Glutes exercise
Broad JumpHow to do it, with form in numbers
- Also works
- Calves, Cardio
- Equipment
- Bodyweight
- Level
- Intermediate
How to do it
How do you do the Broad Jump?
- Stand with your feet hip-width apart, eyes on a spot ahead.
- Swing your arms back as you push your hips back.
- Swing your arms forward and jump out as far as you can.
- Land on both feet together, knees bent, hips back.
- Hold the landing, stand tall, then walk back to start.
Cues
- Swing your arms hard, they carry you forward.
- Land soft and stick it.
- Knees follow your toes.
Common mistakes
- Landing with straight legs.
- Stepping or falling forward after landing.
- Letting your knees fall inward as you land.
Form in detail
What does good form look like?
Starting position
Stand tall, feet between hip- and shoulder-width apart, toes forward, whole foot flat. Arms hang by the sides. Shoulders down and back without arching the low back, trunk braced, eyes on a spot on the floor ahead where the feet will land.
The movement
One standing long jump. Push the hips back and bend the knees into a deep hinge, stopping before the heels lift, while the straight arms swing back behind the body. The back stays flat. After only a brief turn-round, swing the arms forward and up and drive the hips, knees and ankles straight together, so the body leaves the floor leaning well forward, toes last. In the air the feet stay together and level; the hips and knees bend to bring both legs forward, and the arms come forward and down. Land with both feet at the same moment, parallel and hip-width: balls of the feet first, then the heels, as the hips sink back and the knees bend to soak up the landing. Arms stay forward for balance. Hold the landing still (no step, no fall back), then stand tall.
End position
Dip: hips well back, knees about 90°, arms back. Take-off: hips and knees straight, ankles pointed, body leaning forward. Jumpers in [2] chose take-off angles of 31–39° (the calculated best was 19–27°, with little lost either way), so the target sits at 35°. A take-off speed of about 3 m/s at 35° gives a vertical speed of about 1.7 m/s, a hip rise of about 0.15 m and, with the hips landing lower than they left, about 0.5 s in the air.
Tempo
Stand 0.5 s, dip and arm backswing 0.6 s, drive 0.3 s, flight 0.5 s, absorb 0.3 s, hold the landing 0.4 s, stand up 0.6 s, stand 0.3 s.
Form in numbers
What are the angles and distances?
| Measure | Target | Good range | Sources |
|---|---|---|---|
| Knee flexion at the bottom of the dip | 90° | 75–110° | [3] |
| Take-off angle of the hips' path above horizontal | 35° | 25–40° | [2] |
| Distance, start toe line to landing heels | 1.8 m | 1.5–2.2 m | [3] |
| Peak knee flexion on landing | 80° | 60–95° | [4] |
| Feet at landing | together, same moment, parallel | within 0.05 s, within 5 cm | [1] |
The targets our 3D demo was built to, from the references below. Bodies differ, so treat the ranges as a guide for your own build.
For coaches
Use this demo in your clients’ programs
The Broad Jump is in Trainaq’s exercise library. Add it to a workout, and your client sees this demo in the free Trainaq app above the sets they log.
Sources
Sources
- ACE, Forward Linear Jumps
- Wakai and Linthorne 2005, Hum Mov Sci, "Optimum take-off angle in the standing long jump"
- Saemi et al. 2024, Sensors, "Standing long jump performance is enhanced when using an external as well as holistic focus of attention: a kinematic study"
- Verniba et al. 2017, Sports Med Open, drop landing heights and instructions
