Jump Roping for Exercise The Complete Guide
The skipping rope of the old playground that you may be an expert in during your one-digit years. However, it is also a fun, challenging, and effective exercise program that can help you burn calories, improve cardiovascular health, and build muscle at the same time.1
What is Jump Roping?
You probably know exactly what jump roping is: skipping rope repeatedly while jumping over it. Although fun and playful in school sports, in terms of exercise, it can be used as a warm-up or exercise routine, explains Timothy Lyman, director of training programs at Fleet Feet in Pittsburgh (ACE-CPT, NASM-PES). “Crossing the line is a good job and can be as easy or as challenging as you want / need!” he says.
Daniel Wiznia, MD, a Yale Medicine orthopedic surgeon specializes in skeletal muscle function, explains that you can exercise many different muscles at the same time, namely the glutes, hamstrings, quads, and gastrocs, “and surprisingly , you also strengthen your bones and your cartilage, ”he said. "The skipping rope requires a lot of flexion of the muscle groups in the legs, thighs, and hips while the jump itself requires the ability to balance and plan the sitting position, training your control of muscle movement in the navel, trunk, and above."
Type of Exercise: Cardio
Basically, the jump rope is a pyrometric-based activity of the aerobic, Lyman said. "That means it is a function of the heart (heart and lungs) that also aims / improves balance, mobility, flexibility and strength of the lower body, especially the posterior tibial compartment and foot / ankle," he explains. And, the beauty of it is, it can be any exercise you want to be. "You can do 2-3 minutes well and it's as easy as warming up, use 30-60 minutes as a solid part of a circuit training, and you can turn it into a full-strength workout exercise using a weightlifting rope," he says. is available, and you can change the dynamics, or the way you do the work, to get whatever kind of outcome you want. ”
Good for Calorie Burning
While jumping rope has benefits for a variety of reasons, Wiznia emphasizes that the main reason for putting it into practice is its ability to burn calories, "by increasing your heart rate and requiring multiple different muscle groups to heat up," she explains.
Benefits of Jump Roping
- Can Help Improve Orthopedic Health: Jump roping is good for bone health and prevents osteoporosis. "Impact loading provides mechanical incentives to promote strong bones," explains Wiznia.
- Trains Your Fast Moving Muscles: Wiznia emphasizes that jump roping is right for your fast-moving muscles — skeletal muscles that help control your movement such as jumping and running — as “aerobic exercise depends on rapid muscle contraction.”
- Helps Improve Heart Health. There are benefits to the heart and blood vessels in the jumping rope.1 “It is a very powerful exercise that requires strong ventricular contraction to provide oxygen-rich blood to the muscles,” explains Wiznia.
- You Can Do It Anytime, Anywhere: Lyman points out that the jumping rope can be made anytime, anywhere, as the only piece of equipment needed is a jump rope. This makes it a great option if you are on a trip or can't access other gym equipment.
- Can Be Easy to Change: Jump roping is a series of exercises. "You can control how you do the exercises to get different results," Lyman said. "You can do cardio, HIIT, and SAQ training without the need for any other machine!"
- Good for Active Movement: Lyman explains that mastering the jump roping method will help improve your overall performance. “Learning to sit down and push for stability and control is important for both athlete-focused athletes or people who just want to run in the backyard with their kids,” he says.
Safety / Injury Consideration
There are a few things to consider for safety and injury considerations. Says Wiznia: “A skeletal muscle is a major activity, and patients with hip or knee osteoarthritis may experience an increase in pain and swelling thereafter. Additionally, overweight patients may want to avoid the jump rope, as jumping can put excessive load on cartilage and ligaments, leading to initial wear and tear, he continues.
Additionally, there are a few people who should avoid jumping rope completely. "Patients with low back pain should avoid jumping rope because of the risk of injury to the vertebral discs," he explains. Patients with leg and ankle pain, balance problems, or cardiovascular problems should also avoid them.
Jump Roping vs. Running
Although there is no close-up exercise that shows jumping, it is often compared to running with cardiovascular exercise. One study even compared the two, and found that doing 10-minute jump roping exercises was more effective in terms of cardiovascular health benefits and running 30 minutes a day.2
What to Wear When You Jump to Collect
Wearing a jump roping is easy. "The main point to consider is that whatever you wear should not interfere with your intended movement," Lyman said. Also, you can do it with or without shoes. If you are accustomed to wearing shoes in the gym, Lyman says that there is nothing wrong with walking as long as the shoes are flexible enough to "fit your toes" to maintain good shape. However, if you want to build more foot strength, you can jump rope and not wear shoes safely, "but you will want to start carefully and build from there," he said. “Don't move from shoes to shoes overnight!” Also, you may want to consider wearing a supportive sports bra, as there will be many jumps involved.