The 5 Benefits of Practicing Rope Jumping for 5 Minutes a Day
Rope jumping is not a children’s game, nor is it an exercise for professional boxers… Everyone can enjoy its benefits! With only five minutes a day, you’ll get incredible results. Find out what they are in this article.
The benefits of daily rope jumping
It’s a fun exercise, for which you don’t need expensive equipment or a gym membership. Rope jumping may be exactly what you need because of your lack of time, or your little ‘affinity’ to sports. Some of its benefits are:
1. It helps you to lose weight.
Rope jumping is one of the best and most complete aerobic or cardio exercises that exist. And it’s not only done to complement a routine (such as boxing or Cross Fit) but it may also be the only training we need to practice every day.
With only five minutes of rope jumping a day, we can burn a lot of calories. It all depends on our individual bodies, but we usually burn 13 calories for every 60 seconds of energetic jumps. Compared to other disciplines, rope jumping is more effective than riding a bike, hiking, doing Zumba or going to an intense aerobics class.
The only exercise that ‘beats’ rope jumping in terms of calories burned, is running, however to get such benefits we need space and above all, desire.
2. It increases resistance
The cardiovascular system is remarkably reinforced when we jump the rope. Undoubtedly, it’s a very good exercise for the heart and at the same time for the lungs. You can optimize your aerobic capacity in a very short time.
If you increase the intensity and rhythm gradually, vary the complexity of the jumps and add more and more minutes of training, you’ll see the effects and will benefit progressively.
Your blood will oxygenate correctly and you’ll reduce your fatigue levels, not only in other sports, but also in your daily life activities, such as climbing stairs or cleaning your house. If you have high blood pressure problems, we recommend that you do this exercise to balance it.
3. It tones the muscles
Most of the effort is made by the legs, but when you practice rope jumping there are many more muscles that intervene, including: arms, shoulders, chest, abs and even the lower back. It’s a really complete exercise that tones up your body in a short time. You can say goodbye to flaccidity in a matter of weeks!
4. It reduces stress
Aerobic exercises in general (and rope jumping in particular) are perfect to release tension and put stress aside. Therefore, if you have had a terrible day at work, when you return home we recommend that you jump the rope for at least five minutes. Even if you don’t believe it, along with your sweat, you’ll eliminate the daily struggles.
It’s also advisable to jump the rope if you’re depressed. When you do this exercise, you develop both of your brain hemispheres and produce ‘happiness hormones’, that are known as endorphins.
5. Improves coordination and balance
Even if we believe that it’s ‘a children’s game’, the truth is that to practice rope jumping we must coordinate our arms and legs perfectly. The best part is that at first you’ll take slow jumps and it’ll take longer for the rope to pass over your head, but with practice, you can increase the speed and complexity of the workout.
There are different variables of rope jumping, such as bringing the knees to the chest at the same time or keeping one leg in the air and only jumping with the other leg. You can also jump to the music rhythm or alternate between slower and faster movements.
Of course, these aren’t the only benefits of rope jumping. This exercise also strengthens your immune system (reduces colds), improves your mood (because it’s so fun) and is very cheap, since you only need a rope. Don’t stop enjoying it!
All cited sources were thoroughly reviewed by our team to ensure their quality, reliability, currency, and validity. The bibliography of this article was considered reliable and of academic or scientific accuracy.
- North, T. C., McCullagh, P., & Tran, Z. V. (1990). Effect of exercise on depression. Exercise and Sport Sciences Reviews. https://doi.org/10.1249/00003677-199001000-00016
- Trecroci, A., Cavaggioni, L., Caccia, R., & Alberti, G. (2015). Jump rope training: Balance and motor coordination in preadolescent soccer players. Journal of Sports Science and Medicine.
