a playlist, I hear some songs, I think, that’s a good one, I have like a jump rope playlist. So yeah, I a song there and just, but when I make, yeah, I almost always listen to music. Yeah, it’s part of the jumping for me. So yeah.

Dizzy Skips (21:27)
Mm-hmm. Yeah.

Yeah, me too.

Yeah. Yeah, me too.

I know a few people who say, you know, the reason that they don’t listen to music is that they’d like to hear the slap of the beads or the rope on the pavement or the mat and, and I actually quite like that too. And there have been several reels that I’ve put out recently where I mixed that sound up and the volume of the music down a bit so that you can hear the beads as well. Cause I find it very relaxing. It’s kind of like,

Lise (21:47)
Hmm.

Hmm.

Dizzy Skips (22:06)
ASMR or some sort of meditation track to me. Yeah.

Lise (22:10)
Yeah,

maybe I should try. But it’s like when I jump outside here, we have this like the tram, the streetcar, the cars and it’s not a quiet place. ⁓ maybe if I go down to the sea and hear the waves and yeah, but here in the downtown, it’s like put some nice music on and just keep jumping. yeah.

Dizzy Skips (22:21)
Yeah.

Right. Well,

you mentioned the sea, unless I’m mistaken, you’ve got a few videos of jumping on a sailboat, right?

Lise (22:39)
Yeah, we have a sailboat. Oslo is by the sea, so we have about just five-minute walk from here. I’m probably the… Yeah, my family loves the sea life and the boat. Not me so much, but yeah, we use it for the summer vacation. And then it’s always a nice spot to jump. That’s also the nice thing when you go travelling.

Dizzy Skips (22:56)
Mm-hmm.

Yeah.

Lise (23:02)
When you

go on vacation, can always bring your jump rope and it’s easy to just put in five or ten minutes. That’s life. Yeah, I love traveling. ⁓

Dizzy Skips (23:10)
Right.

Yeah, it’s such an inexpensive, accessible,

sport, right?

Lise (23:17)
Yeah, very cheap if you don’t buy too many jump ropes. I all types of colors, all types of sizes, you know, I need them all. Yeah.

Dizzy Skips (23:21)
Right, yeah.

Yeah. Yeah. So you said

you’re primarily a PVC jumper.

Lise (23:31)
Yeah, my first jump rope was a PVC. The white one from Timeless Jump, Ghadi gave it to me. It was my favorite for a long time. Actually broke. That’s a problem here when it gets too cold. So mostly I use the PVC. I do the mic release with the PVC. Not many people do that. And now I try to do the beaded a little bit more.

Dizzy Skips (23:32)
Need it.

Yeah, I broke mine too.

Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm.

Lise (23:58)
But I like the PVC, it’s faster. If you want to speed up your footwork, I’ve been working a little bit on that. Get in some more speed and then it’s easier with the PVC, think. So, yeah.

Dizzy Skips (24:04)
Mm-hmm.

Yeah.

Yeah, I

think you’re right. I think the one issue that I have noticed with PVC is that if it’s a really light PVC, unless you have the motions down, it can be easy to be lazy with your wrists, right? Like with a heavy rope, like you can’t be lazy because that rope’s gonna move your wrists if you don’t move them right.

Lise (24:34)
Mm-hmm.

Yeah.

Dizzy Skips (24:35)
But with a really light PVC like that, sometimes when I’ve found myself tripping up and I look at what I’m doing, it’s because I’m being lazy with my wrists. And so I’ve talked about this on podcasts before, but going from a heavier rope to like a beaded rope and then down to a lighter PVC, I can fly because I’ve got that, you know, that muscle memory built up, you know, but.

Lise (24:57)
Yeah,

that’s a problem. That’s why I don’t like the beaded so much. think with the, especially the mic release, I’m not good enough with my wrist. think it’s not, but I’m working on it now. And because when you do the mic release, the rope has to be a little bit shorter or I’m not able to do it. And that’s not a good combination with the footwork. I need a certain length.

Dizzy Skips (25:15)
Mm-hmm.

little

sure

Lise (25:23)
If it gets too

short, put your legs to the side, you trip all the time. So it’s like to find the perfect size beaded rope and the PVC rope. working on that, but you’re right. You get sloppy with your wrist, I think, when you use too much PVC. Yeah.

Dizzy Skips (25:27)
Mm-hmm.

So I just.

