How to do the Jump Squat
Step by step
- Stand with feet shoulder-width apart and core braced.
- Bend your knees and sink into a quarter to half squat.
- Explode upward and jump off the floor.
- Land softly on the balls of your feet with bent knees to absorb the impact.
- Settle into the next squat and repeat, or skip it if your knees complain.
The thing people get wrong
Land soft with bent knees to cushion each rep - stiff, heavy landings pound the joints; skip it if knees hurt.
Coaching cue
Drive off the floor as fast as you can on every rep; speed is the whole point, not depth.
Stay safe
Jump on a flat, non-slip surface with clear space overhead, and end the set once your landings get sloppy.
Make it easier or harder
- Easier: Do fast bodyweight squats without leaving the floor.
- Harder: Go straight into the next jump with no pause between reps.
Muscles worked
- Primary: Quads, Glutes
- Secondary: Calves, Core
What to do instead
Same job, different movement — useful if you don't have the equipment or it doesn't feel right today.
Daily Coach builds this into a real weekly plan. It picks the exercises for your equipment and experience, swaps around injuries you tell it about, and tracks what you actually lifted.