Jumping Jacks & Shoulder Toning

Jumping jacks are a physical education mainstay that's moved mainstream. In fact, it's a common warm-up exercise now found in aerobics classes. But it serves more purpose than revving up the heart rate and prepping the body. With added weights and variations, jumping jacks can tone your shoulders. But don't rely on jumping jacks alone. Combine jumping jacks with 20 to 30 minutes of whole-body strength training three times a week, along with 150 minutes of moderate aerobic exercise.

  1. Proper Form

    • Jumping jacks are as you remember them from gym class. All forms, even the complex one-legged or no-hands variations, start with your arms tucked at your sides and your legs together. For traditional jumping jacks, jump straight up and split your legs. Quickly lift your arms out to the sides and pull them back together before your body returns to the floor. Raise your arms as you jump. Clap them above your head, and then lower them as you finish the jumping jack. Work up to 50 repetitions, or as many as your shoulder and knee joints will tolerate.

    Engaging the Shoulders

    • Jumping jacks tone the deltoid, supraspinatus and pectoralis muscles with abductions, or the lifting of your arms. When you perform shoulder abductions, you'll bring your arms away from your body. For a jumping jack, this means your arms will come over your head, causing the shoulder to rotate up. During the jumping jack, the shoulder muscles quickly fluctuate between abduction and adduction. Include a set of light hand weights with your jumping jacks to engage the shoulders. Keep the weights at shoulder-level, palms turned in, and thrust your arms up into a "V" after landing. Do 30 iron jumping jacks, or enough to fatigue your shoulders.

    Exercise Variations

    • Strengthen the shoulders with a variety of jumping jack styles. Staggered-stance and twisting staggered-stance jumping jacks can be combined with traditional jumping jacks for an interval routine that works the shoulders. Staggered-stance jumps involve moving your legs to the front and back instead of to the sides when you jump. And the twisting variation involves the same leg motion, but stop your arms once they reach shoulder-height. Twist your upper body toward the leg that is forward, and twist back to center as your body returns to the floor. Move your head, arms and torso at once. Do each style of jumping jack for 10 seconds, rotating between each for two minutes.

    Considerations

    • Jumping jacks are hard on the joints, especially the ankles, knees and hips. Because both feet leave the ground and forcefully land, jumping jacks are considered a high-impact exercise and those with joint problems may have difficulty doing them on land. If achy joints are of concern to you, check into whether water aerobics is an appropriate alternative. Water provides a buoyant, weightless environment that reduces impact on your joints. And you can still tone your shoulders but without joint discomfort.