Are Jumping Jacks Effective For Weight Loss?

Overweight woman doing jumping jacks for weight loss

Cardio exercise burns an average of 14% more calories than strength training. Doing intense cardio like jumping jacks is a great way to burn a large number of calories. But is it enough to lose weight?

Jumping is one of the best effective cardio exercises for weight loss. By doing jumping jacks you will get cardio and resistance effects along. Which will lose weight and take you in a good shape and body composition. Doing 500 jumping a day is a good start for beginners who want to lose weight.

In the rest of this article, I will talk about why jumping jack is the best for weight loss, what you should know more and how to lose weight effectively by doing it. So keep reading.

Why is jumping jack best for weight loss?

Jumping jacks is a plyometric exercise that means it gives cardio and resistance benefits at the same time.

Cardio exercise is recommended for weight loss, improving cardiovascular strength, and general fitness. Jumping jacks is vigorous cardio movements. From upper body to lower body, it works a lot of muscles. So you can burn more calories in a short time. Not only does burning calories it has a myriad of other health benefits, which we learn below.

While resistance training or weight lifting is best for building muscle. It is more often used for getting lean muscle and improving a specific body part. For example, to get good biceps or triceps you must have weight training.

By doing jumping jacks, you will get both cardio and resistance exercise benefits. Though it's a high-intensity cardio exercise so helps you to lose weight. While it's resistance work so helps you get a good shape and body composition.

That's why fitness experts always recommend jumping jacks for beginners to weight loss and get in a good shape.

How many calories you should burn for weight loss?

Generally speaking, doing exercise isn't the best way to lose weight. Dr. Berg a famous weight loss expert says, losing weight is 15% is exercise and the remaining 85% is diet.

If you don't control the calories you are taking in and out, you don't lose any weight. Even if the exercises are the High-Intensity intervals. So, to lose weight the number one thing you have to do is start a caloric deficit.

For instance, if your daily calories needs are 2000, by eating 2100 calories you will gain weight slowly over time. While if you eat 1500 calories, you will lose 1 pound a week, and 4 pounds a month. By the way, One pound of body fat is nearly 3500 calories.

If you are a beginner, start a good diet that is less in carbs and fats but high in protein, and vitamins. Along with doing fat-burning exercises like jumping jacks, you will start to lose weight.

How many calories do jumping jacks burn?

An average person can burn 8-15 calories by doing jumping jacks a minute. It depends on the weight, intensity of exercise, and such things. For example, a 120 lbs man burns 8 calories per minute doing jumping jacks. While by doing a 1-minute jumping jack a 250 calories man can burn 15 calories.

If you don't want to lose weight, that's ok. But for your general fitness, you can do jumping jacks every day. It's a great exercise to become fit and healthy.

How many jumping jacks a day to lose weight?

It will depend on your fitness goal about how much weight you want to lose. For example, if you want to lose 1 pound a week, you have to burn 500 Cal a day. To do that you need to have at least 55 minutes of jumping jacks daily.

Or If you want to lose 2 pounds a week. You have to double the calorie burn by doubling the exercise time.

Doing a single exercise to burn a large number of calories is very hard. I mean if you want to burn 500 calories, you need to do 2750 jumping jacks. Doing an exercise for this amount of time can be the cause of overuse issues. Such as aches and pain, muscle pain and leg injuries, stress, and anxiety.

Fitness experts recommend doing jumping jacks with a set of other exercises, that helps to burn more calories. Running, burpees and Russian twists are the best exercises to do with jumping jacks.

Jumping jacks health benefits except for weight loss

Jumping jacks is a great cardio exercise. This exercise targets many muscles of the body such as the calves, glutes, deltoids, abs etcetera. You will get good endurance in these muscles.

Doing cardio exercises regularly has a lot of other health benefits. Look at the jumping jacks benefits except for weight loss:

Strong heart and lungs
Increase bone density
Lower blood pressure
Helps to balance insulin resistance
Reduce the risk of heart disease
Prevent diabetes and certain types of cancer
Temporary relief of anxiety and depression
Increase production of the feel-good hormone
Improve the satisfaction of sleeping

So, if want to lose weight or a good shape. Jumping jacks is undoubtedly the best option for you.

Best jumping jacks variation for weight loss

The standard jumping jacks are well enough to burn a significant amount of calories. But with variations, you will get more options to choose from.

Look at this video about the 20 best jumping jack variations for weight loss.

What exercises are the best for weight loss?

Cardio or aerobic exercises are the best for weight loss. Most cardio's are total-body workouts. This means they work several muscles at once, so burn more calories.

A study found that a combination of cardio and strength training is best for weight loss and improving body composition.

The researcher selects 119 people obese and overweight people. And divided them into three categories: cardio, weights, and cardio plus weight. After eight months, they found that people in cardio plus weight groups lose the most weight and improved their body composition than the other two groups.

So if you want to lose weight loss, do regular cardio and strength training while eating a healthy diet. You will get the best result.

Is doing jumping jacks safe for you?

Jumping jacks is safe for people of all fitness levels. It primarily works the upper body and lower body, shoulder, and legs. So if you have injuries in any of these organs you should avoid doing it.

Women who are pregnant and people who have done surgeries a few weeks ago should also avoid it.

Warm-up is important before starting any exercise session. It helps to stretch muscles and prepare the body to perform more complex exercises. A 3-minute warm-up before jumping jacks will be nice. You can try running in a place, jumping in the air, and arm circles.

Also stretching after exercises is pretty useful. It helps to calm the muscles and slow the blood flowing through your heart and veins.

A study found that warm-up before exercise and stretching after the session help folks prevent more than 7 injuries. So, don't forget to do them.

Final thoughts

Jumping jacks is one of the best cardio exercises to lose weight. But doing only cardio exercise isn't the best solution. A variation of cardio and strength training or weight lifting is ideal for weight loss.

Doing cardio exercises while eating a healthy diet is a great way to speed up weight loss. You don't have to start any fancy diet like keto. You can make your meal high in protein and vegetables and less in carbs and fat.

If you are a beginner or don't afford strength training, no problem. You should maintain a good diet and practice exercises like the jumping jack. Which will over time lose your weight fat.

I wish you good health and a good life.