Why do so many exercise programs make it complicated to get fit? You can burn fat and lose weight with just a jump rope and a little intensity in as little as 30 minutes a day 3 times a week.
We believe jump rope is the best workout because it’s simple, fun, and effective.
You can take it anywhere, do it anywhere, for any length of time and get crazy results if you commit to staying consistent.
Jump rope is effective because it combines the heart benefits of cardio, burns a ton of calories, and helping you maintain lean muscle.
If you need a jump rope, we recommend the Crossrope. You’ll see them in all of our workout videos.
Why Jump Rope Just Works
When it comes to jump rope the “math” is really simple:
Consistency + Intensity = Results
Jump rope works because you get results if you do the work.
What makes jump rope so effective is how it combines low-impact, functional movements (like jumping with your legs and rotating your arms) with weighted resistance (the jump rope).
Jumping rope for a sustained period of time (5-30 minutes) and incorporating a HIIT style workout boosts your heart rate, burns calories, and even strengthens your bones.
There are a lot of jump rope benefits beyond a lean physique. Learn about our Top 10 right here.
Jump Rope Essentials for Everyone
Just like you can get hurt working out at the gym or in your garage, or just bending down to tie your shoes the wrong way, jump rope requires proper form to get the best results and avoid injury.
Part 1: Warm Up
The first step of any healthy workout is to warm up. You need to get your blood pumping a little, and get your muscles moving so that they are flexible during your workout and after. A quality warm up also helps prevent injury.
Here’s the warm up routine we recommend you do before every jump rope workout. Don’t worry, it’s simple and effective like everything else.
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20 Jumping Jacks
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10 Pushups
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10 Air Squats
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10 Front Lunges (5 on each leg)
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10 Back Lunges (5 on each leg)
Complete this short circuit 3 times and rest 30 seconds between each round.
Part 2: Form
Because jump rope is a full-body motion, some people struggle a little at first with coordination. Practicing the fundamentals of good form will help create a strong foundation so that you’ll be ready to incorporate tricks much easier.
The basic elements of good jump rope form consist of:
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Posture. The position of your body should look like a strong, vertical line from the front or side. Shoulders are back, chest is up, eyes are looking forward, elbows are locked close to your sides, and knees are slightly bent. No leaning forward or backward while jumping.
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Footwork. Just because you are jumping rope doesn’t mean you are trying to jump over a fence or off a diving board into the pool. With your knees bent, your legs work like a spring and only need a little bounce of a couple inches to clear the rope as it rotates around your body. To start, keep your feet close together and hope to a simple 4-count rhythm “1, 2, 3, 4”.
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Wristwork. One of the easiest ways to mess up the symmetry of your posture or get tangled in your rope is to neglect your wrist and forearm position. With your elbows tucked close to your body, your hands should jut out to the sides at the same height. If they creep to far forward, the rope will hit the ground too early and get tangled on your feet or hit you in the back of the head (ouch!). If your hand creep too far back, the rope won’t clear your feet as easily and you’re more likely to trip.
Part 3: Feedback
We are big advocates of bringing your max intensity to each workout. This makes every routine more effective and efficient because you’re able to burn more calories in less time.
A critical element of leveling up the intensity of your workouts is to use a weighted rope. An extra benefit for beginners or anyone trying to learn a new trick is feedback.
The added weight of the jump rope delivers more feedback as it rotates around your body which communicates to your muscles and brain how accurate your form and rhythm are.
For more jump rope tips, daily workouts and coaching, checkout our jump rope community here.
Jump Rope Workouts
The good ol’ dictionary defines a workout as:
A session of vigorous physical exercise or training
Or in other words:
Intense physical activity for a sustained period of time
You can’t just go through the motions and expect to get results.
Jumping rope is a fun hobby and even decent cardio if you do it for 10-15 minutes, but what makes it a really effective workout is fitting it into a HIIT style routine.
HIIT stands for High Intensity Interval Training. This method incorporates short intervals of intense activity alternating with short rest periods. This combination of extreme effort and a quick rest is one of the most effective training methods as it burns both fat and calories.
Our jump rope workouts rely heavily on the HIIT structure and help you to reach your fitness goals in less than 20 minutes a day.
Beginner Jump Rope Workout
For basic routines, we try to emphasize consistency and keep the movements simple. This is a straight-forward, 10-minute workout that combines jump rope and bodyweight exercises.
NOTE: We are using the 1LB rope from Crossrope in this video, but use what you have to get started and #dothething.
