Jumping rope burns 730 calories per hour for a 160-lb. person. It increases your endurance, agility, lower body strength and explosive power. It's an all-around effective workout for athletes of all types, but it's not so kind to your knees. If you've just had knee surgery, plan to put away the jump rope for a while. You may be able to pick it up again, depending upon what type of procedure you had.
Major Surgery
A major knee surgery like a total knee replacement or a shattered kneecap requires a much longer healing time than more typical surgeries, and may have lingering effects. In most cases, patients are told to avoid high-impact activities like jumping rope for the rest of their lives. In the case of knee replacement, this is to protect the new joint. In the case of fractures, you may be able to gradually get back into it after you are completely healed, depending upon the severity of the break. Remember -- not only must you be healed from surgery, but your knee must be fully healed and operational as well.
Arthroscopic Surgery
Arthroscopic surgery is minimally invasive, so the surgical site itself generally doesn't become a barrier to exercise. Depending upon what the doctor did while he was looking around inside your knee, your recovery time could be a few days to a few weeks. If the surgeon was simply exploring your knee and no repair procedure was involved, you may gradually work back into jumping rope as soon as the surgical site heals, perhaps within a week. If you had some damaged cartilage repaired, it may be four months before you can get back to exercise, and possibly even longer before you can resume high-impact activities like jumping rope.
Original Injury
Your recovery also depends upon your original injury. If it was centralized to your knee, you only need to worry about the healing time from your surgery. But often, there are multiple minor injuries surrounding the major knee injury. For example, if you've had your knee replaced, your may also have leftover back and hip problems from limping or otherwise compensating for your painful knee. These secondary injuries must also be taken care of before you begin jumping rope again, or they will only continue to get worse even though your knee is fixed.
Safety
Always follow your doctor's advice. People heal at different rates, and you may not follow the general time line for rehabilitation. If jumping rope it important to you, talk to your doctor and your physical therapist about the possibility of returning to it. Although it won't make them give you the all-clear sooner, they could incorporate different exercises into your rehabilitation to help you prepare.
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