Calories Burned By Jumping Jacks - How Many Can You Burn?

Calories Burned In Jumping Jacks – Introduction

What is the number of calories burned with jumping jacks for only 5 minutes a day?

You are busy and have little time to exercise.

But, there is one simple exercise that has an abundance of benefits.

It is a lower impact yet high intensity full body workout you can do anywhere – jumping jacks.

Jumping jacks are one of the best exercises you can do that requires no equipment at all.

they burn a ton of calories,
are a great way to lose weight,
shred body fat,
increase your endurance,
improve your muscle tone,
circulation,
and mobility.

You will enjoy many other health benefits by adding jumping jacks to your list of things to do.

Indeed, you can get lean for free jumping jacks, even if you do not know the number of calories burned doing jumping jacks.

This article will help you determine how many calories you burn by doing jumping jacks, based on your height and weight.

Muscles Worked by Jumping Jacks

But first, you need to forget the myth that Jumping Jacks are only a lower body exercise.

Because that is not the case.

While it is true that the primary muscles used by jumping jacks are in your lower body, specifically your:

glutes, the largest muscle of your body, that you are likely sitting on right now and that needs some attention!
quadriceps, the 4 headed muscle group on the front of your thigh, and your
hamstrings that are on the back of your thigh

Nevertheless, jumping jacks uses the muscles of your entire body!

So not only does your lower body gain conditioning, but so too your upper body.

For this reason, jumping jacks are one of the most effective exercises you can do for whole body fitness.

Here is a sample workout for a 196-pound person to burn 178 calories in 15 minutes:

one minute of jumping jacks
rest a minute or more if you need
do another minute
and repeat six more times throughout the day
eventually, you will increase your cardiovascular endurance

Image Credit: Coachup.com

Calories Burned Jumping Jacks Calculator

To find the number of calories burned, use the following three steps:

#1. Determine the METs

What are the METs?

You have likely seen METs on treadmills and wondered.

METs is an acronym and means ‘metabolic equivalent of a given task.

Whether you are running, swimming, lifting weights, or doing jumping jacks, there are standard METs for strength training and aerobic exercise.

Therefore, the first step to know how many calories you burn doing jumping jacks is to find the METs.

The Metabolic Equivalent of a Task (METs) will tell you how many calories you burn per hour of activity per one kilogram of body weight.

According to the Compendium of Physical Activities¹, the METs for calisthenics conditioning exercises like pushups, situps, pullups, and jumping jacks with vigorous effort is as high as 8.0.

In contrast, powerlifting exercises like squats, bench presses, and deadlifts are only 6.0 METs with strenuous effort.

02020	8.0	02020	8.0	02020	8.0	calisthenics (e.g., vigorous jumping jacks, pushups, situps, pullups),
				02022	3.8	calisthenics (e.g., pushups, situps, pullups, lunges), moderate effort
				02024	2.8	calisthenics (e.g., situps, abdominal crunches), light effort

Remember this MET number of 8.0.

For most people, doing any jumping jacks will require significant effort, especially if you are not in top condition.

But do not be discouraged.

Start small, and gradually you will build up your endurance and conditioning.

Now that you know the METs, you have to calculate your weight in kilograms to find out the calorie burn of jumping jacks.

An excellent video to do jumping jacks with Adrian Bryant of nowloss.com

#2. What is your Weight in Kilograms?

Once you know your weight in pounds, all you have to do is divide that number by 2.2.

In the 1960s, the average American man weighed 166 pounds, and the average American woman 140 pounds. (CDC)

As you can imagine, that is no longer the case.

Today, the typical American man and woman over the age of 20 weigh a whopping 30 pounds more, 198 pounds for men and 170 pounds for women. (CDC)

If you weigh 198 pounds, divide your weight of 198 pounds by 2.2 for your weight in kilograms, which is 89.8 or a 90 kg individual rounded up.

Once you know your body weight in kilograms, now you can move to the following formula in the next step.

#3. The METs Formula

The METs formula is:

Jumping jacks calories burned = METs x weight in kg x time in hours.

If you do an hour of jumping jacks (which is highly unlikely), express the time as 1.0, or .5 for 30 minutes, .25 for 15 minutes, and .08 for 5 minutes.

