Jumping jacks

[Lucas]

rofl!!!

i knew it was the ****ed sand ninjas, i just knew it! i need to fire that gardener who said they were just 'big goffers"

[sanjuro_ronin]

Hey, don't mess with gophers !!

[Kevin73]

the only wrench in the machine is that there are many therapists who do not do cross crawl or anything even remotely similar, and get just as good results with patients as those who do, indicating that it is not necessarily a more powerful technique just because it engages crossing of midline;
as far as _restablishing neuro connections, that is debatable - plasticity often will take existing pathways and use them for different thing s as opposed to re-establishing old ones that have lost due to some reason - but I'd have to see the current research on that to be sure


this is loaded with assumptions; first, define "natural"; if you want to argue natural versus unnatural, you get into a whole bog of operational assumptions that may or may be not be shared by someone else - any movement the body can make, without causing disrution of tissue, I would say, is "natural"; second, in a functional context, e.g. - environmentally specific, such as one's home or job, you may have to do exactly that sort of movement: for example, when you get in and out of a car, you do that; when you shuffle forward and throw a lead hand jab, you do that; when you fence, you do that; when you have to move between objects that are narrowly space, you do that; if you were edging along a narrow trail on the side of a cliff, you would do that;

The original poster asked for why jumping jacks "were bad". I gave those reasons in the medical field of why. Like most things in the body, doctors will disagree and it isn't 100%.

As to the "natural movement" you failed to provide a single example of a case where the body does that. When you get in or out of a car, you use one leg and an arm for balance it isn't using both the arm and the leg in conjunction like a jumping jack. and as far as walking on a cliff again, this is lateral motion for the legs and the arms are not moving in conjunction to move the body, the upper body is still and the lower body is isolated for the movement. Throwing a lead jab and shuffling is a learned movement, untrained people do not do that movement. They step with their weak side and throw a big haymaker with their power side, any other type of punch is a learned behavior.

[taai gihk yahn]

The original poster asked for why jumping jacks "were bad". I gave those reasons in the medical field of why.

are you in the medical field?

Like most things in the body, doctors will disagree and it isn't 100%.

when you stated your answers originally, you did not qualify them in this way; as such, someone might be inclined to believe that what you are stating is not open to disagreement, especially someone without specialized knowledge in that field; so the reasons you gave are not necessarily based on objective data, and therefore cannot really be generalized with a high degree of confidence;

As to the "natural movement" you failed to provide a single example of a case where the body does that. When you get in or out of a car, you use one leg and an arm for balance it isn't using both the arm and the leg in conjunction like a jumping jack. and as far as walking on a cliff again, this is lateral motion for the legs and the arms are not moving in conjunction to move the body, the upper body is still and the lower body is isolated for the movement. Throwing a lead jab and shuffling is a learned movement, untrained people do not do that movement. They step with their weak side and throw a big haymaker with their power side, any other type of punch is a learned behavior.

ok, so, you originally said this:

The body has no natural motion where both sides move forward at the same time.

now, I initially interpreted that as describing unilateral forward movement of the ipsilateral lower and upper extremity, but upon reappraisal it appears that I may have misunderstood exactly what you intended to illustrate; perhaps you meant that there is no movement where both arms and legs move forward together at the same time? well, if so, I'd say first that you have described a broad jump; second, the above is certainly not describing a jumping jack - for that, you have simultaneous frontal plane motions of abduction and adduction, there is no forward movement; third, the movements I described earlier, though not perhaps fitting what you intended to describe, still are ones where you have movement that is not contralateral, but still functional - and if you want to call that "unnatural", I strongly disagree with that as a descriptor; now, if you want to say it is less complex movement, I would agree, because crossing midline is more difficult to do than not; but saying it's unnatural is a highly subjective and ultimately imprecise term;

[Oso]

doesn't the basic 'jab' move the arm and the leg on the same side of the body forward at essentially the same time???

i think so.

end of debate.

[taai gihk yahn]

doesn't the basic 'jab' move the arm and the leg on the same side of the body forward at essentially the same time???

i think so.

end of debate.

yes, but he dismissed it as evidence of ipsilateral motion being functional, based on the claim that it was a consciously "learned" movement as opposed to one that was acquired intuitively (like walking), suggesting perhaps that his criteria for "natural" is based on what one does instinctively versus by design? of course, one has to wonder then, where the first person who ever threw a lead hand jab got the idea from...

[Oso]

i still say it's all irrelevent because the point of learning any martial art is to do something the other guy isn't ready for or hasn't seen...OF COURSE we are doing stuff that isn't natural...

[TenTigers]

yeah, and nevermind that guys like me, at 52, have been doing jumping jacks since childhood, with no ill effects.

[Kevin73]

are you in the medical field?


when you stated your answers originally, you did not qualify them in this way; as such, someone might be inclined to believe that what you are stating is not open to disagreement, especially someone without specialized knowledge in that field; so the reasons you gave are not necessarily based on objective data, and therefore cannot really be generalized with a high degree of confidence;



ok, so, you originally said this:

now, I initially interpreted that as describing unilateral forward movement of the ipsilateral lower and upper extremity, but upon reappraisal it appears that I may have misunderstood exactly what you intended to illustrate; perhaps you meant that there is no movement where both arms and legs move forward together at the same time? well, if so, I'd say first that you have described a broad jump; second, the above is certainly not describing a jumping jack - for that, you have simultaneous frontal plane motions of abduction and adduction, there is no forward movement; third, the movements I described earlier, though not perhaps fitting what you intended to describe, still are ones where you have movement that is not contralateral, but still functional - and if you want to call that "unnatural", I strongly disagree with that as a descriptor; now, if you want to say it is less complex movement, I would agree, because crossing midline is more difficult to do than not; but saying it's unnatural is a highly subjective and ultimately imprecise term;

Very limited medical training, and went down a different career path instead. I should have prefaced my first post with the disclaimer that the people who think jumping jacks are bad, think they are bad for these reasons. Also, with the add-on of that it was not something agreed upon in the medical community.

The body is designed to biomechanically work a certain way, there are MANY things we CAN DO, but that does not mean that it is the most efficient use of the body. I discussed both forward locomotion and lateral locomotion of the body to show that it does not move in the way of the jumping jack for anything it is required to do (push ups for example of another exercise that was given questionable status mimics pushing movements that the body uses).

I never said a jab was not functional, nor effective and we were not discussing movements learned in a martial art to be applied in combat (although there are several that will harm the body over time). We were discussing movements the body uses throughout the day to naturally function and not specific learned things we force the body to perform because we have to (ie: jumping jacks). A broadjump STILL does not fit into the category because when you broad jump you are pushing off and the arms propel forward to add momentum to the jump. You don't swing one leg and one arm forward to jump. That being said, I was wrong when I said that the body does not have a natural movement, in which, one leg moves forward along with an arm. When you go to reach out for something you step with the side you are reaching for.

[monkey mind]

Disorientation & neurological regression? Sounds like I might have to look into recreational jumping jacking. A nice legal, cheap alternative.

[Lee Chiang Po]

This is all insanity. Jumping Jacks are a simple warm up exercise that increases blood flow to the arms and legs as well as increasing the heart rate. It has been a part of just about every physical education program for a hundred years. It don't make you run backwards or trip on your own feet. It might not be considered a strength exercise, but it has it's benefits. It doesn't have to be a stepping or punching exercise in order to benefit you. Fat people have a problem with it because when all that fat starts jumping around it can indeed make you fumble around and fall. The jell-o effect can actually jerk you clean off your feet.