Cardio · None
How to do
Jumping Jacks
The lightest movement in the entire Alea pool, which is why it draws at high rep counts. Useful as a warm-up and as active recovery between heavier draws.
| Movement pattern | Cardio |
| Measured in | reps |
| Equipment | None |
| Effort weight in Alea | 0.7 per rep |
| Appears from | D9 exercise die upward |
How to do it
Setup
Stand upright, feet together, arms at your sides. You need very little floor space, though downstairs neighbours may disagree.
The movement
Jump your feet out to a little wider than shoulder-width while sweeping your arms overhead, then jump back to the start as your arms return to your sides. Land on the balls of your feet with soft knees and keep a steady rhythm.
Common mistakes
- Landing flat-footed and stiff-legged, which is hard on the knees and ankles
- Half-raising the arms so they never reach overhead
- Feet barely leaving the floor, which turns it into a shuffle
- Going too fast to breathe properly on longer sets
Too hard? Scale it down
Step one foot out at a time instead of jumping, sweeping the arms as normal. That removes the impact entirely and is a genuinely good option for anyone with knee, ankle or pelvic-floor considerations.
Too easy? Scale it up
Increase the pace, or switch to star jumps with a fuller range. Honestly, if jumping jacks feel easy, that is what they are for. Raise your exercise die instead.
Where this sits in the Alea pool
Alea draws exercises from an ordered pool of twenty, and the die size slices from the top of that list. Jumping Jacks is number 9 of 20, so it enters the draw once your exercise die reaches D9. Below that, you will never roll it.
Its effort weight is 0.7 per rep, which the app uses when it builds 100-rep sessions and tailored workouts, so a session containing jumping jacks carries fewer total reps than one built from lighter movements.
Roll it now in your browser, or set your dice and let it come up on its own.
General information, not medical or fitness advice. Stop if you feel pain or dizziness, use the easier variation when in doubt, and see the full training disclaimer before starting.
Let the dice pick it for you
Alea draws jumping jacks at random alongside nineteen other bodyweight movements. Free, no account needed.
Android · Free · No account needed · No ads, ever
Related
Jumping Jacks FAQ
Are jumping jacks a good warm-up?
Yes. They raise heart rate, move the shoulders through a full range and need no equipment or space. Thirty to fifty is a reasonable warm-up before a session.
Why does Alea draw so many of them?
The effort weight is 0.7, the lowest in the pool, so the session builder assigns higher rep counts to reach the same total workload.
Can I do these with knee problems?
The stepping variation removes the impact and keeps the benefit. If any version causes pain, skip it and lower your exercise die so it stops appearing.