Or, or it’s just

easier to, right? Because it’s just like, it just doesn’t weigh as much. ⁓ So Lise, when you got started jumping, you mentioned your weight loss, but were there other things that you learned or, achievements that you made where you thought, where they kind of gave you that buzz? Like, those aha moments where you’re like, my gosh, look what I just did. This is so great. I’m going to keep doing this.

Lise (25:45)
Yeah.

Yeah, you’re thinking about the skills with jumping rope or in general, think?

Dizzy Skips (26:09)
Yeah,

once you started jumping, like, had periods where, like, I would learn boxer skip, and I just thought it was the coolest thing, you know, and I was probably terrible at it, but I, you know, I just thought it was so fun, and it was like one of those things that made me think, if I can do this, I can get better at something else, you know, like I can keep progressing. It was my aha moment, and I’m wondering if you had those.

Lise (26:33)
Yeah, I think that’s been one of my benefits with having a connection with Coach Ghadi because he’s like been slowing me down a little bit because everybody is like, wow, it’s a cool skill and you want to learn the mic release, you want to do the double unders. I say, hey, slow down, you need to do this and this before you. So he’s been very, always wanted me to be good at the basics.

Dizzy Skips (27:02)
Yeah.

Lise (27:02)
And

I used quite a lot of time on that. And I tried to double unders, I tried the mic release. I used enormous time on the mic release. I’m still not very good at it, but the consistency and maybe not rushed too much. Suddenly you reach a point. Now it’s like, I feel I reached a point where I can play around more. I don’t trip as much.

Dizzy Skips (27:14)
Mm.

Yeah!

Lise (27:28)
Maybe for me, being consistent, jumping, maybe you feel you’re not doing so well every week, but over time I see enormous progression. And suddenly when you unlock a skill and you understand how to use your wrist with a mamba, example, I think about that.

Dizzy Skips (27:31)
Mm-hmm.

Right.

Lise (27:49)
been quite slow with a lot of skills but I used a lot of time on the basics and yeah when it’s there it’s like easier to unlock all the different skills later so yeah.

Dizzy Skips (27:56)
Mm-hmm.

Yeah, absolutely. I’ve been thinking

about that a lot recently and thinking it’s almost like learning a language, right? Like once, as you’re learning basic bounce, you know, like you could like, Kathy Jumps who was on said she did basic bounce and boxer skip for like a year or a year and a half before she really tried learning other tricks. And that is just learning that basics, the basics of the language, right? And once you have.

Lise (28:22)
Mmm.

Hmm.

Dizzy Skips (28:27)
It makes it easier to put sentences together and stuff like that. And then when you start adding tricks, you’ve got that basic vocabulary down. So you’ve got that basic rhythm down. You’ve got that basic knowledge of where the rope is. it makes adding onto it easier and more rewarding. know, like you said, that feeling of like, I don’t have to think about it so much anymore. I’m not tripping. I can go out and have fun and just experiment.

Lise (28:31)
Yeah.

Yeah.

I can go out and try all types of different footwork. I don’t need to think about jumping. You can work on the foot skills and it comes by itself now. That’s a very good feeling. It’s like you reach another level.

Dizzy Skips (28:58)
Mm-hmm.

Yeah.

Lise (29:07)
you have to put in an enormous amount of hours because when you’re new, you don’t understand it. You want to learn all the cool skills but it’s a lot of stuff behind there you need to learn I think. yeah, but people can do whatever they want and everybody has their own style and do what you want I think. So if you want to go directly to the mic release you do.

Dizzy Skips (29:20)
Yeah.

Yeah.

Lise (29:36)
Some people do it after. Yeah. Yeah.

Dizzy Skips (29:36)
That’s right. You do you.

Yeah. so as far as like your goals what are you hoping to learn over the course of the summer? Do you have a specific things you’re trying to accelerate or get better at?

Lise (29:51)
Yeah, I don’t have any big goals for anything, but I try to maybe expand a little bit more my, not only concentrate about the footwork and try, I’m still not consistent with my mic release, try and get that more and the mambas, yeah, releases try and work a little bit on that and maybe do some of these wraps. I haven’t done that.

Dizzy Skips (30:07)
Mm-hmm.

Yeah.

Lise (30:16)
much of that. see people do that over, under, it’s like, wow, it’s a, I maybe try and yeah, go into different types of skills, but I’d, and right now I’m, I am working on the double under with the cross. That’s a, that’s a pain in the ass. When you do, yeah, you do the cross on the first, it’s very difficult. You, I mess up all the time. So that’s maybe one of my goals.

Dizzy Skips (30:17)
Mm-hmm. Yeah.

