Countermovement Jump
Builds the jump height behind leaps + grand jetés
How to do it well
The set-up and the rep in full, then the cues the app shows on the exercise card — the short version, for the moment you are standing in front of the bar.
Set-up
Stand tall, feet hip width, arms by your sides. You are landing straight back on the floor, so choose a surface with some give, such as a sprung floor or a gym mat rather than concrete.
The rep
Dip quickly into a quarter squat while swinging the arms back, and without pausing at the bottom reverse straight into the jump, throwing the arms up and extending the hips, knees and ankles fully. Reach as tall as you can at the top with the toes pointed. Land on the balls of the feet and roll through to the heels, bending the knees over the toes to absorb it quietly. Reset fully between reps.
On the exercise card
- Reach tall
- Soft land
What goes wrong, and the fix
| What goes wrong | The fix |
|---|---|
| Dipping too deep, or pausing at the bottom | A quick dip and an immediate reversal is the point, because it uses the stretch in the muscles. Keep the dip shallow and fast. |
| A loud, stiff landing | Land through the forefoot to the heel with bent knees. Quiet is the target. |
| Arms doing nothing | A full arm swing adds real height. Swing them back on the dip and up on the drive. |
Make it easier, or harder
- Easier
- A smaller jump with all the attention on the landing, or hands on the hips to simplify the timing.
- Harder
- Jump and touch a marked target on a wall, or finish each jump on one leg and hold the landing.
How Train Smart prescribes it
The sets and reps below are the authored starting point. The actual weight you see is calculated from your own last top set and the week you are in within your four-week block.
In the dance program it is the main power exercise in the lower-body session, five sets of four. Jump height in leaps and grand jetés comes from the same fast dip and drive, and the soft landing practised here is the landing at the end of every leap.
| Program | Session | Sets × reps | Load |
|---|---|---|---|
| Dance | Lower Power + Landing | 5 × 4 | BW |
If you cannot do this one
Rack taken, kit missing, or it does not suit you. These are the swaps the app offers, matched by movement pattern and body region — each with the reason it is a fair substitute.
| Alternative | Why it works as a swap |
|---|---|
| Vertical Jump → Stick | Land and freeze: teaches the knee to absorb force instead of collapsing |
| Depth Drop → Stick | Step off a box and absorb — the purest landing-mechanics drill there is |
| Split Jump → Stick | Scissor the legs, land in a lunge and hold — decel in a running position |
| Broad Jump → Stick | Horizontal force then a dead stop — the hardest landing to control |
| Single-Leg Hop → Stick | One leg absorbs everything, exactly like it does in a game |
| Lateral Bound → Stick | Sideways force absorbed on the outside leg — the classic ACL position |
This exercise, in a program that knows why it is there
Train Smart puts this movement in the right session, at the right point in your block, at a weight calculated for you — and swaps it automatically if you do not have the kit.
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