When I was a kid in the 90s I knew every lyric to Kriss Kross’s epic hip hop hit Jump. Thanks to that song, trampolines, and dreaming of becoming the next Michael Jordan, I did a lot of jumping.
As I got older I realized I preferred hitting the A button to make Mario jump more than actually jumping myself. For years, the only jumping I did was jumping from my couch to grab another beer while gaming.
This spring, I’m reaching back into my past and reconnecting with my inner athlete. Thanks to my boy Eric Bach, I’m gonna be training like an athlete for my cut this year.
Eric has trained hundreds of athletes. In all his fat loss protocols, he includes some kind of jump into the workouts.
Jumps require explosive hip extension– recruiting the biggest muscles in your body like the glutes, hamstrings, and quads to rapidly contract. Similar to heavy lifting, high speed muscle contractions supercharge the nervous system to recruit a ton of muscle fibers. This makes all your subsequent training more effective.
This improve muscle retention, keeping your metabolism running–optimally –and helping you look your best, even when you’re starving on a fat loss diet. – Eric Bach
As you enter into your summer cut, add in a few jump variations to ignite your metabolism and scorch body fat. Get your heart pounding, and push yourself to next level leanness by jumping for fat loss.
Jump Rope
Nothing beats the burn that jumping rope provides. Not only does it send your calorie burn through the roof but it can also help you build those pesky calves.
If you play sports and this is your off season, a jump rope is a great way to stay conditioned as well as maintain agility. If you’re not an athlete, jumping rope can help you increase your agility attribute.
We’ve all jumped rope before, so I don’t need to cover much here on execution. But I will say this. Set a timer for 10-15 minutes and jump as a finisher or jump as long as you can for 2-3 minutes to get warmed up before you lift.
You can also pack a jump rope easily, so it’s perfect to take on the road to stay active.
Bulgarian Split Squat with a Jump
Unilateral movements burn a ton of calories. They also help balance strength on your dominant and non-dominant sides.
The Bulgarian Split-Squat is the best lower body unilateral movements you can do to incinerate body fat and build more muscle.
Most people will advance this exercise by adding weight.
Or you could advance this exercise by adding a jump at the bottom of the movement.
The power needed to thrust your weight off the ground forces your body to spend a large amount of calories.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y6By2xu8xOA
Star Jumps
There is no power-up in Mario I love more than the star. Mario can blaze his way across the screen impervious to all attacks that come his way.
Star jumps won’t make you invincible, but they will hit your body fat like a Fire Flower.
The best part about star jumps is that you don’t need a lot of room to perform them. Making them an excellent addition to a bodyweight routine or your hotel workout.
Superset them with goblet squats or bodyweight squats, as I do with my clients. This will keep the fire of your metabolism burning at max.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=71dobs61bk4
Lunge Jump
Who hasn’t watched an MMA fight and noticed a dude taking a knee to the face? The power behind those kicks and the force a fighter’s body exerts can not only change someone’s career, but rearrange their face.
You too can exert similar power while you shred fat for the summer. Enter the lunge jump.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j3CqC1necbc
Follow the wisdom of Kriss Kross and this year as you shred fat, jump.
You’ll maintain more muscle, burn more fat, and look better than ever.
Believe dat.