April 23, 2021

All you need is a rope.

You can even purchase a cordless jump rope these days. Jump ropes go from $3 - $15. Cordless jump ropes range from $9 - $20. 

No downstairs neighbor complaints. No rain preventing your outdoor workout. No excuses. This is a workout you can do anywhere, anytime.

Why Jumping Rope is a Great Workout

• It’s great for your heart - a simple workout that gets your heart pumping can dramatically improve your cardiovascular health.

• It’s a major fat scorcher - research shows that 15 minutes of rope jumping can burn from 200 to 300 calories. A great way to blast stubborn belly fat.

• A stress-buster like no other - working out releases endorphins that helps increase your feelings of happiness, well-being, and improves overall mental health.

• Cardio is an energy booster - for more information on the benefits of cardio, click here.

We all get into cardio to lose weight, but most of us don’t start with the routine that will allow that. Here’s what I mean…

Jumping rope for a set block of time will not yield the same results as, say, you do a routine based on high-intensity interval training (HIIT). 

Meaning you perform intervals of high intensity cardio followed by a period of rest. That’s what we’re going to focus on today - HIIT. 

You might be familiar with HIIT already, considering how much fitness experts vouch for it - and for good reason.

Before We Start Jumping - The HOW

First, let’s talk about the mechanics:

1. Grab the handles of the rope with both hands and place the rope behind your heels.
2. Keep your arms at 90 degrees with wrists out and elbows close to your waist or ribs.
3. Throw the rope forward in a circular motion using only minimal wrist and forearm movement. Your arms shouldn’t move away from that 90 degree angle.
4. Don’t jump too high - stay close to the ground.
5. As you jump, tighten your core and keep your eyes and chin looking straight forward.
6. Practice until you get the rhythm right - be patient, it can take some time to get the coordination right. 
7. Once you master this, you can skip on one leg at a time or you can alternate. But master the fundamentals first.

The 15-Minute Beginner-Friendly HIIT Workout 

There are dozens of ways to do jump rope workouts, but today we’ll start with beginner friendly workouts for the uninitiated.

Ok! Grab your jump rope and set your timer to 15 minutes.

Beginner: 

Jump rope for 30 seconds. Rest for 30 seconds. Repeat until your timer goes off.

Intermediate (Tabata):

Jump rope for 20 seconds. Rest for 10 seconds. Repeat until your timer goes off.

Intermediate (HIIT):

Jump rope for 45 seconds. Rest for 15 seconds. Repeat until the beep.

Intermediate (Combination):

Jump rope for 20 seconds. Rest for 10. Do a different workout like jumping jacks or burpees for 20 seconds. Rest for 10. Repeat until the timer hollers.

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And that’s about it! You can add this to any workout routine and see results in just a few weeks. 

It’s an incredible workout to shed a few pounds and is flexible enough to keep it interesting with many variations available. 

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