Do you know the benefits of jumping jacks? It is an effective exercise offering so much fun. It also helps you walk down memory lane. In your childhood days, you may have tried the jumps as a fun event. But, it has several benefits linked to your health. You can boost your musculoskeletal health and release your stress. It is a good cardio exercise that can pump your heart and muscles. So, you can do this workout and have some fun at the same time.
Need For Easy Exercises
You are living in a busy world. Your hectic schedule can lead to a lack of time to exercise. Some people have no time to go to the gym. But, you need to include exercises in your daily routine to become active and avoid diseases caused due to a sedentary lifestyle. Most people drown themselves in the vast ocean of professional commitments, so they ignore their mental and physical health. Reaching career highs alone may not offer you happy lives. So, you need to take some time to do simple exercises. One of the benefits of jumping jacks exercises is that you can easily do it at home at your pace. The less time consuming and effective exercise keeps you fit and healthy. You need to make it a part of life for boosting the quality of life.
Why Do You Get The Benefits Of Jumping Jacks Exercise?
The jumps are a calisthenics workout. To complete the workout, you need to jump while widening the legs with your hands up. You return to the original position and repeat it. While it may seem simple, the workout moves to impact your muscles. So, you can train the muscle to endure high pain as well as contraction. While the exercise may sound simple and breezy, you need to do it the right way to get the benefits of jumping jacks exercises. When you complete it the right way, it boosts your health. Doing it the right way will help you understand your flexibility, set the goal, push yourself to reach the goal. It is a simple exercise offering a treasure box of health benefits. Learning the hacks will help you become fit and healthy.
Steps To Follow
Here are the steps you need to follow to complete the exercise in the right way:
- You need to begin the exercise by standing straight. Keep your feet apart (shoulder width). When you are in position, you need to keep the spine and neck aligned. Also, look straight.
- Your arms must stay in the starting position by staying at the side. To avoid tensing of the neck, you need to pull the shoulder blades back and maintain the position.
- Now, jump off the floor. When you jump, keep the knees in a slight bend position and push off the floor. The power behind the jump comes from your calves and thighs. It is essential to engage the core while jumping.
- When you jump, you need to bring the arms together above the head and spread your legs simultaneously. Keep your arms actively engaged, but bend them slightly at the elbow.
- Land on the feet with toes pointing slightly outward while you maintain a broad stance. Place your hands together for a short time above the head.
- Once you land, you need to push off immediately and return to the initial position (shoulder width position).
- Simultaneously, you need to bring the hands behind the back. For people with limited range of motion, move the arms back to the sides.
Health Benefits Of Jumping Jacks Exercises
There are several benefits of jumping jacks exercises. It is a fun exercise offering effective results. If you are not convinced, then read ahead to know why you need to include them in the regular workout regimen:
Multipurpose Exercise
One of the benefits of jumping jacks exercises is you can try them as a warmup, cool down, or include them in interval training plans. Depending on the speed, you can include it before, during, or after the workout routine. Before starting the actual exercise, you can try them. Apart from stretching, exercise can help relax your muscles in different parts of the body. Increasing the speed will make your heart rate go up quickly. It will increase the number of calories you can burn. When you do the jumps slowly, it acts as perfect cool-down exercises or for the active recovery phase when you opt for a HIIT workout.
Keep Your Heart Healthy
When you include jumping jacks in your exercise routine, it keeps your heart healthy. It is the aerobic cardio exercise. So, you use oxygen during the workout to meet the energy demands of the body. It in turn raises your heartbeat and stimulates the heart muscles. By performing the exercise, your heart works harder to pump necessary oxygenated blood to the different parts of the body. It also returns the carbon dioxide loaded blood (impure blood) from the different cells. So, the workout offers exercise to the heart muscles as well as other organs in the body like lungs. Including the slow and steady exercises aids in keeping the heart-healthy.
