Jump Squats
An explosive bodyweight jump squat that builds lower-body power — the foundational plyometric for HIIT and conditioning work.
How to do it
- Stand with your feet shoulder-width apart and your arms relaxed at your sides.
- Drop quickly into a quarter or half squat, bending your knees and pushing your hips back.
- Swing your arms back as you drop to load momentum for the jump.
- Explode up, extending your hips, knees and ankles at the same time and throwing your arms overhead.
- Land softly with bent knees and immediately absorb the impact back into the squat position.
- Release the tension for half a second at the bottom and launch into the next rep with the same explosive intent.
Key technique cue
Land on soft knees and absorb straight into the squat — never on locked legs.
Common mistakes
- ✕ Landing on locked, straight legs, which drives force through the knees and ankles.
- ✕ Squatting too deep before the jump, which kills the elastic bounce and slows the movement down.
- ✕ Letting the knees cave in on the landing, which overloads the knees and shifts the work away from the glutes.
- ✕ Collapsing the chest forward at the bottom, which weakens the drive and overloads the lower back.
Benefits
- ✓ Builds explosive lower-body power for sport and athletic performance.
- ✓ Raises the heart rate fast for conditioning and fat-burning work.
- ✓ Improves landing mechanics and joint resilience under impact.
About the exercise
The Jump Squat is the most common lower-body plyometric in any program. You drop into a quick squat, then explode up into a vertical jump and absorb the landing back into the squat position. The point is not depth — it is speed and force production. The glutes and quads do the work while the calves and core support the drive and the landing. It fits HIIT circuits, conditioning blocks, athletic development programs and metabolic warm-ups. It is a low-equipment, high-intensity way to add power training to any bodyweight program. Pair it with squats and lunges for complete bodyweight leg training.
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