11 Benefits of Jumping Rope

We all remember when the girls used to spend time skipping in the playground during school. This may have led to a negative stigma in some of our minds, but wrongly so. Actually, there is a reason why skipping is the cornerstone workout for boxers and other professional athletes; the benefits of jumping rope are as follows:

It involves nearly every muscle in your body

Skipping rope is perfect if you need a full body workout, as both your upper and lower body is required. Your core abdominals are engaged, especially during difficult moves which require more balance, to enable more stability. When jumping and landing each turn, your calves, hamstrings and even tensor muscles in the thighs are used.

If you use a jumping variation in your workout that requires you to cross your arms over your body, you will activate your back and chest as well. Finally, your shoulder and arm muscles are worked when swinging the rope around, along with your hand and wrists.

Improves cardiovascular health

As jumping is an aerobic exercise, it increases your breathing and heart rate which is great for cardiovascular health. A study at Illinois University’s Physical Fitness Research Center Found that one of the benefits of jump rope include contributing towards a healthy heart; skipping rope for an hour daily over an extended period strengthened the hearts of the participants.

A further study at Temple University found that males had noticeable improvements to heart health. In a nutshell, the activity can help to lower pulse rate, blood pressure and increase oxygen consumption. It is recommended that you practice around 5 times a week for 10-20 minutes per session.

High Intensity Interval Training and skipping go together perfectly to improve cardiovascular health. Read more about how they can compliment each other and improve EPOC; the ‘Afterburn Effect’.

Burns a ton of calories

Skipping is a brilliant way to burn more of those all-important calories. Because it uses so many muscles and can be high intensity, it provides great calorie burning opportunities.

According to Science Daily, an hour of jumping rope can burn up to 1,300 calories but this is dependent on your skipping intensity, fitness levels and how much you weigh. Burning calories is important for losing weight and maximizing your workout regime.

Improves coordination

Focusing on timing your hands and feet right when jumping means your coordination gets a boost. Repetition trains your brain and makes you feel lighter on your feet. If you practice doing more complex movements, your body can feel more synchronized as a whole.

Cheap

The benefits of jumping rope are  for anyone, even if you have very little money; After the initial small fee of buying a rope, skipping is free and can be done both in and outside of the gym. Who doesn’t love a portable, easy workout you can do anywhere?

The rope can be taken with you wherever you please, although if you are caught skipping in the bathroom at work, you may be perceived as a little strange.

This can be seen as a form of body-weight exercise as no weights are involved for resistance training, apart from the rope!

Endurance

Think Rocky, beasting out an intense session with the theme tune in the background. One of the major benefits skipping can provide is increased endurance, pushing yourself to the limits and in turn, allowing your body to adjust and improving your stamina. It is progressive, making small but significant increments of time each day or week depending on your fitness level.

Its more time efficient than running

Speaking of time, skipping fairs in comparison to running. Due to the heightened intensity, replacing your daily run with skipping could be more time efficient.

A study in The Research Quarterly found that just ten minutes of skipping was equivalent to a whole 30 minutes of running. Another study found 10 minutes to be equivalent to running a mile in 8 minutes. It can burn more effectively than long duration, stable, lower intensity workouts.

Improves bone density

Skipping is known as a weight bearing exercise, which is useful for preventing osteoporosis. A doctor at the University of Colorado found that simple jumping is the best way to improve your bone density.

Keep stress levels low

Working both your body and your brain at the same time can help keep you calm and focused. The Jump Rope Institute turns to the biochemical perspective to explain this. The synchronization of jumping combines both your mind and body’s ability, taking your mind off other areas of thought while simultaneously releasing “feel good” endorphins to combat issues such as depression. This means that the benefits of jumping rope are not limited to only physical health, but can help with emotional and mental well-being too.

Suits all fitness levels

The benefits of Jumping rope can be tailored to everyone from a tentative exerciser to constant gym goer to professional boxer. This is because it suits all fitness levels as you decide which pace and style works for you.

Breathing becomes more efficient

You become more efficient at breathing after taking some time to jump rope. Combined with the heart health and increased stamina, your breathing capability can increase as well. Being able to breath more efficiently has it perks as the benefits can spill over into other activities and general day to day life.

There we have it, the 11 benefits of jumping rope explained.If you think it is for you, then buy a skipping rope and try it out for yourself.

Comment below if you have anything to add, we’d love to hear from you!