How to Do Frog Jumps - Exercise Guide

• What are frog jumps
• Instructions
• Proper form and breathing technique
• Sets and reps
• Benefits
• How to make them easier
• How to increase exercise difficulty
• Stay safe and avoid injury
• 5-minute circuit workout
• Conclusion

Although frog jumps are simple to learn, it's still an exercise that can bring harm if you're doing it wrong, so Raluca Haidu, certified personal trainer and European gold medallist, helped us learn everything about this fitness move.

The frog jump, also called frog squat jump or frog hop, is a plyometric exercise that is performed with your own weight to activate the muscles in the body.

1. Stay with your feet apart, keeping your heels slightly outside your pelvis;
2. Keep your back straight, pop your chest forward, and keep your neck and head in a neutral position;
3. Bring your arms in front of your legs, with elbows slightly bent;
4. Bend your knees and squat, trying to touch the ground with your palms – this is your starting position;
5. Push through your legs and jump straight upwards while lifting your arms beside your ears;
6. While coming down keep your knees slightly bent and land back on the ground firstly on the tips of your feet and then on your heels.

To avoid injury and to reap all the benefits of frog jumping, pay attention to the proper form guidelines shared by CPT Raluca Haidu.

Also, you need to keep your back straight, chest up, and abs tight throughout the whole exercise, according to the gymnastics European gold winner.

Regarding the correct breathing technique you need to follow during frog jumps, breathe in while squatting into your starting position and breathe out when you jump.

You can do frog jumps for 4 sets of 10-20 reps, or you can use a timer and do 4 sets of 30-60 seconds, according to Raluca Haidu, CPT.

Frog jumps help you develop strength in your quadriceps, glutes, and abs. Also, as a plyometric exercise, they improve jumping height and cardiovascular resistance.

Muscles worked by frog jumps: quadriceps, glutes, abs.

Do frog jumps help you lose weight

Frog jumps are useful for people trying to lose weight because it is a cardio exercise, Haidu says.

According to research, cardio exercises, also known as aerobic exercises, burn more calories than many other activities, like weight training.

However, you should keep in mind that exercising alone won't make you lose weight.

Instead, being on a daily calorie deficit will. One of the best ways of achieving that is to add low-calorie foods and filling meals to your diet.

Calories burned

Specifically, frog jumps, as a calisthenic exercise, consume between 2.8 and 8.0 METs, depending on how much effort is put into doing them (light, moderate, or vigorous-intensity).

To put those numbers into perspective, one MET (metabolic equivalent) is the energy one person spends while resting. That means that a person should expect to consume up to 8 times more energy while doing frog jumps.

Note: how much energy is spent doing this exercise can differ from one person to another, depending on their health state, fitness level, and age.

As frog jumps can be tough for many people, especially for beginners in fitness training or for those who lack flexibility, CPT Raluca Haidu revealed how anyone can make the exercise easier, and then build up from there.

By doing this exercise frequently, you can get to a point when you will feel the need to make the move more challenging.

Any person can increase the difficulty of frog jumps, and here are two ways of doing so, according to CPT Haidu:

1. Jump forwards instead of straight up;
2. Bring your knees to your chest while jumping.

To eliminate the risk of having an injury during frog jumps, CPT Raluca Haidu recommends having a very good warm-up routine before starting the exercise, and also, to include squats in it.

Alternatively, you can try Jean Claude Van Damme's full-body warm-up routine.

However, Haidu warns that respecting the proper form technique is crucial for protecting your knees.

One of the best ways to include frog jumps in your training is to make it part of a circuit workout.

Therefore, here is a 5-minute-long circuit workout plan that CPT Raluca Haidu shared with us.

Adding frog jumps to your workout routine is a great way to activate important muscle groups and improve cardiovascular resistance while getting your body ready for the rest of the exercises in the training plan.

Of course, that is as long as you do them correctly. However, anybody can come back and check the guidelines offered by CPT Raluca Haidu, crushing these jumps with perfect form every time.

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