The jumping jack is the most iconic bodyweight cardio exercise — jumping your feet apart while raising your arms overhead, then jumping back to feet together with arms at your sides. It is universally taught, requires no equipment, and provides effective full-body cardiovascular conditioning. It is a foundational exercise in PE classes, military training, and HIIT workouts.
Muscle Group
Calves, Cardio, Shoulders
Equipment Required
Bodyweight
Type
Cardio
Equipment
Band
Difficulty
Intermediate
Key Benefits
- Universal full-body cardio exercise
- No equipment needed
- Easy to learn and scale
- Excellent warm-up
- Builds calf and shoulder endurance
- Time-efficient cardio
How to perform
- Stand tall with feet together and arms at your sides.
- Jump and split your feet out to wider than shoulder-width.
- Simultaneously raise your arms out to the sides and up overhead.
- Land softly on the balls of your feet.
- Immediately jump and bring your feet back together as you lower your arms back to your sides.
- Continue alternating between the wide-arms-up and feet-together-arms-down positions.
- Maintain a brisk, rhythmic pace.
- Perform for 30 to 60 seconds per set or as part of a HIIT circuit.
FRONT VIEW
BACK VIEW
Abs
Primary
Calves
Primary
Quadriceps
Primary