We jumped rope for 5 minutes daily for a month to lose weight

We jumped rope for 5 minutes daily for a month to lose weight

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SALT LAKE CITY — We all want an easy fix to losing weight. Maybe there is some magic secret or untold mystery waiting for us to discover to help shed the pounds off our bodies.

Until these mysteries have been unlocked, however, we’ll continue to find new techniques and so-called solutions to help us lose weight. One such idea is jumping rope. It’s a great cardiovascular exercise that gets your heart rate up with relatively little effort and it doesn’t take a lot of know-how to understand its mechanics.

But can jumping up and down while flailing your arms in rhythmic patterns really make a difference in your life? Enter the 30-day jump rope challenge. It’s simple: jump rope for 5 minutes a day for 30 days and watch your life improve, or at least that’s what the challenge proclaims.

A study conducted at Arizona State University in 2013 found that jumping rope for 10 minutes was as efficient as a 30-minute jog. So cutting that time in half would likely serve as beneficial and be more accessible to the general public, in terms of quick exercises.

But does it really work for the average person? To test out the challenge, four members of the KSL.com team — Natalie Crofts, Devon Dewey, Josh Furlong and Faith Heaton Jolley — embarked upon the challenge to see if it would have an impact on their lives.

Each did a pre-challenge measurement where body weight, body fat percentage, resting heart rate and blood pressure were recorded. Each week these same measurements were taken, as well as a post-workout heart rate, to see if jumping rope made a difference over the 30 days.

As with any exercise challenge you embark on, first consult a doctor to see if you should physically take part in the activity.

Natalie Crofts

Pre-challenge measurements:
Weight: 128.6
Height: 5'3"
Body fat: 25.6%
Resting heart rate: 68 BPM
Blood pressure: 110/73

I’d like to think of myself as someone who is somewhat in shape since I go on fairly regular runs, but the first few days of this jump rope challenge was terrible for my self-esteem. It took the first two days just to finally figure out the right length for my jump rope and stop getting tangled in it every 20 seconds.

By the second week I didn’t feel winded by the end of the five minutes, but I still kept messing up every 30 turns or so and my calves burned. It took until the second to last week for me to finally make it more than 100 turns without hitting myself. Even now, I’m a lot better at jumping rope but I wouldn’t say I’m great at it by any stretch of the imagination.

It was harder than I expected and I didn’t see any changes in my body, but I actually really enjoyed the 30-day challenge. I liked the fact that I was guaranteed to have at least five minutes of a good workout on days where I didn’t have time to run or the weather was bad. There were a couple of times where I jumped in front of my apartment at 2 a.m. in the rain so I wouldn’t fail my team for this article.

While I probably will forget sometimes, I plan to keep trying to jump rope for 5 minutes every day. With more time, hopefully I’ll improve.

Post-challenge measurements:
Weight: 129.9
Body fat: 25.3%
Resting heart rate: 61 BPM
Blood pressure: 105/76

Devon Dewey

Pre-challenge measurements:
Weight: 167.6
Height: 5’8”
Body fat: 21.4%
Resting heart rate: 72 BPM
Blood pressure: 122/84

I remember jumping rope was pretty easy back in grade school. Fast-forward 20 years and I now realize jumping rope isn’t quite as easy as I remember. I wasn’t very good at the beginning of the month and took advantage of every time I tripped up on the rope to take a quick break and let my legs rest a little. By the end, I was able to go for much longer without making a mistake and without needing a break.

During the whole month, my weight and body fat percentage fluctuated up and down. By the end, my weight was basically unchanged but my body fat had almost gone down an entire percentage point. I plan to keep jumping rope for 5 minutes as part of my daily routine to see if I can continue to lower my body fat percentage.

Post-challenge measurements:
Weight: 167.3
Body fat: 20.5%
Resting heart rate: 70 BPM
Post-workout heart rate: 142 BPM
Blood pressure: 131/77

Josh Furlong

Pre-challenge measurements:
Weight: 184.4
Height: 5’9”
Body fat: 25.5%
Resting heart rate: 61 BPM
Blood pressure: 121/68

The thought of jumping rope for five minutes seemed really easy. How hard could it be to jump rope for five minutes after all? I honestly thought I could get through it and expect to be able to do a lot more. However, five consecutive minutes of jumping rope was much harder than I thought. The first few days felt similar to that of when I would run two miles.

As the challenge went on, I found that it did get easier, but it still felt like a chore. I did get to where I could go for three straight minutes without the rope hitting me or feeling like I needed to stop, which was great. My calf muscles seemed to gain the most from this exercise and were sore most days. If anything, my calves are more tone now than when I started.

However, there was no real weight-loss benefit as you can see below. In fact, I slightly gained some weight (facepalm!). I didn’t try to manipulate the results and stayed with my regular eating habits, which apparently need to be changed so I can lose weight.

Although I won’t continue to do the challenge each day, I do find jump roping a valuable addition to any exercise routine I will take part in.

Post-challenge measurements:
Weight: 184.7
Body fat: 25.7%
Resting heart rate: 61 BPM
Post-workout heart rate: 138 BPM
Blood pressure: 123/83

Faith Heaton Jolley

Pre-challenge measurements:
Weight: 144.4
Height: 5’5”
Body fat: 27.2%
Resting heart rate: 65 BPM
Post-workout heart rate: 108 BPM
Blood pressure: 122/69

Jumping rope for five minutes was a definite struggle at the beginning. Granted, the only exercise I get is a 45-minute sand volleyball game once a week, but on day one, I had a really hard time doing the five minutes (I had to stop a lot). But as time went on, my calf muscles got in better shape and I was able to jump rope for way longer stretches without messing up or needing a break.

Even though it’s only five minutes, it is actually a pretty decent cardio workout — I personally think it’s much harder than running for 15 minutes. However, I think because it’s such a short amount of time, it didn’t affect my overall weight loss, blood pressure, etc. I did feel in better shape because my calf muscles and arms were strengthened from repeating the same daily exercise, but overall the numbers didn’t really change (as seen below.)

If I were really trying to lose weight, I would definitely change my diet to more healthy eating and I would continue jump roping each day, but I would increase the time to at least 20 minutes.

Post-challenge measurements:
Weight: 143.5
Body fat: 26.9%
Resting heart rate:83 BPM
Post-workout heart rate: 108 BPM
Blood pressure: 121/76

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