Jumping jacks, also known as star jumps is a full-body exercise that targets major muscle groups and is a great addition to any home or cardio workout. Jumping jacks is a form of plyometric exercise, which is a mixture of aerobic and resistance training.
This exercise can be used as a warm-up to rev up your cardiovascular system by increasing your body temperature and increasing blood flow to your muscles. It can be included in your cardio workout routines, or even used as a form of active rest!
Increasing your heart rate is one of the best ways to burn fat, and learning how to do jumping jacks along with their variations is an awesome way to burn fat and build muscles at the same time without weights. Research suggests that plyometric training increases muscular power and strength, especially developments in vertical jump height. Both aerobic and resistance training are the fundamentals of good physical health.
Jumping jacks is an effective total-body workout that can be practiced nearly everywhere. It works on your heart, lungs, and muscles simultaneously. The primary muscles worked are the glutes, hip flexors, and quadriceps. The secondary muscles worked are the abs, calves, hamstrings, and shoulders (anterior deltoids and posterior deltoids).
This is a beginner’s level exercise that is suitable for all fitness levels. The movement path is very simple and it does not require much effort. Moreover, they are a great way to do cardio anytime and anywhere. Jumping jacks can be utilized as a low-impact or a high-impact exercise. Depending on your fitness level, you can modify the intensity.
This exercise can be used as a dynamic warm-up to elevate the heart rate or as a main cardio workout. In fact, a 2022 study suggests that neuromuscular warm-up has been shown to reduce the risk of injury and improve performance.
You should move on to harder variations once you have achieved your reps and set goals.
Squat jacks can be a great addition to your cardio or full-body workout. Your legs will never be the same if you perform them at a high intensity! This variation includes an additional squat when you extend your legs and arms out to your sides, which will target your glutes, quads, and shoulders. To perform this you will:
Plank jacks are a great tweak to the basic jumping jacks. This variation will put more emphasis on your core and shoulders as you would perform them by being in a push-up position. Your lower body muscles such as the adductors and glutes will also be targeted. To perform this, you will:
Burpees is a compound exercise that works on many muscle groups in your body. This exercise is a combination of a push-up and a squat jump, which makes them awesome for developing strength, and endurance, while shredding calories. To perform this, you will:
This is another plyometric exercise that develops your main lower body muscles such as the glutes, quadriceps, hamstrings, and calves. Training this will increase your speed and power, along with raising your heart rate and burning calories. It is highly recommended that you begin with using a lower platform, and as you get stronger, you can increase the height of the platform to create a progressive overload. To perform this, you will:
Jumping jacks works on your entire body which includes your glutes, hip flexors, core, and shoulders. It is a combination of aerobic and resistance training that develops your heart, lungs, and muscles all at once. You can use jumping jacks and other plyometric exercise in a superset such as the burpees to increase the metabolic demand of a workout session.
Performing jumping jacks at a higher intensity will increase muscle power, explosiveness, and body control. This exercise induces a high training heart rate, which can lead to calorie burn, and greater fat loss, which results in an increased metabolism where you burn more calories at a higher rate. According to research, plyometric training increases flexibility, muscle power, and lower body fat.
Plyometric exercises such as jumping jacks, jump squats, and burpees are beneficial for your bone health. Research has suggested that doing ten to twenty jumping repetitions per day can increase your bone strength and improve your bone density. However, if the impact from the jumps is too much, try bending the knees to reduce the effect. Jumping Jacks could keep osteoarthritis and osteoporosis away!
Jumping jacks can be used in your routines as a warm-up exercise or even as a killer cardio workout. Whatever you choose, you can scale it to your fitness level by choosing the appropriate variation and performing it at the right tempo (speed of exercise).
This exercise brings a whole range of benefits and they're simple to do. It's a fun full-body exercise that cost you nothing, and the rush of endorphin release almost guarantees that you'll feel good afterwards!
My name is Pat Chadwick, I am a calisthenics coach with over 4 years of experience in helping people from all backgrounds to achieve their calisthenics goals. My goal is to become the number one calisthenics coach in the world as it is my passion to help people change their lives through inspiring bodyweight movements. I believe everyone deserves the right to feel good about their health, body, and be delighted inside and out.
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