How to Lose Weight with Jump Rope

As a qualified Personal Trainer, dieting and nutrition are topics I am asked about daily. And as a qualified Jump Rope Coach, I see so many people pick up a jump rope with the same goal in mind. 

Weight loss. 

Jump rope burns more calories per hour than any other form of cardiovascular exercise. And that makes it a great choice when combined with the right diet. How? Let’s find out.

Calories In, Calories Out

Weight loss happens when someone maintains a caloric deficit, where they burn more calories than they consume. I know this sounds a little too simple, but it actually is this simple. According to the first law of thermodynamics, energy can’t be created - only transferred. This means the energy your body uses to exist, grow and move must all come from somewhere. That somewhere is your food in a form we call ‘calories’. When you don’t consume enough calories to meet your body’s energy needs it finds it in the fat tissue on your body where it stored spare energy, when you consumed too many calories at some point in the past. 

How Much is Enough?

Now that we understand how weight loss happens, we need to know the next most important question - how many calories do I need to burn to lose weight? 1lb (0.5kg) of fat tissue contains roughly 3,300 calories. So this is our benchmark. Since most people burn between 2,000-3,000 calories every day (depending on how active their lives are), we can’t realistically be in a deficit of thousands of calories every single day. It is therefore recommended by the American College of Sports Medicine (ACSM) that healthy adults try to maintain a maximum of a 500 calorie deficit every day.

Do this and you could safely lose 10lb (4.5kg) in under 12 weeks. 

How Do We Do It?

So how do we make sure we have a sustained caloric deficit on a daily basis? How do we make sure we consistently burn more calories than we consume? There’s two things we can do. The ACSM recommends we combine regular vigorous exercise with a healthy balanced diet.

First, Dare to Jump Rope

If you’re looking for the most bang for your buck and the most efficient way to burn calories in the busy life you live, then jump rope is right for you. If you’re looking for cardio that isn’t monotonous and that doesn’t require expensive machines like ellipticals or treadmills, then jump rope is right for you. If you’re not interested in learning freestyle skills or complex choreography and simply want to get a real sweat on and feel like you’ve worked hard, then jump rope is right for you.

There’s a reason boxers use jump rope as part of their regimented training. There’s a reason cross-fitters use double unders as part of their daily workouts.

Jump rope workouts can be structured around all the same training techniques as traditional workout programs such as sets of reps, timed intervals, AMRAP’s (as many reps as possible) and much much more. If you’d like to know more about how to use jump rope for weight loss, get in touch or book as a coaching session today.

Then, Dare to Eat Right

Vigorous exercise is only half the battle. And, you’ll be surprised to know, the least important part. In a world where foods are increasingly more calorie-dense it’s easier than ever before to make bad choices when it comes to what we eat. But apart from calories, what else can we do to make good choices about what we fuel about body with?

All foods can be grouped by what type of fuel they provide for our body. These three groups are: carbs, fats and protein. We call these our macronutrients. But what are they?

FYI, Carbs Aren’t Evil

Carbs, are the movement fuel of the body. This is where the body gets its fuel for your workout. The ACSM recommends that roughly half of your daily caloric intake comes from carbs.

Carbs may sometimes be described as ‘simple’ or ‘complex’. All this means is that the way they’re chemically constructed affects how the body absorbs them. As a general rule, complex carbs (such as those found in rice and legumes) should be prioritised because they are absorbed much more steadily (which may help prevent cravings throughout the day). Simple carbs (such as the those found in sweets) should be limited as much as possible. 

It’s actually newly recommended that, before a workout, it’s best to consume a combination of a simple and complex carb source to help fuel the entirety of the workout, since each carb type will be used by the body at a different time.

Fats Aren’t Evil, Either

Fats are the function fuel of the body. This is where the body gets its fuel for many essential bodily functions. The ACSM recommends that roughly a third of your daily caloric intake comes from fats.

To remain healthy, the body requires a certain handful of vitamins from whole foods in the diet, some of which can only be absorbed when consumed with a fatty food. This is why low-fat diets can be potentially harmful in the long run, because it’s much harder to successfully get all your daily vitamins if you’re deliberately avoiding any fatty food. 

So in short, fats are good. 

Fats may be described as either ‘saturated’ or ‘unsaturated’. All this means is that the way they’re chemically constructed. As a general rule, unsaturated fats (such as those found in avocados) should be prioritised for the above reasons. Saturated fats (such as those found in butter) should be limited as much as possible since they can increase your cholesterol and risk of heart disease.

Protein Isn’t Just for Arnie

Protein is the recovery fuel of the body. This is where the body gets its fuel for recovering from illness, or injury or for building muscle. The ACSM recommends that roughly a quarter of your daily caloric intake comes from protein.

Protein is used for more than just building muscle. The body is constantly growing and repairing; this is known as your immune system and protein is its best friend. However, in the context of weight loss, a high-protein diet can help preserve muscle mass whilst you’re in a caloric deficit. This is incredibly important, because keeping your muscle mass around will help you burn more calories since muscles are very hungry for energy. But before you worry ladies, doing this won’t make you ‘jacked’ like Arnie. It’s actually recommended by the ACSM that all healthy adults participate in some form of resistance training for the preservation of muscle mass, since doing this can offset the development of osteoporosis and prevention of injuries from falls as we age.

You may have heard of the term ‘essential amino acids’. All this means is that some types of protein can’t be synsethised inside our body, and so must come from what we eat. It’s for this reason it is strongly recommend you get your protein from a variety of sources such as meat and dairy and vegetables. In other words, don’t replace every meal with a protein shake.

Low Fat vs Low Carb?

Some people choose a diet that is low in carbs; as your body adapts to using fat stores for energy during extended periods of cardio, this can be a valid preference. Some people choose a diet that is low in fats since it’s significantly easier to produce a caloric deficit because fats contain over twice as many calories per gram as carbs do, meaning for people who struggle to track their intake, this can also be a valid preference. 

Whatever you might read, it’s essential you understand the following statement. No diet is inherently better or healthier than any other for weight loss - only a diet that allows you to sustain a consistent caloric deficit will guarantee the results you want.

Adherence to the diet you choose is more important than the type of diet you choose, so long as a caloric deficit is maintained.

Context is Everything

When it comes to diet and nutrition it’s easy to focus too much on the detail and forget the bigger picture. This is why, as a qualified Personal Trainer, I like to refer to this pyramid of nutrition as a general guide to advise my clients. As this pyramid shows, the most essential most all-encompassing aspects of your nutrition are found at the base. The nuances are at the top.

Most people make the mistake of focusing on the top of their pyramid before building a solid foundation to it.

In this blog we have focused a lot of attention on the bottom two levels, because of the majority of people this is all that’s needed to see results - if done correctly. The upper levels are beyond the scope of this article and subject to much more nuance; these are something only a qualified exercise professional or medically trained practioner could advise you on based on your specific cirucmstances.

My job is to help them make better choices based on their goals. Want to lose weight? Maintain a caloric deficit. Want to gain muscle & strength? Maintain a caloric surplus. Want to eat healthier? Eat a diet with limited simple carbs, saturated fats but with a priority for whole foods.

Need more advice?

If you need more advice on how to achieve your specific goals then feel free to get in touch and I can help you work out what’s best for you.