Jumping rope vs. jogging

Over the last few years, rope skipping has become more and more established as a recreational sport. In view of its positive effect on endurance, rope skipping is often compared to jogging. A look at the current studies reveals that both sports have a similarly positive effect on the cardiovascular system. In terms of fat burning, however, skipping rope can have an advantage over jogging. In addition, rope skipping uses comparatively more muscles, making it an ideal full-body workout for at home or outdoors. It also benefits the development of your coordination skills, as the timing of the jump and arm swing must be precisely linked. If you would like to find out more about the topic, you are welcome to read the following sections in more detail.

 

Rope Skipping - The New Megatrend

 

Skipping rope is often associated with children as a leisure activity or as a warm-up program for boxers. But the skipping rope is also an indispensable training tool in many other sports today. In particular, in sports disciplines that require a high level of whole-body coordination, it is mostly used for warming up or in the form of an interval training unit. Due to the promising positive effects on endurance, skipping rope is often compared to jogging and some people ask the question: is skipping rope just as effective as jogging or even better? 

 

Good for your body and boosts fat burning

 

In fact, the topic was already being addressed in the late 1970s. A study conducted at that time found that 10 minutes of rope skipping had just as positive an effect on the cardiovascular system as 30 minutes of jogging. [1]However, there are no current studies that can confirm or refute these findings. Nevertheless, the current studies show that regular rope skipping has a positive effect on the cardiovascular system [2]. But that's not all: skipping rope is also ideal for burning fat. A person weighing 57 kg burns around 300 calories by skipping rope in 30 minutes. In comparison, they would have to jog at an average speed of 9.45 km/h to burn the same amount of calories in the same amount of time. [3]. 

 

full-body workout

 

Skipping rope also has a clear advantage in terms of muscle strain. While jogging only works the leg muscles, skipping rope also trains the upper body. So if you want to burn fat in the shortest possible time and also strengthen your whole body, you should use a skipping rope.

 

Your brain trains with

 

In addition, rope skipping requires coordination requirements that are not necessary when jogging. Several muscle groups in the arms, legs, shoulders and torso must be activated simultaneously so that the rhythmic movements of arm swing and jump can be precisely coupled with one another. Studies have already shown that rope skipping promotes the development of motor skills. It has been shown that a few weeks of rope skipping training are enough to improve coordination skills in children. [4] and adults [5] to be able to improve.

 

[1] Baker, J. A. (1968). Comparison of rope skipping and jogging as methods of improving cardiovascular efficiency of college men. Research Quarterly. American Association for Health, Physical Education and Recreation, 39(2), 240-243.

 

[2] Arazi, H., Jalali-Fard, A., & Abdinejad, H. (2016). A comparison of two aerobic training methods (running vs rope jumping) on health-related physical fitness in 10 to 12 years old boys. Physical Activity Review, 4, 9-17.

 

[3] Harvard Health (2004). Calories burned in 30 minutes for people of three different weights. Harv Heart Lett. 

 

[4] Trecroci, A., Cavaggioni, L., Caccia, R., & Alberti, G. (2015). Jump rope training: Balance and motor coordination in preadolescent soccer players. Journal of sports science & medicine, 14(4), 792.

 

[5] Ozer, D., Duzgun, I., Baltaci, G., Karacan, S., & Colakoglu, F. (2011). The effects of rope or weighted rope jump training on strength, coordination and proprioception in adolescent female volleyball players. Journal of sports medicine and physical fitness, 51(2), 211.