Two Ways to Burn Calories While Increasing Strength

Jumping rope to lose weight can be one of the most effective ways to help you shed those excess pounds. Many people find it difficult to engage in regular exercises for extended periods of time. Jogging and other forms of exercise are often difficult to keep up with due to busy schedules and their lack of availability. A great way to get into shape and stay fit is through jumping rope.

Health experts have found that jumping rope provides a fun activity that provides a variety of benefits and can be incorporated into any regular exercise routine. It allows the exerciser to improve his or her cardio vascular fitness. It also improves balance and coordination. Finally, it develops strength, especially when compared to lifting weights. All of these key areas will play a role in improving cardiovascular health, especially heart health.

These fitness benefits may lead some researchers to conclude that skipping rope may be a useful addition to a weight loss program. In fact, recent studies have shown that you can effectively burn approximately 15 calories per minute when jumping rope. That's an average of 175 extra calories in just ten minutes (which is equivalent to about thirty minutes of walking). The amount of extra energy expended during each workout will have a positive effect on overall fitness levels.

To begin your workout, stand in front of a chair or on a step, feet shoulder-width apart. Hold the rope in front of your body as if you were about to hit the ground. The rope should be tight, yet pull it back as far as possible while still maintaining good form. Jumping rope exercises many times provide the same energy results that weight training does.

As you are completing one repetition of the exercise, jump the rope forward two times. This is a good time to switch roles: You might want to hold the rope in your opposite hand and perform the actual jumping motion in your dominant hand. Each time you jump the rope forward, count two. When you reach twenty, switch roles again and do the repetitions in your dominant hand, jumping one time each in both hands.

After each jumping rope session, you might want to test out the weights to see how much weight you can push yourself over the distance. Ideally, you should be able to jump the rope thirty times without any breaks in momentum. If you are consistently able to go thirty times in a row, you will find that the rope adds enough resistance over the course of fifteen workouts that you will likely need to add more weight when working out with it every other day. It will also force you to develop a much higher endurance for working out in general.

High-intensity interval training (HIT) is another great way to burn calories while adding strength. You can either perform this type of workout by itself or in conjunction with a jumping rope exercise. With HIT, you alternate high-intensity workouts with lower-intensity workouts. For example, on one day you could go through a series of high-intensity workouts such as sprints and burpees followed by low-intensity ones such as swings and jerks. The next day, you could switch to doing swings with a lower intensity than the first one.

For best results, you should perform these two exercises with a partner. Jumping rope alone is easy to do but incredibly difficult to balance. You will be putting a great deal of force against the ropes so you'll want someone who can help you if you're going to do this on your own. However, if you do decide to workout alone there are many videos and online articles that can walk you through it and show you which positions give you the best results. By combining the two exercises and switching the times, you can achieve fantastic results without having to sacrifice much time.