Jumping jack: how to do the exercise correctly, benefits for weight loss

Jumping Jack (Jumping Jack) is jumping with the simultaneous extension of arms and legs, the second name is jumping. Who among us does not remember this exercise from physical education lessons in elementary school? We tend to view it as an exercise too simple to produce results. Meanwhile, jumping jacks work various muscle groups and are one of the best exercises for weight loss. Read on to learn how to exercise correctly, what effects it has, and how many calories you can burn while exercising!

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 not perform Jumping Jack?

Jumping exercise is prohibited:

• Pregnant;
• People with problems with the spine, especially in the presence of hernias and protrusions;
• People with joint diseases;
• People suffering from cardiovascular diseases;
• For varicose veins;
• If you are overweight.

The Jumping Jack exercise involves several muscle groups at once: biceps and quadriceps femoris, gluteus maximus, hip adductors, calf muscles, deltoid and latissimus dorsi, abdominal muscles.

Jumping jack technique

1. 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.
2. 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.
3. As you inhale, jump back to the starting position - lower your arms along your body and bring your feet together.
4. The abdominal muscles should be tense.
5. Repeat the movements as many times as necessary.

[edit] See also

• Anonymous
• Candlejack
• Elusive Joe
• Jack the Ripper

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:

1. Place your feet together, squat slightly with your knees bent, and bring your forearms together with your elbows bent in front of you.
2. 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.
3. 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:

1. 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.
2. With an exhalation, perform a simultaneous jump and lift your arms with weights upward, straightening your elbow joints.
3. 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:

1. 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.
2. 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.
3. As you inhale, return to the starting position.

Hooligan bet

A few months after the events described above, on January 9, 1838, Sir John Cowan, Lord Mayor of London, spoke at a public meeting at his Mansion House about an anonymous letter he had received a few days earlier.
The author of the letter signed himself “a resident of Peckham” and wrote the following: “It appears that some people (or, as the author suggests, members of the upper class) made a kind of bet with some desperate and reckless person that he would not be able to visit various places in London and its suburbs in three different outfits - a ghost, a bear and a devil, and also that he would not dare to climb into the gardens of gentlemen and disturb the inhabitants of mansions. The bets, however, have been made, and the inhuman villain has already managed to deprive seven ladies of their senses, and two of them will not only not be able to restore them, but will certainly become a burden for their families. At one house this man rang the bell, and when the maid approached, he appeared before her in a costume no less terrible than a ghost. As a result, the poor girl immediately lost consciousness and from that moment never came to her senses. The case has been going on for some time now, but, strangely enough, the newspapers are still silent on this issue. The author believes that they have all the information on this issue, but for some reason they remain silent.”

Although the Lord Mayor himself was quite skeptical about the story, some members of the audience confirmed that "the maids of Kensington, Hammersmith and Ealing told terrible stories about this ghost or devil." An article about Jack was published in The Times on January 9, in other major newspapers on January 10, and the next day the Lord Mayor received a huge number of letters in which people complained of “the pranks of the wicked.” Judging by the return addresses of the letters that arrived at the mayor's residence, it could be assumed that Jack had recently been most active in the London suburbs. One writer wrote that several women in Hammersmith were greatly frightened by Jack's "horrible appearance" and some were "grievously wounded by the claws of the villain's hands." Another writer claimed that in Stockville, Brixton, Camberville and Vauxhall several people died of fear and several more came close to it due to Jack's attacks, and another stated that the "joker" was often seen in Louisham and Blackheath.

The Lord Mayor himself was undecided: he believed that there were “great exaggerations” in this story, and it was absolutely impossible “for a ghost to perform the ‘deeds’ of the devil on earth.” On the other hand, someone whom the mayor trusted told him about a maid from Forrest Hill who was terribly frightened by an encounter with a figure in a bear skin, so the mayor promised that whoever started this pantomime would be caught and punished. A hooligan called Jack was put on the wanted list, and a cash reward was offered for information about him. Many famous and respected people of London joined the search for Jack, but they never managed to catch him; on the contrary, from that time on his attacks seemed to become even more brazen.

An interesting account from the Brighton Gazette, reprinted by The Times on October 4, 1838, tells of a gardener in Rosehill, Sussex, who was frightened by an encounter with an unknown creature. The Times wrote that "Jack the Jumper appears to have reached Sussex", although this report bears little resemblance to other sightings of Jack. On April 13, a gardener saw a creature in the garden that “looked like a bear or other four-legged animal.” Attracting the gardener's attention with a growl, the creature jumped onto the garden wall, ran along it on all fours, and then jumped down and chased the gardener for some time. When the gardener was already completely panicked, the creature again jumped onto the wall and walked away.

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 →

How many calories does Jumping Jack burn?

In 1 minute of such jumps you will burn 5 kilocalories. Performing a difficult version of Jumpin Jack, you will burn 9 kilocalories per minute.

If you are planning to lose weight, supplement this jumping exercise with strength training to tone your body.

Jumping Jack can be performed both as a warm-up before a workout, as it helps to quickly speed up the heart rate and warm up the muscles, and as the main part of it.

The exercise is also actively used in CrossFit, which indicates its high intensity and effectiveness.