Fitness

Why You Should Add Jumping Jacks To Your Workouts

It might bring back memories of your childhood gym class, where you learned the basics of physical fitness that solidified the foundation for your adult workouts.

Jumping jacks are an elementary school staple you might have pushed to the side despite doing pushups and pullups. If they don’t seem relevant to your life, or if you feel like they’ve outgrown you, they may be worthless to you.

Alex Viada, C.S.C.S., said, “Everyone has been told to jump jacks in physical education class. Nobody knew why they were doing it. They were seen as this sort of no-athletic objective, basic exercise that was just meant to make you tired.”

Even when you’re an athlete or lifter, the same warmup move you did as a kid can assist you in improving your workout’s effectiveness, reducing injury risks, and staying healthy.

Getting Fit By Jumping Jack

Image Credit: Shutterstock/KOTOIMAGES

  • Jumping jacks can be an effective dynamic warmup
  • Jumping jacks increase core temperature
  • You can move your joints fully by jumping jacks
  • Performing jumping jacks is a simple plyometric exercise
  • It is safe for athletes of all sizes to perform jumping jacks
  • Alternatively, you can do burpees instead of jumping jacks

Warm Up Effectively With Jumping Jacks

Exercise will be more effective when you warm up dynamically instead of stretching. Many guys still skip the warmup despite impressive pre-workout moves. While all we want is to hit the bench, these routines might seem tedious, complicated, and even require some new skills.

Image Credit: Shutterstock/Mirage_studio

Viada says, “The simple act of bringing your shoulders up around the top of your head fulfills many of the dynamic warmup and dynamic stretching that people should do more of before training sessions.”

Boost Your Power With Jumping Jacks

It’s no secret that muscle mass declines in our 40s and 50s. Research shows that you’ll lose disproportionate amounts of fast-twitch fibers, muscle fibers that use carbohydrates as fuel for short, powerful contractions.

Nick Tumminello, a personal trainer, said, “we lose power faster than we lose strength. Strength is force development. Power is the rate of force development.”