I mentioned in another post how doing burpees are great because they work your whole body. Another great movement that works and shapes the whole body is knee tuck jumps.
This is another great exercise that I like to include with my warm up. I’ll mix it in with other warm up exercises, doing each for thirty second increments. You can mix this one in between push ups and a plank variation and that will give you a great warm up routine. Also, mixing it in is a good exercise habit to develop.
Knee Tuck Jumps Are A Great Companion Exercise
Sometimes I like to pair knee tuck jumps with another weight lifting exercise like shoulder presses. That means I’ll do a set of shoulder presses and then go straight into knee tuck jumps. (By the way. These secretly strengthen your calves as well.)
The pairing of the two exercises together is similar to what I’ve heard about High Intensity Interval Training (HIIT). I feel like I’m still learning about HIIT all the time. There’s been numerous things written about it. I’ll discuss it specifically another time.
For now you can take my word on this. Pairing the two exercises together is a killer workout. If I had to guess, I’d say incorporating the knee tuck jumps into my workout played a huge part in reducing fat around my gut and body shape generally. It is a great all around physical fitness movement.
This is another one of those exercises I’m not crazy about. I’d say after doing one set I hate it. But, there is no denying the benefits which is why I keep doing it.
Benefits of Knee Tuck Jumps
Jumping knee tucks will help strengthen and tone your legs, hips and behind. It will also strengthen and tighten your abs. Getting rid of body fat is probably a primary reason this move is also so popular.
This exercise is also a great cardiovascular workout. If you haven’t exercised in a while you’re going to feel this one. You’ll probably feel it if you’re in good shape as well. So basically, you’re going to feel it. It feels like the best time to exercise… or cry.
If your looking to get active or improve your current physical fitness regimen, the jumping knee tuck is also great for improving coordination, balance and agility.
Can I Do It Anywhere? You Bet.
This one movement is really the whole package for lower body and core conditioning. Here’s how you do it:
Start standing up with your knees bent. You can start with your hands raised slightly up in front of you if you like. This isn’t boot camp. Then jump up high while tucking your knees up towards your chest.
As you come back down try to land with your knees bent. This will reduce the stress on your joints. That’s how you do the jumping knee tuck. Pretty easy right? Now do it a bunch of times in a row. So much fun right?
I found a good video demo of how to do the jumping knee tuck at Mens Health online. Take a look. The guy in it uses good form.
This Exercise Has Ancient Origins (Sort Of)
When I was a kid a friend of mine wanted to get good at basketball. What he really wanted to do was be able to dunk the basketball. That means being able to jump real high.
So everyday he would practice jumping. Sometimes he’d jump straight up from a standing position. Other times he’d take a run and see how high he could reach on a wall outside his house.
He stuck with it. Next thing we knew, he was dunking a basketball. He’s not a tall guy as far as basketball players go. To see him do it was impressive. Although, his overall basketball skills weren’t the greatest. He didn’t care.
Additionally, his legs got big, strong and defined. Along with developing a ripped midsection. He attributed it all to his jumping around. He wasn’t really doing any other kind of workout.
What my friend was doing back then was pretty much the jumping knee tuck. It just didn’t have the name then. It was just jumping.
If you start doing this exercise you probably won’t like it in the beginning. Stick with it and it might grow on you. If you do keep it up, you’ll probably like what it does for you. I don’t know if you’ll be dunking a basketball, but you’ll see what I’m talking about.