20 Seconds – Jump Rope Regular Bounce
20 Seconds – Jumping Jacks
20 Seconds – Jump Rope Regular Bounce
20 Seconds – Air Squats
20 Seconds – Jump Rope Regular Bounce
20 Seconds – 10 Push Ups
20 Seconds – Jump Rope Regular Bounce
20 Seconds – High Knees
20 Seconds – Jump Rope Regular Bounce
20 Seconds – Butt Kickers
20 Seconds – Jump Rope Regular Bounce
20 Seconds – Front Lunges
20 Seconds – Jump Rope Regular Bounce
20 Seconds – Jumping Jacks
20 Seconds – Jump Rope Regular Bounce
20 Seconds – Air Squats
20 Seconds – Jump Rope Regular Bounce
20 Seconds – 10 Push Ups
20 Seconds – Jump Rope Regular Bounce
20 Seconds – High Knees
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Rest 10 seconds between each exercise
Now, that might look like a lot, but we promise it goes by fast. If you’re curious about the math, here’s how it breaks down:
(20 Seconds of Jump Rope X 10 sets) +
(20 Seconds of Bodyweight Move X 10) +
(10 Seconds of Rest X 20) =
200 Seconds of Jump Rope +
200 Seconds of Bodyweight Move +
200 Seconds of Rest =
600 seconds = 10 Minutes!!
REMEMBER: Jump rope is more fun when you do it with friends. Checkout our community for more tips and tricks PLUS daily workouts, coaching, and accountability.
Advanced Jump Rope Workout
More advanced workouts like this one feature longer routines with heavier ropes. This is one of our torch workouts and only takes 20 minutes while still being low impact (save those knees and ankles!)
30 Seconds – Jump Rope Freestyle (1 LB)
30 Seconds – Front Lunges
30 Seconds – Jump Rope Freestyle (2 LB)
30 Seconds – Air Squats
30 Seconds – Jump Rope Freestyle (1 LB)
30 Seconds – Squat Hold
30 Seconds – Jump Rope Freestyle (2 LB)
30 Seconds – Back Lunges
30 Seconds – Jump Rope Freestyle (1 LB)
30 Seconds – Air Squats
30 Seconds – Jump Rope Freestyle (2 LB)
30 Seconds – Squat Hold
30 Seconds – Jump Rope Freestyle (1 LB)
30 Seconds – Front Lunges
30 Seconds – Jump Rope Freestyle (2 LB)
30 Seconds – Back Lunges
30 Seconds – Jump Rope Freestyle (1 LB)
30 Seconds – Air Squats
30 Seconds – Jump Rope Freestyle (2 LB)
30 Seconds – Squat Hold
30 Seconds – Jump Rope Freestyle (1 LB)
30 Seconds – Front Lunges
30 Seconds – Jump Rope Freestyle (2 LB)
30 Seconds – Back Lunges
30 Seconds – Jump Rope Freestyle (1 LB)
30 Seconds – Squat Hold
30 Seconds – Jump Rope Freestyle (2 LB)
30 Seconds – Air Squats
30 Seconds – Jump Rope Freestyle (1 LB)
30 Seconds – Squat Hold
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Rest 15 seconds between each exercise (and drink water!)
REMEMBER: Weighted ropes are a simple way to boost the intensity of your workouts and burn even more calories. Checkout the best sets from Crossrope and get 10% off here.
Build Your Own Jump Rope Workout
We have TONS of both beginner and advanced routines with plenty of variety, but here’s a simple framework you can use to build your own jump rope HIIT workout:
30 Seconds – Jump Rope move
30 Seconds – Bodyweight move
30 Seconds – Jump Rope move
30 Seconds – Bodyweight move
30 Seconds – Jump Rope move
30 Seconds – Bodyweight move
30 Seconds – Jump Rope move
30 Seconds – Bodyweight move
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Rest 10 seconds between each set
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Rest 60 seconds between each round
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Complete 3 to 5 total rounds (which ends up being approximately 18-30 minutes)
NOTE: The basic element of a HIIT routine is 20-30 seconds of intense activity alternating with 10-15 seconds of rest.
Jump Rope Tricks and Bodyweight Moves
We often incorporate a variety of jump rope tricks into our routines because it’s fun (which keeps a workout from being BORING) and because tricks work your muscles differently and compliment the basics movements.
Here are a few of our favorite tricks for beginners:
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Side Straddle
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Run-in-Place
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Fast Skip
And our Top 6 for the more advanced:
We use a bunch of different bodyweight moves, but here’s a few basic exercises you can incorporate into your own custom jump rope HIIT workout:
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Push Up
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Air Squat
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Front Lunge
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Back Lunge
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Side Lunge
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Jumping Jack
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Plank
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Burpee
Using these jump rope tricks and bodyweight moves plus anything physically intense you want to add you can build an effective and fun program.
If that sounds like too much work, you can always join our community and get free daily workouts, coaching, and encouragement!
The Best Jump Rope Workout
When it comes down to it, the best workout you can possibly do is the one you will actually do.
If it’s not at least a little fun, you won’t stick with it.
If you don’t get results, you won’t keep doing it.
If it takes too long, you’ll get too busy to fit it in.
If it’s too hard, you’ll get discouraged and quit.
If it’s too easy, you’ll get bored and binge Netflix instead.
We LOVE jump rope because we’ve been able to stick with it for YEARS and it works!
Jump rope is fun, effective, and provides enough of a challenge that we never get bored.
We encourage you to grab a set from Crossrope and give jump rope a try!
