Jumping rope isn't just for kids, it's a great total-body workout for adults too.
Not only does it improve your cardio and muscle strength, it also burns calories to aid in weight loss.
Since all you need is a pair of running shoes and a jump rope, many people are ditching their regular cardio workouts for this fun exercise. You may be wondering if you should too.
This article reviews jumping rope , lists its benefits, and explains how it can help you get in shape and even lose weight.
What are the factors that contribute to weight loss?
It has long been thought that losing weight was simply a matter of taking in calories and burning them off, but it's more complicated and nuanced than that.
While it is true that a person must be in a calorie deficit to lose weight, significant weight loss requires a comprehensive approach.
You can achieve a calorie deficit by eating fewer calories, expending more energy through movement and exercise, or a combination of both. However, the size of your calorie deficit depends on your body composition and your calorie needs.
For example, most research suggests that a 10-20% calorie deficit is sustainable for most people and helps promote fat loss and preserve lean muscle mass.
To illustrate, let's say a person needs 2,200 calories per day to maintain their current weight. A 10 to 20 percent deficit would be about 220 to 440 calories per day, which can be achieved by eating less, moving more, or both.
Additionally, a person who is 157 cm tall, weighs 68 kg and leads a sedentary lifestyle will have very different caloric needs than a person who is 196 cm tall, weighs 136 kg and has a physically demanding job.
Additionally, when a person loses weight, they expend fewer calories and must eat fewer to maintain their weight, which can make weight loss more difficult.
While it may be easy to attribute a failed weight loss attempt to a lack of effort, there are many factors at play that can help or hinder your weight loss goals, including:
- muscle mass versus fat mass (e.g., more muscle mass burns more calories at rest)
- duration and quality of sleep
- chronic stress
- medicines
- medical conditions (eg, hypothyroidism)
- age
- genetics
- the quality of the diet
- a history of yo-yo dieting
Additionally, losing weight may not be as important as changing your body composition toward more muscle mass and less fat mass, which is generally a better determinant of health.
Because muscle is denser than fat, gram for gram, it takes up less space on your body while weighing the same. So while you may not see the number on the scale change, you can see noticeable differences in your waistline and muscle definition.
Instead of focusing on the scale, focus on adopting a healthy lifestyle that promotes exercise, eating a healthy diet, reducing your stress levels, and getting quality sleep, which will likely help you feel more energetic and promote fat loss and muscle growth.
SUMMARY
Although a calorie deficit is necessary to lose weight, calorie needs vary from person to person.
The Benefits of Jumping Rope
Besides aiding in weight loss, jumping rope has many other benefits.
Improvement of cardiovascular condition
Jumping rope is excellent for improving your cardiorespiratory fitness.
Jumping continuously for a period of time requires pumping more blood and oxygen to the working muscles, increasing your heart rate and breathing rate to meet this increased demand.
Over time, this can strengthen your heart and improve your lung capacity, allowing you to exercise for longer.
Strengthens muscles
If you're looking for an effective total-body workout, try jumping rope.
Jumping rope works the muscles of the lower body (calves, thighs and buttocks), upper body (shoulders and biceps) and abdominal muscles.
Not only can this help improve muscular strength, but also your muscular endurance, which allows your muscles to exercise for longer, and increase explosive power for the quick, sudden movements that are common in sports.
Stronger bones
Jumping rope is a high-impact exercise that works your bones in a healthy way to make them stronger.
When a person jumps, the body responds to the temporary stress placed on the bones by ground reaction forces by making them stronger and denser.
In fact, a 22-week study including Olympic swimmers observed significant increases in bone mineral density in the lumbar spine and femoral neck (part of the thigh bone) after participating in 20 minutes of jumping rope and whole-body vibration twice a week.
Other studies have also shown similar results with jumping rope and similar exercises.
Can improve your coordination and balance
Adding jumping rope to your workout routine can be a great way to improve your balance and coordination.
Learning to jump rope involves coordinating your arms, legs, and torso while maintaining a steady rhythm. Additionally, you need to have good balance to maintain your center of gravity and allow your feet to repeatedly lift off the ground (24Trusted Source, 25Trusted Source).