Okay

Lise (30:42)
do three or five. But yeah, don’t have any big, just have fun now. I think enjoy. So enjoy the, yeah, enjoy the community, watch other people, watch the videos and get inspired. And I watch a lot of these shufflers. I like to watch the videos there. It’s a lot of, and I look at some step and make my own combination. And yeah, do, yeah.

Dizzy Skips (30:42)
Yeah.

Yeah. Yeah, that’s the point of it all, isn’t it? Have fun, right?

Mm-hmm.

Yeah.

Lise (31:12)
I have not any big goals now. Just keep going, hopefully. That’s my goal now to continue to be consistent because that’s always been my problem. Suddenly it’s like over. I want to stick to the jump rope now for some time and see. Take it.

Dizzy Skips (31:17)
Yeah.

So when you say

that’s been your problem, you mean with just other things in your life maintaining consistency?

Lise (31:36)
Not with work and stuff like that, but mostly workout, exercise. Like running, I could run every day for a year and suddenly it’s like, I can’t do it anymore. And then you stop and it’s hard to get back, you know, you have to keep going all the time. Yeah, so this is the first time I really been consistent for many, many years. Now I’ve been going to the gym three, four times a week for more than a year now.

Dizzy Skips (31:39)
Like exercise.

Mm-hmm.

Yeah.

Lise (32:02)
Never happened before. It’s a little bit the right time for me now because my children are a little bit older and I have more time. That’s also, I can do my own thing, go and jump and yeah, that’s my, what do call that? Time for myself, you know? Yeah. So me time. Yes. Yeah. So.

Dizzy Skips (32:02)
That’s awesome. Yeah.

Mm-hmm.

Yeah, yeah. Your “me time?” Yeah. Yeah. So

I’m curious, outside of the weight loss, what other physical or mental health benefits have you got from jump rope?

Lise (32:37)
It’s probably combination, it’s like with the weight loss, also… I probably lost like 20 kilos now. It makes you feel stronger, it’s easier to move, easier to catch up with your children. And you feel more confident, you feel better with yourself. It’s… Yeah. ⁓

Dizzy Skips (32:58)
Mm-hmm.

Lise (33:01)
I feel I have quite a lot of energy. I work a lot and I feel strong. I think in my age too, everybody says it’s very good for you to lift a little bit heavy weights. And the jumping too, make your legs strong. I think it’s a good thing. have to be thinking a little bit about my age. It’s good to get moving.

Dizzy Skips (33:08)
Yeah.

Yeah.

Lise (33:28)
I think and it’s good for your head too. It’s relaxing. always, Like Ghadi’s saying “you need to go into the flow” and I do that sometimes all your worries just disappears. You you just concentrate about the jumping and it feels releasing in a way. It’s like you can relax or it’s always nice to I think exercise is good.

Dizzy Skips (33:29)
Yeah.

What does it do for your head?

Mm-hmm.

Lise (33:54)
for your head and just to get some thoughts away and you always feel better. doesn’t make you, I don’t ever think you can go and jump rope and you feel bad. It’s like just to go outside, make you feel good I think. yeah, that’s probably the benefits and yeah, and all the people I got to know.

Dizzy Skips (33:55)
Yeah. Yeah.

Yeah.

Yeah.

Mm-hmm.

Lise (34:17)
all

around the world. It’s a little bit sad, it’s not so many here in Norway, but maybe it come more. I got a lot of new friends, so hope to meet someday. Yeah. Yeah.

Dizzy Skips (34:27)
Yeah. Yeah. Do you,

do you have any meetups planned? Like to attend any meetups?

Lise (34:34)
Yeah, I’m going to London. I decided that the 5th of July, my first one. yeah, yeah. that’s ⁓ my goal. I think so. a lot of the people from the, yeah, a lot of the people I communicate with almost on daily basis will come there. So yeah, it will be fun. Yeah.

Dizzy Skips (34:40)
I’m so happy for you. And also jealous, but yeah, I’m not gonna be able to make it.

that’s gonna be amazing.

Mm-hmm. Yeah.

Lise (35:02)
I’m My first one.

Dizzy Skips (35:05)
That’s so great. So that’s July 5th in London, right?

Lise (35:06)
Yeah,

yes it is. It’s only two hours flight for me so it’s quite convenient. And it’s here in Europe, it’s a lot of meetups now. you can, all summer, you can travel around the different types of coaches and yeah, it’s growing bigger I think. Yeah, yeah.

Dizzy Skips (35:14)
Nice.

Yeah.

Yeah.

