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How often do you see a jumping rope and start to wonder whether you should include it in your workout routine or not?
This article talks about the numerous benefits of jumping rope, which will convince you to take up this fun-filled exercise. This article also answers the questions that might pop up in your mind when you decide to start with jump training.
What is a Jumping Rope?
Jumping rope is one of the easiest yet very helpful exercises. It is a type of weight-bearing exercise in which a skipping rope is involved. It is often incorporated into circuit training workouts.
It is a pocket-friendly way to remain fit. The only exercise equipment you need for this is jump ropes. Another great thing about jumping rope is that it can be done anywhere- home, gym, or on empty ground.
During the COVID-19 pandemic1, jumping rope was a great workout to sweat and keep fit when people could not step out of their homes.
A study conducted over eight weeks claimed that teen girls who skipped for 10 minutes improved their fitness just as much as other girls who did jogging for 30 minutes. Hence, it is time-efficient to ensure a fit body and healthy mind.
9 Benefits of Jumping Rope
1. Jumping helps Burn Calories
Looking for a way to do away with your extra fat? Jump rope is undoubtedly the best thing for you to do. High-Intensity Interval Training2 (HIIT) helps you lose belly fat without compromising your diet.
Skipping rope may burn 25% more calories in 15 minutes than running. The jumping rope successfully burns more than 10 calories a minute for an average-sized person.
Rope jumping increases blood pressure for a short duration, and blood flows properly to each body part. When an individual jumps, there is a movement around their face which helps get rid of face fat and double chin.
It is also proven to cause weight differences in the abdomen and trunk region because jumping pulls your core tight. Jumping rope straight for 30 minutes to 60 minutes makes you lose around 200-300 calories.
It is a thermogenic exercise3, for it generates a lot of heat in the body. It burns, fuels, and destroys calories by challenging the body’s different energy systems.
Jillian Michaels, a celebrity trainer, and a master’s degree holder says jumping rope burns more calories than cycling, swimming, and rowing.
2. Rope Skipping makes the Skin Glow
Since jump rope involves an increase in the rate of the heart, it boosts blood circulation in the body. An increased heart rate leads to elevated sweat, so the body does away with toxins faster.
Oxygen reaches the body cells more quickly. It helps to release toxins faster. Thus, allowing the skin to get a post-workout.
3. Increases body flexibility
One of the reasons why skipping is included in an athlete’s training routine is because it enhances the capacity of the body parts to move swiftly and with ease. It plays a role in total body strengthening.
Hence, everybody uses the rope, from gymnasts to athletes, tennis players, celebrities, and boxers.
4. Improves Cardiovascular Health
Jumping rope regularly is known to develop the cardiovascular endurance of an individual. It improves heart health and reduces the risk of cardiovascular disease. Bouncing increases the heart rate.
Hence, more oxygen is required by the body cells. To meet the higher oxygen demand, the heart pumps blood faster.
The long-term effect of this practice is that it strengthens your heart and enhances your lung capacity. This contributes to improving cardio fitness. It reduces the risk of cardiovascular diseases like strokes.
The ace-certified personal trainer Morgan Rees reports that jumping rope creates short-term challenges for the cardiovascular and pulmonary systems, which in the long run, help their better functioning.
Jump roping is influential in increasing the VO2 max 4levels of the body, i.e., the maximum amount of oxygen gas that a person’s body can utilize during a workout. The higher the VO2 max levels, the greater the cardiovascular health and the pulmonary strength of the person.
5. Strengthens the Muscles and Bone Density
Jumping rope is an effective full-body exercise. It enhances muscular endurance, which allows different muscle groups to work out for a longer time without being prone to injury. The major muscle groups that share the benefits of jumping rope include the calf, chest, back, shoulders, and abdomen muscles.
Rope jump has an impact on the bones in a healthy way. It makes them stronger by exposing them to temporary stress. It increases bone density. It reduces the chances of developing osteoporosis 5and other bone diseases.
Per a 22-week-long study on Olympic swimmers, regularly jumping the rope is a fruitful way to increase bone density, especially of the lumbar spine and the thigh bones. As a person jumps, his bones face ground reaction forces, which help build an increased bone mineral density.
Bones with a higher mineral density are less likely to break when met with an accident. They become less fragile with the impact training provided by the skipping rope training.
People with weak bones, under the supervision of a doctor or a trained professional, may also take up this activity to strengthen their bones.
