A good figure, strong toned muscles and excellent health in the absence of excess fat is the dream of every modern girl or guy. People often think that the process of losing weight and getting healthy requires a huge amount of time, effort, and financial investment. However, experts believe that all this is available to everyone, you just need to do a few correct exercises, switch to proper nutrition and the problem will be solved. We will look at how to do the Jumping Jack exercise, one of the universal exercises for losing weight and maintaining physical fitness, in our article.
Pros of exercise
- Exercise promotes weight loss due to its high energy consumption when performed correctly.
- Improves blood circulation, increases the overall endurance of the body.
- Strengthens the cardiovascular system.
- It is performed without additional equipment; in order to change the load, the pace or complexity of the technique can be increased.
- The exercise can also be simplified by performing a less impact version without jumping.
- Suitable for most athletes, regardless of training level.
Who should skip these exercises?
The jumping jack exercise involves the inclusion of jumps when performing it. It's right there in the title, if we take the literal translation from English. So if you know you're not best friends with jumping, feel free to skip it and do other exercises. for example, the Tibetan gymnastics Eye of the Renaissance, which involves a somewhat gentle regime.
Who are these people?
- People with lower body injuries. “Anyone with an acute ankle, knee or hip injury, such as a sprained ankle, torn knee ligament or hip impingement syndrome, should temporarily avoid jumping movements.
- Pregnant women. The American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists doesn't name such exercises, but they do recommend moderate-intensity workouts over intense workouts. Additionally, during pregnancy, hormones cause your joints to become looser, putting you at greater risk of injury from impact movements such as the jumping jack exercise.
- If you have chronic problems such as osteoarthritis. Proceed with caution if you live with degenerative changes in the entire musculoskeletal system, osteoarthritis or scoliosis.
- Some people feel good during exercise (even vigorous movement). While others are in pain.
If you don't have any of these problems, but just don't like these types of jumping exercises, do something else. Here you can recommend effective exercises with a fitball for the whole body.
You may be feeling pain, evaluate and correct your technique. If the pain persists, the jumping jack may not be the best exercise for you.
Jumping jack technique
- Stand straight with your feet together (if stability is not enough, you can place your feet hip-width apart). Lower your arms freely along your body.
- Exhale and jump with your feet wider than shoulder-width apart while raising your arms above your head. When lifting, your arms should be bent at the elbow joints. Jumps are performed gently on slightly bent knees, landing on your toes.
- As you inhale, jump back to the starting position - lower your arms along your body and bring your feet together.
- The abdominal muscles should be tense.
- Repeat the movements as many times as necessary.
Cons and contraindications of exercise
Some believe that jumping jack is a complete alternative to running and can be easily replaced with these exercises. Unfortunately, for non-runners, this is not entirely true. Jumping lacks forward movement, which is the basis of running. Of course, you can also jump, and even preferably, in the fresh air, but this will not replace a morning jog.
In addition, jumping gives the greatest effect when combined with other activities. It's good to include it in your overall fitness program. The good news is that this is practically the only disadvantage of this exercise.
This workout is used not only by beginners or amateurs, but also by professional athletes both in fitness and in other areas of sports. Since such jumps perfectly warm up the body, they can be used as a warm-up before the main workout. You can also use them as a type of cutting cardio for weight loss.
As for contraindications for performance, they are quite standard and apply to other types of cardio and fitness.
Don't do jumping jack:
- People with spinal problems.
- Injuries to the knee joints.
- Serious diseases of the cardiovascular system.
- Immediately after the operations.
Before you start training, you should always consult with your doctor or an experienced instructor.
Complication Variations
Half squat jumps
When the muscles adapt to the load, you can complicate the option by performing half-squat jumps.
The exercise is performed like this:
- Place your feet together, squat slightly with your knees bent, and bring your forearms together with your elbows bent in front of you.
- Exhale, push off with your feet and jump, spreading your feet wider than your shoulders, while simultaneously raising your arms to the sides above your shoulders.
- As you inhale, simultaneously jump back into a half-squat and bring your forearms together in front of you.
Jumping with a dumbbell
For more advanced athletes who want to increase the load on the shoulder girdle, you can add jumps while lifting the dumbbell upward.
This is done as follows:
- Place your feet together and firmly hold a dumbbell of a suitable weight in your hands by the weighting discs on your sides at the level of your collarbones. The elbows are directed downwards.
- With an exhalation, perform a simultaneous jump and lift your arms with weights upward, straightening your elbow joints.
- As you inhale, jump your feet together and lower the dumbbell to the starting position, bending your elbows.
Jumping with a fitness band
To add additional weight and increase the load on the leg muscles, you can use a fitness elastic band or mini-band.
Technique:
- Place the band on your shins, placing your feet close to each other, but so that the band does not fly off. Place your arms freely along your body.