Yeah, that’s awesome. I’m going to have to come

spend a summer in Europe, just traveling around and going to meetups.

Lise (35:32)
Yeah, you could go

to meet up from one meet up to another. Yeah. Yeah.

Dizzy Skips (35:37)
Yeah. Just searching

country by country for rocks to skip on. You know? Yeah. Yeah.

Lise (35:41)
Yeah, Norway is a lot of rocks. You’re welcome. Yeah.

Yes. Yeah.

Dizzy Skips (35:47)
so any other meetups that you’ve got planned outside of that one?

Lise (35:51)
No, that’s the one I have. It’s a few other Norwegian girls that live three, four hours around. We met one time, but I haven’t planned anything else. I can’t use too much of my time going on these meetups. And I a short time of vacation, so I have to.

Dizzy Skips (36:14)
Sure.

Lise (36:15)
Yes, I have to think a little bit about my family too. So this is the one I will prioritize this year, I think. But maybe, we’ll see. Maybe next

Dizzy Skips (36:19)
Sure, of course.

Yeah. So what is something

that, people might be surprised to learn about your jump journey.

Lise (36:31)
surprised I don’t know

Dizzy Skips (36:32)
Yeah.

You listen to

death metal when you jump, right? It’s all like slipknot and heavy metal.

Lise (36:40)
No,

not so much heavy metal. It’s more like disco music, know. I have young people in the house. yeah, yeah. I love Dancing Queen. Yes, I love all that type of disco music, know. My… Yes.

Dizzy Skips (36:44)
I’m kidding.

You got some ABBA.

Yeah. Dancing queen.

Yeah.

Lise (37:01)
I don’t know, think people will be surprised when they meet me. It’s like I don’t have so much secrets. Nothing special really. yeah, I wouldn’t say that.

Dizzy Skips (37:11)
Yeah

So, so you’ve been jumping almost two years If you were talking to somebody who was like you, when they got started, like, Hey, I need something to occupy my time, maybe to lose weight, to do something productive. I’m not sure if jump rope is the right thing. What would you tell them?

Lise (37:18)
Yeah.

What’s been… I’m not sure. If I hadn’t had the coaching, I don’t know if I would have still been jumping. I think it’s been crucial for my journey that I got to know Ghadi and he coached me all the time. I’ve been connected with him like every week almost for two years and always watch out for me.

Depends if you want to learn the jump rope and but if you want to reach some goal with your weight or your nutrition I think never underestimate to having a coach. I think it’s been very nice for me or find a community and get people who are trained to help you and it’s a lot of people out there if it’s

Dizzy Skips (37:54)
Mm-hmm.

Yeah.

Mm-hmm.

Lise (38:20)
just to go to the gym or but you can get a personal trainer here too but it’s like the combination here I loved the jump rope and and it changed by the time in the beginning we were focusing more on the nutrition and and now we we only jump together it’s like I don’t have any nutrition plan or anything we meet up every second week and just do some jumping and try and

Dizzy Skips (38:28)
Mm-hmm.

Mm-hmm.

Yeah.

Mm-hmm.

Lise (38:46)
because I didn’t know anything about it. It’s a lot of technique with the jump rope. I didn’t know. It’s like all these small details. I think also helped me. I think it’s fun because he’s pointing out the small details that helped me. So if you want to improve and learn some skills, think it’s if you have a chance, take some classes with someone, a lot of people.

Dizzy Skips (38:53)
Mm. Mm-hmm.

Right.

Yeah.

Lise (39:16)
lot of

them do, I think. The big ones. I think you can take classes with them. So you don’t need to do it on regular basis, but do it once in a while. It’s quite cool. Yeah. Yeah.

Dizzy Skips (39:19)
Yeah.

Yeah, I totally agree

with you. And it’s something that I think is undervalued sometimes is coaching. Like, first of all, I think people assume like it’s going to be super expensive. And I think there are coaches out there that are quite reasonable. If you’re one of those people that goes to Starbucks you can get a jump rope coach for less than a cup of coffee every day, right?

And, like you say, just getting that instantaneous feedback to help you, like that’s of course why we video ourselves too, is so that we can kind of analyze what we’re doing But just having someone say, Hey, you know, when you let go of your release, you’re doing it too low. You need to kind of bring it up higher or whatever. And being able to get that real time feedback is incredible and can save a lot of heartache, right? Like it can accelerate things.

