Moving more throughout the day can offer important benefits. Find out what doing 1000 jumping jacks a day can do for your health.
First of all, doing 1000 jumping jacks a day will likely not cause any actual muscle growth. A routine like this is just not that challenging for your muscles.
Another popular workout goal of implementing more jumping jacks is losing weight. The number of calories you burn during 1000 jumping jacks (around 118-203 calories) is nice for this.
However, you could see more results from something like jumping rope and the progress you can make with other lifestyle areas like nutrition.
That being said, even if it isn’t the number 1 routine for muscle gain or weight loss, getting to 1000 jumping jacks a day and sticking to it can be a fun goal in itself.
It will also likely cause nice improvements in areas like your cardiovascular health, muscle endurance, coordination, mood, and more.
Do keep the physical limits of your body in mind. Jumping jacks can be rough on body parts like ankles, knees, hips, shoulders, and back. Especially for people who have some extra pounds to lose.
Will 1000 jumping jacks a day help you build muscle?
The way you build muscle in places like your legs, shoulders, and core is by engaging these muscles so that they get damaged enough.
This may sound counterintuitive but this damage makes it so your body repairs these muscles, and adds a bit more to be better prepared to exert similar efforts in the future.
If you stick to exercises with the same weight, as your muscles become stronger this same effort may not damage your muscles enough to promote extra muscle growth.
Someone who does resistance training will likely not be able to build a lot of, if any, muscle mass with jumping jacks.
If you never do any type of resistance training, jumping jacks may initially help you build a tiny amount of muscle.
That being said, even if this is the case, if you do 1000 jumping jacks a day and you keep doing them in the same quantity with the same weight, you will gradually see less and less muscle gain.
On top of that, 1000 jumping jacks are also generally not the ideal number of repetitions for optimal muscle gain.
By adding extra resistance to exercises you are better able to damage the muscles in a shorter amount of time. Doing this at the right points in your training journey can also speed up muscle growth.
You can wear a weighted vest, ankle weights, or hold some weight in your hands when doing jumping jacks but in the end, it is not an ideal exercise to add a lot of resistance to.
Another thing is that while doing something every day is a great way to make it a habit, for building muscle, this isn’t always the best idea to get the most results.
Your body needs time to repair and grow your muscles. If you damage them again before they are fully repaired you won’t get as many results compared to letting them rest for 48 hours.
In short, to build the most muscle mass you generally want to choose other exercises over jumping jacks.
There are plenty of hip abductor, hip adductor, shoulder, and back exercises that can offer more results in a shorter amount of time.
Will 1000 jumping jacks a day help you lose weight?
Losing weight is about using up body fat, which is basically energy stored. To do this you want to make sure that you require more energy throughout the day than there is coming in from food.
One way to try to make this happen is by doing a workout. By increasing the intensity of your movements for a period of time you use up more energy than usual.
Doing jumping jacks can help with weight loss since doing a workout like it generally requires more energy than most of your usual daily activities.
At the same time, you may need more than 1000 jumping jacks to lose weight depending on your other lifestyle habits.
Even then, it is possible to gain weight with an intense workout plan if you have suboptimal habits in areas like your diet.
How many calories do 1000 jumping jacks burn?
The average person will burn 118-203 calories when doing 1000 bodyweight jumping jacks.
Below you can find a table with more precise estimations for individuals of different weights doing different amounts of jumping jacks based on MET values.
Higher speeds may also cause a calorie-burning effect after the workout that is not included in the estimations. The extra calorie burning from muscle gained is also hard to put into exact numbers.
Keep in mind that these are estimations. The calculation method doesn’t take into account certain factors that do influence calories burned with jumping jacks.
To put these estimations into perspective, 100 grams of boiled potatoes contains about 87 calories (1).
| Number Of Jumping Jacks Weight Person | 500 Jumping Jacks | 1000 Jumping Jacks | 2000 Jumping Jacks |
|---|---|---|---|
| 125 Pounds (56 kg) | 59 calories | 118 calories | 236 calories |
| 155 Pounds (70 kg) | 74 calories | 147 calories | 294 calories |
| 185 Pounds (83 kg) | 88 calories | 175 calories | 350 calories |
| 215 Pounds (97 kg) | 102 calories | 203 calories | 406 calories |
The number of calories you can burn with bodyweight jumping jacks during the exercise is not that impressive compared to most other workouts.
