Toe Taps Exercises: How to do, Benefits, Variations & More

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February 3, 2022

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‍Toe taps are loved by health enthusiasts as they increase lower body strength and heart rate without much effort. The best part - you can control their intensity and impact. No wonder so many people add toe taps to their circuit training program, cardio, and even lower body workout.

There is one thing about toe taps that often puzzles the beginner - how to do toe taps properly. Well, this puzzlement happens because toe taps can refer to different exercises. However, one thing that you would find common in toe taps is that you can strengthen your core and lower body with toe taps workout.

If you are a beginner and interested in learning toe taps exercise, this guide is for you. Down below, we have discussed the toe taps benefits, how to do toe taps exercise, some variations of toe taps, and much more. Read till the end and you will know all the required things about toe taps exercise.

Toe Taps Benefits

Here is a list of some benefits that you get by practising the exercise regularly:

You can do standing toe taps and their variations like high knee toe taps and cross body toe taps during warmups.
Regular practice of toe taps ab exercise can help you improve your speed and foot-handling skills.
You engage your core, calves, hamstrings, hip flexors, quads, and glutes while doing toe taps.
If you are a beginner, you can keep the intensity of toe taps as low as you want. In fact, you can also do this exercise without a box to make it even easier.
By increasing reps of standing toe taps and their variations like high knee toe taps and cross body toe taps, you can increase your heart and burn calories at a fast rate.
Although it is included in lower body workout, you can also hit your arms while tapping. All you have to do is just increase the intensity which will force your upper body muscles to engage.

How To Do Toe Taps Exercise

A standing toe tap is the most basic version of toe taps. It is a beginner-friendly exercise that doesn’t require much equipment except a plyometric box, or any other stable structure. Here is a step-by-step guide that will help you do standing toe taps:

Stand straight in front of a box and place one foot on it with balls of the foot touching the box.
Keep arms by your side and the other foot on the floor.
Now, bring your grounded foot onto the box and your lifted foot back on the ground.
This exchange of feet should happen in the mid-air, simultaneously.
Continue standing toe taps for as long as you can and then take a rest.
Ideally, you should do standing toe taps for 30 seconds to a minute and the rest for about 30 seconds.
If you want to increase the difficulty of toe taps, just increase your pace to your comfort level.
If you want to decrease the difficulty of toe taps, do toe taps ab exercise on the plain ground instead of using a box or a raised platform

Toe Taps Variations

There are a number of toe taps variations that you can add to your daily workout. Here is a list of the most common variations of toe taps that you can practice at your home:

Supine Toe Taps: Also known as the pilates toe taps, this exercise is probably the best at burning your abs. The primary muscles engaged in supine toe taps are the rectus abdominis and transversus abdominis.
Alternating Toe Taps: This one is a callisthenics and pilates exercise that hits your abs just like the regular toe taps. However, it also hits a secondary group of muscles like the groin, lower back, hip flexors, and quads.
Crab Toe Taps: Unlike other exercises in this list, crab toe taps hit your hamstrings, shoulders, quadriceps, and lower back first. So, if building abs are not your first priority, you can go with crab toe taps.
Seated Toe Taps: Just like standing toe taps, you can also change the intensity of seated toe taps according to your health needs. By doing this exercise regularly, you can strengthen your calf muscles and tibialis anterior.

Common Mistakes

People can commit some common mistakes while doing toe taps. Keep the below-mentioned points in mind:

Keep the height of the box according to the length of your legs and your fitness level.
Do not forget to engage your core muscles while doing standing toe taps. This applies to toe taps variations like the alternate toe taps too.
If you are feeling tired, you can take a rest instead of bending over your waist and compromising with your form.

Precautions And Safety Points

The following precautions and safety points will ensure your safety while you will perform the toe taps ab workout:

Standing toe taps and variations like the alternate toe taps are modifiable according to your fitness. Do not copy the pace of someone else or you will increase the chances of getting injured.
If you have a health condition related to knees, hips, feet, or ankles, you should first consult a doctor before starting the toe taps workout.
Pregnant ladies should either avoid practising toe taps or should do low-impact toe taps after consulting the doctor.
If your body is not flexible enough or your stamina is low, you should start doing toe taps ab workout on plain ground.
Though the ideal timing of standing toe taps is considered 30 to 60 seconds, you can start even with 10-second sessions if you are not comfortable doing a high-impact home workout.

Conclusion

Toe taps are an easy way to work on your core muscles and lower body. Whether you are a beginner or an athlete, this exercise is going to benefit you in some way. And if you get bored of doing the regular standing toe taps, you can try variations like the supine toe taps and alternating toe taps.

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