Diet alone can lead to weight loss, but exercise enhances your body's ability to lose fat and maintain a healthy weight. Jumping jacks are an effective cardio exercise that speeds up your heart rate and encourages your body to burn fat stores for fuel. With regular practice, jumping jacks can help you meet your weight-loss goals.
Weight Loss
MedlinePlus recommends adults perform 2 1/2 hours of aerobic exercise over the course of each week. Performing aerobics in increments of at least 10-minute sessions provides fat-burning benefits. Because 1 lb. body fat equals about 3,500 calories, you must burn this many calories each week to realize a weekly weight loss around 1 lb. Jumping jacks can play a major role in burning these excess calories.
Function
Jumping jacks are a type of cardiovascular exercise that uses your large muscles to perform repetitive and continual movements. According to Military.com, a person who weighs 190 lbs. burns about 650 calories during an hour of jumping jacks. Completing the recommended 2 1/2 hours of exercise each week by performing jumping jacks, a 190-lb. person burns about 1,625 calories, resulting in a weight loss close to 1 lb. by the end of two weeks. The intensity of your jumping jacks and your individual weight can affect your results.
Method
Basic jumping jacks, also called star jumps, require no special fitness equipment. Performing this exercise involves standing with your arms at your sides and your legs together, jumping up while lifting your arms to the side and over your head to land with your feet slightly further than shoulder-width apart and your palms touching. Another jump brings your body back to the starting position.
Considerations
Jumping jacks are a well-rounded form of cardio exercise that works major muscles in your lower and upper body. Although jumping jacks can help you lose weight, adding other exercises can help keep you motivated and involved in a regular exercise routine. Increasing the amount of time you spend exercising helps speed your weight loss. Adding resistance exercise, such as weightlifting, can improve your body's ability to burn calories effectively. Dieting to cut back on the amount of calories you consume can also increase your rate of weight loss.
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