Do the Touch and Hop Exercise

The touch and hop exercise is a body weight cardio exercise that targets the leg muscles, abs, and glutes. It is good for weight loss, stamina training, balance, and agility. Performing this exercise can help strengthen your body and even improve your running. It can be done at any time by anyone.

Steps

Performing the Exercise

1. Place your weight on your right leg. Start standing straight with your feet shoulder-width apart. Bend your right leg slightly and lean your weight onto that leg. Your left leg should be loose and ready to lift off the floor.
2. Bend forward as you lift your left leg. Bend at the hips, keeping core tight and your chest up so that your back is straight. You don't want your chest to sink and your back to round. At the same time, balance on your right leg as you lift your left leg behind you. Extend it straight behind you. Your leg and back should be a straight line and parallel to the floor.
3. Touch the floor. With your left hand, touch the floor. Keep your core tight to help keep your balance. Make sure your leg leg stays extended behind you. Keep your back flat and don’t let it round.
   • If you are a beginner, you may not be able to lift your leg very high. That is okay. Keep working to lift your leg higher as you improve.
4. Jump and bring your left knee up. From your one-legged position, exhale as you push through the heel to quickly straighten and jump up simultaneously. As your do this, bring your left knee up. The motion should be fluid and occur at the almost the same time.
   • Try to get your knee up as high as possible. As you work on this exercise, your mobility will increase so you can raise your knee higher.
5. Land on your right foot. After jumping up, land on your right foot with your knee slightly bent. Bring your left knee down so that both feet are planted firmly on the ground. This should be your starting position.
6. Repeat with the other leg. To complete the exercise, you need to perform the exercise with the other leg. This means you will place your weight on your left leg and raise your right leg. When you jump, your right knee will be lifted.

Addressing Other Concerns

1. Determine the best way to group your sets. There are two ways you can perform this exercise. You can do sets where you alternate back and forth between each leg after one rep. You can also do sets where you only do reps with the left leg, and then after completing a set, you can do a set with the right leg.
2. Do single leg deadlifts. Practicing single leg deadlifts can help improve your balance and flexibility. Start on one leg, your knee slightly bent. Bend forward at the hip as you lift the other leg behind you. Lower your abdomen as you lift your leg, keeping both straight. Stop when your body is parallel to the floor.
   • In a controlled manner, lower your leg back to the floor as your raise your torso.
   • Repeat with the other leg.
3. Practice with high knees. High knees help you get the last half of the touch and hop exercise. The jump and lift of your knee is similar to a high knee. To perform a high knee, stand with your feet shoulder-width apart. Lift your right knee until it is at waist level and your thigh is parallel to the floor. Lower your foot to the floor and repeat with the left leg.
   • The higher you lift your knee so your thigh is parallel to the floor, the better. If you aren’t there yet, keep practicing and working on your flexibility.
   • To increase the intensity, jump as you alternate between lifting each leg.

Sources and Citations

See also

• Perform Jumping Jacks
• Check Your Pulse
• Do Aerobics
• Improve Your Agility
• Breathe While Running
• Calculate Your Target Heart Rate
• Exercise After a Heart Attack
• Improve Your Breathing
• Decide if P90X or Insanity Is Better for You
• Do Squats With a Resistance Band

Read more ...