The popularity of High Intensity Interval Training (HIIT) has made it the workout of choice for those seeking to lose fat and increase endurance. HIIT offers a lot of benefits. For starters, it gives your legs a great workout. Where burning fat is concerned, HIIT works by releasing fatty acids into the bloodstream during its high intensity phase. By increasing HGH (the hormone that burns fat while preserving muscle) levels, burning of fat is made faster and more efficient. And that much sough-after EPOC? Well, HIIT results in an after-burn effect that lasts for hours after the workout. It is also a very versatile workout that HIIT routines can be formulated for sprints, squats, stair climbing, treadmill routines and the lowly jump rope.

Jumping or skipping rope has always been a fun and easy form of cardio exercise. The routine is not complicated to do. C'mon, what could be easier than holding two ends of the rope, whipping it over your head, then under your feet in alternating motions? It's also cheap. A good quality jump rope can cost you anywhere under $10. It doesn't also take up much space and is portable and thus can be brought anywhere. More importantly, jumping rope exercises are great routines for conditioning the anaerobic and aerobic energy systems. This feature of jump rope exercises make it ideal for HIIT training.

A HIIT jump rope workout can achieve maximum benefits if the same principles of HIIT training are followed. That is, you need to do high intensity and low intensity jump rope routines alternately. You can determine the number of intervals by counting the number of jumps you make, the length of time for each interval or by monitoring your heart rate through a heart rate monitor that you can conveniently strap to your wrist. Because it can be difficult to count the number of jumps especially when you're already so focused on the high intensity level of your workout, it's much better to time your intervals. Rest intervals do not necessarily mean full stops. You can simply do a light walk, enough to bring down your heart rate, before you bring it up again at the next high intensity interval.

A sample HIIT jump rope routine that you can do would include a full minute of skipping, then two minutes of walking in place. Do this three minute routine for five sets. You can even incorporate sit ups in a high intensity jump rope routine. For example, you can do double jumps for 30 seconds then single leg rope jumps for 60 seconds. Afterwards, drop to the floor for 50 sit ups. This can be repeated twice with a 60-second resting phase. Repeat the workout for three more times.

Since there is an all-too real possibility of overtraining, especially with a HIIT jump rope routine, always make sure that you give your body sufficient time to rest for at least a day after your HIIT routine. It's advisable that you don't do strength training for your legs together with your HIIT jump rope program or you're going to tire your leg muscles too much.