That being said, doing 1000 jumping jacks will burn more calories than sitting on the couch.
Other benefits of doing 1000 jumping jacks a day
1000 jumping jacks a day may not be the fastest way towards your goals but if your body can deal with it, 1000 jumping jacks a day can change your body for the better.
Doing something every day makes it easier to form a habit. Some benefits of jumping jacks you can expect include:
- Improved mood
- Improved cognitive function
- Improved bone density
- Lower LDL
- Improved sleep
- Improved coordination
You can also expect similar benefits from other types of exercise to varying degrees. So if for example your ankles or knees can’t handle 1000 jumping jacks every day you can switch it up with other workouts.
Is it OK to do 1000 jumping jacks every day?
The first thing you want to consider before implementing a workout routine is how much physical activity your body can currently handle. Doing 1000 jumping jacks every day may not be OK for you.
Consistency is a big part of working out. The effectiveness of your workout plan will go down drastically if you can’t work out for 2 weeks every month because of injuries.
Here are a few important factors to consider to find out if doing jumping jacks every day is ok for you.
How active are you currently?
Doing jumping jacks at a fast pace can be a rather intense workout. It’s possible that your last serious workout session was a few months or years ago. This can cause a few problems.
If you start (to try) doing 1000 jumping jacks every day with muscles that are not used to it the risk of an injury will be relatively high. Your heart is a muscle too.
In the best worst case you will run out of breath very fast. In the worst case, you overwork your heart.
On top of that, your muscles will initially need more recovery time. You may need some rest days instead of being able to do 1000 jumping jacks every single day.
How much do you weigh?
1000 jumping jacks can be rough on body parts like ankles, knees, shoulders, hips, and back. If you carry around a lot of extra weight, both from muscle and fat, these shocks will be even harder.
If you are in a situation like that, walking, the elliptical trainer, swimming, or other jumping jack alternatives may be better workout choices to start with to avoid injuries.
Are you injury sensitive?
Even if you are physically fit, doing jumping jacks every day may not be a good idea simply because you are injury-sensitive in the wrong places.
Some people are injury sensitive in general, others just in a specific area that jumping jacks engage a lot.
Some people who are at a healthy weight, in great shape, use a good pair of shoes, and eat very healthy can’t do jumping jacks every day because of sensitive shins. Doing so would cause injuries like shin splints.
It’s possible that your body is able to deal with jumping jacks for example three times a week but that you need to do lower-impact exercises on the other days.
Conclusion
Whether or not doing 1000 jumping jacks every day is OK is very hard to predict since it is so different from person to person.
The main thing to keep in mind is that jumping jacks can be hard on body parts like your ankles, knees, shoulders, hips, and back even if you implement the right technique.
If you are weak or sensitive in these body parts you may need to do other strengthening exercises first. You may want to talk to your primary care provider before starting a new workout routine.
If you feel pain in any body parts it may be a sign you are overdoing it. In that case, you may need some rest, better lifestyle habits, a less intense workout schedule, or it may be a sign that doing 1000 jumping jacks a day is not (yet) for you.
Should you do 1000 jumping jacks a day?
Doing only 1000 jumping jacks a day is often better than smaller amounts of repetitions but likely not the fastest way towards your fitness goals whatever they are.
For most fitness goals, implementing some days without jumping jacks and implementing strength training days is helpful.
At the time of writing the Office of Disease Prevention and Health Promotion recommends the following exercise guidelines to adults (2):
- Moving more and sitting less throughout the day
- At least 150 to 300 minutes of moderate-intensity aerobic activity or 75 to 150 minutes of vigorous-intensity aerobic activity a week. Preferably spread throughout the week.
- Muscle-strengthening activities of moderate or greater intensity that involve all major muscle groups on 2 or more days a week.
- You can gain additional health benefits by engaging in physical activity beyond the equivalent of 300 minutes of moderate-intensity physical activity a week.
That being said working towards 1000 jumping jacks a day and sticking to it can be a fun goal in itself and the beginning of even more daily habits that are positive for your physical health.
If your body is able to deal with it and you were relatively inactive you will likely initially see a lot of progress in both cardiovascular capacity and muscle strength.
If you feel pain it may be a sign you are overdoing it. In that case, you may need some rest, better lifestyle habits, or a less intense workout schedule.
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