Are you confined to your home and are you starting to gain some weight due to a lack of exercising? What if we tell you there is an easy way to get your cardio done while not burning a big hole in your wallet? What if you can get busy for under $20 and be done in 15-20 minutes a day? Well, you can! The answer to your weight gain problems is the jump rope. Today we will show you the ultimate jump rope workout to burn fat.
Jumping rope, or skipping, is a great way to burn a whole lot of calories. In fact, it is one of the best workouts you can do towards your goal of reducing weight and getting fit. Skipping will help you burn fat, lose weight and improve cardio, while also increasing your lean muscle mass. Those are some nice benefits from a simple rope. And the great thing is, you can do a jump workout everywhere and you won’t need any expensive equipment.
Health Benefits of Jumping Rope
Jump ropes are not just a kid’s toy used at the school yard. It is a highly effective powerhouse of a workout, which is quick, efficient and effective. A great study found skipping for 10 minutes was just as effective as 30 minutes of jogging. It turns out that skipping burns more calories and engages more muscle per minute than swimming or even rowing – which is considered to be a superb cardio and full body workout. Jumping rope is also a very low impact workout, which offers a lot of health benefits. If done right, it has an even lower impact than jogging. Some of these benefits are:
- Strengthens your upper and lower body and increases your muscle mass.
- Burning a lot of body fat.
- Reducing your weight.
- Increasing your cardiovascular levels.
- Increasing your flexibility, agility and balance.
- Boost your hearth health.
- Increase your bone density and strength and thus reduces the chance of osteoporosis and fractures.
Skipping is basically a full body workout, but it targets some muscle groups more than others. Your shoulders, arms, core, legs in general and especially ankles and calves are greatly activated.
Think about it, it is for good reason why you can often see boxers using a jumping rope.
What do You Need to Jump Rope?
The great thing about jumping rope is the fact that you don’t need any special clothing. You don’t really need special shoes or a fancy sporting outfit. Sure, shoes that absorb the impact of jumping are nice and work well, but as long as you have comfortable shoes, you are good to go.
If you live in an apartment, or have neighbours who might complain about noise, it might be wise to get some sort of rubber mat that reduces the impact noise a bit. We also recommend not jumping super early due to the noise you can make while jumping rope.
As for the rope to use, we recommend getting one with a little heft. A weighted rope will help you to make your jumps easier to manage and minimize trip ups. You can start with a quarter pound rope. This is a good weight to start with and helps you learn the basics quicker. Don’t use a rope which is too light. You will not receive enough feedback to master skipping and have the best possible workout.
Another point of attention is the length of the jump rope. You don’t want a rope that is too short as it will cause you to trip. A rope that is too long is also no good, so aim for a rope that is around 3 feet longer than you are. In general, the best rope will be between 7 and 10 feet long.
All the Advantages of the Jump Rope
To sum up what we stated before, here are all the great benefits of the jump rope.
- It is portable, so you can do it anywhere you like, provided you have a bit of space and not a super low ceiling.
- It is a complete and full-body workout.
- It is pretty easy to do.
- It does not require expensive gear.
- It boosts metabolism, reduces fat and increases lean muscle mass.
- Low impact and low risk of injury.
- It can be incorporated into any of your existing workouts.
- Last but not least, it’s fun to do!
We hope you are as enthusiastic as we are after reading this. So let’s get into the good stuff of what you actually need to do, to see your body fat melting away!
Jump Rope Basics
Before we get into the ultimate jump rope workout, we first want to talk about the basics of skipping. These are important to increase the effectiveness and reduce the risk of injury – or frustration.
These jump rope basics will help you become a master at skipping in no-time.
Rhythm
Rhythm is one of the most important things in jumping rope. Keep a steady rhythm to make it most easy to perform your skipping for 10 minutes.
Footwork
Footwork is also very important. You obviously should jump high enough to not trip over the rope, but also not too high as this will cause you to be too slow and again trip over the rope. After some practice, your will find that you should aim to jump around 1 inch off the ground with a regular jump. Stay high on your toes and use your body as a natural shock absorber, so keep your knees slightly bent during the exercise.
Posture and position
Posture and position are also important. Your hands should be at hip level, pointing outwards.
The Ultimate Jump Rope Workout to Burn Fat
The ultimate jump rope workout to burn fat consists of 2 circuits. It will take just over 14 minutes to complete the whole workout.
Circuit 2 also contains squats and pushups to make it more interesting and effective. You can find more info on doing squats correctly in our article on The Best Workout for Your Butt.
To prevent injury, always do a warming up, stretching and cooling down.
Circuit 1:
- 30 seconds of regular skipping, followed by 10 seconds rest.
- 30 seconds of high knees skipping, followed by 10 seconds rest.
- 30 seconds of single leg skipping, followed by 10 seconds rest.
- 30 seconds of running in place, followed by 10 seconds rest.
- 30 seconds of boxer skipping, followed by 10 seconds rest.
- 30 seconds of regular skipping, followed by 10 seconds rest.
- 30 seconds of high knees skipping, followed by 10 seconds rest.
- 30 seconds of single leg skipping, followed by 10 seconds rest.
- 30 seconds of running in place, followed by 10 seconds rest.
- 30 seconds of boxer skipping, followed by 10 seconds rest.
Take one minute rest.
Circuit 2:
- 30 seconds of regular skipping, followed by 10 seconds rest.
- 30 seconds of pushups. 10 seconds rest.
- 30 seconds of high knees skipping, followed by 10 seconds rest.
- 30 seconds of body weight squats. 10 seconds rest.
- 30 seconds of single leg skipping, followed by 10 seconds rest.
- 30 seconds of pushups. 10 seconds rest.
- 30 seconds of running in place, followed by 10 seconds rest.
- 30 seconds of body weight squats. 10 seconds rest.
- 30 seconds of boxer skipping, followed by 10 seconds rest.
- 30 seconds of pushups. 10 seconds rest.
How to Vary Your Rope Jump Workout
You can turn your rope jumping workout in a HIIT training by increasing the speed of your jumps for a certain amount of reps.
If you feel like your workout is too easy, increase the length of the exercises and jump for a longer period of time. If it is too hard to start with, simply reduce the skipping time to 20 seconds, or increase the rest period from 10 to 20 or 30 seconds.
You can increase the weight of your jump rope to increase muscle activation and make the exercises tougher in general. You can also use weights to do the squats, to make those more difficult. Change the angle of your body while doing pushups, or the position of your hands, will also add an extra dimension to those parts of the workout.
Final Words
We love this jump rope workout to burn fat and we are sure you will love it too. Sure, it will be a tough nut to crack in the beginning but you can thank us later when you start to see and feel the effects.
The best thing of this full body workout is the fact that you don’t need anything but a bit of space and a jumping rope, which will cost you a few dollars. Furthermore, you can do it in the safety of your own house or backyard.
If you have any questions about this workout, or anything else, please feel free to leave a comment below. You can also contact us via the contact page.
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