Will Jumping Rope Help You Lose Weight?

Will Jumping Rope Help You Lose Weight?
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Jumping rope is generally considered an anaerobic type of exercise that burns energy for a good cardio workout. Although jumping rope may not burn fat directly, it helps develop your level of fitness, strength and endurance, which allows the body to burn calories more efficiently. Your fitness level, weight, duration of skipping and intensity of jumping affect how many calories you burn while jumping rope.

Benefits

You can build physical fitness by jumping rope for at least five minutes a day. Ten minutes of nonstop jumping can provide the same benefits as 30 minutes of jogging or playing racquetball, swimming 720 yards or playing 18 holes of golf. Jumping rope also helps develop the hemispheres in the brain, which helps with spacial awareness, mental alertness and memory, according to The Jump Rope Institute. Jumping improves coordination and reflexes, balance, muscular endurance and bone density.

Weight

The number of calories you burn by jumping rope is influenced by how much you weigh. The heavier you are, the more effort is needed to move extra weight and the greater the calorie burn. A 150-lb. person burns 57 calories jumping rope moderately for five minutes. A 175-lb. person burns 66 calories jumping rope for the same duration; a 200-lb. person uses 76 calories, according to MyFitnessPal. As your fitness level Increases, so does your muscle mass, which increases your rate of metabolism.

Duration

The longer you jump rope, the more fat calories you burn. Once you condition your body to jump rope properly with good coordination for five minutes, increase rope skipping for longer periods and gradually build up the duration. Assuming you weigh 150 lbs., if you increase the duration of jumping rope to eight minutes, you burn 34 more calories than in five minutes of jumping. Raise that time to 10 minutes and you burn 113 calories. In 15 minutes, you burn 170 calories, according to MyFitnessPal.

Intensity

You burn more calories by jumping rope faster. Compared with jumping rope slowly and burning 45 calories in five minutes, jumping at a moderate pace burns 57 calories; jumping fast burns 68 calories. If you jump rope for 10 minutes at a fast speed, you burn 136 calories, according to MyFitnessPal. If you alter your skipping technique, you can increase the intensity of your workout. By alternating your feet while jumping, you double the jumps per minute. Jump higher and swing the rope twice under your feet with each jump. A criss-cross jump involves the right hand moving toward the left part of the body while the left hand moves right.

References

Article reviewed by Anton Alden Last updated on: Feb 10, 2011

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