How Long Should I Jump Rope to Lose Weight?

 The question you want to ask is what weight will you be losing? Are you losing fat, water or muscle?

Losing Water

There is no doubt that jumping rope workout will make you lose weight and the first indication of weight loss will come from the loss of water. This lose will start to show as you perspire. Lose of weight by perspiration can become dangerous. Once you drink liquids the weight will be back on and that's not what you are looking for.

Losing Muscle

The next weight loss could come from muscle. This will happen if you jump rope for long periods and have not eaten correctly. Your energy should come from fat supplies but when they are depleted, muscle is the next to go. Losing muscle is not good as this is what burns up the foods you eat.

Losing Body Fat

The weight you want to lose is body fat. You will lose body fat if you eat correctly and according to the mount of exercise you doing.

The Calories you burn

If you are not very fit and can only skip slowly then you would be looking at burning about 10-13 calories every minute you spend jumping. For a person that is out of shape one minute of jumping is a long time. As you get fitter and speed up your skipping, the calories you burn increases to around 18 -22 per minute. These amounts are only an approximation. You would have to know the weight of the person and the amount of fat they want to lose, to work out how long you must jump rope for to lose that weight.

Some advice

Rope jumping is considered a high impact activity and should be approached with caution, especially if you are unfit and overweight. If you are unfit, overweight and want to jump rope then try the following:

· Walk for 5 min as fast as you can.

· Then stop and jump rope for 30 seconds.

· Repeat this sequence 5 times.

· Do these three times a week for two weeks.

· Now for the next two weeks, increase the time you spend jumping rope until you are jumping for a minute.

· Over the next few weeks, decrease the time spent walking and add it on to the skipping time. Example: 4 min walk- 2 min skipping.

Remember to stay hydrated when doing any exercise.

Although you are putting stress on your knees, ankles and hip it has a lower impact than jogging, if jumping rope correctly.