by Kisha Wilson | CrossFit Coach, Body Builder & Jump Rope Enthusiast
We are big advocates in favor of jump rope as it’s proven to be an outstanding form of exercise.
When you compare it to other exercises, it almost always comes out on top. The unique part of jumping rope is that you have speed ropes and weighted ropes, which influence the gains you see. Speed ropes help you burn calories and improve your cardio while weighted ropes add some resistance for muscle building.
Keeping that in mind, it moves us to the main topic for this blog post: jumping rope vs. running.
Both exercises have benefits, both are affordable and accessible, but is jumping rope better than running, and can it replace this exercise? The only way to answer this is by comparing the two!
We’re going to do this by looking at the following points and seeing which exercise comes out on top:
- Cardiovascular Endurance
- Fat Burning
- Muscle Building
- Joint Impact
- Accessibility
Is jump rope better than running when it comes to improving cardiovascular endurance?
To be honest, all the signs point to a resounding yes!
A study was conducted back in 2013 that took a group of 92 male students and made half of them job for 30 minutes a day while the other half skipped for 10 minutes. It lasted six weeks, after which both groups took the Harvard Step Test. If you don’t know, this is one of the main tests to see someone’s cardiovascular health and can be used to show improvements or losses.
The findings were incredible, showing both groups making the same gains. Therefore, we can deduce that jumping rope is more effective at improving your cardiovascular health than running. Why? Because you can jump rope for a third of the time and still see the same gains.
It’s perfectly reasonable to say that 30 minutes of jump rope will lead to better cardio improvements than 30 minutes of running, based on the results of this study.
Both jump rope and running are popular exercises for weight loss and burning fat. When we compare the two, how do they stack up in the fat-burning department?
The easiest way to do this is by looking at a calorie-burning comparison.
How many calories will the average person burn when running? In the interest of fairness, all figures have been taken from Calories Burned HQ.
- The average person will burn around 280-520 calories during a 30-minute run
- The average person will burn around 15-20 calories per minute when jumping rope
If we take that top figure, it equates to 9-17 calories per minute when running. So, jumping rope comes out on top in the fat-burning department. Keep in mind that the more experienced you are, the more calories you can burn when jumping rope as you’re able to increase the intensity and possibly burn more than 20 kcal per minute. The same goes for running, but it’s easier to get shorter bursts of intensity over a prolonged period through jumping rope.
The main reason behind this is that jump rope works more muscles than running. As such, your body works harder as more energy is depleted, meaning more calories get burned to fuel your workout.
Speaking of muscles, let's look at how the two exercises fair from a muscle-building standpoint.
Is jumping rope better than running at building muscle? This one is more obvious as running has never been a good muscle-building exercise. As noted by Runners World, it is possible to build muscle when running, but it’s not the most effective way to get bigger muscles. Any improvements will be in your legs and glutes, though you’re more likely to see better muscle definition due to fat loss than actual growth.
In comparison, jump rope can help you build muscle. We wrote a whole article explaining the muscles used when jumping rope, and it effectively helps you train the following:
- Calves
- Core
- Quads
- Hamstrings
- Glutes
- Arms
- Back
- Shoulders
The constant movement of swinging a rope over your head and jumping over it basically works out your entire body. Doing this again and again over a short period tires your muscles and can lead to muscle breakdown, which is how they grow.
Additionally, you can use weighted jump ropes to add more resistance, meaning you enhance the muscle-building effects of the exercise. You can even bring in some progressive overload by increasing the heaviness of your jump rope to build bigger muscles.
Overall, there’s a clear winning here: jump rope is better for muscle-building.
JUMP CLASS WITH CHARI HAWKINS
Heptathlete Athlete Team USA 🇺🇸
Comparing Jump Rope vs. Running: Joint Impact
Running is widely known as a bad exercise for your joints. You can minimize the joint impact with supportive running shoes, but you still send big shocks through your ankles and up your knees into your hips.
As such, joint injuries are extremely common when running.
Jumping rope offers significantly lower impacts on your joints, so it is a safer exercise to try. Especially if you follow our advice in this guide to minimize the risk of injuries.
Proper jump rope technique means you’re light on your feet and bouncing, which is why you don’t get the same force through your joints. If you combine this with shock-absorbing footwear and a softer surface, the impact is barely felt.
Therefore, jump rope comes out on top if you want an exercise that’s safe for your joints.
Evan's Go-to Jump Ropes
Comparing Jump Rope vs. Running: Accessibility
Lastly, let’s look at the accessibility of jumping rope vs. running.
Both exercises can be done with minimal investment and without a gym membership. However, running can be harder when the weather’s bad - and you may not want to run at certain times, like when it’s dark.
So, unless you have a gym membership or treadmill, there might be times when running is not as accessible as it seems.
Jumping rope never has this problem as it can be done literally anywhere. You can jump rope in your living room if you have enough space - or you can do it in the safety of your garage.
There’s really no debate here: jumping rope is more accessible than running for the average person.
So, Can jumping rope replace running?
If you’re only interested in one exercise to help with anything from cardio improvements to muscle-building, then jumping rope absolutely can replace running. It comes out on top across the board for health benefits and accessibility. However, there’s no reason you can’t use the two together. If you’re a keen runner who’s looking to improve, adding some jump rope workouts into your routine will help. You’ll build more muscle in your legs, and work up some more cardiovascular endurance. This translates back into running and can help you go for longer at higher speeds!
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