Broad Jump: How to Do It, Muscles Worked and Benefits

The broad jump is a two-footed jump forward from a standing start, and it's one of the simplest ways to train, and test, lower-body power. Coaches like it because it tells you something a squat can't: how quickly you can turn strength into movement. You need a clear strip of floor or grass about 3m long and nothing else. Here's how to do it well, what it works and how to fit it into a week.

How to do a broad jump

Mark a start line with tape or a stick. Find a surface with some grip, such as grass, rubber gym flooring or a mat; smooth floorboards and socks are a bad combination.

1. Set up. Stand with your toes just behind the line, feet about hip-width apart, arms relaxed by your sides.
2. Load. Swing both arms back hard as you push your hips back and bend your knees into a quarter squat. Your chest tips forward and your weight shifts towards the balls of your feet.
3. Explode. Without pausing at the bottom, swing your arms forward and up as you drive through the floor, extending your hips, knees and ankles together. Aim out and slightly up, around 45 degrees, rather than straight up.
4. Tuck. In the air, bring your knees up and forward so your feet reach out in front of you.
5. Land and stick it. Land on both feet at once, sinking into your hips and knees to soak up the force, with your knees in line with your toes. Hold that position for a second before standing up.

Measure from the start line to the back of your rearmost heel. If you fall backwards on landing, that jump doesn't count.

Muscles worked

• Glutes and hamstrings. These drive hip extension, the main source of forward power. That's why the broad jump pairs so well with hip thrusts and kettlebell swings.
• Quadriceps. Your quads straighten your knees on take-off and do most of the braking on landing.
• Calves. The final push comes off your toes, and your calves and Achilles tendons store and release energy through the quick dip-and-drive.
• Core and back. Your trunk has to stay stiff so the force from your legs goes into the jump instead of leaking out through a rounded back.
• Shoulders. The arm swing isn't decoration; it's your shoulders helping to throw your body forward.

Benefits

It trains power specifically. Lifting heavy makes you stronger, but getting strong doesn't automatically make you jump further. A 2025 meta-analysis of 13 studies found muscle-strengthening programmes improved grip strength without significantly improving standing long jump or vertical jump (Iranian Journal of Public Health, 2025). Jumping is a skill as well as a quality, so you have to practise it.

Plyometric work does move the needle. A 2025 meta-analysis in healthy athletes found plyometric training improved countermovement jump performance much more than routine training did (Frontiers in Physiology, 2025); the gains for other jump types were smaller and less certain, which is a fair reminder that you get better at the jumps you train.

It's a free, repeatable test. Measure your best of three every four weeks and you have an honest record of whether your training is making you more explosive.

It builds better landings. Sticking every landing teaches you to absorb force through your hips and knees, a skill that carries over to sport, running and any time you have to jump off something.

It takes almost no time. Fifteen good jumps is a full session. The NHS recommends strengthening activities that work the major muscle groups on at least two days a week, and a few sets of broad jumps before your lifting is an easy way to add some power to that.

Common mistakes

Jumping up instead of out. A tall, vertical jump looks athletic and lands you about a metre from the line. Think "out", with take-off around 45 degrees.

Dead arms. Arms that hang by your sides or swing late cost you distance on every jump.

Landing stiff. Landing with straight legs sends the force straight into your knees and back. Land softly, sink your hips and let your knees bend.

Knees caving on landing. If your knees collapse inwards as you land, shorten the jump and practise sticking it with your knees pushed out over your toes. A resistance band round the knees during warm-up squats helps some people find that position.

Doing too many. Broad jumps are a quality exercise. Once your distance drops by more than a few centimetres, the set is over; grinding out tired reps just rehearses bad landings.

Variations

• Broad jump to stick. The standard version with a 2-second hold on every landing. Start here.
• Consecutive broad jumps. Three or four jumps in a row with no pause between them. Harder on the landings, and a better test of reactive power.
• Single-leg broad jump. Jump and land on one foot. Take the distance right down at first; it's a big step up in difficulty for your knee and ankle.
• Broad jump to box. Jump forward onto a low box instead of the floor, which cuts the landing force. Our box jump guide and best plyo box picks cover heights and set-up.
• Jump squat pairing. Alternate a set of broad jumps with a set of jump squats to work horizontal and vertical power in the same session.

Sets and reps

• Power: 3 to 5 sets of 3 to 5 jumps, 90 seconds to 2 minutes' rest, once or twice a week.
• Beginners: 3 sets of 3 jumps at about 70% effort, focusing entirely on landing well.
• Testing: best of three maximum jumps after a thorough warm-up, every four weeks.

Do them early in the session, straight after a warm-up and before any heavy squats or deadlifts, and leave at least 48 hours between hard jumping days.

Recommended reads

• Box jump: how to do it safely
• Jump squat guide
• Kettlebell swing guide
• The best plyo boxes in the UK
• All our workout guides