Benefits of Jumping Rope Workout vs Risks

Jumping rope is probably one of the best exercises that people are not acquainted with. Nowadays you will not see many people in the gym skipping rope, if any at all. Majority of the people associate jump rope training with boxing or little girls (it’s funny to see these two different categories next to each other).

However, it’s a shame to see such beneficial exercise to be so undervalued.

In this article, we will cover the benefits of jumping rope and risks of jump rope workout with a hope to enlighten people of its benefits, but also mention some of the drawbacks.

If you are just getting started with sports in general, you need to know that only formed habits will allow you to excel in sports. Check out this guide of How To Start Working Out to make sure you start off of the right foot.

So let’s get started.

Jump Rope Benefits

1. Affordable

That is one of the best things about jump rope training – anyone can afford it. If you are a beginner, you could find a good jump rope for around $10. It would last through your learning process, until you become skillful and conditioned enough to jump for at 10-20 minutes straight without stopping.

For a pro, or someone who can jump rope for 20 or more minutes without stopping, a jump rope for around $20-30 would suffice. Professional jump ropes are more durable and hardly ever tear, thus investing an extra $10 would be a smart choice.

2. High Calorie Burner

Jumping rope is an extremely effective way to say goodbye to all the unwanted calories. Of course, the amount of calories burnt will depend on many factors such as your weight, intensity, which is counted by the umps per minute you do, and time spent.

Instead of providing a huge table with all possible variants, there is an easier way to calculate the calories burnt while skipping rope. Instead, coefficients from numerous studies were derived to estimate the calories burnt per minute for your weight:

70 jumps per minute (slow pace) have a coefficient of 0.074;

120 jumps per minute (medium pace) have a coefficient of 0.08;

145 jumps per minute (fast pace) have a coefficient of 0.09.

Therefore, if you weigh 170 pounds (77 kilograms) and jump for 60 minutes at a medium pace, you burn:

170 * 0.08 * 60 = 816 calories

***These are estimates, quite accurate, but still estimates***

You can do your own math 🙂

3. Fun

Jumping rope can actually be a super fun activity.

Of course, it’s not a game of tennis or squash, which can be extremely competitive and even more fun, but it’s certainly not as boring as some people who don’t have any imagination may say.

I am sure at first it may look boring and dull. After all, you stay in the same position and jump up and down. But trust me, it’s not.

There are numerous combinations you can come up with while jumping. Changing feet after every 1, or 2, or 3 jumps on a single foot. Do a combo of running in place with high knees, than move onto single foot jumps for 5 reps on each foot and finish the set with double over jumps.

Simply use an imagination to make the combinations. The best part is, while you make the combos up as you jump, the time starts flying. The next thing you know you’ve been jumping for 15 minutes instead of 10 that you had planned.

4. Can Jump Anywhere

Jump rope is extremely compact and light. You can take it anywhere you go. However, the best part of it is that you can actually use it anywhere you are. Literally.

Do you often go on a business trip and stay at a hotel? Simply jump in the room. I’ve actually done it multiple times.

Maybe you work from home? Even better then. You can jump rope in the comfort of you own home while watching TV. Perhaps you will need to clear some space, but don’t need much.

I personally love to jump rope before my weight lifting session. Just need to find a corner and start jumping. 

5. Improves Coordination And Balance

Jumping rope not only will help you to lose your weight, but will improve your coordination and balance tremendously. Great coordination will help you to excel in other sports. Tennis, volleyball, basketball and many other intensive sports cannot be played without great level of coordination and balance.

Balance is very important in life as well. It’s very effective preventative measure for bone fractures. I mean, you can’t fracture your bones unless you fall, and great balance will make it harder for you to fall.

Therefore, if you have fragile bones, protect them with a superb jump rope workout.

6. Endorphins making machine

Jumping rope is an excellent exercise to release endorphins – a hormone released by central nervous system and pituitary gland, which act as a drug in the way that it relieves pain and improves mood.

Exercising in general encourages the release of endorphin hormone. However, exercise as intensive and fun as jumping rope can boost the release of this magic hormone through the roof.

There are certainly more benefits from jump rope workouts, and we will cover most of them, big or small, in our next article. However, these are the key ones.

Jump Rope Workout Risks

1. Ground Impact

This con applies to any intensive workout that involves you standing on the ground.

In general, too much of anything is very bad. Too much food – a bad thing. Too much vitamins – a bad thing. And even too much can even kill you, but we are not going to go into detail about water.

According to some lab tests, approximately 300 pounds (140 kilograms) of impact hits your legs every time you make a jump. Your ankles and calves take up the lion share of the damage.

Now, if you can actually make one thousand jumps, multiply it by 300, and you get yourself a nicely derived number of stress hitting your legs.

This problem, however, is most relevant to jumpers who restart jumping after a long break. In this case, they got the skill to jump continuously without stopping, but their legs are not prepared to take the stress.

To eliminate this problem, or to at least to reduce its negative effects, start off with a few minutes of jumping rope activity per day. Add a minute or two every week. This simple rule of starting slow will save you a hassle of needing to ice your feet and chug anti-inflammatory drugs.

2. Hard Beginning

If you have never really jumped rope, the beginning can be somewhat frustrating and annoying. When you start doing anything new, it takes time until you get really acquainted with it.

If you have never used Microsoft excel for example, it may seem impossible to learn. But as you go and learn everyday, you realize it’s very simple.

It’s the same with jump rope workout.

As you start, your physical condition may go downward a bit as you spend time learning how to jump rope properly instead of running or doing other exercises.

However, once the skill is acquired, new horizons will be presented for exploration in terms of physical fitness.

Hard beginning can be somewhat a pro tackling the first con. Rookies, who lack the skill to make longer jump series, may entirely skip the first con, as their feet don’t end up being pounded when they are not physically prepared.

3. Overestimated Conditioning Benefits

Have to admit, jump rope workout gets too high of praise sometimes. While its benefits are undoubted, the conditioning benefits do tend to be overestimated.

This issue is especially relevant for advanced jumpers.

The body gets used to anything we do. This is the reason your feet eventually stop hurting after you complete few thousand jumps at once.

You can only go so fast with a jump rope. When you reach 200 jumps per minute rate, your body will adjust to that kind of tempo. As the result, your conditioning progress will stall.

At that moment it would be smart to change something up a bit. Perhaps get a heavier jump rope, or find other ways to improve your conditioning, like do short distance sprints or kettle bell swings, etc.

In order to sustain certain level of growth, you must not let your body to get comfortable. Surprise it. Not too often, but surprise it.

Conclusion

At the end of the day, you will have to decide whether to jump rope or hit the road, or even do other exercises. If you have never skipped rope, the beginning may be tough. However, the results to be achieved are certainly worth the effort.

Pros and cons of jump rope workout covered in this article are certainly not final. There other benefits and perhaps drawbacks that other people may have encountered or experienced. Just like with any other exercise.

You need to listen to your body and adjust accordingly in order to achieve the best and quickest results possible.

Summing everything up, jump rope should certainly be among your most used inventory list.

At very least – give it a shot. The advantages clearly outweigh the disadvantages and therefore it cannot be overlooked.