The vast majority of the exercising population is working out for one reason and one reason only; weight control. Being inactive at work, spending excessive time sat down in your home and consuming excessive amounts of the incorrect kind of foods has actually left a sizable percent of the population considerably over weight as well as obese. It's not simply adults that are experiencing this problem either; children are getting fatter as well.

Being overly fat is not simply an aesthetic problem; it could detrimentally impact your health and quality of life. Things are getting so bad that the World Health Organization (WHO) have appeared and said that weight problems is an epidemic that needs to be addressed sooner rather than later. Research suggests that being overweight could also take years off of your expected life-span so, overall, it's not surprising that that many of us are trying our hardest to slim down and get fit.

Slimming down is as much about diet as it is exercise so it's important that, if you intend to lose a few (or a lot of) pounds, you switch the sugary soft drinks for water and kick the junk food into touch in favor of more vegetables and lean protein. It is, after all, impossible to out exercise a bad diet. However, when your diet is arranged it's time to start working up a sweat and burn some calories.

Ideally, you should be active most days of the week. Our ancestors worked the land, walked for transport and did manual work yet many of us now spend our time sat at workdesks or in comfy chairs in front of the TV. To balance out an otherwise inactive way of life you should embrace an activity that you could fit seamlessly into your way of life and perform anytime you have a few minutes spare. While you could join a gym, heading off for a workout at your local fitness palace could take a large part out of your day and if you are going to exercise daily, as you should, maybe this isn't really the best option.

As an alternative, how about purchasing yourself a speed rope and skipping for a few minutes daily? Other than your rope, you do not require any type of special equipment or clothing, you can jump rope pretty much any way and any time and skipping is an incredible calorie burner-- easily comparable to jogging, swimming or hitting the fitness center. Because skipping uses each of your big muscles and is a weight-bearing task, it develops not just your fitness and helps you burn fat but also strengthens your bones and enhances your balance and coordination. Skipping is an extremely effective exercise!

So how many calories does skipping burn? Excellent question! The answer relies on a couple of factors including how heavy you are and how quick you skip but a typical, moderately competent rope jumper could expect to burn approximately 220 calories in 15 minutes. Jump rope for longer or faster and this number shoots up considerably.

When it comes to burning calories for weight loss, jumping rope is effective, convenient, easy to learn and very accessible. Fighters have made use of skipping to help them lose excess weight for over one hundred years so if it helps these elite athletes, you know it'll work for you.