Easier For Weight Loss
If you are trying to lose weight, then jumping jacks is the right workout to include in your routine. It is the perfect cardio exercise burning excess calories. So, you can create a negative energy balance in the body. It means you burn more energy than the calories you consume. With the deficit in calories, your body starts to burn the excess fat accumulated in the body to get the energy. Therefore, it is effective, for weight loss. You need to do three sets of fifty repetitions of the exercise. It increases your heart rate. With the higher intensity of the exercise, you will sweat off more and burn more calories.
 Improve Coordination
If you are looking for a workout helping you to coordinate the limb movements, then the jumps can aid in it. With the coordination of limb movements, you can improve brain and limb coordination. So, you can develop a better sense of timing, balance, rhythm, and posture.
Relieve Stress
Stress is a negative emotion causing havoc in people. But, jumping up and down can help you relieve stress. Moving the hands up and down prompts your brain to release serotonin. The hormone makes you feel good. Also, when you jump, it releases adrenalin. The release of adrenalin offers a rush of excitement. The combination of serotonin and adrenalin will reduce stress levels and makes you feel happy.
Offers Whole Body Workout
It is one of the exercises offering who body workout. When you jump, your legs spread apart, place your hand above the head, and land softly on the padded floor. Then, you bring the legs together while the hands move to the side. The actions offer a workout to the whole body as it works on your lats, core, chest muscles, quads, calves, hamstrings, adductors, glutes, triceps, biceps, and more. Therefore, it is the best whole body workout. When you increase the intensity, speed, number of repetitions, and sets, it makes your body fit.
Improve Flexibility
If you want to make your body flexible, then include the jumps. People with an inactive life and having a job making them sit for a long time can feel their body is inflexible. Compared to when they were a kid, the body feels rigid. So, people who are starting the workout will find it difficult to complete twenty jumps at one go. But, it is normal. You can start slowly with low-intensity jumps with fewer repetitions. As time progresses, you can jump with more speed and repetition. The exercise will make your body flexible with the proper positioning of hands and legs.
Tone The Muscles
People suffering from low muscle tone have a malnourished appearance. It makes the body look sagged. To increase the muscle tone, you need to include jumps in your routine. Apart from shedding excess fat, it also boosts muscle tone. A high-intensity version of the exercise will help shape your body. So, you will get toned arms, shoulders, calves, buttocks, and thighs.
Boosts Stamina And Stability
You can enhance your balance and stability by jumping up and landing softly. The perfect timing along with your perfect posture helps achieve it. Doing more repetitions per set and an increased number of the set will help improve stamina.
Stronger Bones
With regular exercise, you can get many health benefits. Including exercise in your routine makes you mentally and physically strong. Also, exercise improves bone mineral density. So, you can see stronger and healthier bones. You can see a positive change in the body’s reaction to stress and pathogens.
These reasons will convince you to include the jumps in your routine. But, some people may find it boring. For such people, the different variations can make the exercise interesting and effective.
Variations To Getting Better Benefits Of Jumping Jacks Exercises
Jumping jacks is a fairly easy exercise with uncomplicated moves. You have to make sure of correct posture. You can see the videos posted on YouTube to break down the steps and learn the moves better. It is important to keep the knees relaxed while doing the exercises. Try to bend them as little as possible when you land from the jump. It prevents injuries to the knees. When you are performing the exercise, you need to wear comfortable clothes and shoes. If you are getting bored with the traditional form of the exercises, then variations are available. You can try them to keep you interested. Here is the common variation to get better benefits of jumping jacks exercise.
Front Clap Jumping Jacks
As the name suggests, you bring your hands and clap with the exercise. The exercise target different areas of your body like glutes, calves, quads, hamstrings, inner thighs, triceps, biceps, shoulders, and lats.
How To Do Clap Jumping Jacks
To get the benefits of jumping jacks exercises, you need to follow the correct method. Here are the steps you need to follow:
- You need to stand straight with your feet closer together. Keep the shoulder pinched back with the hands extended in front of your chest. Place the palms facing each other and your core engaged.
