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Exercise library · Quads

Jumping lunge

Explosive lift for the quads with your bodyweight.

How to do it

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Split stance, torso upright

  1. Starting position

    Stand in a split stance with one foot in front of the other and keep your torso upright.

  2. The movement

    Lower into a lunge, jump up, switch legs in the air, and land softly in the next lunge.

Most common mistake

Don't land stiffly or with your knees caving in, bend your legs softly and keep your knees over your feet.

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Muscle group
Quads
Equipment
Bodyweight
Where
Home or gym
Logged as
Reps

Muscles worked

The jumping lunge trains explosive power in your legs. Your quads and glutes drive you up out of the lunge, and your calves give the final push off the floor. On landing, the same muscles must brake your body quickly, and that is what asks most of your knees and ankles. Your trunk keeps your upper body upright while your legs swap places in the air. Your heart rate climbs quickly, so the exercise is used both for power and in conditioning sessions.

Common mistakes

  • You carry on as the landings get worse. Tired legs land harder and sloppier. End the set when the landings start to sound louder or you no longer land in balance.
  • Your back knee hits the floor. If you land too deep, the knee can thud into the floor. Land in a slightly shallower lunge and let your legs give into the right depth once your feet are down.
  • You jump before the basics are in place. Jumping lunges rely on ordinary lunges already feeling stable. If you wobble in them without the jump, build them up first and start jumping later.

Variations and alternatives

  • The bodyweight lunge is the same movement without the jump, and the one to master first.
  • The jump squat lands on both feet at once, which makes balance easier.
  • The box jump suits you when you want to focus on the take-off, as you land on top of a box and do not fall as far.

Sets and reps

When the goal is power, jumping lunges are done in low reps with full rest: 3 to 5 sets of 6 to 10 jumps, resting one to two minutes between sets. What counts is the quality of each jump, not getting tired. Put the exercise early in the session after a proper warm-up, while your legs are fresh. The guide to sets and reps has more on sets and rest.

When you use it for conditioning, say 20 to 30 seconds at a time, the same rule applies: quality first. Learn the technique at a calm pace, then build up carefully with more sets or higher jumps, not more sloppy reps. That is what progressive overload looks like in jump training. If your knees or ankles hurt, stop jumping and see a doctor or physiotherapist about it.

Swap for

Taken, or missing the equipment? The same movement with something else.

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