6. Jump Ropes provide Full Body Workout
Jump rope training is an effective method to build overall endurance. It increases stamina and helps to get rid of fatigue. It might feel exhausting, but it prepares your body to strive for more.
Jump rope exercises are a great full-body workout. They are intense on the knees. Eventually, it aids in getting rid of fatigue.
Research done in 2015 concluded that soccer players who jumped rope portrayed better motor skills and flexibility than those who just practised soccer drills.
7. Jumping Rope Can Help Boost Your Mood
Moderate-intensity jumping rope releases endorphins, a hormone known for easing depressing moods. Exercising increases blood circulation throughout the body and the brain. According to a study, the people who jumped rope were at a lower risk of anxiety and depression.
Jump roping helps to bring down the levels of hypertension and high blood pressure. It leads to the betterment of the pulse rate and the reduction of overall fat.
8. Makes the Workout Routine Fun
Working out every day might feel boring. Jumping rope is a fun way to make your workout routine enjoyable. Not only does it have innumerable health benefits, but also it brings back the joy of working out.
The probability of sticking to a fun workout is more than continuing a boring one that starts feeling like a burden.
9. Jump Rope to Increase Your Motor Coordination
A jumping rope workout helps in the elevation of hand-eye coordination. When an individual starts to jump rope, the coordination of the arms, torso, and legs increases.
They start to move rhythmically—the ability to continue repeated footwork patterns increases. Balance and coordination are significantly helped through this whole-body exercise.
As you move towards highly skilled moves, you observe that jumping rope can help create a continuous motion that requires the communication and coordination of different body parts.
A study conducted in 2017 states that jumping rope helps autistic children develop some amount of motor coordination who initially struggled with balance.
Other Benefits of Jumping Rope

Jumping rope keeps you agile. Skipping rope benefits concentration by developing the left and right hemispheres of the brain. It helps the person remain more alert and boosts memory.
Improved balance and coordination make one less likely to get hurt during day-to-day activities or exercise. The upper body and lower body work together in better coordination due to skipping rope which tremendously enhances body awareness.
How can I Select a Suitable Jump Rope for me?
The only pieces of equipment needed for this exercise are jump ropes. Make sure to buy a good-quality jump rope. It should be properly sized according to your height.
To determine whether a particular string is suitable for you or not, hold the rope taut while standing in the middle. If the cord is long enough to reach your armpits, it is the ideal size for you.
To take the maximum jump benefits, good quality jump ropes are necessary to help you quickly jump.
You can also opt for weighted ropes since they have proven more beneficial than normal ones. They are amazing for performance training, endurance and strength.
HIIT training yields better benefits when done with a weighted jump rope. Ensure that it is a properly sized rope. After all, jump rope benefits are best achieved with them.
How Much Time Should I Jump Rope?
If you aim to use rope jump as an endurance workout, the point is to jump rope for as long as possible without making yourself prone to an injury. The focus should be on a steady pace jump rather than jumping as quickly as possible.
The jumping time can be increased over time with consistent practice. 20-30 minutes of non-stop jumping rope could help you build cardiovascular fitness.
If you wish to incorporate jump rope as a warm-up before your mental workout, 2-5 minutes of jumping at a consistent and moderate pace will work for you.
Jumping rope as a finisher to your exercise involves quickly jumping at least 2-3 sets of 100 jumps each. A proper break must be between the sets to avoid overstraining the muscles.
Rope jumping can also be practised as a mid-workout exercise for 50-60 seconds to prevent the heart rate from a sudden decrease.
Ensure that you do not over-strain the muscles of your body while jumping rope. This could lead to injury or strain.
What is the Correct Method to Jump Rope?
Skipping rope in proper form is important to give you all the benefits of jumping. It is also needed to protect you from injury. To ensure that you can build consistency and momentum, keep your feet together and your toes pointed up.
Make sure that you land lightly while you jump. Keep your jump as low as possible while ensuring that you have your knees slightly bent.
Jump on an even surface. Jumping rope on a hard or rocky surface gives you extra bounce and might hurt you. Make sure you wear shock-absorbing socks before you start to jump.
Keep your back straight while you jump to obtain the maximum benefits of jumping rope. You may also learn from a certified personal trainer.
If you are a beginner who has never jumped a rope, you may start jumping rope as per the following steps:
- Hold the skipping rope firmly.
- Your hands must be at the hip level.
- Rotate the wrists and swing the rope.
- Jump with both your feet at the same time.
- Repeat the same procedure.