Let’s say that you decide to take a simple jumping jack challenge of 5 minutes a day.

How many jumping jacks can you do in a minute?

Typically, the average jumping jacks per minute an exerciser can perform is between 50 to 60 jumping jacks.

So you will do between 250 and 300 jumping jacks a day.

Remember, you need to set aside 5 minutes.

You can do 2 minutes in the morning, one minute in the afternoon and two minutes in the evening.

Or do one minute of jumping jacks, rest a minute or more and do another four or 5-minute sets of jumping jacks with a rest in between each session for a total of 10 or 15 minutes.

How many jumping jacks in 2 minutes?

It follows then that you can likely do between 100 and 120 jumping jacks in two minutes.

However, with any exercise program, always begin with an amount you can easily handle and progress from there.

You want to train smart and not end up with an injury which will only set you back from achieving your fitness goals.

How many jumping jacks can you do in 5 minutes?

Based on an average of 50 to 60 jumping jacks per minute, you can do between 250 and 300 jumping jacks for 5 minutes.

These numbers should give you a good idea of how many jumping jacks you can do whatever the number of minutes.

Now, for the question at hand, which is how many calories can you burn doing jumping jacks:

How many calories burned jumping jacks?

Using the example of an average American man who weighs 90 kg, you can plug in the numbers to the METs formula:

Calories burned = METS of 8.0 for calisthenics conditioning exercise x 90 kg x .25 for a 15-minute workout.

8.0 x 90 x .25 = 180 calories burned doing a 15 minute workout.

So, for a 198-pound man, how many calories are burned jumping jacks for just one minute?

Approximately 12 calories per minute.

Therefore, 300 jumping jacks calories burned will use 60 calories for 5 minutes of jumping jacks.

In summary, the amount of calories a 198-pound man burns doing jumping jacks is:

180 calories for a 15 minute workout of 900 jumping jacks
120 calories in a 10 minute workout of 600 jumping jacks
60 calories with a 5 minute routine of 300 jumping jacks

How Many Jumping Jacks to Burn 100 Calories?

A 198-pound man needs to do between 8 and 9 minutes of jumping jacks to burn approximately 100 calories.

Assuming you can do 50 to 60 jumping jacks in a minute, you will need between 400 and 450 jumping jacks to burn 100 calories.

Typically you need to walk a mile to burn 100 calories, which takes longer than 8 minutes of jumping jacks.

If you run a mile in 15 minutes, the METs are 7.1, so if it is a rainy day or snowing, why not do 8 to 9 minutes of jumping jacks in your warm home to burn 100 calories, instead of venturing out into the cold?

A 137-pound weight loss with jumping jacks from Adrian Bryant of nowloss.com

Calories Burned Jumping Jacks – Wrapping Up

What is the most overlooked cardio workout which can increase your heart rate, melt belly fat, and needs no special equipment?

It is not a pair of running shoes, a track, a jump rope, a treadmill, an elliptical, or even a gym.

To lose weight, improve your cardiovascular system and lower your blood pressure – all you need are jumping jacks.

As long as you have the floor and a high enough ceiling, you can do jumping jacks.

You do not need a certified personal trainer or complicated calorie counter for every meal you eat.

Jumping jacks and real food daily will make you leaner and stronger.

Eating clean and moving at least 30 minutes a day are two pillars of fast body transformation.

With just your body weight and better quality food choices, you can begin to get fit today.

This post answers this question – how many calories do you burn doing jumping jacks?

If you want to know immediately, here is the fast result: you can accomplish 75 calories burned doing jumping jacks in as little as 5 minutes a day.

Or 150 calories in 10 minutes a day.

Of course, this depends on your weight and the intensity of your jumping jacks.

An alternative exercise is mountain climbers if you cannot absorb the shock of the jacks.

Check out the rest of the post for more details.

Are you a jumping jacks fan?

What do you do for exercise when you cannot get to the gym or do not have access to an elliptical, treadmill, or pool?

What’s Next

For the next step of your fitness journey, learn about the following:

Footnotes

¹ Compendium of physical activities and energy cost

Calories burned with jumping jacks infographic from Musely

How Many Calories Burned By Jumping Jacks 5 Minutes a Day