Luckily, you decide how fast you jump and spin the rope, meaning you can slowly develop your coordination and balance as needed.
It's funny
For many people, exercise can feel like a chore.
However, jumping rope can be a fun yet highly effective exercise that can bring joy back into your exercise routine. Plus, you can modify your jump rope routine to add novelty and difficulty as you improve.
In fact, the more you enjoy your exercise, the more likely you are to stick with it long-term.
SUMMARY
Jumping rope is a fun exercise that can help you strengthen your bones and muscles, improve your cardiorespiratory fitness, and improve your coordination and balance.
How many calories does jumping rope burn?
The number of calories burned during exercise depends largely on the duration and intensity of the exercise, as well as the person's weight.
For example, a 200-pound person can burn a whopping 362 calories jumping rope quickly for 20 minutes, or 241 calories jumping rope slowly (27).
Therefore, adding jumping rope to your daily routine can help achieve a calorie deficit, which is necessary for weight loss.
SUMMARY
Jumping rope is an effective workout that burns a lot of calories in a short amount of time. For example, 20 minutes of jumping rope can burn up to 241 calories for a 200-pound (91-kg) person.
Is Jumping Rope Enough to Lose Weight? What Else Should You Do?
Although jumping rope burns a lot of calories, it is not enough to lose weight in the long term.
If you rely solely on jumping rope to burn calories while continuing to eat a high-calorie diet that puts you in a caloric surplus, you will not lose weight.
Rather, sustainable weight loss involves a healthy, balanced lifestyle that includes a nutrient-rich, minimally processed diet, regular physical activity, adequate sleep, and stress management.
While jumping rope is a great form of exercise and can help with your weight loss efforts, it's best to include other exercise modalities into your routine to maximize your fitness.
A well-balanced workout program will include strength training exercises (e.g., weight-bearing exercises and Pilates), cardiovascular exercises, and balance exercises.
SUMMARY
While jumping rope can be a great way to burn extra calories and improve your fitness, you still need to incorporate other exercises and healthy lifestyle habits to achieve long-term weight loss.
How to Add Jumping Rope to Your Workout Routine?
There are many ways to add jumping rope to your workout routine.
Depending on your experience and goals, you can make jumping rope your entire workout or add it to another workout. You can customize your workouts based on your preferences, but here are some ideas you can try.
Endurance training
For this workout, the goal is to jump rope for as long as possible, which will help you build your cardiorespiratory endurance. The focus should be on slow, moderate-intensity jumps, rather than jumping as fast as possible.
To begin, start a stopwatch and see how long you can jump at a steady pace without needing to stop. If you are able to do this, take a short break and start again.
Over time, try to increase your jumping time, ideally aiming for 20 to 30 minutes without stopping.
Warm-up
If you want to use jump rope to warm up your muscles before another workout, try jumping rope for 3 to 5 minutes at a moderate, steady pace.
Finishing
To finish off your workout, try to get your heart rate up as high as possible by doing a quick, strenuous jump rope session.
At the end of a workout, jump at a fast pace for a total of 100 jumps. Take a short break and continue jumping in intervals of 100 until you have a cumulative total of 500 jumps or more.
This activity can also be a full-fledged workout if you're short on time. Try to do as many intervals as you can in 10-15 minutes.
Sedentary break
If you've been sitting for a long time and want a quick break, grab a jump rope and jump for a few minutes. If you do this a few times throughout the day, it can add up and give you a boost of endorphins to help you with your other tasks.
Mid-workout
If you don't like waiting between sets when strength training, try jumping rope for 30 to 60 seconds to keep your heart rate up between sets.
SUMMARY
You can jump rope for an entire workout or add it to your day. Because you control the speed and duration of your jumps, you can easily make adjustments based on your goals and needs.
In summary
Jumping rope is a quick, affordable and effective workout.
It helps improve your cardiorespiratory capacity, strengthen your bones and muscles, and improve your balance and coordination.
It also burns an impressive amount of calories in a short period of time, which can help you achieve the calorie deficit you need to lose weight.
If you're looking for some variety and exercise, all you need is a rope and to start jumping.