- Now, jump while splitting your legs apart. You need to move the hands away and bring them in line with your shoulder by keeping them on the side. Land softly on the feet while you bend the knees a little.
- You can jump again while bringing the hands and legs together.
- Repeat the jumps at least twenty times. For better results, you can do three sets of twenty repetitions.
Get Benefits Of Jumping Jacks Exercises With Alternating Jumping Jacks
The variation includes alternating jumping jacks exercises with other forms like squatting to burn more calories and make the exercise more interesting. The exercise targets your inner things, calves, hamstrings, hip flexors, glutes, and quads.
How To Do Alternating Jumping Jacks To Get The Benefits Of Jumping Jacks Exercises
Follow the instruction suggested to complete the alternating jumping jacks.
- Step 1: You need to stand straight by keeping the feet close, pinch the shoulders back, hands by the side with the palms facing the body and keep your core engaged.
- Step 2: Now, you need to jump. While jumping split your legs in such a way that you place the right leg in front of you while the left leg remains at the back. Just bend your knees a little and do not lunge. You can flex your elbows. To balance your body, you can move the right hand back while moving the left hand in your front.
- Step 3: Next, you can jump again by bringing the right leg to the back and keep the left leg in the front. While moving your legs, you need to move the right hand to the front and keep the left hand at the back.
- Step 4: Repeat the above-mentioned steps 25 times. You can complete three sets of the jumping jacks exercises with 25 repetitions.
Plank Jacks
Do you want to work the entire core? Then, the plank jack variation is the right choice. The great variation of jumping jack works on your legs, hamstrings, glutes, abs, adductor, quads, and shoulders. It targets your core and offers several benefits of jumping jacks exercise.
How To Do Plank Jacks
- To do the plank jacks, you need to kneel. For keeping the knees comfortable, kneel on a mat. Next, you need to stay in a cat or dog position. You need to place the forearms and fist on the mat by clenching the fist and flexing the elbows.
- You have to support the body on the forearm while extending the right leg behind you. Use your toes to support the foot. Then, you need to extend the left leg behind by supporting the foot on the left toes.
- Now jump by the support of the body on the forearms and split the legs out.
- You need to jump again and bring the legs to close.
- Repeat the steps ten times and do a repetition of three sets of ten reps.
The variation of the exercise will offer the benefits of jumping jacks exercise by targeting the different muscles of the body and makes you fit.
Why You Get Benefits Of Jumping Jacks: The Muscles Working With The Exercise
Why do you get several benefits of jumping jacks exercises? The exercise can work on different muscles in the body. It is an efficient total body workout. Also, you can try these exercises almost anywhere. The exercise comes under jump training or plyometrics. It is a combination of resistance work and aerobic exercise. It has a positive impact on your muscles, heart, and lungs at the same time. So, you get overall health benefits with the exercise. The exercise can have a positive impact on the following muscles of your body:
Benefits Of Jumping Jacks: Works On Adductors
Adductors as the name refer indicate the group of muscles adducting the femur at your hip joint. They are present in the inner region of the thighs. Most people find it difficult to shed fat from the region. By doing the traditional or modified version of jumping jacks, you can target the fat in the inner thigh area.
Calves
Calves are the muscles you can see at the back of the lower legs. In some people, the calves act as a storage of excess fat. So, it makes the calf look larger. The exercise can aid in using the excess fat stored in the calves and making the calf seem smaller. Chiseled calves make you look more attractive and it indicates your strength. With toned calves, you can walk and run with ease.
Hip Abductors
It is the group of muscles in the outer thighs. They are found from the hips to the knees. These muscles take the legs away as well as towards the centerline of the body. When you do the exercise, the abductors tend to pull your leg out to widen the stance. Then, the abductors help return the legs to the center position. So, moving the legs in and out helps work on the hip abductors and tones them.
