Jump rope

The single highest-MET activity in Cal Core's library — and you don't need more than a few square feet to do it.

To burn 500 kcal at 70kg, intermediate fitness

≈ 33 min of jump rope

How jump rope burns calories

Every jump is a small explosive effort: you leave the ground, control the rope, and absorb the landing, dozens of times a minute. That repeated burst-and-land cycle is why jump rope outranks even running for energy cost per minute.

At 12.3 MET, two minutes of steady jump rope costs roughly the same energy as four minutes of running for most people — useful when time, not distance, is the constraint.

What changes the real number

Jump height: minimizing how high you jump keeps the pace fast without wasting effort
Rope speed and tricks: double-unders and crossovers raise the per-minute cost over a basic bounce
Rest breaks: jump rope is rarely sustained continuously — interval structure changes the realistic average burn rate
Surface: jumping on concrete versus a sprung floor changes impact load, which affects how long you can sustain the pace

Technique notes

Keep jumps low and quick — barely clearing the rope each time is more efficient than a high hop
Rotate the rope from your wrists, not your shoulders or elbows
Land softly on the balls of your feet with slightly bent knees to reduce shin and joint strain
Start with 30-60 second intervals rather than trying to sustain continuous jumping — most beginners stop from rope mistakes, not fatigue

How it compares

🏃Running9.8 MET

Jump rope burns faster than running (12.3 vs 9.8 MET) and needs almost no space, but is harder to sustain for long stretches.

🔥HIIT8 MET

Jump rope is often used as a HIIT exercise itself — both rely on short, explosive efforts repeated in rounds.