If you’re looking to add some high-intensity cardio to your workout routine, jump rope and burpees are two excellent options.
But which one is better? That depends on your goals?
In my opinion, jump rope is the best full-body HIIT exercise for most people. Jumping rope torches calories, builds endurance, and works your entire body with minimal equipment needed. However, if you want more of a muscle-building, strength-focused exercise, burpees might be a better choice. Burpees target nearly every muscle group by combining a pushup, plank, and squat jump in one fluid motion.
Keep reading to explore the individual benefits of each exercise below.
Skipping: The Lowdown
Cardiovascular Benefits
Skipping is an easy-to-perform exercise that offers numerous cardiovascular benefits. It enhances heart health, facilitates oxygen flow through your lungs, and helps burn excess fats in your body.
Weight Loss
You start to lose critical pounds as the additional fat reserves keep burning. The result is that you’re closer to your target weight and feel better by the end of the session.
Coordination and Agility Movements
Jump rope improves your center of gravity and lets you develop better balance. Your bodily coordination also gets enhanced as your hands and feet sync to let the ropes sweep under you on every loop.
Convenience
You can efficiently perform jump rope in your basement gym or outside your garage. You don’t have to run for miles or cycle around the block to shed a few pounds.
Moves the Entire Body
The action of jumping rope engages your hands, arms, shoulders, and legs in simultaneous movement and swinging. Continued skipping ensures consistent workouts for all these body parts.
Versatile and Mild/Intense
Jump rope allows you full liberty to modify your movements, tone down the effort, or intensify your action. You can speed up your skipping, use only one leg, or try two skips of the rope on one jump.
Burpees: The Lowdown
Full-body Workout
No other exercise exerts your whole body like burpees. Your core strengthens, your glutes get better, your chest expands, your back straightens, and your limbs all get a proper workout.
Cardiovascular Benefits
Burpees is an intensive exercise that gets your heart rate up instantly. The intensity also makes your heart pump on overdrive, making it the ultimate cardiovascular exercise.
Fat Loss
The intense cardio burns up those extra fats and calories faster than any other cardio exercise. You’ll have to jump rope at full intensity for twice as long to see similar results.
Working Different Muscle Groups
Burpees force you to move and operate a broader range of muscles and body parts. The large motions and intense movement exert powers that skipping alone cannot reach.
Beginner to Advanced
Fitness enthusiasts from any category can perform burpees. Beginners can start slow and linger to let the body get used to the motions. Experienced athletes can pick up the pace and make it a high-intensity training session.
Comparison of Jump Rope Vs. Burpees
Your Goals
Your fitness goals can dictate the amount of jump rope or burpees you should perform.
For instance, if you are recovering from an injury or accident, you may find jump rope to be a safer option for resuming exercise.
On the other hand, fitness enthusiasts who enjoy challenging themselves might lean more toward burpees.
Muscle Groups Targeted
Jump ropes target your arms, forearms, leg muscles, shoulders, and grip strength, while burpees target your shoulders, back, core, chest, arms, and legs.
Difficulty Level
Burpees are clearly the more challenging and intense exercise between the two, requiring a certain level of fitness to perform correctly and with the recommended form.
On the other hand, jumping rope is an exercise that individuals with a basic level of fitness can typically perform with ease.
Equipment Needed
Burpees require no equipment, whereas for skipping, you’ll need a jump rope, which consists of a wire or rope attached to handles on both ends. The Crossrope Get Lean Set Rope is a fantastic choice for this activity.
Moreover, a 10-minute beginner jump rope workout available on YouTube is a great starting point for integrating skipping into your fitness regimen using the Crossrope Get Lean Set Rope.
Space Required
Both exercises require minimal space. Jump rope may need more space for the rope to swing over, in front, and behind you. Burpees only need enough space for a planking position.
Workout
Burpees remain the more intense and calorie-burning exercise compared to jump rope. You’ll need to jump rope over 3000 times to match the calories burnt from 200 burpees.
Which will Burn More Calories?
| Exercise Trait | Jump Rope | Burpees |
|---|---|---|
| Targeted muscle groups | Arms, legs, shoulders, core | Legs, arms, chest, back, core, shoulders |
| Intensity levels | Mild to moderate | Moderate to high |
| Cardiovascular Benefits | Good | Excellent |
| Stress on joints | Moderate | Moderate to high |
| Chances of Fatigue | Low to moderate | High |
| Duration | Moderate to Long | Short to moderate |
Why Burpees Burn More Calories Than Jump Rope?
Burpees demand a significant amount of strength and endurance to perform multiple repetitions.
Strong limbs are essential to carry and exert your body through the motions. Additionally, you need to have enough energy to sustain several repetitions.
This intensity causes your heart rate to increase and requires more oxygen consumption. As a result, your body utilizes existing fats and burns fresh calories.
Although skipping also aids in calorie burn, its intensity does not match that of burpees.
Are The Two Exercises The Same?
No, burpees are categorized as calisthenics. Calisthenics exercises activate several muscle groups, involve a variety of body movements, and use your body’s weight for resistance. The goal is to make you fitter and stronger.
Jump rope is a simpler, aerobic exercise that involves repeating moderately intense movements for an extended period. It relies on the body using more oxygen to support these movements and shedding extra weight.
What Exercise is Better Than Burpees?
Exercises such as rowing, kettlebell swings, and box jumps can offer intense workouts comparable to burpees. Whether they are superior or inferior to burpees will depend on your intensity, body type, and fitness goals.
Can I do One Hour of Jump Rope Every Day?
Yes, however, beginners should avoid skipping continuously for the full hour. It’s advisable to break up your hour into manageable chunks and sessions of 10-15 minutes each.
More experienced athletes may be able to do hours of jump rope over the course of a day.
The Risks of Burpees
The most significant risk associated with burpees arises from joint stress due to its high intensity.
- Joint stress affects the legs, including the ankles and knees.
- The arms, including wrists, elbows, and shoulders, experience joint stress during the pushup phase.
- The exercise places an excessive burden on the heart to pump and work overtime, which can be dangerous for heart patients.
- Performing burpees with the incorrect form can lead to spinal injuries and back pain.
The Verdict
Burpees and jump rope are accessible, ready-to-go exercises requiring minimal equipment, no preparation, and no extra space.
Although their intensities can vary significantly, both workouts provide cardiovascular benefits that anyone can enjoy.
Consider incorporating both jump rope and burpees into your workouts for optimal results!
