Health & Physical Education – CLASS-VII – UNIT 1:  SOME SIMPLE AEROBIC EXERCISES

Aerobics

Aerobic exercises strengthen heart and lungs and train the cardiovascular system to manage and deliver oxygen more quickly and efficiently throughout the body. Aerobic exercises use large muscle groups, are rhythmic in nature, and can be maintained continuously for at least 10 minutes.

Following are the set of some aerobic exercises and their benefits:

1. Stair Training

Primary Muscles Targeted: Quads, Glutes, Hamstrings and Calves

How to perform:

• With a steady pace, go up and come down on the stairs for at least 10-15 minutes. It is your warm- up exercise.

2. Skipping

Primary Muscles Targeted: Shoulders, Quads, Glutes and Calves.

How to perform:

• Stand with your feet at shoulder width apart. Grasp the jump rope handles with both hands.
• Use your wrists to swing the rope over your head.
• Quickly hop over the rope as it comes towards the front of your feet. And repeat.

3. Squat Jumps

Primary Muscles Targeted: Quads, Glutes and Hip Flexors

How to perform:

• Begin with a standing position with your feet shoulder width apart.
• Perform a normal squat.
• As you complete the downward motion, jump in the air.
• As you land, lower the body back to normal squat position to finish rep one.
• Do four sets of 10-15 reps and take no more than 30-60 seconds of rest between each set.
• You should also keep in mind to keep a steady pace throughout the exercise.

4. Burpees

Primary Muscles Targeted: Chest, Triceps, Delts, Quads and Hamstring

How to perform:

• Start off with a standing position with hands on the side.
• Drop down to a squat position but with your palms on the ground. Kick your legs back while keeping your arms extended.
• You will be now in a high plank position.
• From high plank position, immediately return to squat position.
• Jump from this position to finish the first rep.

5. Jumping Jacks

Primary Muscles Targeted: Calves, Glutes, Deltoids and Lats

How to perform:

• Start with feet together and hands down by the side
• Jump your feet out to the side and raise your both arms above your head simultaneously.
• Immediately jump back to starting position. And repeat.
• It’s a little warm-up exercise before you get into real hard aerobic training.

6. Bear Crawls

Primary Muscles Targeted: Triceps and Deltoids

How to perform:

• Start with a plank position keeping your arms and legs extended on the floor.
• Keeping the same posture, crawl forward at steady pace.
• Bear in mind to put more weight on your arms and less on our legs.
• Do it for at least 60 seconds.

7. Inchworm

Primary Muscles Targeted: Hamstring

How to perform:

• Begin with your feet shoulder-width apart and tight core.
• Place your hands on the floor as you bend from the waist.
• Now keeping your legs straight, walk hands forward till you reach a high plank position.
• When you reach high plank position, quickly walk your feet towards your hand and stand. That’s rep one.

8. Mountain Climber

Primary Muscles Targeted: Abs and Hamstring

How to perform:

• Get into a high plank position with core tight.
• Bring right foot forward just near to your right hand so that you are in a low lunge position.
• Now step right foot back and quickly step left foot forward.
• Do this in quick progression.

9. High Knees

Primary Muscles Targeted: Quads and Glutes

How to perform:

• Stand with your feet hip-width apart and run in place at a steady pace by pulling both the knees alternatively to chest.
• Do as quickly as you can.

10. Plank Jacks

Primary Muscles Targeted: Glutes, Hamstring, and Hips

How to Perform:

• Start with a high plank position, keeping your core tight, jump your feet apart and jump them back together.
• Remember not to jump your feet either too broad or too narrow.
• Also, maintain the hips at the same level throughout the exercise.

11. Flutter Kick

Primary Muscles Targeted: Lower abs

How to perform:

• Lie on your back with your face facing the ceiling and your abs drawn inside.
• Slide your hands beneath your lower back curve for additional support.
• Now using core lift your both legs so that they make an approximate right angle to the upper body.
• Kick your feet up and down several inches just above the ground. Rep speedily as you can.

12. Donkey Kick

Primary Muscles Targeted: Glutes and Hips

How to perform:

• Get into a high plank position and keep your core tight.
• Now jump your feet into the air and kick your butt with heels.
• Return back lightly on your toes.
• Make sure that you keep your shoulders in line with your wrists.

13. Jumping Lunges

Primary Muscles Targeted: Quads and Hamstrings

How to perform:

• First of all, you need to master the basic lunge version before you move on to this variation.
• Start by dropping off into a low lunge position.
• Switch the feet mid-air as you jump up.
• Land with opposite feet as you get into a lunge position a second time.

14. Skaters

Primary Muscles Targeted: Quads, Hamstring, and Glutes

How to perform:

• Stand with your feet hip-width apart and slightly bend knees.
• Now jump toward the right with your right foot, landing slowly on your right leg ankle and your left leg behind.
• Quickly, jump towards the left with left foot with right leg behind.

15. Butt Kicks

Primary Muscles Targeted: Glutes and Hamstring

How to perform:

• Stand with your feet shoulder-width apart.
• Keep your arms bent towards the side.
• Now flex your right knee and kick your right heel to your glutes. Bring the right foot down.
• Now repeat the same with left leg.

16. Corkscrew

Primary Muscles Targeted: Abs and Obliques

How to perform:

• Lie on your back with your hands just below your lower back for extra support.
• Keep your navel sucked and legs straight.
• Lift off the legs from the ground till it is at a right angle to your upper body.
• Keeping your core tight and legs together, make a complete rotation with your legs.
• Focus on keeping your abs tight throughout the exercise.

17. Invisible Jump Rope

Primary Muscles Targeted: Calves, Hamstrings and Glutes

How to perform:

• Jump over an invisible rope by landing lightly on your toes and pushing the ground with the balls of your feet.
• Make quick, small movements with your wrists alongside.
• With this exercise, you don’t need to jump way too up.
• Hop no more than 2 inches above the ground.

18. Sprinters Sit Ups

Primary Muscles Targeted: Rectus abdominal and Obliques

How to perform:

• Begin with a seated position with you arms bent at right and angle and your legs extended in front of you.
• Now engaging your obliques lift your left leg with left knee and bring right elbow towards the left knee.
• Get back to starting position and repeat it on the other side.

19. Box Jumps

Primary Muscles Targeted: Hamstring and Glutes

How to perform:

• Fetch yourself a sturdy box or bench to do this exercise.
• For the beginners, start off with a box that’s mid- calf height and make your way towards higher height boxes from there.
• Face the box with your feet shoulder width apart.
• Now bend the knees, send your hips back, swing your arms back, and swing them forward as you land lightly on the box.
• To return to starting position, step down one foot at a time.

20. Jump Forward Jog Back

Primary Muscles Targeted: Quads, Hamstring, Glutes

How to perform:

• Stand with your knees slightly bent and your feet hip-width apart.
• Now swinging both arms back and then forward, jump forward landing lightly on your toes.

Now jog backwards to the starting position.

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