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Jump Rope Vs Running: Which is Best?

Physical fitness and mental peace are the two sides of the same coin. Both complement each other in making life almost perfect. Physical fitness can be achieved through regular exercise, and doing regular exercise can contribute to mental peace.

Exercise can be the solution to balance both sides of the coin. Exercise is just a way to get fit; therefore, you can choose your exercising method, making you happy and satisfied.

There are various types of exercise to improve the functioning of your body. The simplest of all exercises are the jump rope and running, and the benefits and differences between jump rope vs running are made below.

 Jump Rope Vs Running: Which is Better?

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  • Difference Between Jump Rope Vs Running

Both jump rope and running are identified as cardio exercises. Doing these exercises can help in keeping cardiovascular health better. It also increases the oxygenated blood supply in the body. These are the common benefits served by this strength training.

Now, let’s see the difference in jump rope vs running:

  1. Jump rope requires a rope to proceed with the workout, whereas running can be done anywhere.
  2. The benefits of 30 minutes of jogging can be achieved in 10 minutes of jump rope.
  3. Jump rope workouts can increase coordination and balance, but running does not contribute in terms of coordination.

Both exercises are completely different in their nature. Since the similarities are many, only these differences can make one exercise better than the other in jump rope vs running.

  • Running

Running is a locomotive action that aids us to move rapidly on foot. Based on the speed of movement, running can be ranged from jogging to sprinting.

Running is a basic form of exercise which benefits the whole body.

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The pros of this routine are that it enables calorie burns, improves speed, and builds cardiovascular and mental health.

But the only drawback of running is that it causes joint problems and that injuries lead to shin splints.

  • Jump Rope

Jump rope means jumping over the rope as it passes under the feet and goes above the head. It is one of the most beneficial exercises advised for adults as it saves time as well as provides the full benefit of training.

Peter Schulman, MD and associate professor of Cardiology/Pulmonary medicine at the University of Connecticut, Farmington, stated that jump rope is certainly good for the heart, strengthening the upper and lower body, and burns calories in a very short time.

The pros of jump rope are that it improves coordination and speed, maintaining the balance of the body while doing strength training. 

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A. Types of Jump Rope

Jump Rope, in its simplest form, is known as skipping. Therefore, you can modify the jump rope workout according to your needs.

Here are some types of jump rope workouts you can try out.

1. Single-Leg Jump Rope 

Single Leg Jump Rope

The single-leg jump is a modified way of jumping the rope. The method of doing a single-leg jump is the same as normal skipping, except in the single-leg jump, only one leg is used for jumping while the other leg is taken up.

This exercise affects the entire body. It is also a great calf-building exercise as the repetition of the workout affects the slow-twitch muscle fiber of the calves.

This routine mainly improves coordination and balance. While performing a single-leg jump, there needs to be hip and ankle stability.

2. Alternate Leg Jump Rope 

Matt Kane on How To Jump Rope: The Alternate Foot Step

The alternate leg jump is similar to jogging.

Keep the rope behind the heels, and when bringing it forward, get the right foot up and jump from the left foot, and for the next time, repeat the process but with the alternate leg that keeps the left leg up and jumps with the right leg.

This exercise helps to increase coordination and strength. This is an intense workout routine that helps to build up heart rate and quickly burns fat.

3. Double Under 

Jump Rope - Double Bounce

Double under-skipping is one of the cross-training workouts. It is the most challenging task to perform, but the benefits gained after achieving the goal are worth the effort.

The procedure of performing double under is that you should bounce twice in one round when you’re swinging the rope. 

This method of jumping rope improves coordination, burns fat, and conditions the body. Therefore, doing this workout not only increases agility but also imbibes extraordinary quickness in oneself.

B. Requirements of Jump Rope:

  1. First of all, a rope is a mandatory tool for jumping rope.
  2. To select the correct rope, keep the rope under your feet and take the handles. If the handles of the rope reach the length of your armpit, then it is a suitable rope for you.
  3. The area needed for the jump rope routine should be four by six, and there should be enough space above the head for the swinging of the rope.
  4. Jump rope training should be done on a wooden floor or a piece of plywood to decrease the impact on joints. Pounding on the pavement or any hard surfaces can lead to injuries.

Common Benefits:

Exercises like jumping rope and running have a similar effect on the body. Therefore, in jump rope vs running, both exercises benefit the body in the same way:

1. Improves Cardiovascular Health 

Jump rope and running are considered to be the best cardio exercises. They are simple in nature yet beneficial to the body.

Both exercises result in an increase in heart rate that results in improved heart health. When the heart rate increases, we start breathing heavily, enabling us to take more oxygen into the body.

When the oxygen supply in the blood increases then the risk of stroke and heart disease decreases.

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2. Improves concentration 

While jumping the rope or running, we mainly focus on the routine by keeping everything aside not to injure ourselves. Therefore, this technique helps the mind to clear out everything, and thus we concentrate on the workout.

Thus, these exercises improve our concentration so much that we can apply this technique in our daily life as well.

3. Maintains height-weight relation 

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The height and weight relation are mainly used to determine if the person has appropriate body weight according to his age. 

Bodyweight mainly depends on the calories we consume. Exercises like jumping rope and running help in burning calories, which results in weight loss.

Thus, doing exercise keeps our body and mind fit and enables us to create an appropriate balance between height and weight.

4. Burns fat 

While performing the training routines of jumping rope and running, we tend to convert the calories into energy as it is needed for workouts.

Mainly, the body converts calories into energy by burning them, which results in weight loss. The main reason for weight gain is the increase in the amount of calorie intake.

In short, when doing exercise, the calories burned, that is, the fat accumulated in the body, get burned, which results in losing weight.

5. Enhances the mood

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Doing exercise makes us physically fit and also improves our mental health. Mainly in jump rope and. running, both these workouts tend to make the person feel better, which automatically enhances their mood.

Both these exercises provide a sense of achievement when we accomplish a certain goal. Also, the person who exercises regularly feels a sense of confidence and satisfaction in himself/herself.

Footnote:

These exercises can be easily incorporated into our daily life. The choice between jump rope vs running can be made according to your needs. You can choose both of these exercises or either of them.

However, I hope this article about jump rope vs running helped you understand each exercise’s benefits and the difference between them.  Happy Exercising!

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FAQs:

Q. What is 10 minutes of jump rope equivalent to?
  • It depends on your jumping skills and the intensity of your workout. But in general, 10 minutes of jump rope equals approximately 30 minutes of running in terms of efficiency.
Q. How many jumps to lose 1 kg?
  • This is equivalent to about 12.8 hours or roughly 21,840 jumping jacks if we assume an average calorie burn rate of 10 calories per minute. Keep in mind that this is a simplified calculation and individual results may vary.
Q. Does skipping make breasts sagging?
  • Skipping cause vigorous breast movement and an ill-fitted bra can cause the breast muscles to tear and cause the breasts to sag. Most importantly, also check the surface. It should be smooth and preferably wooden. Do a proper warm-up before you commence with the skipping exercise.

Last Updated on by ibtisam72

Author

Saakshi Kulkarni

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