A Move You Should Do MONDAY – Floor Tap Squat Jumps

Ready for a challenge for your heart and legs? The floor tap squat jump will give you the biggest bang for your buck when working out your legs. Here’s how to do it:

Start with your feet wider than shoulder width apart
Squat down and touch the floor with one hand THEN
Jump up and land with your feet together THEN
Jump up again and land with your feet wider than shoulder width apart
Squat down and touch the floor with your other hand
Perform 6-10 repetitions

Why does this matter?

The floor tap squat jump is an effective way to work the muscles of your lower extremities. Here is the breakdown:

The quadricep muscles work to decelerate your knee flexion as you lower to the floor and then concentrically power your jump up
The adductor muscles of your inner thigh decelerate hip abduction as you lower down and then power the jump as you bring your legs together
The gastrocnemius muscles of your calves decelerate dorsiflexion as you lower down right before they plantarflex your ankles to get you off the floor
Finally, the gluteus maximus decelerates your hip flexion as you reach for the floor, but because you are touching the floor with one hand, this creates internal rotation of your opposite hip, activating that glute in the transverse plane as well

You can see the floor tap squat jump is a powerful, efficient move to get your legs working. Give it a try. Your knees and low back will thank you.

Because nobody has time to be in pain.

Until next time…