Spring is a unconfined time to take stock of how your winter nutrition and training have progressed. Perhaps your self-examination will reveal that your thighs, calves and buttocks are softer and sagging a bit increasingly than you want. Plane if this is the specimen today, a tighter nutrition and focused wade on the lower soul will turn things virtually rather quickly. Squat jumps are a unconfined way to start this lower soul evolution. They will generate muscle power, modernize soul balance, firm the thighs, calves and buttocks, and shrivel calories in the process. It is moreover a unconfined exercise if you can’t make it to the gym, considering you can do squat jumps plane if there is no gym in sight.

Muscle Structure and Function

The squat jump involves many thigh, calf and hip muscles, but only the major ones will be discussed here. The quadriceps femoris muscle group consists of four thigh muscles.¹ The vastus lateralis muscle covers the lateral part of the femur unorthodoxy of the thigh. The vastus medialis muscle is welded to the medial part of the femur. The vastus intermedius muscle is tying to the central, proemial part of the femur. The muscle fibers from these three vasti muscles nail to the quadriceps tendon. The rectus femoris begins on the hipbones at the iliac crest and whilom the hip joint and not on the femur.² Its fibers proffer to the patellar tendon withal with the three vastus muscles to nail to the patella (knee cap). This tendon continues from the patella to the tibia unorthodoxy of the lower leg as the patellar ligament. Together, the three vasti and the rectus femoris proffer the leg at the knee.

The gluteus maximus is the major muscle of the buttocks.¹ It extends the thigh when you are jumping upwards from the squat position. The fibers of the gluteus medius muscle run between the ileum unorthodoxy of the hip and the posterior part of the femur unorthodoxy of the thigh. It abducts the femur at the hip joint by moving the femur laterally, yonder from the midline of the body. The gluteus medius maintains soul wastefulness during the takeoff and landing of squat jumps.

Together, the long throne of the biceps femoris, semimembranosus and semitendinosus muscles are the hamstring muscles that reside on the posterior thigh. These muscles nail to the posterior sides of hip and pelvic bones.¹ They proffer lanugo the posterior side of the femur unorthodoxy to nail either on the medial side of the tibia unorthodoxy of the leg (semitendinosus), the medial side of the superior part of the tibia unorthodoxy (semimembranosus) or the lateral side of the tibia unorthodoxy just unelevated the knee (biceps femoris). Together, these muscles flex the knee. However, when the foot is on the ground, the hamstrings proffer the hip joint, and therefore these muscles are very zippy during the upwards leap in jump squats.

Squat Jumps

You should stretch your quadriceps and hamstrings and do a couple minutes of light stationary cycling surpassing whence this exercise.³ This is important considering squat jumps are rather explosive as you thrust upwards from the squat position, so the muscles and joints should first be warmed up appropriately. In addition, your shoes should have a good rubber sole so you won’t slip on the bench.

1. If you have not washed-up these before, start with a low seat that is well-nigh 12 inches high.

2. Straddle the seat so that one foot is on either side of it. Your feet should be well-nigh shoulder-width apart.

3. Squat lanugo until your knees are flexed to an wile of well-nigh 90 degrees. You may wish to raise your stovepipe in front of you to near shoulder level to modernize your wastefulness during the jumps.

4. Explosively spring upwards. Bring both feet closer together as you jump so that both feet simultaneously land on top of the bench. Bend your knees to a 90-degree wile and squat when your feet hit the top of the bench. The squat on the seat will increase the work for your thighs and buttocks and it will moreover swizzle the jarring forces that are generated during the jump.

5. Once you are on the bench, thrust upwards from the squat position and jump off the bench. Widen your stance so that both feet hit the floor simultaneously.

6. Immediately squat as your feet hit the floor. This will both swizzle the jump downward and moreover prepare you for the next jump upwards.

7. Continue for a minimum of 15 repetitions but work up to 25. Rest well-nigh a minute, and then repeat the set. You can work up to 3 sets. Once you have mastered this, select a higher seat (e.g., 18 inches) and gradually work up to a seat that is 24 inches in height. Don’t worry, you will master the exercise quickly⁴ and find yourself looking for higher benches very soon.

The relative stratum of muscle worriedness differs among the quadriceps muscles during the jump. The tension in the vasti muscles diminishes as you tideway the top portion of the lift (with the knees straightened). Conversely, the rectus femoris is less zippy at the marrow but becomes increasingly zingy when the hip and knee are stuff extended. Since the gluteus maximus muscle and hamstring muscles are strong extensors of the hip, they are very zippy during the jump upwards.

This is a really intensive exercise. The muscles of your lower soul will be stretched under your bodyweight as you jump off the seat during each repetition,⁵ which ways your muscles can wilt sore from this exercise. When washed-up correctly, the squat jump can be a unconfined complement to other weight training or cardio. Alternatively, squat jumps can work independently to powerfully firm your lower body, shrivel a lot of calories and requite you greater jumping ability⁶ or just bring a spring to your step.

References:

1. Moore, KL and AF Dalley. Clinically Oriented Anatomy. Fourth edition. Baltimore, Lippincott Williams & Williams, 1999; 531-546.

2. Waligora AC, Johanson NA, Hirsch BE. Clinical torso of the quadriceps femoris and extensor workings of the knee. Clin Orthop Relat Res  2009; 467: 3297-3306.

3. Pacheco L, Balius R, Aliste L et al. The vigilant effects of variegated stretching exercises on jump performance. J Strength Cond Res 2011;25:2991-2998.

4. Randell AD, Cronin JB, Keogh JW et al. Reliability of performance velocity for jump squats under feedback and nonfeedback conditions. J Strength Cond Res 2011;25:3514-3518.

5. Foure A, Nordez A, Cornu C. Effects of plyometric training on passive stiffness of gastrocnemii muscles and Achilles tendon. Eur J Appl Physiol 2011; in press.

6. Ziv, G , Lidor, R 2009. Vertical jump in sexuality and male basketball players-A review of observational and experimental studies. J Sci Med Sport 2010;13, 332-339, 2010.