The Effects of Jumping Rope

Jumping rope can be a fun fitness activity for the entire family. Besides being an inexpensive, versatile and portable workout, jumping rope delivers a variety of important health benefits, including improved cardiovascular fitness, muscle toning and calorie burning. Jumping rope can be done indoors or outdoors and requires only a jump rope, comfortable athletic shoes, and a hard, smooth surface for jumping. Add jumping rope to your regular workout to shake up your routine, or follow a workout centered around jumping rope to start reaping its benefits.

  1. Improved Cardiovascular Fitness

    • Regularly jumping rope can improve your cardiovascular fitness by raising your heart rate. To get the greatest benefits from a jump rope workout, measure your target heart rate zone, calculated by subtracting your age from 220 and stay within 70 to 85 percent of the final number. If you find it difficult or unappealing to jump rope for the entire length of your workout, include intervals of other cardiovascular activities, such as marching, walking or jogging.

    Strengthening

    • Jumping rope strengthens and tones all the major muscle groups, including arms, shoulders, chest, abdominals and legs. It also builds bone density and helps improve coordination. If you have not jumped rope for a while, you can accustom yourself to the movements by practicing arm and feet movements separately and jumping without the rope for the first few workouts.

    Calorie Burning

    • Depending on your weight and pace, jumping rope can burn more than 100 calories in 10 minutes, or more than 700 calories an hour. Once you become accustomed to your jump rope workout, you can increase your calorie burn by alternating between intervals of jumping slow and fast, alternating between jumping with one foot and both feet, and adding intervals of jumping rope into other workouts, such as jogging.

    What to Watch Out For

    • Jumping rope places stress on the knees and ankles, which may contribute to pain or injury. This risk can be offset by taking some precautions. Warm up with a few minutes of light cardiovascular exercise such as walking or jogging in place before a jump rope workout, and cool down with light stretching afterward to help prevent injury. Also, wear comfortable, supportive shoes and jump on a hard, smooth surface. If you have a medical condition or have not worked out in a while, check with your doctor before beginning a jump rope workout.