Squat Jump
From a squat, drive through your legs, swing your arms and jump straight up as explosively as you can. Land back in the squat as quietly as possible and go straight into the next jump.
The squat jump is a squat with a jump on top. From the bottom of the squat you powerfully straighten your hips, knees and ankles one after the other and jump straight up. Swinging your arms carries you higher.
The exercise builds jumping power and explosiveness, the ability to produce a lot of force in a short time. When you land, the muscles around your hips, knees and ankles absorb the impact. The quieter you land, the more your knees and hips bend to cushion it.
From the studio: Before I jump, I simply tell myself: land as quietly as possible. My body instinctively knows what to do. My toes spread, the muscles in my feet join in, and there is straight away far more tension in the landing. For me, jumps belong in any healthy training routine sooner or later, because they train explosiveness. That is what I see in the studio.
Starting position
Stand tall with both feet planted on the floor. Bend your knees and hips and sink into a squat, letting your upper body lean slightly forward as your arms swing back.
From the bottom, push hard into the floor and jump straight up. Your arms swing forward and up overhead, and your body is fully extended in the air.
Land as quietly as you can: your feet touch down softly, your knees and hips bend to cushion the landing, and you sink back into the squat with your arms swinging back. From there, go straight into the next jump.
The three cues
- Land as quietly as you can
- Land actively, toes spread
- Explode upwards and swing your arms
Common faults
| Fault | How to fix it |
|---|---|
| A hard, loud landing | Picture yourself landing as quietly as possible, with your knees and hips bending softly to cushion it. |
| Your feet land passively | Land actively: toes spread, the muscles in your feet working. |
| Your arms stay by your sides as you take off | Swing your arms back as you sink into the squat, then drive them forward and overhead as you jump. |
| Towards the end of the set, the jumps get lower and the landings louder | End the set while every jump is still explosive and every landing still quiet. |
Variations
| Variation | When to use it |
|---|---|
| Single jumps | After each landing, settle in the squat for a moment before the next jump. Move on once every landing is quiet. |
| Continuous jumps | Go straight from each landing into the next jump: explode up, then come back down as quietly as you can. |
| Jump higher | Put more drive into every take-off while keeping each landing as quiet as possible. |
Reps and load
Keep the reps per set fairly low so that every jump stays explosive and every landing stays quiet. The quality of the jump decides when the set ends.
The exercise fits well early in a session while your legs are still fresh, for example before dumbbell goblet squats or reverse lunges.
Which muscles do the work
| Muscle | Role | What it does here |
|---|---|---|
| Quads M. quadriceps femoris | Prime mover | Straighten the knee at take-off and absorb the landing |
| Glutes M. gluteus maximus | Prime mover | Extend the hips powerfully out of the squat |
| Calves M. triceps surae (M. gastrocnemius, M. soleus) | Prime mover | Extend the ankle as the final part of the take-off |
| Hamstrings Mm. ischiocrurales | Synergist | Help extend the hip early in the take-off |
| Shoulders M. deltoideus | Synergist | Swing the arms forward and overhead |
| Lower back M. erector spinae | Stabiliser | Keep the back straight while the upper body leans forward in the squat, then help straighten it at take-off |
| Abs M. rectus abdominis, Mm. obliqui | Stabiliser | Keep the trunk braced in the air and on landing |
At take-off your hips, knees and ankles extend in quick succession: your glutes, quads and calves do the main work while your arms add momentum. On landing, the same muscles absorb the impact, and your back and abs keep your trunk stable.
Explained in full
Andreas shows the difference between a heavy and a quiet landing, explains how to land actively when you jump, and why jumps belong in your training. · 1:13
Seeing it done right is not the same as doing it right
Video, cues and variations take you a long way. What they cannot give you is an outside eye at the moment the movement isn't quite there yet. That is what training with me is for — in the studio or in a workshop.
