Plyometrics is a type of workout that can offer certain benefits. What are some plyometric lower body exercises to do at home or in the gym?
Plyometric exercises are movements where you move your body at a high speed, with or without extra equipment. The way you train your muscles influences what fitness component you improve.
Slower resistance training exercises will train either muscle endurance or muscle strength. These plyometric lower body exercises can be a good alternative if you want to work on your muscle power fitness component in your lower body muscles.
Keep in mind that plyometrics are not for everyone. Especially if you have sensitive ankles, knees, hips, and back these exercises may not be for you. If you have a softer surface or shock-absorbing shoes these may be a good option.
If you do want to give these exercises a try make sure you warm up sufficiently. You will use your body in an explosive manner. Being warmed up helps you avoid injuries.
You can do most of the lower body exercises below with extra equipment like a good weighted vest but keep in mind that this is even rougher on your body.
1. Squat jumps
To do a jump squat take the following steps:
- Stand up straight with your feet at more or less shoulder width. Keep your arms hanging still besides your body throughout the exercise to focus more on leg muscles.
- Slowly lower your hips by bending your knees. How far depends on different factors like knee health but at your lowest point you ideally want your hips to be at or lower than your knee height. You will likely have to bend forward for balance but keep your back in a straight line throughout the movement.
- Push up your body fast, mainly with the help of your front upper leg muscles. You have to generate enough upward power so that you jump in the air. Try to avoid using your arms for momentum if you want to target your leg muscles.
- How you want to land depends on what body parts you want to absorb the shock. You generally want to at least fold your legs slightly so your knees don’t absorb all the weight.
The jump squat is one of the most standard plyometric lower body exercises. It can help you train muscle power in your glutes, quadriceps, and thighs without equipment or with equipment if the bodyweight version is too easy.
2. Explosive hamstring curls
For this variation of the explosive hamstring curls you need a resistance band anchored at about ground height or your other leg. After that, to do an explosive hamstring curl take the following steps:
- Safely anchor your resistance band close to the ground. Lie on your stomach in front of the anchor with your feet toward it. Put the free end of the resistance band behind one or both of your ankles.
- Quickly fold your legs at the knees until the point where the resistance is stretched the most. This will likely be at about where your lower legs make a 45-degree angle to the ground.
- Stretch your legs again in a controlled motion.
The hamstring muscles do play a role in many of the typical plyometric leg exercises but often not to the same extent as glutes, quadriceps, and calves. This is unfortunate because plyometrics are often done to increase sprinting speed.
Hamstrings are an important muscle for running faster so explosive hamstring curls can be a good addition to a plyometric lower body workout plan.
3. Explosive calf raises
You can do the next plyometric lower body exercise both with bodyweight alone or with extra weight in your hands or on your shoulders. To do an explosive standing calf raise take the following steps:
- Stand up straight with your feet pointing forward and at about shoulder width apart. If you want, you can hold any weights in your hands.
- Raise your heels off the ground fast with the help of your calf muscles as far as you safely can.
- Lower your body again in a controlled motion.
You can also do calf raises with the front of your feet on an edge or block. This allows you to go through a bigger range of motion. If you implement this variation take a break at the bottom of the movement so that you use your calf muscles and not your tendons to move upward.
The calf muscles are not as under-focused as the hamstring muscles in plyometric exercises but you may want to give them more attention anyway since they play a relatively big role in jumps. Explosive calf raises can help you with this.
4. Explosive leg extensions
For this plyometric lower body exercise you can use a resistance band setup, a cable machine, or a specific leg extension gym machine.
Before you use an object as an anchor make sure it is safe to do so. To do an explosive resistance band leg extension take the following steps:
- Anchor the resistance band somewhere close to the ground. If you are using a suited chair you can anchor it at the back chair legs.
- Sit on the object you chose with your back to the anchor. Anchor the other end of the resistance band behind your feet. Make sure your folded leg already feels a pull from the resistance band.
- Quickly stretch your legs with the resistance band until they are fully stretched.
- Move your feet back to the position in step 2 in a controlled motion.
You can also benefit from something like a towel, piece of clothing, or simply your hands under the front of your upper leg. This way it becomes harder for your heels to touch the ground throughout the movement.
Your quadriceps already play an important role in many plyometric exercises but in some situations, you may want to give them slightly more attention. This plyometric lower body exercise can help you with this.
5. Skater jumps
To do a skater exercise take the following steps:
- Stand up straight with your feet at about shoulder width.
- Swing one leg sideways and jump to that side. To start with the actual exercise this first jump can be slightly smaller. How you want to land depends on what body parts you want to absorb the shock. You generally want to at least fold your leg slightly so your knees don’t absorb all the weight.
- Land on the outer leg and let the inner leg continue behind the main support leg and touch the ground with the front of your foot for balance.
- Lower your body by bending the knee of the foot that is fully on the ground.How far depends on different factors like knee health but at your lowest point you ideally want your hips to be at or lower than your knee height. You will likely have to bend forward for balance but keep your back in a straight line throughout the movement.
- Push your body up and sideways, mainly with the help of the leg that is bent.
- Repeat the movements in steps 3, 4, and 5 but this time your other leg will be the main support and driver of the jump.
Due to jumps to the sides on one leg you engage your outer and inner thighs more compared to more standard plyometric lower body exercises like a jump squat.
The balance between how far vs how high you want to jump during the skater jump exercise depends on what muscles you want to focus more on. Jumping far will focus more on outer thighs and hips. Jumping high will focus more on quadriceps and glutes.
6. Tuck jumps
To do a tuck jump take the following steps:
- Stand up straight with your feet at more or less shoulder width. Keep your arms hanging still besides your body throughout the exercise to focus more on leg muscles.
- Slowly lower your hips by bending your knees. How far depends on different factors like knee health but at your lowest point you ideally want your hips to be at or lower than your knee height. You will likely have to bend forward for balance but keep your back in a straight line throughout the movement.
- Push up your body fast, mainly with the help of your front upper leg muscles. You have to generate enough upward power so that you jump in the air. Try to avoid using your arms for momentum if you want to target your leg muscles.
- Move your knees towards your chest while you are in the air and back fast enough to land.
- How you want to land depends on what body parts you want to absorb the shock. You generally want to at least fold your legs slightly so your knees don’t absorb all the weight.
Tuck jumps are basically squat jumps but instead of keeping your legs slightly less than stretched you move your knees towards your chest and back.
This makes it so this plyometric lower body exercise engages your hip flexors, the muscles responsible for bringing your thighs upward, and your glutes extra in an explosive way.
7. Box jumps
For this next plyometric lower body exercise, you need an elevated platform that is strong and stable enough to jump on. An example of a suited object is a good plyo box. Take the following steps to do a box jump:
- Stand upright in front of the box with your feet at about shoulder width or wider.
- Bend into about a quarter squat while you swing your arms back.
- Swing your arms to the front again and at the same time jump forward on top of the box. When landing you want to have your knees more or less at the quarter squat again. If you are squatted lower, this may be a sign the box is too high for your current jump level.
Make sure you pay attention to using the right technique to avoid any injuries. For box jumps it is also smart to start with a low height and build up from there.
Being too optimistic about your capabilities can be especially punishing when doing this exercise.
Box jumps look and are very similar to regular jump squats. However, by landing on the box, you land with less momentum.
This can make the exercise easier on your body while at the same time still offering a good plyometric workout.
