Here’s some news that will have you jumping for joy: A new study shows that simple jumping can significantly improve bone and muscle strength.
The 8-month long study of 99 adolescents found boys that participated in a 10-minute workout consisting of tuck jumps, star jumps, side lunges and skipping significantly improved whole body bone mass while the girls’ in the study experienced improvements in the bone mass at the hip and spine. The teens’ results were compared to those of students who participated in a workout regime void of jumping.
The kids in the jumping group gradually increased the complexity of their routine and their repetitions as time went on. By the end of the study students worked up to about 300 jumps per session.
Researchers noted that the improved bone strength at the hip and spine in girls was promising as those were the typical sites for osteoporotic fractures in the elderly. So by strengthening those areas now and by teaching teens various exercises to incorporate into their daily lives educators say they hope that the positive skeletal benefits would continue into students’ adult years.
As for what the study results mean for you they show that by adding or increasing the number of jumping exercises you complete as a part of your daily fitness routine the better off your bones will be. Jumping exercises can be as simple as skipping rope for 10-15 minutes every other day or as advanced as jumping around a track (instead of jogging). Other jumps can be done in the privacy of your own home while you are watching TV. Rather, than veg out in front of the boob tube during the commercial breaks consider standing up and getting in a few sets of tuck jumps (simply jumping straight up with your knees bent) or split leap jumps. Or get your kids involved and play a game of leap frog in the back yard.
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