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Sources
Moran J, Ramirez-Campillo R, Granacher U. (2018). Effects of jumping exercise on muscular power in older adults: a meta-analysis. Sports Med 48(12):2843–2857. DOI: 10.1007/s40279-018-1002-5 — Pools 9 studies with 13 training groups of healthy adults aged 50 and over. Jump training produced a moderate improvement in muscular power (effect size 0.66); across all studies only one acute injury was reported, and that person carried on training. The authors suggest up to 3 sets, up to 10 jumps per set and up to 3 sessions a week. The basis for jumping power and explosiveness on this page. Transfer to 40- to 60-year-olds training 2 to 4 hours a week: largely yes, since the age cut-off is 50 and the volumes fit limited training time; people under 50 are not covered. (Evidence type: Meta-analysis)
Vetrovsky T, Steffl M, Stastny P, Tufano JJ. (2019). The efficacy and safety of lower-limb plyometric training in older adults: a systematic review. Sports Med 49(1):113–131. DOI: 10.1007/s40279-018-1018-x — Reviews 12 randomised trials with 289 participants (176 women, 113 men), with group mean ages from 58 to 79. No study reported more injuries or other adverse effects; the authors consider plyometric training feasible and safe. Complements Moran 2018 on safety. Transfer: limited, since participants were older on average than the target group, the studies were small and the safety finding is qualitative. (Evidence type: Systematic review)
McNair PJ, Prapavessis H, Callender K. (2000). Decreasing landing forces: effect of instruction. Br J Sports Med 34(4):293–296. DOI: 10.1136/bjsm.34.4.293 — A randomised trial in 80 people without complaints (mean age 24), landing from a 30 cm box. Instructions on joint position and the instruction to listen to the sound of the impact both lowered peak ground reaction force compared with the control group, and neither worked better than the other. The basis for the cue to land as quietly as you can. Transfer: limited, with a young sample and single box landings rather than continuous jumps; there is no measurement in 40- to 60-year-olds. (Evidence type: RCT)
Wernli K, Ng L, Phan X, Davey P, Grisbrook T. (2016). The relationship between landing sound, vertical ground reaction force, and kinematics of the lower limb during drop landings in healthy men. J Orthop Sports Phys Ther 46(3):194–199. DOI: 10.2519/jospt.2016.6041 — Measures single-leg drop landings from 30 cm in 26 healthy men aged 18 to 35. Landing sound was related to ground reaction force (R² = 0.42), and quiet landings showed 7.0° more ankle and 11.7° more knee flexion. The basis for saying the quieter you land, the more your joints give. An association, not proof of cause and effect. Transfer: limited, with young men and single-leg landings. (Evidence type: Cross-sectional study)
Koshino Y, Samukawa M, Ishida T, Tohyama H. (2025). Effects of landing instructions on Achilles tendon load: emphasising hip flexion as the optimal strategy. Knee Surg Sports Traumatol Arthrosc 33(11):4026–4034. DOI: 10.1002/ksa.70006 — A lab study in 23 healthy people. The instruction to land quietly lowered ground reaction force and loading rate and increased hip and knee flexion. Achilles tendon force was lowest with the instruction to bend at the hips, lower than with the quiet-landing instruction. The reason the page explicitly asks your knees and hips to give when you land quietly. Age and sex not given in the abstract. Transfer: limited, as a mechanism. (Evidence type: Biomechanics)
Zhang SN, Bates BT, Dufek JS. (2000). Contributions of lower extremity joints to energy dissipation during landings. Med Sci Sports Exerc 32(4):812–819. DOI: 10.1097/00005768-200004000-00014 — Measures landings from different heights and with different stiffness in 9 active men. The knee extensors absorbed energy consistently across all landings; in soft landings the hip extensors contributed more, in stiff landings the calf muscles. Higher and stiffer landings produced higher peak forces. The basis for saying the muscles around your hips, knees and ankles absorb the impact, and for listing the quads. Transfer: limited, as a mechanism, with a very small, young sample. (Evidence type: Biomechanics)
Bobbert MF, van Ingen Schenau GJ. (1988). Coordination in vertical jumping. J Biomech 21(3):249–262. DOI: 10.1016/0021-9290(88)90175-3 — Studies the countermovement jump in 10 skilled jumpers using video, a force plate and EMG. The muscles switch on one after another, from the hamstrings through the glutes and quads to the calves, and extension travels from the trunk and thighs down to the feet. The basis for saying your hips, knees and ankles extend in quick succession, and for the roles in the muscle table. Transfer: yes for the movement sequence, since the anatomy does not change with age; the sample was small and skilled. (Evidence type: Biomechanics)
Lees A, Vanrenterghem J, De Clercq D. (2004). Understanding how an arm swing enhances performance in the vertical jump. J Biomech 37(12):1929–1940. DOI: 10.1016/j.jbiomech.2004.02.021 — Compares vertical jumps with and without an arm swing in 20 adult men. With the arm swing they jumped 0.086 m higher, through several mechanisms working together, including extra work at the hip. The basis for the arm swing in the cue and for listing the shoulders as a synergist. Transfer: yes for the mechanism; the sample was young and male. (Evidence type: Biomechanics)
A note on context: EMG studies show which muscles an exercise recruits — that is a good reason to pick it, but it does not replace adjusting things to the person in front of you. See a doctor for persistent or severe pain.