Pop Squat: How to Do It, Muscles Worked and Easier Options
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The pop squat is an intermediate, high impact exercise that targets your quadriceps, gluteus maximus, and hip adductors while working your calves as supporting muscles. This movement requires no equipment, making it a highly accessible option for your interval training routines.
By jumping your feet from a narrow stance into a wide squat and back, you build lower body power and coordination. The rapid transition challenges your cardiovascular system while forcing your leg muscles to absorb force and generate upward momentum.
Exercise data
- Impact
- High
- Level
- Intermediate
- Equipment
- None
- Main muscles
- quadriceps, gluteus maximus, hip adductors
- Also working
- calves
- Movement
- Jumping the feet from narrow to a wide squat and back
- Low-impact swap
- side step to a wide squat
How to do a pop squat
Stand upright with your feet close together and your arms relaxed by your sides. Keep your chest up and your core braced.
- Jump both feet outward to land in a stance wider than shoulder width.
- Immediately bend your knees and push your hips back to drop into a wide squat.
- Tap the floor between your feet with one hand while keeping your chest lifted.
- Push through your heels to explosively jump back up.
- Bring your feet back together to return to the starting narrow stance.
- Repeat the movement, alternating the hand that taps the floor each time.
Form cues
- Keep your chest proud
- Land softly on slightly bent knees
- Push your knees outward in the squat
- Keep your weight in your heels
Common mistakes
- Letting the chest drop. Look straight ahead rather than down at the floor to keep your back flat.
- Knees caving inward. Actively press your knees out toward your pinky toes as you lower into the squat.
- Landing with locked knees. Absorb the impact by landing with your knees already slightly bent and moving fluidly into the squat.
- Rounding the lower back. Only squat as low as you can while maintaining a neutral spine. If your back rounds, do not touch the floor.
Easier and harder versions
Easier
- Side step to a wide squat instead of jumping.
- Perform a standard bodyweight squat without the narrow stance transition.
Harder
- Increase the speed of your jumps to raise the cardiovascular demand.
- Squat deeper and jump higher to increase the intensity.
Using it in intervals
During high intensity intervals, use the pop squat to push your cardiovascular limits while taxing your lower body. Aim for a consistent, rapid pace, but prioritize your landing mechanics as fatigue sets in. When your legs get tired, you might be tempted to round your back just to reach the floor. If this happens, slow your pace and stop tapping the ground to ensure your chest stays up and your spine remains neutral.
Formats that suit this move: Tabata Workout, 30/30 Intervals.
Impact note. This move involves jumping. If impact bothers your knees, ankles, back or pelvic floor, use the low-impact swap: side step to a wide squat.
Similar moves
- Frog Jump High impact
- Box Jump High impact
- Broad Jump High impact
- Burpee High impact
- Jump Lunge High impact
When to stop and see a doctor
- Sharp pain in your knee joints during the landing or squatting phase.
- Sudden lower back pain when reaching for the floor.
- Ankle instability or sharp pain when jumping your feet out or in.
This page is general information, not medical advice. If you have a heart condition, high blood pressure, joint problems, are pregnant or have been inactive for a long time, talk to your doctor before starting vigorous exercise.
How this page was made. Exercise data (impact, level, equipment, muscles) was compiled by our editors as a general anatomy and coaching guide. Text drafted with AI assistance and checked by the Training Desk; see how we write. Last checked October 2026.