Legs · Bodyweight
Stair Jump
How to do the stair jump, the muscles it works, and the mistakes to avoid. Pulled straight from the Kovo app's exercise library.
- Equipment
- Bodyweight
- Difficulty
- Intermediate
- Logged as
- Reps
- Movement
- Squat
- Mechanic
- Compound
How to do it
Stand at the bottom of a staircase with feet hip-width apart. Drop into a quarter squat, swing your arms, and explode up to jump onto the next step or two, landing softly with bent knees. Step back down, reset, and repeat.
- 1Load your hips and explode up through your whole foot
- 2Use an arm swing to drive height onto the step
- 3Land soft and balanced with bent knees and hips back
Common mistakes
- Don't land with stiff, straight legs on the step
- Avoid letting your knees cave inward on takeoff or landing
- Don't jump onto a step too high to land under control
Muscles worked
The stair jump mainly works the quads, glutes, and calves, with the hamstrings, lower abs, and hip flexors assisting.
- QuadsPrimary
- GlutesPrimary
- CalvesPrimary
- HamstringsSupport
- Lower AbsSupport
- Hip FlexorsSupport
- Lower BackMinor
- Upper AbsMinor
- ObliquesMinor
- Front DeltsMinor
- AdductorsMinor
- Tibialis AnteriorMinor
Kovo programs the stair jump for you and tracks it every session.
We build your whole program, drop the right lifts into each workout, and adjust your weights as you get stronger. Free on iOS and Android.
More quads exercises
- How to do the resistance band squat
- How to do the resistance band squat to press
- How to do the resistance band thruster
- How to do the resistance band squat walk
- How to do the barbell squat
- How to do the barbell bulgarian split squat
Last reviewed June 2026.