- As you exhale, jump with your feet apart, stretching the band and feeling resistance while raising your arms above your head. You can do a clap at the top.
- As you inhale, return to the starting position.
Jumping Jack: what is it and what is it for?
Many people take jumping lightly and do not believe that they can have any serious effect on the human body. Meanwhile, the exercise uses many muscles and muscle groups, at the same time being one of the most effective for rapid weight loss, which becomes a real discovery for many. However, in order for it to really work, you will have to ensure the correct technique of its implementation and regular training, only then can you count on a quick effect.
Almost every child knows this exercise from childhood. In essence, Jumping Jack is jumping while simultaneously spreading your arms and legs to the sides. It is better known in our country under the name “Poprygunchik”.
When can it be done: what training programs is it suitable for?
- Warm up. Jumping Jack will help warm up all the muscles and prepare them for the subsequent load.
- Regular running, jogging, race walking and other aerobic exercise.
- Circuit training. Particularly suitable for those who alternate strength training with cardio exercises.
- HIIT workouts, such as CrossFit and Tabata.
- Hitch.
What muscles work and how many calories does Jumping Jack burn?
The exercise is aerobic, which means spending a large amount of the body’s energy resources, due to which excess fat deposits are burned. The following muscles are involved:
- Press.
- Latissimus dorsi muscles.
- Calf.
- Biceps femoris.
- Quadriceps.
- Gluteus maximus.
- Adductor and abductor muscles, responsible for the inner and outer surface of the thighs.
- Deltoid (shoulder) muscles.
This exercise is not suitable for muscle development or muscle building, since it does not give the desired effect. But for strengthening the heart, and most importantly, for high-quality fat burning and weight loss, this is a real find. In just half an hour of performing Jumping Jack, a person weighing approximately 70 kilograms can easily burn from 150 to 280 kilocalories, depending on the intensity of the jumps. Only jumping rope gives similar results.
Advantages and Benefits
First of all, as we have already found out, jumping is a good cardio exercise that will help train the heart muscle, and at the same time burn off excess unspent calories absorbed during the day. But that's not all there is to know about him.
- The exercise does not require any additional equipment or equipment, or a special place for training.
- Jumping helps warm up the muscles before strength training and other workouts.
- It is easy to regulate the intensity and load on your body by changing the intensity of the jumps.
- This type of training helps to develop greater endurance, that is, other exercises will be easier.
- Performing the same movements can lead to addiction and a decrease in the effectiveness of the exercises. However, Jumping Jack has many different variations that can be alternated without developing a habit.
- The exercise develops not only endurance and strength, but also flexibility, trains the vestibular apparatus, and develops coordination of movements.
Among other things, Jumping Jack is suitable for both experienced, advanced athletes who have been training for years, and beginners who are just beginning to realize themselves in this capacity.
Contraindications
In addition to the benefits and advantages, there are also contraindications that must be taken into account before you start classes.
- Rehabilitation period after serious illnesses or surgical interventions.
- Pregnancy at any stage, primary postpartum period.
- Injuries to shoulders, legs, spine.
- Varicose veins
- Large excess body weight.
- Diseases of the knee joints.
- Cardiovascular diseases.
- Thrombophlebitis.
- Diseases of the musculoskeletal system.
If your health problems are not critical, it is still better to consult a doctor. Only he can tell whether you can do Jumping Jack exercises and what intensity to choose for yourself.
Benefits of jumping jack for weight loss
Since the exercise is aerobic and can be performed for a long time, with a sufficient heart rate, energy will be consumed from fat reserves, but provided that the workout lasts at least 30-40 minutes.
Despite the fact that the exercise is fat-burning, it is not enough to perform one approach for the entire workout. For the effect to be visible, it is necessary to combine jumping with other exercises (possibly with strength ones), alternating the load. The main condition is a sufficient duration of training, only then will the exercises contribute to weight loss.
More about workouts for weight loss → More about workouts for weight loss for men →
Jumping is an exercise from childhood
The jumping jack is an exercise that everyone knows, but not everyone does it. Perhaps the fact that children are already trying to get to know him in kindergarten means that we do not take these exercises seriously. Meanwhile, fast and technically correct jumps can cause shortness of breath; after all, jumping jacks are aerobic exercises that require a lot of energy. We must also remember that they not only often appear in the warm-up plan before classes in fitness clubs, but are also part of circuit training or in people who practice gymnastics. Moreover, bouncing vigorously while doing the exercise is a good way to burn a lot of calories.
This exercise works different muscle groups: the shoulder, gluteal and abductor muscles in the hip joint, arms, back and legs. This exercise speeds up your heart rate, which means it improves blood flow to your muscles, and as part of your warm-up, minimizes the risk of injury and soreness.
