What are jumping jacks? Origin, Benefits and How to Make Them

This simple and popular exercise has its origin in the United States Army, initially used to harass the military, it was later established as essential in physical conditioning and later became popular among physical education teachers and coaches.

Keep reading if you want to know everything that this simple exercise can bring you.

What is a Jumping Jack?

The exercise Jumping Jack consists of performing repeated standing jumps, in an upright position, with an initial position of feet together and arms close to the body and reaching up to join hands above the head and keep your legs apart.

That is, legs and arms open and close simultaneously and in a coordinated way.

Where are you from?

There are several theories where its name comes from, the first is that it is attributed to a United States general from the 1st World War called John J. 'Black Jack'.

Another theory and the one that seems most true is that the name Jumping Jack has to do with a wooden toy it was called the same way

This was a puppet that, if pulled by the strings, raised its arms and legs as is done in jumping.

origin Jumping Jack
Ebay / Example of a Jumping Jack

What is?

Therefore, this exercise allows working several objectives at the same time:

  • Aerobic and anaerobic endurance
  • Strength, mainly from the lower body due to jumping
  • Coordination
  • Speed
  • Agility

Jumping Jack Benefits

  • Fun, demanding and easy to do
  • The whole body is worked
  • Improves oxygenation of the blood
  • Like any physical exercise, it produces endorphins.

Contraindications Jumping Jack

  • If there are problems in the legs or knees, you have to be careful as it is an impact exercise.
  • Doing it excessively overweight can be dangerous, consult a professional
  • Urinary incontinence must be taken into account, so if it is suffered, a specific prior work will have to be done for this.

How to do it correctly?

To execute it correctly we advise you to warm up beforehand, due to its intensity, and during its execution, keep the abdomen activated.

Likewise, it is advisable that perform the reception of the jumps with the metatarsal area and slight knee flexion, so that you cushion the impact.

how to do a jumping jacks
abc.es/ how to do a jumping jacks

Things to keep in mind

 We must also take into account some considerations

 For example, It is not a recommended exercise for people who are overweight or obesity or injuries to some of the joints involved in movement, mainly due to impact.

At first glance, Jumping Jacks are a simple exercise, but it can be a challenge if you consider different levels of demand.

Examples of Jumping Jack

Here we leave you a video with 39 variations of Jumping Jack for you to practice

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