Lise (40:11)
Yeah, yeah,

and you do. Yeah, yeah, and it’s hard to understand what you do wrong. And you can watch a video, you can do the slow mo and you watch and watch and you still think you do the same, but you really don’t. So it’s a small, a lot of skills have these small details. If you want to, you can probably solve them another way. But it’s for me, it’s been very nice to have someone to

Dizzy Skips (40:14)
Accelerate things.

Yeah. Yeah.

Yeah, yeah, totally.

Lise (40:39)
just point out you should do this and practices and it will also keep you going. I see my colleagues, don’t practice. They show up every second week and we jump together and have fun and I say, do your homework. They come next time. It’s like, I didn’t have time to jump so much. So I think if you really want to learn, think get the coach, take some classes or.

Dizzy Skips (40:44)
Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm.

Lise (41:04)
Find someone that’s a little bit better than you. It’s like, well, if you can jump some with someone probably. But I’m being alone all the time. So that’s been nice, My coach.

Dizzy Skips (41:07)
Mm-hmm.

Yeah.

Yeah,

I think that’s another great point is that sometimes when we jump alone so much, despite my trying to have a positive attitude all the time and laugh and dance off my mistakes, it can be helpful to have someone say, Hey, Lise, you’re doing a really good job. Like you’re showing up and you’re doing a really good job because sometimes you don’t see the pro or I should speak for myself. Sometimes I don’t see the progress as quickly as other people do, or I’m impatient with my progress. And

Lise (41:27)
Mm-mm.

Bye.

Dizzy Skips (41:44)
you know, someone who has had that experience of going through the steps and making mistake after mistake after mistake and getting through it can look and say, you know, this is part of the process. You’re doing great. Just keep at it. And that means a lot, especially when you’re so used to jumping alone and ricocheting around in your own head, right?

Lise (41:44)
Mm.

Yeah, Yeah,

yeah. But now I feel like I reached a decent level. It’s like a level where I can have more fun. I can practice whatever I want and now I know the basics and know a little bit more about the technique. And it’s easier now for me to watch a video, maybe see what I can do to reach a goal. now it’s like…

Dizzy Skips (42:21)
Mm-hmm.

Lise (42:24)
Yeah, I relax more. I don’t need to know all the skills. If I don’t do all the releases, everybody do it. It’s OK. I know the mic release. So yeah. So it’s more for fun now, I think. But Ghadi, you you don’t need me anymore. Yes, I do. I need to jump with you every second week. So yeah, we’ll see. Yeah, it’s been.

Dizzy Skips (42:33)
Yeah, right. Yeah, it’s.

Yeah.

Yeah. He’s just the

best cheerleader ever, isn’t he? He’s just such a great cheerleader.

Lise (42:55)
Yeah, he’s been very sweet to me and we have been cooperating. It’s been great. He’s a sweet guy.

Dizzy Skips (42:59)
Mm-hmm.

Yeah.

Yeah, he sure is.

I’m wondering if you can talk a little bit more about the community. Like you talked about making friends in different areas of the world through Instagram. What has the community as a whole beyond just Timeless, what has that meant to you?

Lise (43:19)
It’s probably meant everything because if I’ve been here all alone, if I didn’t have the Instagram and see all the people and you get people are very supportive, they contact you and it’s very easy to ask questions and after some time you get the connection with someone, you know, and you talk a little bit more and…

Dizzy Skips (43:38)
Mm-hmm.

Lise (43:41)
What are you doing? What are you practicing? It’s a great group of people. It’s so much love and everybody supports you. People don’t really care what you can do. It doesn’t really matter. It’s fun to see. It’s like people all over the world. doesn’t matter where you come from, what you work with, your age. It’s all different types of age.

Dizzy Skips (43:51)
Yeah.

Yeah.

Yeah.

Lise (44:07)
But think it’s little bit more women than men, Why is that? I don’t know. And also a lot of women my age, or a little bit younger, like older women a little bit, I think.

Dizzy Skips (44:11)
Yeah, I think you’re right.

Yeah.

mean, according to the podcast listener numbers are like 85 % of our listeners are between 30 and 60. and, and depending upon the sample time that we’re looking at, it’s either like 60, 40 women or men to, to 50, 50 women and men.

Lise (44:35)
Yeah.

Dizzy Skips (44:46)
And I think it also depends where you’re listening. Like on Spotify, it tends to be more women. On YouTube, it tends to be more men for some reason.

Lise (44:54)
Yeah, yeah. No, but I think if I hadn’t had the community, I’m not sure if I would still, maybe I would be jumping, but not enjoying it so much because it’s all this community, it’s challenges. Yeah, it keeps you busy, but I like it. It’s still, it’s…

Dizzy Skips (45:05)
Yeah.