Shoulder Abductors And Adductors
You put the shoulder abductors to action by moving the arms sideways, which occurs at your hip and shoulder joints while performing the exercise. When you bringing back the arms close to the body, it can trigger movement towards the midline of the body. So, it can put into action the shoulder adductors. The action can also impact the muscle present on the upper back known as lat muscles.
 One Of The Benefits Of Jumping Jacks: It Works On The Core
Having a flat stomach and a strong core can seem like a difficult task. But, you can achieve it easily by doing jumping jacks. One of the benefits of jumping jacks exercises is their ability to activate the core along with your back muscles. So, the exercise synchronizes the movements of vital muscle groups in the body. It is one of the effective exercises to strengthen your core.
So, now you know that the exercise can work on all the muscles of the body. It tones and strengthens your body. The exercise also helps shed excess fat accumulated. Start including the exercise in your routine to make yourself feel better and stronger. You can live a more active and fit life. So, it improves the quality of life.
Safety Tips To Get The Benefits Of Jumping Jacks
You can get the benefits of jumping jacks exercises when you maintain some caution. While you need no exercise equipment to do the workout, these safety tips are essential to prevent any injuries or falls. Here are the tips you need to follow:
Warm Up And Cool Down
Warming up before any exercise is necessary as it revs up your heart. It increases the body temperature and boosts the blood flow to your muscles. By doing warmup exercises, you can reduce the soreness of muscles and reduce the risk of suffering from any injuries. To get the full benefits of jumping jacks exercises, you need to cool down. It brings back your heart rate to the pre-exercise heart rates. Cooldown exercises also bring back your blood pressure to normal. You can walk around the block before and after the exercise.
Choose A Flat And Even Surface
When you do the jumping jacks, find an even surface. Jumping on an uneven surface increases your risk of losing balance or bad landing causing injuries. So, find a flat and padded surface like grass, rubber, or carpet mat. Such surfaces can absorb shock and prevent any injuries to your leg. Try to avoid hard and rough surfaces like concrete, cement, or asphalt as it can have a rough effect on the joints.
Wear Supportive Shoes To Get Benefits Of Jumping Jacks
It is an important point you need to consider while performing any exercise. Using bad footwear can result in injuries or affect your posture. Investing in good footwear is crucial to avoid any long-term side effects. Choose good supportive footwear, offering support to your feet. It is beneficial in the long run. By wearing good shoes, you are preventing common sports injuries affecting the ankles. So, to get the benefits of jumping jacks exercises, you can wear athletic sneakers instead of boots, heeled shoes, or sandals.
Learn Proper Form
Proper form is significant to ensure you get all the benefits of a workout. It increases the efficiency of the exercise and you can use your energy to push more instead of wasting it on improper movements. When you maintain an improper form, it means you have targeted the unintentional muscles or muscle groups. With better form, you get better results. So, consider having a trainer to help you show the right form to do the moves of the exercise correctly.
Give Importance To Speed Over Duration
For better results, while doing jumping jacks, you need to give importance to speed. Faster workouts offer better results. So, you need to favor the speed of the repetition over the total duration of the workout. You burn more calories with increased speed and avoid injuries caused due to injuries.
Listen To Your Body
You need to pay attention to your body. Never exert your body too much. If you feel pain, then take a break or stop the session. It is never a good idea to physically stress your body as it can cause injuries.
Conclusion
You can get several benefits of jumping jacks exercises when you include them in your routine. It requires no special gear. But, the simple exercise offers a full-body workout and you can try it any time anywhere without any problem. Doing it the right way can increase the level of effectiveness and help in weight loss.
References
https://blog.decathlon.in/articles/jumping-jacks-how-to-do-and-its-benefits
https://www.healthline.com/health/fitness-exercise/jumping-jacks#:~:text=Jumping%20jacks%20are%20an%20efficient,muscles%20at%20the%20same%20time.