Benefits Of Jumping Rope

by Aqiyl Aniys

Jumping rope is a great multifaceted conditioning exercise. Another great thing is that you don’t have to go to the gym to gain the benefits of jumping rope. You can jump rope in your basement, your backyard, the playground, and of course at the gym if you want to.

There is great flexibility with jumping rope because all you need is a jump rope.

Along with the great flexibility of where you can jump rope there are also many health benefits.

There are benefits of jumping rope for women as well as benefits for men. A jump rope workout is such a good workout you can also get the kids involved.

To gain the benefits of jumping rope you have to build up your ability to jump rope consistently at a high pace for an extended period of time. If you are just learning, as with any other exercise, you need to be careful and take your time when you first start.

Depending on your activity level and coordination, you may want try jumping rope for a half minute or a minute straight, and do that a couple of times. Jumping rope can be a little frustrating when you first start, so you want to give yourself little goals and then build to bigger ones. A big goal might be to jump rope for fifteen minutes straight.

I usually jump rope at the end of a very demanding boxing workout, and I jump rope for three to five rounds with either a half-minute or a minute in between rounds. You can see how I jump rope and gain the benefits of jumping rope in the video below.

The benefits of jumping rope include increased cardiovascular fitness, weight loss, improved coordination, and muscle toning.

Cardio Benefits of Jumping Rope

Cardio workouts help build stamina. Cardio workouts help you to be able to not get winded easily while doing everyday activities like climbing stairs or playing with your kids. Cardio workouts help to strengthen lung capacity to distribute oxygen more efficiently in your body.

Jumping rope quickly raises the heartbeat to get the blood circulating faster to supply oxygen to cells. The cells of the body can then burn energy quicker to maintain the higher rate of work.

The lungs are forced to get stronger to be able to provide the needed oxygen. This is why cardio workouts are so hard when you are just starting to workout and why you may feel a burn in your chest. The lungs have to recalibrate the way they distribute oxygen and it takes some time for them to get used to the new pace of work the body is introducing to them.

Just think of them as being a little reluctant to getting used to working at a more hectic pace. The benefit of jumping rope is that it provides that hectic pace, and over time the lungs will get used to it and will reward you with increased endurance so you won’t get tired so easily.

Not only does cardio build your lungs’ efficiency, it also strengthens the heart. The heart is a muscle and it needs to be worked out to remain strong. When the lungs provide oxygen to the bloodstream more efficiently, the heart needs to be strong to pump blood faster throughout the body to provide cells with the needed oxygen.

Weight Loss Benefits of Jumping Rope

Jumping rope burns a lot of energy. Yes, that is great for us! For higher intensity work, like exercising, the body basically first burns carbohydrates and then fat for energy. Carbohydrates and fat are the calories that are burned which leads to weight loss.

The less amount of energy you have flowing around the body when it is time for you to go to sleep, the less amount of energy that will be stored in the body and in fat cells. Cardio burns the quick energy first, carbohydrates, and as your cardio exercise continues the body then starts to burn the reserve energy which is fat. Fat is stripped from the body which then results in the weight loss benefits of jumping rope.

Improved Coordination Benefits of Jumping Rope

Though one of the benefits of jumping rope is its flexibility and ease of where it can be done, it does take some patience to be able to jump rope without stepping on the rope. Most anyone can learn to jump rope well, but it does take practice.

There are several things at work here at the same time. We must control our breathing by controlling our core, use our legs and feet to push our bodies in the air, and twist our wrists and arms to turn to rope. We are actually using every muscle in our body, and sometimes they all want to do their own separate thing.

We must train all the muscles in the body to work together so we can continuously jump rope without landing on it. It takes time, practice and patience, and also a lot of energy. We can all learn to jump rope efficiently with some patience and dedication; and not only will you build coordination while jumping rope, you will also build overall body coordination.

Muscle Toning Benefits Of Jumping Rope

As you are working to learn how to coordinate your muscles to work together, you are also working your muscles and making them stronger. You are also shredding fat, improving your endurance, and becoming leaner. I, and other boxers, use the benefits of jumping rope to improve cardiovascular strength, shred fat, lean out, and strengthen and tone all the muscles of the body.

A plant based diet and jumping rope work well together in supporting healthy living.

About Aqiyl Aniys – I eat a plant based diet and I am an avid researcher of the benefits of a whole food, plant based alkaline diet. I obtained a BA in Organizational Behavior and Communications from NYU, worked as an elementary school teacher, and have studied social work. I am a web designer/developer and I enjoy boxing, kick boxing, cycling, power walking, and basically anything challenging. Eating a plant based diet and exercising is a great way to achieve healthy living. ~ Natural Life Energy