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It may be a decade or more since you last did a round of jumping jacks, but this favorite childhood gymnastics exercise isn’t just a breeze – jumping jacks have many health and fitness benefits for adults, too. Jumping jacks are easy to perform, require no equipment, and have the unique advantage of evoking nostalgic memories so that they feel just as much like a game as they are training. Read on to learn the key benefits of jumping jacks and why you should include this time-tested classic exercise move in your workout routine.
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1. Jumping jacks improve cardiovascular fitness
Jumping jacks increase your heart rate and breathing, and challenge your cardiovascular system. As you do longer sets of jumping jacks and increase the duration of your sets, you improve your aerobic fitness and endurance. Try to move as quickly as possible in good shape and get your full range of motion with each jump to maximize your fitness. Start with sets of 30 seconds and work up to several minutes or more without stopping.
2. Jumping jacks build leg strength
Jumping jacks work out all of the major muscles in your lower body and strengthen your glutes, hamstrings, quadriceps, hips, calves, and shins. The higher and faster you jump, the more power and strength you develop. You can also wear a weight vest to increase the intensity and load. The jumping jacks’ building of leg strength can carry over to other exercises that improve your squat, deadlift, vertical jump, running speed, and stair climbing ability.
3. Jumping jacks are a full body exercise
Almost every major muscle in the body is recruited using jumping jacks. You train your legs, arms, shoulders, chest, back and abs. This makes jumping jacks an efficient move that strengthens and conditions your body at the same time. As such, jumping jacks are an excellent exercise to incorporate into a warm-up routine as they increase your heart rate, increase blood flow to muscles and connective tissues to prepare them for more challenging exercise, and act as a form of dynamic hip stretch. Shoulders and back.
4. Jumping jacks burn calories
You don’t have to run a marathon or run an hour on an elliptical trainer to burn a significant number of calories. Since jumping jacks use almost every muscle, they are metabolically intensive and can burn some calories depending on your body weight. Regular use of strong jumping jacks can support fat loss, especially in conjunction with a healthy diet and balanced full-body training.
5. Jumping jacks increase bone density
Jumping jacks are a form of plyometry, or explosive jump training that involves an impact landing. Much like other high-impact activities like running, jumping jacks stimulate the bones to break down new bone cells and a denser mineral matrix to help withstand the stress. Increasing bone density reduces the risk of fractures, especially in old age.
6. Jumping jacks improve mobility
Jumping jacks move multiple of your joints through their entire range of motion – or almost – which increases mobility. For example, your hips and shoulders are both abducted and adducted (to the side and back) in the frontal plane, a direction that is common to most forward and backward movement exercises (walking, running, rowing, hiking, squats, etc.). Maintaining mobility in these joints minimizes the risk of injury and reduces stiffness and discomfort.
7. Jumping jacks increase hip strength
Jumping jacks are a form of lateral exercise that is an important part of building an injury-resistant body. Because the movement is side-to-side rather than front-to-back, you strengthen other hip muscle fibers than those found in walking or running, which helps balance the force around your hip joints, which can help prevent injury.
8. Jumping jacks improve coordination
Jumping jacks look simple enough, but they actually require a certain amount of coordination, which makes them great for your brain. In this way, they also improve balance and rhythm.
9. Jumping jacks are great for HIIT workouts
Exercises that increase your heart rate quickly and involve many muscle groups are good for HIIT workouts because they can be quickly strung together for a challenging workout with limited rest. Using jumping jacks in a HIIT workout is a great way to get your body to keep working at high intensity and to overcome the feeling of shortness of breath.
10. Jumping jacks can be made anywhere
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Jumping jacks only require your body, which means you can do them anywhere without entering a gym or purchasing a range of fitness equipment for your home studio.
11. Jumping jacks reduce stress
Do you feel stressed out at work? Roll your chair sideways for a minute and knock out a set of jumping jacks. Like most exercise, jumping jacks can lower cortisol levels and reduce stress and tension.
12. Jumping jacks are fun
Let’s face it: it’s hard to do jumping jacks without smiling at the end. Maybe it’s the nostalgic memories of the playground fun, or maybe the endorphin rush that comes from heartbreaking full-body exercise, but you’re almost guaranteed to get a mood boost with a vigorous jumping jack fight.
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