Although it may have seemed effortless as a kid, jumping rope is a highly taxing activity that most people can't sustain for more than a few minutes at a time. It's one of ACSM spokesperson Jim White's top picks for big-time calorie burners. “When you're jumping like that, it's almost like full sprinting,” he says. A 155-pound person can burn 372 calories in 30 minutes. But, because it's hard to do for an extended period of time, White recommends doing it in intervals, where you jump rope vigorously for a few minutes and then recover by jogging in place for a minute or two.