Ensure that you are wearing accurate footwear to avoid any chances of injury. Once you have mastered this, you may try skipping with one foot at a time or an alternative foot.
You may also try cross-skipping. With these steps in mind, you are ready to start your jump rope workout!
5 Types of Rope Jump Exercises
There are over 30 types of jump rope exercise variations that one can try, however, in this article, we will list a few that will be the most effective.
1. High Knees
This simple method is carried out by adding rope to your basic high knees exercise. It is a warm-up to increase the heart pumping rate steadily. It is useful in increasing the strength of the lower body.
2. Jump rope burpees
This is by adding a rope to your simple burpee exercise to make it more intense. This helps the heart health remain fine. It is beneficial in losing calories faster.
3. Side to side
It is jumping side to side instead of up and down. It is a good way to add fun to your workout.
4. Single-leg hops
Instead of skipping with both feet, one leg is used at a time. The other portion is placed down if the right leg is in the air. Make sure you land softly, or you might fall. It is the best way to engage core muscles in the workout.
5. Jump rope jacks
It might seem tricky at first, so make sure you go slow. It is a type of variation in the normal jump rope exercise by doing jumping jacks in place of normal skipping.
Who Should Refrain from Jumping Rope?
People who have recently recovered from injuries should not jump rope. It might result in persistent pain, bruising, and persistent weariness. If you are experiencing any pain in the body, do not undertake a jump rope exercise.
People who suffer from heart disease, asthma, and high blood pressure should avoid intense rope workouts. Anyone suffering from lung disease should also not jump ropes. If they plan to jump rope, they must consult a doctor and get his opinion.
When Should I Jump Rope?
Depending upon your goal and experience, you are free to choose the correct time to fit rope jumping into your day-to-day workout ideas. It can fit in as a warm-up or a finisher. It can also act as a complete workout.
Just make sure that you do not jump immediately after eating or drinking. Continuing rope jumping for at least eight weeks will create differences in your body.
How many Calories are Burnt by Jumping Rope?
Jumping rope is a productive, fun way to burn many calories in a relatively short period. However, the number of calories burned during this exercise depends mostly upon the duration and intensity of training and the person’s body weight.
Fast rope jumping burns a greater number of calories as compared to slow rope jumping.
As per a report, for a 200-pound (91kg) person, fast rope jumping can burn 121 more calories in 20 minutes compared to slow rope jumping.
This physical activity contributes to a calorie deficit, which is the most important thing required for weight loss. According to a report, it burns more calories than steady-state cardio, like running and jogging.
Key Takeaway
Jumping rope is a fast, affordable, and worthwhile exercise. It increases cardiovascular fitness6, improves balance and coordination, and builds stronger bones. Jump rope benefits extend to being useful in burning calories, increasing hip bone mineral density, and lower body strength.
It has numerous physical benefits and health benefits. Jump rope benefits by enhancing the explosive power of the feet. They improve bone density which prevents bone breaking and ligament injuries.
It is also productive in maintaining good mental health while assisting in disease control with a reduced risk of heart attacks.
The bottom line is that if you are willing to make your workouts fun and productive- get a rope and start jumping!
- Pokhrel, Sumitra, and Roshan Chhetri. “A literature review on impact of COVID-19 pandemic on teaching and learning.” Higher education for the future 8.1 (2021): 133-141. ↩︎
- Atakan, Muhammed Mustafa, et al. “Evidence-based effects of high-intensity interval training on exercise capacity and health: A review with historical perspective.” International journal of environmental research and public health 18.13 (2021): 7201. ↩︎
- Cohen, Paul, and Shingo Kajimura. “The cellular and functional complexity of thermogenic fat.” Nature Reviews Molecular Cell Biology 22.6 (2021): 393-409. ↩︎
- Lee, J., and X. L. Zhang. “Physiological determinants of VO2max and the methods to evaluate it: A critical review.” Science & Sports 36.4 (2021): 259-271. ↩︎
- Clynes, Michael A., et al. “The epidemiology of osteoporosis.” British medical bulletin 133.1 (2020): 105-117. ↩︎
- Jones, Lynnette M., et al. “Circuit resistance training and cardiovascular health in breast cancer survivors.” European Journal of cancer care 29.4 (2020): e13231. ↩︎
Last Updated on by Suchi
I am thinking of skipping since so long but never got the chance but now I feel like I should just go for it as it has really a lot of benefits. It used to be our fun time when we were child. Never knew this was so healthy.