Is Jumping One of the Most Vigorous Exercises?

Jumping is one of the most vigorous exercises you can possibly do. Because it's such a natural movement, you might assume that it's easy or takes minimal effort. In fact, the opposite is true. Athletes in nearly every sport on land must hop, jump or leap their way to victory. So whether you're jumping in place or leaping on a trampoline, you can still feel an intense workout from simply jumping.

  1. Jumping Motion

    • Proper jumping technique involves the entire body moving together in mechanical concert. First, your bones set up the jump. The hip bones rotate backward. The bones of the knee form a hinge and your arms swing back at the shoulder. Then, the muscles take over. Your gastrocnemius, quadriceps and glueteal muscles deliver a powerful burst of kinetic energy into the ground that propels your body upward. The arms swing forward and upward to increase momentum and height during the jump. During freefall, the arms fan outward and the legs tuck up for balance. During the landing, impact is made on the balls of the feet and absorbed through the alignment of ankles, knees and hips.

    Jumping Rope

    • One of the best cardiovascular exercises you can do is jumping rope. You're constantly engaging the muscles of the legs, the quadriceps of the outer thighs and the hamstring muscles behind the upper thigh. You can alter the cadence and jumping pattern to target hard-to-reach muscle groups such as the soleus and tibialis anterior in front of the femur. Fitness Republic calls it one of the best exercises for weight loss. Just 30 minutes a day of jumping rope can burn 2,100 calories a week. As you're shedding pounds from your body, you're also improving your cardiovascular function and potentially adding years to your life.

    Broad Jumping

    • Broad jumping is used by bodybuilders to build explosive power in their legs and core muscle groups. This isn't an exercise for the casual weight-lifting enthusiasts. It's primarily meant to simulate the explosiveness generated by Olympic power lifters and Crossfit trainers. Broad jumping involves transferring power through the posterior chain, a group of muscles that run along the length of the back of the body. You squat down low with your arms positioned slightly behind your body. Then, you violently leap forward and upward, thrusting your chest and arms high into the air. You flex the hips forward during the brief period of freefall to absorb the force of the landing.

    Trampoline Jumping

    • You can also jump on a trampoline to achieve a vigorous workout that builds strength and aerobic endurance. As an alternative to jogging, trampolining absorbs most of the stress of the impact in the springs. Therefore, there's less stress on the joints that are commonly used in jumping, but the same amount of exercise is being applied. Trampolining raises your pulse rate and gives you a cardiovascular workout. The amount of stress on the bones is minimal and actually increases bone density over time. As a cautionary note, you should always have a spotter present while you train with a trampoline. Improper technique or a lapse in concentration could lead to injury.