Losing weight is often made out to be this complex process that requires expensive supplements, a personal trainer, or some fancy new exercise equipment. The truth is, it’s much simpler.
Determining how long you should jump rope to lose weight depends on a few variables. The number of calories you consume daily, your body weight, and how much weight you want to lose all factor into how long you’ll need to jump rope. To lose weight, you need to burn more calories than you consume.
While this may sound confusing, it’s actually quite simple.
Calculate how long you need to jump rope to lose weight (the formula)
As an example, let’s say you’re a 150lb woman that wants to lose 5lbs.
First, you’ll want to figure out how many calories you need to maintain your current weight. This is done by using your body weight. As a general rule of thumb, it takes 10 calories per pound to maintain your weight.
So, a 150lb woman would require around 1500 calories per day to maintain her current weight.
Next, you’ll want to figure out how many calories you’re consuming on a daily basis. This number, subtracted from the number of calories needed to maintain your weight, will give you a pretty good idea of how much weight you’re losing.
For sake of example, let’s say you’re eating around 1500 calories per day.
As mentioned above, this is how many calories you need just to maintain your current weight of 150lbs. Therefore, you would neither be gaining nor losing weight.
1500 kcal (maintenance) – 1500 kcal (consumption) = 0 kcal (lost)
To lose weight, you must eat fewer calories than you burn. This is what’s referred to as a calorie deficit. You can create a calorie deficit by either eating less calories (dieting) or burning more calories (exercising).
Targeting a realistic calorie deficit is important for both your health and the sustainability of your plan.
“A calorie deficit of 500 calories per day is effective for healthy and sustainable weight loss.” – Gavin Van De Walle
Given there are 3,500 calories in one pound of fat, a calorie deficit of 500 calories per day would ensure you lose about 1 pound per week. Losing one pound of fat per week is a very realistic goal.
3,500 kcal = 1lb of body fat
So, how long would you need to jump rope to lose 5lbs?
To answer this, you need to determine many calories you burn jumping rope. This is also done using your body weight. The heavier a person is, the more calories they burn jumping rope.
An easy way to figure this out is by using our Jump Rope Calories Calculator.
A 150lb woman would need to jump rope at a moderate pace for about 35 minutes to lose 500 calories. So, if you were to jump rope for 35 minutes, every single day, you could expect to lose about 5lbs in 5 weeks!
Calorie consumption
As mentioned above, one of the key factors for losing weight is how many calories you’re eating on a daily basis. I’m going to refer to that here as “calorie intake”.
To lose weight, your calorie intake needs to be lower than the number of calories you burn. There is no way around this.
While jumping rope is a highly effective and efficient tool to burn calories, if you’re binging on food throughout the day it’s going to be nearly impossible to burn fat and lose weight.
For many of us, myself included, this is probably the most difficult part of weight loss.
Finding a healthy balance between eating the foods you love and eating the foods that fuel your body is no easy feat. It’s doable, though.
With all the different diets and meal programs out there, it can be a bit overwhelming. It often takes some trial and error before you find a system that works for you.
Hopefully, I can save you some time.
Intermittent fasting is something I talk a lot about on this website. And, for good reason. Like jumping rope, it’s convenient, inexpensive, and it works!
If you’re not familiar with intermittent fasting, it’s more of an eating schedule than a diet. Instead of limiting what you can and cannot eat, it limits when you can eat.
By limiting your “eating window” throughout the day, you’ll naturally consume less.
It still requires some discipline and takes some time to adjust, in the beginning. But, once you’re body has adjusted you’ll find you’re less hungry and have more energy.
It’s seriously a game changer!
To avoid going off topic, I won’t go into too much detail on what intermittent fasting is. If you want more information on it, check out the following article.
10 Rules of Intermittent Fasting
One of the benefits from getting your diet in check is you won’t need to jump rope for nearly as long to hit your weight loss goals.
I mean, I love jumping rope.
The convenience, the feeling of a good sweat, the rush of endorphins I get after jumping, it all feels amazing. But, if I could jump rope for 10 minutes less each day and still hit my goals, sign me up!
By getting your calories in check, you’ll be able to spend less time jumping rope and more time doing the things you truly love. Like spending time with your loved ones, going to the movies, working on your passions, etc.
Current body weight
The second thing you’ll need to take into consideration when determining how long you should jump rope to lose weight is how much you currently weigh.
Your body weight will determine the number of calories your body requires to maintain your current weight and the number of calories you burn when jumping rope.
Both will determine how long you should jump rope to hit your goals.
Maintaining your current weight
It goes without saying, each person requires a different number of calories to maintain their current weight. This is referred to as your “daily calorie needs”.
These calories are what enable your body to perform the various bodily functions required to survive as a human being.
