Primary muscles: Glutes, quads, hip flexors
Secondary muscles: Legs, abs, shoulders
Equipment: No equipment
JUMPING JACKS INSTRUCTIONS
1. Stand straight with your feet together and hands by your sides.
2. Jump up, spread your feet and bring both hands together above your head.
3. Jump again and return to the starting position.
4. Repeat until set is complete.
PROPER FORM AND BREATHING PATTERN
Keep the knees slightly bent and land softly on the balls of your feet. Engage your core and glutes and maintain your knees in line with your hips and feet. Keep your arms extended and your elbows loose during the entire exercise and maintain a steady and smooth breathing pattern.
EXERCISE BENEFITS
Jumping jacks are a great full body exercise that enhances aerobic fitness, strengthens the body and promotes relaxation. This exercise also improves muscle endurance, increases the body’s metabolic rate and helps with weight loss.
DEMONSTRATION
SETS AND REPS
The jumping jack is a high-intensity exercise that keeps your heart rate up and activates all muscle groups. You can mix jumping jacks with low-intensity exercises to keep your heart rate elevated during the entire workout. This type of discontinuous physical training is called interval training and results in a higher number of calories burned, thus helping you with weight loss. Start with 8 to 12 reps or 30 sec sets and increase over time.
CALORIES BURNED
To calculate the number of calories burned doing jumping jacks, enter your weight and the duration of the exercise:
RELATED WARM UP EXERCISES
Try these other warm up exercises to increase your heart rate and prepare your body for a workout:
Boxer squat punch
Alternating side lunge touch
Run in place
Butt kicks