You’re likely here because you want to figure out the best, and most efficient, way to burn calories and get in shape. Or maybe, you’ve already begun your jump rope journey and you need a way to track your calories. Either way, I got you!
The jump rope is an awesome tool to help you burn calories and get your body Summer-ready. In this article you’ll learn how to calculate calories burned when jumping rope, have access to our Jump Rope Calories Burned Calculator, and learn a couple alternatives to jumping rope.
Jump Rope Calories Burned Calculator
Using our Jump Rope Calories Burned Calculator you’re able to get a pretty accurate read on how many calories you burned after each workout. It’s very simple. All you do is plug in your weight (lbs or kgs), how many minutes you jumped for, and the average intensity of your workout. Then, click “GO”.
For intensity, use this scale:
- Light – less than 100 RPMs (revolutions per minute)
- Moderate – between 100 and 120 RPMs
- Hard – more than 120 RPMs
Weighted Jump Rope: Burn More Calories
One of the best ways to burn more calories is by using a weighted jump rope. The added weight requires you to engage the muscles in your upper body, transforming your jump rope routine into both a strength and a conditioning workout.
EliteSRS Muay Thai Weighed Jump Rope
I’ve used a variety of weighted jump ropes in the past and this one is, by far, the best one I’ve come across. It’s smooth, comfortable to use, and super effective. Definitely a great addition to the gym bag.
One of the biggest selling points for me is how smooth this jump rope is, especially given it’s weighted.
Due to the added weight, many weighted jump ropes are hard to rotate and tangle easily. This rope actually uses ball bearings in the handles which make the rotations smooth and eliminates PVC wear at the handle.
Save yourself some time in the gym and pick one of these bad boys up!
How Burning Calories Works
To better understand how to optimize your workouts and burn more calories it helps to understand how burning calories works. Fortunately, it’s pretty simple.
Your body burns calories when your lungs take in oxygen. Your heart then works to pump that oxygen to your muscles causing you to burn calories. For every liter of oxygen your lungs take in, you burn 5 calories. So, the more oxygen you take in, the more calories you burn.
Therefore, someone who is overweight and out of shape will burn more calories a lot easier than someone who is fit. They are going to struggle more, require more oxygen, and drive their heat rate up quicker which burns more calories.
So, when calculating how many calories you burn when jumping rope, it’s important to remember it’s not a one size fits all. There are several factors that determine how many calories you burn. Your weight, diet, sleep, overall body fat, and metabolism all come into play when calculating how many calories you burn.
Does Burning Calories Lose Weight?
There is a common misconception when it comes to losing weight. Many people think in order to lose weight they need to workout harder or burn more calories. While working out can accelerate weight loss, the truth is, burning calories alone isn’t enough.
When looking to lose weight, you need to consider two things. Intake and output.
1. Intake
In order to lose weight, you MUST expend more calories than you consume. Successfully expending more calories than you consume is referred to as a calorie deficit. Without creating a calorie deficit it’s impossible to lose weight.
For example, you could get a great workout in, burning 1000 calories, then turnaround and crush a burger and fries and find yourself right back where you started.
The best way to ensure successful weight loss is to track your calorie intake daily. A pound of fat contains 3,500 calories, so if you commit to ending each day in a 500 calorie deficit you should be able to lose one pound every week.
One tip to help you create a calorie deficit
Consistently ending each day in a calorie deficit isn’t easy. It can be tedious, exhausting, and the results are rarely what you hoped for in the beginning.
If you’re like me and find it difficult to count calories every day, why not try something new.
I’ve had huge success with Intermittent Fasting. It’s probably the single biggest reason why I’ve been able to reach my weight loss goals while still enjoying some of my favorite foods.
Intermittent fasting is more of an eating schedule than a diet. Instead of limiting the foods you’re allowed to eat, it limits when you’re allowed to eat.
10 Rules for Intermittent Fasting
Check out the article above for more information on how you can apply intermittent fasting in your life. It’s highly worth the read!
2. Output
In addition to your calorie intake, you also want to consider your overall output, or calorie expenditure. Increasing your calorie expenditure is the best way to accelerate your weight loss journey.
Unfortunately, there’s a lot of conflicting information online on how to best burn fat and lose weight when working out. You’re likely to hear that in order to burn fat, you need to maintain your heart rate at 70% – 80% of your maximum heart rate (the fat burning zone). Although there’s some truth to that, it’s not that complex.
While keeping your heart rate in the “fat burning zone” does indeed burn calories from your fat stores, you ultimately burn less calories than if you were to push your heart rate to its maximum potential.
What I suggest is performing a combination of high and moderate intensity exercises. This will provide a good balance between a high calorie and high fat loss workout. High Intensity Interval Training, or HIIT, is my go-to. For more information on HIIT workouts and some variations to get you started check out these Best Jump Rope Workouts for Beginners.
Also, I highly suggest taking a look at WebMD’s article, “The Truth About Heart Rate and Exercising” for more on the correlation between exercising and heart rate.
For those curious about what your “fat burning zone” is, take a look at the following chart. It’s important to note that the older you are, the lower your fat burning zone is.
Jump Rope Calories vs. Running
I incorporated the jump rope into my routine for many reasons. One of the most compelling reasons though, is the number of calories you can burn versus time spent exercising.
Famous jump rope enthusiast, Buddy Lee, said it best:
“According to research, 10 minutes of jumping rope at a rate of 120 revolutions per minute (RPMs) provides the same cardiovascular benefits as:
- Jogging for 30 minutes
- 2 sets of Tennis
- 18 holes of Golf
- Cycling for 2 miles
- 20 minutes of racquetball”
Whether that’s entirely accurate or not, there is a lot of evidence that suggest jumping rope provides the ‘biggest bang for your buck’ in terms of burning calories.
Get After It!