How does one protect the feet from getting damaged when doing jump shrugs? I mean, you are landing with a pretty heavy weight + your own bodyweight. Does one adjust the wait so one can land very controlled? Or is the goal to go as heavy as you can get off the ground?

P.S. I am doing 4 x 2s of them (not to failure)

How does one protect the feet from getting damaged when doing jump shrugs? I mean, you are landing with a pretty heavy weight + your own bodyweight. Does one adjust the wait so one can land very controlled? Or is the goal to go as heavy as you can get off the ground?

P.S. I am doing 4 x 2s of them (not to failure)
The point isn't actually to jump off the ground. :) If you're leaving the ground by much, you're probably using too little weight. What you're trying to train is the triple extension through the ankles, knees, and hips combined with a powerful shoulder shrug.

If you do leave the ground, as with any exercise, you must land with the knee at least slightly bent and absorb the force. Never land on straight or, even worse, locked knees. You should have no problem if you can do this. I've worked up to a combined weight (body + barbell) of over 400 lbs and been completely fine. I've also done sets with a plain 60 kg barbell that had me jumping up to a foot into the air and my feet were fine as well -- I don't recommend this.

For 4 x 2, a reasonable weight to start with would be at least 90% of your best power clean and increasing no more than 120%. You don't want the bar speed to slow down too much.

The point isn't actually to jump off the ground. :) If you're leaving the ground by much, you're probably using too little weight. What you're trying to train is the triple extension through the ankles, knees, and hips combined with a powerful shoulder shrug.

If you do leave the ground, as with any exercise, you must land with the knee at least slightly bent and absorb the force. Never land on straight or, even worse, locked knees. You should have no problem if you can do this. I've worked up to a combined weight (body + barbell) of over 400 lbs and been completely fine. I've also done sets with a plain 60 kg barbell that had me jumping up to a foot into the air and my feet were fine as well -- I don't recommend this.

For 4 x 2, a reasonable weight to start with would be at least 90% of your best power clean and increasing no more than 120%. You don't want the bar speed to slow down too much.

Ah, I get it. So its more about exploding through the body than getting off the ground. I also was not bracing for impact by bending the knees...I guess I could just explode onto the toes?

I was a bit confused because in high school we did "jump shrugs" which involved jumping with DBs as high as one could while shrugging.

Ah, I get it. So its more about exploding through the body than getting off the ground. I also was not bracing for impact by bending the knees...I guess I could just explode onto the toes?

I was a bit confused because in high school we did "jump shrugs" which involved jumping with DBs as high as one could while shrugging.
The problem is your high school probably didn't teach you where the exercise comes from. It's a very low skill assistance exercise for the pull in a clean or snatch (the Olympic lifts). It's such a low skill lift that Olympic lifters themselves don't spend much time with it, preferring to do clean or snatch pulls, etc. However, for the purpose of athletics or even bodybuilding, it's a great full-body exercise and will put some meat on your traps as well as posterior chain if done from the floor.

In the Olympic lifts, the second phase of the lift (the part best linked to cross-sport improvement and jumping) involves accelerating the bar rapidly from about knee height, keeping it close to the body, using a powerful coordinated extension of the ankles, knees, and, most importantly, hips combined with a violent shoulder shrug. The jump shrug, when properly performed, simulates this second pull of the Olympic lift, usually with a weight heavier than is used in a clean or snatch pull (other more specific and preferred assistance exercises).

I'd recommend that you use a barbell to get the most out of this exercise. For very basic form advice check out:

http://www.exrx.net/WeightExercises/OlympicLifts/JumpShrug.html
http://www.exrx.net/WeightExercises/OlympicLifts/HangJumpShrug.html

There's actually a little more to it than that (double knee bend) if you pull from the floor, but if you can master the basic postures shown, keeping the bar close to your body, and the lower back in good safe position then that's fine for an average gym-goer.

A related exercise is the high (clean or snatch) pull:

http://www.exrx.net/WeightExercises/OlympicLifts/HighPull.html
http://www.t-nation.com/findArticle.do?article=06-118-training