Yeah.

Lise (45:15)
It makes you commit to something also. like if I’m going to do the monthly challenge, I feel I have to do my best. If I can’t make it for any reason, it’s OK. It’s not a tragedy, but I always try to stick to the challenges. And if you’re supposed to do something, I try and practice. And I think that also keeps you going. You see people do challenges all the time.

Dizzy Skips (45:25)
Mm-hmm.

Yeah.

Yeah.

Mm-hmm.

Lise (45:41)
Yeah,

just jumping a little bit for a hundred days, it’s quite a bit. Yeah, yeah. So I like that. And people are really, yeah. And people are interested in other and want to get people to love jumping rope and get together. That’s fun. People are interested in others and see what they can do. So yeah, that’s great.

Dizzy Skips (45:46)
Yeah, it is. Yeah, I’ve been enjoying that. The jump for joy 100.

Mm-hmm. Yeah.

Yeah.

Lise (46:10)
about this community, think.

Dizzy Skips (46:12)
Yeah, it’s amazing. It’s the best little corner of the internet as far as I’m concerned.

Lise (46:14)
Yeah.

The corner we didn’t know existed. There’s probably a lot of other corners we don’t know about, but we find the best one, I think. yeah, yeah, it’s fun. Yeah, yeah, it is.

Dizzy Skips (46:18)
That’s right.

Yeah. Yeah.

Yeah, it’s amazing.

Lise (46:34)
I feel super good finding a new passion in my age. I think it’s easy when you go travelling. You can bring it everywhere. It doesn’t cost you much. You don’t need to put in an enormous amount of time. It’s just a few minutes.

Dizzy Skips (46:34)
Yeah.

Yeah.

Right.

Lise (46:54)
will make you feel good. Hopefully we can jump for many, many, many more years. Maybe we catch up with everyone one day.

Dizzy Skips (46:55)
Yeah.

Yeah, it’s amazing.

Yes, we will.

Yeah,

before too long, we’re going to have to have a big meetup. know, I’ll have to come over to Europe, make it easier. But yeah, I just can’t wait.

Lise (47:09)
Yeah, think so. But it’s

quite a big group here in Europe now, I think. But it’s in the US too. for now, it’s way too expensive for me to travel to the US. yeah, it’s very expensive for us now. So I have to wait some years.

Dizzy Skips (47:16)
Yeah.

Yeah.

Yeah. Well,

sometime here in the next few years, we’ll meet up somehow, I’m sure. Yeah.

Lise (47:35)
Somehow, sure.

Yeah, that’s nice to think about. Yeah, I like that thought. One day, everybody or meet some of the people you’ve been talking to would be nice. Yeah.

Dizzy Skips (47:40)
Yeah.

Yeah. Yeah.

Honestly, like my best friends are jump ropers on Instagram. Like I just love the community of Instagram and like really where can you go to get such positivity and have so much fun? And for someone who likes dancing and footwork and music, it’s just the perfect combination. I love it.

Lise (47:56)
Yeah.

Yeah,

it’s kind of strange too because you feel you get connected and good friends with people you never met in real life. It’s like only some people now we’re talking live and we’ve been live before but some people I never just small messages and you still feel you know them.

Dizzy Skips (48:15)
I know.

Mm-hmm.

Yeah. Yeah.

That’s one of the reasons I just love doing this podcast so much is just to be able to get to be know people more, you know, like Instagram is so fun. It takes a while just like learning jump rope. It just takes a while to get to know people, who they are and where they’re at and stuff. And so it’s

Lise (48:37)
Mmm, yeah, but I think you ⁓

Yeah, but

I think as long as you have the same passion and you have the interest in getting to know other people, it’s like the best community to be in because I feel everybody’s have an interest in others and yeah, it’s great. One day they say we meet. Yes, yes, I do some footwork. Yeah, yeah, yeah.

Dizzy Skips (48:53)
Mm-hmm.

Agreed.

Mm-hmm. Yeah. Yes, absolutely.

And that’s right. We’ll do some footwork. That sounds amazing. Well, Lise, thank

you so much for staying up so late and spending some time talking to me on the podcast. I really appreciate it. I just think you’re a wonderful human being, and I’m so glad to be connected with you.

Lise (49:14)
Yes.

Yeah.

Yeah, likewise Dizzy, it’s very nice to talk to you always. See your happy face. Yeah, okay. Yes, thank you.

Dizzy Skips (49:31)
Likewise.