10 Best Single-leg Lateral Hop Alternatives for Quad Strength

Original Exercise: Single-leg Lateral Hop

Primary Muscle

Quadriceps

Equipment

Other

Difficulty

Advanced

Type

Compound

Secondary Muscles: Abductors, Adductors, Calves, Hamstrings

How to Perform Single-leg Lateral Hop

1. Stand to the side of a cone or hurdle. To get into the start position, stand on one leg with your knee slightly bent.
2. To begin, execute a counterjump to hop sideways over the cone.
3. Land on your jumping leg, and immediately rebound out of it by jumping back to the start position.
4. Continue hopping back and forth.

Pro Tips

• Category: Plyometrics
• Force: Push
• Movement type: Compound

Best Single-leg Lateral Hop Alternatives

Best Match

1. Burpee

65.6% Match

Cardiovascular-system Body-weight Intermediate Isolation

How to perform this exercise

1. Start in a standing position with your feet shoulder-width apart.
2. Lower your body into a squat position by bending your knees and placing your hands on the floor in front of you.
3. Kick your feet back into a push-up position.
4. Perform a push-up, keeping your body in a straight line.
5. Jump your feet back into the squat position.

2. Astride Jumps (male)

64.4% Match

Cardiovascular-system Body-weight Intermediate Isolation

How to perform this exercise

1. Stand with your feet shoulder-width apart.
2. Bend your knees and lower your body into a squat position.
3. Jump explosively upwards, extending your legs and arms.
4. While in the air, spread your legs apart and bring your arms out to the sides.
5. Land softly with your feet shoulder-width apart, bending your knees to absorb the impact.

3. Back And Forth Step

62.3% Match

Cardiovascular-system Body-weight Beginner Isolation

How to perform this exercise

1. Stand with your feet shoulder-width apart.
2. Step forward with your right foot, bending your knee and lowering your body into a lunge position.
3. Push off with your right foot and step back to the starting position.
4. Repeat the movement with your left foot, alternating legs with each step.
5. Continue stepping back and forth, maintaining a steady pace.

4. Carioca Quick Step

59.2% Match

Adductors Body-weight Intermediate Isolation

How to perform this exercise

1. Begin with your feet a few inches apart and your left arm up in a relaxed, athletic position.
2. With your right foot, quick step behind and pull the knee up.
3. Fire your arms back up when you pull the right knee, being sure that your knee goes straight up and down. Avoid turning your feet as you move and continue to look forward as you move to the side.

5. Fast Skipping

57.3% Match

Quads Body-weight Intermediate Isolation

How to perform this exercise

1. Start in a relaxed position with one leg slightly forward. This will be your starting position.
2. Skip by executing a step-hop pattern of right-right-step to left-left-step, and so on, alternating back and forth.
3. Perform fast skips by maintaining close contact with the ground and reduce air time, moving as quickly as possible.

6. Dumbbell Burpee

56.9% Match

Quads Dumbbell Advanced Isolation

How to perform this exercise

1. Start in a standing position with your feet shoulder-width apart and a dumbbell in each hand.
2. Lower your body into a squat position, placing the dumbbells on the ground in front of you.
3. Kick your feet back into a push-up position, keeping your body in a straight line.
4. Perform a push-up, bending your elbows and lowering your chest towards the ground.
5. Jump your feet back towards your hands, landing in a squat position.

7. Depth Jump Leap

55.9% Match

Quadriceps Other Advanced Isolation

How to perform this exercise

1. For this drill you will need two boxes or benches, one 12 to 16 inches high and the other 22 to 26 inches high.
2. Stand on one of the two boxes with arms at the sides; feet should be together and slightly off the edge as in the depth jump. Place the other box approximately two or three feet in front of and facing the performer.
3. Begin by dropping off the initial box, landing and simultaneously taking off with both feet.
4. Rebound by driving upward and outward as intensely as possible, using the arms and full extension of the body to jump onto the higher box. Again, allow the legs to absorb the impact.

8. Bench Sprint

55.6% Match

Glutes Other Intermediate Isolation

How to perform this exercise

1. Stand on the ground with one foot resting on a bench or box with your heel close to the edge.
2. Push off with your foot on top of the bench, extending through the hip and knee.
3. Land with the opposite foot on top of the box, returning your other foot back to the start position.
4. Continue alternating from one foot to another to complete the set.

9. Elevated Back Lunge

50.7% Match

Quadriceps Barbell Intermediate Isolation

How to perform this exercise

1. Position a bar onto a rack at shoulder height loaded to an appropriate weight. Place a short, raised platform behind you.
2. Rack the bar onto your upper back, keeping your back arched and tight. Step onto your raised platform with both feet. This will be your starting position.
3. Begin by stepping backwards with one leg. Descend by flexing your hips and knees until your knee touches the floor.
4. Pause, and extend through the hips and knees to rise up, returning all the way to the starting position before alternating.

10. Box Jump Down With One Leg Stabilization

50% Match

Calves Body-weight Intermediate Isolation

How to perform this exercise

1. Stand in front of a box or platform with your feet shoulder-width apart.
2. Bend your knees and jump onto the box, landing softly with one foot on the box and the other foot hanging off the edge.
3. Stabilize yourself on the box with the foot that is on it, while keeping the other foot off the ground.
4. Hold this position for a few seconds, engaging your calf muscles to maintain balance.
5. Slowly step down with the foot that is on the box, returning to the starting position.

Why You Might Need a Single-leg Lateral Hop Alternative

You may need substitutes because of knee or ankle pain, lack of lateral space, poor balance, or training phase. Single-leg lateral hops generate high ground reaction forces and require rapid eccentric control; that can aggravate tendons or joints. Substitutes let you manage load and maintain quad recruitment by using slower eccentrics or reduced range of motion. Cue: when regressing, step laterally onto a box with a controlled 2–3 second descent, keeping tibia inclined forward to load the quadriceps and limiting frontal-plane knee collapse.

How to Choose the Right Substitute

Select a substitute based on your goal, joint tolerance, and balance capacity. For power, pick dynamic options like controlled skater hops and emphasize rapid push-off; cue: explode laterally while keeping hips level. For strength or hypertrophy, use lateral step-ups or Bulgarian split squats with slow eccentrics to increase time under tension; cue: press through the heel and fully extend the knee. If you have knee pain, favor reduced-impact unilateral options that keep the knee tracking over the toes and avoid heavy valgus collapse to protect ligaments while still activating the quads and hip abductors.

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