Muscles worked
Glutes, quads, calves, core.
Why squat jumps work
A regular squat builds strength, but a squat jump adds a speed component — training your muscles to produce force quickly rather than just maximally. That combination of strength and speed is what's usually meant by "power," and it's a quality that slow strength training alone doesn't fully develop.
How to do squat jumps
- Stand with feet shoulder-width apart.
- Squat down to about parallel.
- Drive up explosively and jump off the floor.
- Reach tall at the top.
- Land softly and sink straight into the next squat.
Landing mechanics
Land through the whole foot with the hips pushed back and the knees bent, absorbing the force over as long a range as you can. Aim to land in roughly the squat position you jumped from. Stiff, upright landings concentrate force at the knee; quiet landings mean you are absorbing well.
Form tips
- Absorb each landing by bending into the next squat.
- Keep your chest up.
- Land quietly through the whole foot.
Quality over quantity, genuinely
Squat jumps train rate of force development — how quickly you can produce force, rather than how much you can produce in total. That distinction matters, because it dictates how the exercise should be programmed and almost everyone gets it wrong.
Power is a quality that degrades the moment you are tired, which makes fatigue the enemy rather than the goal. The honest test is whether your last jump in a set is as high as your first. If it is not, the useful part of the set ended earlier and everything after it trained endurance while accumulating landing fatigue. That is the opposite of what this exercise is for, and it is why the rep counts here look low next to the rest of your training.
Sets and reps
3 sets of 10–15 reps. Rest fully between sets for power.
Programming it into your week
Three to four sets of five to eight reps with full recovery between sets. Like all jump training, this is about power output rather than exhaustion — high-rep squat jumps to failure produce sloppy landings and sore knees without much benefit. Place them early in a session, after the warm-up, while you are fresh.
How to progress
Build a solid bodyweight squat first. Then add small hops, then full jumps with a controlled pause between reps, then continuous rebounding jumps. Depth jumps and other advanced plyometrics come much later and are rarely necessary for general fitness.
Variations & progressions
- Easier: bodyweight squats (no jump).
- Harder: tuck jumps or add a pause at the bottom.
- Combine with regular squats.
How it compares
Against a standard squat, the jump adds a speed demand the slow version never makes. That quality declines faster with age than maximal strength does, and it is what underpins catching yourself from a stumble — a good argument for keeping some jumping in your training well past the age most people abandon it.
Equipment
None. Adequate ceiling height and a forgiving surface.
Looking for a full routine? Try our beginner bodyweight workout.