Things like digesting food, your heart beating, your lungs transferring oxygen into your bloodstream, etc., all these systems require calories to function.
Determining what the daily calorie needs are for your body is a good first step to figuring out how many calories you need to burn to lose weight.
For example, if your daily calorie needs are 2000 calories per day, which is common for men, you would want to plan on either eating less than 2000 calories each day or burning more than 2000 calories.
This is why jumping rope is such a powerful tool to help you achieve your weight loss goals.
Jumping rope is one of the most efficient forms of cardio in terms of burning calories. As you can see in the following chart, there are only a couple other types of cardio that burn a similar number of calories as jumping rope.
To get a more accurate idea of how many calories you’re burning, you’ll also use your body weight.
How many calories you burn jumping rope?
Your body weight is also used to figure out exactly how many calories you burn when jumping rope.
Like your daily calorie needs, how many calories you burn jumping rope is different for each person. The heavier a person is, the more effort (calories) it will require to jump rope.
Think of calories as energy.
Someone who is 250lbs is going to require significantly more energy to jump over a rope than someone who weighs 120lbs. This additional energy translates into more calories burned.
When putting together a tailored jump rope weight loss plan it’s imperative that you factor in how much you weigh. This will have a big impact on how long you should jump rope.
The easiest way to figure out how many calories you’re burning is by using our Jump Rope Calories Calculator.
Once you’ve identified your daily calorie needs and how many calories you burn jumping rope, you want to look at how much weight you want to lose.
Target weight loss
The last thing you want to factor into your jump rope weight loss plan is how much weight you want to lose. And not just how much weight, but how quickly you want to lose that weight.
This is an important step in the process.
When looking at how much weight you want to lose and how quickly you want to lose it, it’s critical that you’re realistic with yourself. Setting unrealistic goals will almost always end in failure.
Targeting a massive calorie deficit or planning to work out for multiple hours each day might work in the beginning, but it’s not likely you’ll be able to maintain that for very long.
You want to create a plan that you could potentially sustain forever.
Say you want to lose 20lbs. You could starve yourself, work out twice a day, and potentially lose that weight in a couple months. There will come a point, though, when you burn out.
When you’re burnt out, it’s way too easy to revert back to your old habits. Often, people will end up eating worse than they did before and exercising less.
This is a common problem when talking about weight loss.
Instead of thinking of this as a quick fix, try looking at your plan as a new lifestyle. What is a realistic calorie deficit, one that you could sustain for months? How many days per week could you realistically commit to jumping rope?
Setting these goals in the beginning is key to your success long term.
As mentioned above, targeting a calorie deficit of 500 calories per day and a weight loss of 1lb per week is both realistic and sustainable.
This means you could plan on losing about 4lbs – 5lbs per month, regardless of your weight.
I know that might not sound like a “sexy” weight loss plan. And, it might mean your “Summer body” won’t be ready until the following Summer. However, it will ensure that you end up hitting your target weight while still being able to enjoy the process.
So, how long should you jump rope to lose weight?
Conclusion
How long you should jump rope to lose weight will vary for each individual.
Start by figuring out how many calories your body needs just to maintain its current weight. This will give you a good idea at how long you need to jump rope or how many fewer calories you need to eat.
Next, look at your how many calories you can realistically burn when jumping rope. This depends on your body weight. Use our calculator to get an estimate of what that number is for you.
Lastly, put together a sustainable weight loss plan with practical goals. Remember that longevity is the most important component to this plan, for long term results.
And then get to work!
A plan is only good as the execution of said plan. Regardless of what your target weight is or how much you currently weigh, results take effort and hard work.
Be patient with yourself, enjoy the process, and you’ll get down to your ideal weight in no time!
Related Questions
Can I lose weight by jumping rope everyday? You can absolutely lose weight by jumping rope everyday. That said, jumping rope (or any other exercise) is only a portion of the equation. To lose weight, you need to expend more calories than you ingest. This is the only way to lose weight, there’s no way around it.
Additionally, if you’re going to jump rope everyday it’s important you start slowly and listen to your body to prevent injury. I’d also suggest consulting your doctor before beginning a new workout regimen, especially if you have any preexisting injuries or conditions.
Take a look at the following article, for more information.
Is jump rope better than running? Jumping rope and running are both great forms of cardio. They both burn a similar number of calories. The main difference between jumping rope and running is the level of stress they put on your body. Jumping rope is a much lower impact exercise than running. The joints in your knees are strained significantly less when jumping rope compared to running.
Jumping rope is also more of a full body work out than running. While both forms of cardio primarily target the muscles in the lower body, jumping rope engages the upper body in ways running does not. When jumping rope, you engage your shoulders, back, and abs.
For a more in-depth comparison, check out the following article.
