Something I often see is lunge jumps and/or squat jumps (also referred to interchangeably as jump lunges and jump squats) being shown as great exercises for HIIT training and circuit training, particularly when these styles of training are recommended for weight loss. You may have done these exercises as part of a class, or seen an online video, magazine article or part of a TV show recommending these exercises.
I often disagree with how these exercises are used in these situations though and think that for some people they may have the potential to do more harm than good.
Exploding the issue
You see, these type of exercises belong to a category known as Plyometrics. Plyometrics were originally intended for use as a tool to make athletes more explosive, they can help an athlete to run faster or jump higher. In order to do this, the athlete will normally perform max effort jumps in sets of fairly low repetition ranges, normally no higher than 10 reps.
These exercises are very high impact, and require excellent attention to technique to keep forces to a minimum, participants should be coached to land on their forefoot first before allowing the rest of the foot to contact the floor. Plyometrics are so high impact in fact, that it has been written that early practitioners had to pass a test of being able to squat with 2.5 times their bodyweight on the bar before they would be allowed to participate in them! Another test which has been identified to test readiness for plyometrics is being able to squat with 60% of the participant’s body weight on a bar 5 times in 5 seconds. These testing methods may not be appropriate for everyone, but it goes to show that coaches have shown a concern for making sure their trainees bodies were already strong enough to cope with the demands of plyometric exercises.
The concerns were that insufficient leg strength would mean that the soft tissues of the body would have to absorb the high impact forces, and that there would be a loss of stability on landing. I think it’s safe to say that a background of strength training should be a minimum requirement for someone participating in high impact plyometric exercises, this will help to ensure that they are strong enough to withstand the impact.
A matter of impact
The reason that I bring up the subject of impact is that the heavier a person is, the greater the impact will be. If these exercises are used in a programme designed for weight loss, then the potential for high forces going through the joints is very high. Here, there is more risk than benefit to these exercises because other, lower impact exercises could be used instead, which would not have the same levels of impact on the joints.
Even in an athletic setting, trainees should start with low intensity plyometric exercises before progressing to exercises such as squat jumps and lunge jumps, it’s the classic lesson of learning to walk before you try to run. Athletes should not be given plyometric exercises that are too advanced for them, or before they are strong and coordinated enough to be able to stabilise their joints upon landing.
It's not just what you do, it’s how you do it
When assessing someone’s readiness for a training programme, I will often start by observing how well they can perform a basic bodyweight squat. Many people are often surprised to learn that they can’t squat as well as they expected to be able to. Common issues with this type of movement are knees buckling in towards each other, or moving away from each other, backs which round as the trainee lowers themselves into the squat, or heels which raise with the descent. It makes sense to be able to squat well and safely with your body weight first before you start jumping up and down whilst doing it, and the same goes for lunging. Imagine the stress your joints will go through if your squatting technique isn’t as good as it could be, and then you add a jump to it! You may even find that you don’t need to jump up and down while lunging and squatting for them to be effective exercises. Squats and lunges are exercises that use multiple large muscle groups and so use a lot of energy even without adding a jump to them.
Drawing conclusion
I think it’s a shame that it’s often forgotten or overlooked that the roots of squat jumps, lunge jumps and other plyometric exercises came from athletic conditioning, and that the original purpose of these exercises was to improve athletic performance. It’s very easy to look at lean athletes and say that if we want someone to become leaner we should use the methods that athletes use, but there is a difference. Athletes are already in great shape before they start using these exercises. More often than not, they will already be a healthy weight and will have an excellent base of strength and conditioning behind them, meaning that their bodies can better tolerate the imposed demands. Even in this situation, the decision to use such high impact methods should not be taken lightly.
I like to say that I don’t just want you to get from A to B, I want you to get to B and for be able to stay there. So I won’t use methods that may hamper your ability to exercise later on in life because you did something that was too stressful before you were ready for it.
Steve Shreeve (updated October 2021)