Weighted Jump Rope Vs. Speed Rope

If you haven't picked up a skipping rope since you were an adolescent, give this useful exercise tool some consideration. Whether you use a traditional speed rope or a weighted rope, skipping gives your entire body a thorough workout that you can attain in a short period of time. Choosing between the two styles of rope depends on your reason for working out.

A speed rope is a lightweight skipping rope made of any number of materials, but often it's made of plastic or rubber. As its name indicates, this style of rope allows you to skip quickly -- as fast as your arms can make the rope spin. Many gyms provide speed ropes for their members to use as a calorie-burning exercise, and if you want a quick, low-maintenance workout at home, investing in a speed rope is effective.

Weighted jump ropes appear somewhat like traditional ropes, but are equipped with weighted handles to give your arms more of a workout as you skip. The cord of many weighted ropes is thicker and heavier than those of speed ropes, which creates more resistance as as it spins, thus making it more challenging to operate. Although jumping with a weighted rope gives you a cardio workout, its primary benefit is building muscle in your arms, back and chest.

With a lightweight speed rope, you'll be able to jump quickly and perform a variety of skipping variations, including single-leg jumps, sprinting and crossovers. If you're quick, a speed rope will appear as a blur, and because it requires you to jump quickly, it's an effective calorie burner. You won't be able to jump as quickly with a weighted rope, but using this style of rope will build more muscle than a speed rope. You'll likely tire quicker when using a weighted skipping rope.

Jumping rope exercises the muscles throughout your entire body and is ideal because it's a lower-impact exercise than jogging. Harvard Medical School reports that a 155-pound person who jumps rope for 30 minutes will burn roughly 372 calories, which puts the exercise on par with cycling, running and swimming. Jumping rope is an effective warm up for a rigorous workout routine or can serve as a stand-alone workout if you're short on time.