Skip The Treadmill For Cardio—Tuck Jumps Are Where It's At

Looking to spice up your workout with something that will a) challenge you and b) burn major calories? The tuck jump is where it’s at. As a plyometric exercise, a tuck jump requires you to use your bodyweight and power to contract and engage several muscles at once to jump up in the air.

Trust me, this move burns serious calories and will strengthen both your upper and lower body. I love adding this move to my plyometric circuits. It’s a great exercise that will get both cardio and muscle toning in at the same time.

But you do have to be careful. If you’re not doing your tuck jumps the right way, you can cause added strain on your knees and joints. So before you start jumping, here’s everything you need to know about the tuck jump: how to do it, benefits, modifications and more.

How To Do Tuck Jumps

Pro tip: This is not meant to be a butt kick. So make sure you knees are bent and shooting upwards toward your hands, rather than aiming backward towards your butt. To do this, engage you lower abs to help drive your knees up.

Reps/sets for best results: 5-10 reps with 30 second rest in between

Benefits Of Tuck Jumps

A proper tuck jump will work your core, legs, glutes, and quads, giving you both the upper- and lower-body-strengthening exercise you want. And because jumping is involved, you’ll also be able to sneak in some cardio with this move. Your heart rate will increase as soon as you begin, making sure that the necessary blood flow is reaching those targeted muscles.

Modifications Of Tuck Jumps

Squat in between reps: If you start doing the tuck jumps and find that doing one tuck jump after another isn’t so great for your knees or endurance, don’t do them consecutively. Instead, scale it back a bit and do a squat, then a tuck jump, and then take a few seconds to reset before repeating.

Break the move up into two: Another low-impact version of this move would be do a squat to knee drive, lifting one knee up at a time to reach your extended arms, instead of a full tuck jump. You’re basically just separating the tuck jump into its two separate movements, which will reduce the risk of knee injury and put less pressure on your lower body overall.

How To Add Tuck Jumps To Your Workout

Do it as a finisher: I don’t recommend doing a tuck jump anywhere close to the beginning of a workout. You’re not warmed up enough and can risk injury. But adding the tuck jump to the end of a workout can be great. It will give your training session a metabolic boost and ensure that you end your workout strong.

Add it to your circuit: If you’re doing a circuit with plyometric moves, I definitely recommend adding in a tuck jump. Maybe you’ll do mountain climbers, tuck jumps and squat thrusts, doing each move for 30 seconds to a minute, with a minute rest in between. This will create an intense total-body cardio workout, and your muscles will be challenged to reach their fullest (and most tired…whew!) potential.

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