Muscles worked
The jump squat is an explosive exercise. Your quads, glutes and calves drive off the floor as fast as they can, and the same muscles absorb your body when you land. It trains less pure strength and more the ability to produce force quickly, which matters in sprinting, jumping and many ball sports. Your abs keep your torso steady in the air, and the muscles around your hips keep your knees in place on landing.
Common mistakes
- The jumps turn into cardio. With lots of reps in a row, jump height drops and landings get heavy. Keep sets short if you want to train explosiveness, and stop when the jumps get lower.
- The dip is too deep and slow. A deep, unhurried squat before the jump kills your speed. A quick dip to about half depth tends to give a higher jump.
- Landing on your heels. That sends a hard jolt up through your legs. Land on the front of your feet and let your heels come down straight after.
Variations and alternatives
- The box jump lets you land on top of a box, which shortens the drop and softens the landing.
- The jumping lunge switches legs in the air, trains one leg at a time and demands more balance.
- The bodyweight squat is the foundation. If it is not solid without a jump, practise it first.
Sets and reps
For explosiveness, 3 to 5 sets of 3 to 6 jumps is enough, with one to two minutes' rest so every jump is as high as you can make it. Put jumps early in your session after a proper warm-up, while your legs are fresh. Jump in shoes on a floor with some give, not concrete. The guide to sets and reps covers choosing sets, and once or twice a week suits most people, see how often to train.
Progress mainly by how high and how controlled your jumps are, not by how many you do. Once that is in place, add a set or move on to box jumps. In explosive work, progressive overload means quality before quantity. If your knees, feet or Achilles tendons hurt, rather than just feeling tired, stop the exercise and have it looked at by a doctor or physiotherapist.