Plyometric exercise like frog jumps is a fantastic way to get the heart pumping, burn calories, and build up stronger leg and core muscles.
To help our readers and clients avoid some common mistakes, we called up a team of five personal trainers to come up with instructions for the frog jump exercise that will help avoid injuries.
We also had a physio provide research on what muscles the frog jump will target.
Quick Summary
- Frog jumps are a great form of plyometric exercise that is excellent for muscle strength and cardiovascular health.
- It’s important that you slow down the concentric part of the movement and maintain good posture to avoid unnecessary strain with a high-impact frog jump.
- When you’re performing frog jumps with proper form, you’ll need just a few reps to start bringing on the burn and your heart pumping.
How To Do Frog Jumps
When it comes to frog jumps, it’s all about achieving good form and better posture.
Here’s what you need to do:
- Get into the starting position with your feet slightly wider than shoulder-width apart and a slight bend in your knees.
- The first concentric stage of frog jumps is a slow and deep squat to get your buttocks as low as possible while maintaining a neutral spine [1].
- Keep your core engaged on the way down, and once you get to the bottom, jump explosively up.
- You can either keep your hands behind your head or reach down and then bring them up over your head as you jump.
It’s important to achieve proper form here and focus on a slow downward movement with a neutral spine.
If you can maintain these, then you’ll avoid injury and find significant improvements in your muscles [2].
What Muscles Does This Exercise Target?
Frog jumps, aka jump squats, will mainly target leg muscles in your upper legs.
Here is some background research my physio provided.
The primary muscles you’ll target are in the lower body and are mainly the thigh muscles, including the quads, hamstrings, and glutes.
But you’ll also activate the hip flexor muscles by exercising [3].
The secondary muscles you’ll impact are your core and calf muscles.
You won’t feel maximum strain in these muscle groups, but it’s enough to build up strength.
“Plyometrics is a form of exercise that uses powerful, rapid movements to help increase a person’s speed and power.”
- Daniel Bubnis, M.S.
Related Articles:
Benefits of This Exercise
One of the most obvious benefits of frog jumps is that you will gain strength and muscle mass in your thighs.
The higher you dial up the intensity, the stronger your legs will become.
But you’ll also find that this is a high-intensity workout that will burn a lot of calories, and that makes it ideal for general weight loss or cutting phases.
And because frog jumps will get your heart pumping, they are a great way to include an additional cardio workout to help burn fat while building strength.
The more you dial up the intensity, the better the cardio results will be.
Frog Jump Alternatives
There are two options that you have to modify frog jumps.
First of all, rather than jump upwards from the squat position, you jump forward and repeat the process for a certain distance.
You sometimes see this in CrossFit deadlift workouts where the distance then gradually increases.
The second option is to put on a weighted vest.
It will make it slightly more difficult to keep your chest upright and will add a lot more strain to muscles from the squat position.
FAQs
What Is A Frog Jump Exercise Good For?
A frog jump exercise is good for building leg muscle strength and cardio health. The plyometric form of exercising allows you to increase the intensity and get your heart pumping while adding a lot of strain to your thighs.
Why Are Frog Jumps So Hard?
Frog jumps are so hard, as it takes a lot of strength and fitness to do more than just a few of them. Doing them consistently and keeping track of your progress will show how effective they are at building up more leg strength.
Start Doing These Exercises On High-Intensity Days
As a certified personal trainer, I highly recommend that you add frog jumps to your workouts, as you can build up some explosive power in your legs.
And to get some added endurance and strength, I suggest that you invest in one of the high-quality pre-workouts we extensively tested:
You’ll still need to put in the work, but a small increase in strength and less fatigue will add up over the weeks ahead.
References:
- https://www.sciencedirect.com/topics/immunology-and-microbiology/concentric-muscle-contraction
- https://sportsmedicine-open.springeropen.com/articles/10.1186/s40798-022-00431-0
- https://www.americanhipinstitute.com/blog/hip-flexor-muscles-anatomy-33981.html
About The Author
You May Also Like
