Jump Rope VS Sprinting: Which Is Better?
In this day and age, everyone is trying to optimize their workouts. After all, if you only have 30 minutes a day to exercise, you want to use that time as efficiently as possible. So you may ask yourself, what is the most effective form of cardiovascular exercise I can do anywhere, with little to no equipment required? Or, in other words, which is better, sprinting or jumping rope?
In many ways running and jumping rope are a lot alike. Running is essentially a million little jumps when broken down to its most basic elements. Since running and jumping rope are so similar, we’ll have to break them down into a few sections to determine which is better.
Is sprinting or jumping rope better for weight loss?
You will see significant body composition changes if you sprint or jump rope for a month. If you’d like to know more, I have an article about the results from sprinting daily for a month and jumping rope daily for a month.
When determining what’s best for weight loss, we must look at calories burned. Calories burned during any activity will largely be determined by your size and the effort or intensity of the exercise.
Compared to running, jumping rope burns the same amount of calories when performed in ten-minute bouts. However, sprinting is not done in ten-minute bouts. Instead, it is generally done in 20-second to one-minute sets. And the same is true about jumping rope; most beginners cannot jump rope for more than 45-second intervals.
Sprinting is nearer to maximum effort than jumping rope and is more of an anaerobic exercise than an aerobic one like a jump rope. Think of sprinting more as strength training than cardio.
Since you will likely jump rope for much longer than you’d sprint, you will probably burn more calories jumping rope. However, long-term building muscle is more important for body composition.
Muscle burns calories at rest, the most valuable time to burn calories if your goal is weight loss. Professional bodybuilders wake up in the middle of the night to eat chicken and rice to prevent weight loss. They have so much muscle mass that they need a midnight meal to prevent weight loss.
So in order to determine if sprinting or jump rope is better for weight loss, we must first determine:
Is sprinting or jumping rope better for building strength?
Building strength is always a product of progressive overload. Meaning you get stronger when you do challenging things. Since both jumping rope and sprinting are challenging exercises and can be made more challenging by increasing the weight of the rope or the incline of the sprint to build strength, both work well for building strength.
However, once a person becomes proficient at jump rope, they can jump rope for much longer, turning it into aerobic exercise, which is excellent for cardiovascular health, burning calories, and mental health. In addition, jumping rope will help you build strength in your calves, quads, shoulders, and core. To make it even more of a strength and shoulder workout, grab a weighted rope.
Sprinting, on the other hand, will never become an aerobic exercise. Even the best sprinters in the world can’t sprint for more than two minutes. And they can’t maintain maximum speed for more than 100 meters. Sprinting will always be a challenging strength exercise, regardless of your proficiency.
Sprinting uphill or with a weighted vest can significantly increase the difficulty of this exercise, so you will always be building muscle. In addition, sprinting is also an underrated core and tricep exercise. Pumping your arms full speed will produce tricep definition, even if you are a regular lifter. While attempting to run full speed and maintain your balance will engage your core.
Overall sprinting is better for building strength than jump roping and thus also better for weight loss.
Is sprinting or jumping rope better for building endurance?
When it comes down to it, endurance is just how long you can maintain an activity.
The best way to improve endurance is to train endurance. Since initially, you will only be able to jump rope in short bursts, think about the total time spent doing the activity. For example, if one day you do ten sets of one-minute jump rope, that’s ten minutes of jump rope. If you want to improve your endurance, aim for eleven minutes of total jump rope next time. Keep increasing the total volume until you are at your goal time. And then decrease the number of sets you do it in.
Another way to increase your endurance is to build strength. Strength helps you build endurance. Just think about the powerlifter that can squat 500 lbs once; he is also capable of squatting 100 lbs fifty times and will rarely, if ever, train for endurance. In that way, sprinting and jump rope both build endurance.
However, if you want to build endurance, jumping rope is the better tool. It is why it is so popular among boxers. Staying light on your feet after boxing for a few minutes is one of the most significant challenges in any sport.
Is sprinting or jumping rope safer?
Both sprinting and jumping rope are high-impact exercises. As a result, either can lead to injury. The two most common causes are doing too much too soon or overuse. No matter which exercise you choose, you must ease into it and rest adequately between workouts. Listen to your body and progress slowly.
Sprinting and jump rope aren’t great for people coming off knee, hip, or ankle injuries or with chronic issues in any of the aforementioned areas.
Of the two exercises, jumping rope is the safer option. Sprinting involves running full speed over terrain that may or may not be even. One misstep or uneven ground can result in injury. Jumping rope is much more controlled. You only need about ten feet of space, and the pace is slower.
The slower pace and controlled environment make jumping rope safer than sprinting.
Which is better for you?
The best exercise is the one you enjoy doing. While certain exercises are slightly better than others for specific things. Doing any exercise regularly is better than doing the best exercises for "xyz" just a few times. Try to make exercise fun for you!
