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

Losing water

There is no doubt that jumping rope will make you lose weight and the first sign of weight loss will come from loss of water. This leak will begin to show as you perspire. Weight loss from perspiration can be dangerous. Once you drink fluids, the weight will go back up and that is not what you are looking for.

Losing Muscle

The next weight loss could come from the muscles. This will happen if you jump rope for long periods and you haven’t eaten properly. Your energy must 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 the food you eat.

Lose body fat

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

The Calories you burn

If you are not very fit and can only jump slowly, then you would be burning around 10-13 calories for every minute that you spend jumping. For a person who is not in shape, a minute of jumping is a long time. As you get in shape and speed up the jump, the calories you burn increase to around 18-22 per minute. These quantities are only an approximation. You would have to know the person’s weight and the amount of fat they want to lose, to calculate how long to jump rope to lose that weight.

Any advice

Jumping rope is considered a high-impact activity and should be approached with caution, especially if you are out of shape and overweight. If you’re out of shape, overweight, and want to jump rope, try the following:

Walk for 5 minutes as fast as you can.

Then stop and jump rope for 30 seconds.

Repeat this sequence 5 times.

· Do it 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 one minute.

During the next few weeks, decrease the time spent walking and add it to the jumping time. Example: 4 minutes walking – 2 minutes jumping.

Remember to stay hydrated when doing any exercise.

Although you are putting pressure on your knees, ankles, and hips, you have less impact than jogging, if you jump rope correctly.

Bottom line: the amount of time you need to jump rope to lose weight will depend on the amount of food you’ve eaten, as this determines what fuel has been converted to energy.