Burning Fat with HIIT Jump Rope Workouts

Balandi Performance
2020-10-27T11:00:09-04:00

Looking to burn fat while retaining or even gaining muscle? Look no further, we’ve got you covered. Today we will be discussing how to pair the jump rope with HIIT training workout methods for maximum fat loss and muscle engagement. Stay tuned.

What is HIIT training?

HITT or “High-Intensity Interval Training” is a type of workout that combines shortened periods of extremely high-intensity workouts paired with minimal rest periods or other lower-intensity workouts. The idea of HIIT workouts is to exert short rapid bursts of high energy enough to elevate your heart rate, but not enough to burn down muscle. Often, these workouts are a combination of speed aerobic exercises and resistance training. HIIT training is meant to be quick and short with multiple different rounds, each round aiming to elevate your heart rate to about 80% of its maximum capacity, or more!

Maximum Caloric Burn

When training with HIIT exercises, engaging as many muscle groups as possible will greatly impact the number of calories burned after the workout. This concept is referred to as “excess post-exercise oxygen consumption”, or “EPOC” for short. EPOC is basically when the body using stored energy to rebalance oxygen levels, clear out any unwanted lactic acid while repairing your muscles after an intense workout. All of this can be achieved with a significant caloric burn. Even better, EPOC levels are higher after shorter, higher-intensity workouts. These workouts should typically last about 20 – 30 mins. Anything after that is considered a steady-state workout and will not yield the same benefits. This is where the jump rope can be highly effective. HIIT workouts like jumping roping are said to improve your metabolism just under 7 minutes of training. They just need to be short and intense to get the job done.

Workout Structure

Because jump rope routines can be easily modified for all experience levels, it will be the basis of our workouts. For anyone picking up a jump rope for the first time or has never done a HIIT workout, these workouts can be adjusted to meet the necessary intensity level for you. As you persist through the workouts and build more stamina, you can also increase the intensity by changing the time and number of reps.

Our workouts will be short with the aim of giving you the best benefit in the least amount of time. We will alternate between 1 or 2 different variations of jump rope exercises. Most of the workouts will only require about 15 to 20 minutes of your time but will require 100% of your maximal effort. When you give it your all, you will burn at least twice the number of calories than you would during a long steady-state workout.

Workouts

1. Basic Jump Rope

This HIIT routine will consist of 30 seconds of regular rope jumping at high intensity. Skipping as fast as you can for 30 seconds, rest about 20 secs, then pick back up where you left off. Complete this circuit about 10 times.

2. High In-knee-tensity

Jump the rope with high knees as fast as possible for 30 seconds on, and 30 seconds off. Repeat the circuit at least 5-10 times. To increase the intensity, advanced trainers can substitute the rest period for regular rope jumping or increase the active time and decrease the rest time. Beginners can do the opposite if a lower intensity is desired.

3. Freestyle Fat Burner

This is where the fun begins. For more experienced rope jumpers, this will be an opportunity to show off your jump roping skills. Starting with the basic jump roping movement, skip for 30 seconds on and 20 seconds off. After the first round, switch up the movement to a more challenging movement and complete the circuit 10 times. A potential progression may look like this:

Basic jump rope, one legged right skip > one legged left skip > crisscrossed skips > running skips > high knee skips > butt kick skips > burpee skips > double-under skips > weighted rope skips.

4. Ultimate Core

It’s no secret jumping rope can help you burn fat. However, it also means it can help you build muscle tone. In this workout, we will be targeting the core to help sculpt out those abs and really bring out your muscle tone. This circuit will be 30 seconds on, 10 seconds off for a duration of 15 mins.

Start with 30 seconds of mountain climbers and high knee jump rope for 30 seconds then rest for 1 minute. Complete this circuit 7 times substituting mountain climbers for burpees, stability ball push-ups, air squats, and planks after each round.

Remember to always mix up your workouts. Pick and choose any from the few we’ve shared or even make up your own jump rope HIIT exercise. The more you do these, the more fat you will burn far after you’re done working out. Don’t forget to incorporate the jump rope into other workouts you do as it helps build condition, balance, and coordination. Get at it.