The jump rope has long been considered nothing more than a simple schoolyard game. But a lot has changed. It’s no longer a forgotten childhood pastime.
With the introduction of new training methods and durable materials, jump ropes have become an extremely versatile training tool that can help anyone (of any fitness level) achieve a wide variety of fitness goals.
So if you’re wondering, does jump rope burn fat? The short answer is yes.
In this post we will focus on jumping rope for weight loss, explain why jumping rope is the best weight loss workout, and offer insight on choosing the best jump rope for weight loss.
So, if weight loss is on your mind, this post is for you. Let’s get into it.
Does Jump Rope Burn Fat?
The answer is yes. Fat loss is one of many jump rope benefits. Jumping rope is considered a vigorous-intensity activity. It is an excellent exercise for elevating your heart rate and burning calories.
To lose weight and burn fat, you need to incorporate a high amount of physical activity into your lifestyle. A jump rope can help you reach that threshold in less time than other exercises.
The ‘How To’ Use A Jump Rope to Lose Weight
One of the best ways to use jump ropes to lose weight is to do HIIT cardio.
HIIT, or High-Intensity Interval Training, is getting a lot of attention these days. Plenty of studies have proven its effectiveness for burning fat quickly and efficiently compared to traditional steady-state cardio.
You can read up on a few studies here, here, and here.
Now, before we dig into the advantages of HIIT and answer in more detail the question, does jump rope burn belly fat? Let’s break down the definition of HIIT.
HIIT is a training technique where you alternate between intervals of high-intensity activity and periods of low-intensity activity.
For example, a popular HIIT workout is switching between 30 seconds of max-effort sprints and 30 seconds of jogging for five consecutive rounds.
We’ll take a look at a few other workout options later. Let’s quickly highlight three reasons why we recommend using HIIT for your fat loss goals.
- HIIT results in more fat loss than steady-state cardio
- HIIT is more efficient than traditional cardio
- You can do HIIT workouts anywhere
1. HIIT Results In More Fat Loss Than Steady-State Cardio
All of the studies we’ve linked come to the same conclusion: short, high-intensity training sessions result in greater fat loss than long, low-intensity cardio sessions.
One study, in particular, conducted by researchers at Laval University had some exciting results.
They split men and women into two groups: the first group followed a 15-week HIIT program while the second group followed a 20-week-steady-state cardio program.
The findings: the steady-state group burned 15,000 more calories, but the subjects in the HIIT group lost, on average, nine times more fat than the steady-state group.

2. HIIT Is More Efficient Than Traditional Cardio
You can burn more fat in less time with HIIT workouts than you can with traditional steady-state cardio.
The efficiency of HIIT training touches on a question we get asked a lot: is jumping rope or running better for weight loss? And the answer depends on how you’re training. If you’re going for long, steady-state jogs where you’re maintaining the same pace throughout the session, then you’re going to see more weight loss results from shorter jump rope HIIT workouts.
Just take a look at that Laval study again (up top). The subjects in the HIIT group burned more fat even though they trained for five fewer weeks.
So here’s what’s up: HIIT saves you time and gets you better results.
As you’ll see in our fat-burning workouts later, a solid jump rope HIIT routine only needs about 10 minutes (even as little as four minutes). So the excuse, “I don’t have time to exercise,” no longer applies here.
3. You Can Do HIIT Workouts Anywhere
If you’re worried that you need a lot of equipment to take advantage of HIIT, you’d be wrong. You can do HIIT workouts anywhere with very little equipment. You don’t need access to a gym or expensive equipment. You can do your HIIT workouts at home, outside, at a hotel, or wherever else you find yourself when it’s time to train. And that flexibility is an important factor over the long term.
Why A Jump Rope Is Perfect For HIIT
There are several training tools you can use to build a HIIT cardio workout. You can use bodyweight exercises, kettlebells, barbells, sandbags, tires, monkey bars, and the list goes on. But the one training tool we’ve found to be the best? The jump rope. Let’s go over a few reasons why.
- You can switch up intensities on the fly
- You can keep your workouts fresh and effective
For a HIIT workout to be effective, you must transition between different intensity levels quickly. You must be able to go from high intensity to low intensity (and vice-versa) within a split second.
The jump rope allows you to do precisely this.
You can switch between a light basic jump and a max-effort sprint almost instantly. You can transition quickly between a high-intensity double under and a low-intensity scissor jump. The options are endless.
Next, Very few training tools are as versatile as the jump rope.
While an outdoor sprinting HIIT workout, for example, can do wonders for fat loss, you can only do it so many times before you get bored with it. When you start jumping rope to lose weight, you can constantly switch up your variations. You can transition between countless different jump rope exercises to make your workouts more engaging.
The Best Jump Rope For Weight Loss
The great thing about jumping rope is that it’s effortless to get started – you can pick up a simple jump rope at any fitness or department store.
But what if you wanted to get a little more out of each workout?
The question we’ve been trying to answer at Crossrope is how do we make high-intensity jump rope training even more effective?
Here’s what we’ve done:
We’ve introduced a unique jump rope training system that adds another layer of effectiveness to your fat loss training: resistance.

There are a number of weighted jump rope benefits and resistance is a big one – and this applies to all fitness levels, especially beginners.
Heavy ropes force you to slow down your rotation and give you great rotational feedback so you know where the rope is on each and every jump – this is super helpful if you’re just learning how to jump rope.
But as you get better – as your skills improve and your confidence grows – our jump rope system becomes an incredible fat-burning, strength-building, and endurance-improving tool, making ours a top choice for the best jump rope for weight loss.
As you increase the weight of your rope and the speed at which you rotate the rope around your body, you force greater muscular recruitment and engagement, you get faster heart rate elevation, and you experience a greater secretion of fat-burning hormones (like HGH).