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Exercise guide

Squat Jerk

How to do the Squat Jerk with correct form, the muscles it works, and where it fits a training plan you actually stick to.

CompoundBarbellExpertPush
Primary muscles

Quads

Secondary

Calves, Glutes, Hamstrings, Shoulders, Triceps

Equipment

Barbell

Step by step

How to do the Squat Jerk

  1. 1

    Standing with the weight racked on the front of the shoulders, begin with the dip. With your feet directly under your hips, flex the knees without moving the hips backward. Go down only slightly, and reverse direction as powerfully as possible. Drive through the heels create as much speed and force as possible, and be sure to move your head out of the way as the bar leaves the shoulders.

  2. 2

    At this moment as the feet leave the floor, the feet must be placed into the receiving position as quickly as possible. In the brief moment the feet are not actively driving against the platform, the athlete's effort to push the bar up will drive them down. The feet should move forcefully to just outside the hips, turned out as necessary. Receive the bar with your body in a full squat and the arms fully extended overhead.

  3. 3

    Keeping the bar aligned over the front of the heels, your head and chest up, drive throught heels of the feet to move to a standing position. Carefully return the weight to floor.

In Ascend

Log it, see it on your body.

Every Squat Jerk set you log feeds Ascend's anatomy heatmap — so your quads volume is visible at a glance — and counts toward your bodyweight-strength tier.

Related

More quads exercises

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