Short, intense bouts of activity & increased muscle mass are the only proven ways to give your metabolism a boost; this 20 Minute Home Cardio Workout video is a perfect example of a training style that will stoke your body’s fat burning furnace (particularly in conjunction with a strength training routine meant to increase lean muscle mass).

Here’s how this routine works; there are 60 second intervals of a few different styles of jumping rope, with 14 repetitions of a bodyweight toning exercise between each minute of the high intensity cardio. There are three rounds total, for a workout time of 20 minutes.

We estimate that this routine can burn 198-285 calories. That’s more than you will burn on any elliptical, and you would have to run at 7-8 miles per hour for 20 minutes without rest to get the same caloric burn from a treadmill. This routine on the other hand, requires only a jump rope, build coordination, gives you short breathers to catch your breath between intervals, and also includes some toning exercises.


About the exercises that make up this Jump Rope Weight Loss Routine:

60 Seconds Jumping Rope, Skipping – Kick one foot out in front of your body as the other hops under one passing of the rope. This requires a bit of coordination and it might take you a couple of tries to get the feel of it, if you haven’t touched a jumping rope since first grade.

Tricep Push Ups – This variation of a push up still targets your chest and engages the abs in a similar fashion to the original version, but it’s main focus is those tricep muscles. You can do this bodyweight exercise from your knees, or go up onto your toes to make it more challenging.


60 Seconds Jumping Rope, Two Foot Hop – You can make this one a bit harder & target the upper body better by speeding up the rotation of the rope so that each time you hop, the rope passes under your feet.

Crisscross Crunch – This is a fantastic exercise for the obliques, abdominals, hip flexors and quads. Because it engages so many muscle groups, it burns an exceptionally high number of calories for an abs exercise.


60 Seconds Jumping Rope, Jogging – This jumping rope style is simply jogging in place in time with the passing of the cord under your feet. Because you’re coordinating the rotations, your upper body gets a workout that it normally wouldn’t, plus your feet are forced to become more agile.

Alternating Lunges – One of the best moves you can do to tone and shape the thighs and glutes, this also engages the calves and core for stabilization.


60 Seconds Jumping Rope, Single Foot (alternating) – Just in case your calves were not already completely burnt out, we added in a round of single foot hopping. Watch for the cues on when to switch the foot you are hopping on; it’s roughly every 15 hops that you will need to switch to the opposite foot.


Heads up! This jump rope workout video will leave you sore if you haven’t used this simple cardio tool in a while – even if you are an avid exerciser. Make sure that you are okay with being a bit sore (in a good way) the next day and make sure to warm up and cool down to lessen the intensity of stiff muscles.