How to jump higher: jump training, stronger legs, and enough weeks of both

How high you jump depends on how much force your legs push into the ground and how fast they do it. Both can be trained. The research measures it as vertical jump height, usually in a countermovement jump: dip and jump straight up, with no pause at the bottom. This page covers what raised it in trials, a week built from that, and the sport and at-home versions of the question.

It's a page about how jumping is trained, not a promise about your jump. The studies below measured groups of people, many of them athletes; how much you gain depends on where you start and things a page can't see.

1. Do plyometric jumps

Plyometric training means jumps where you land and go straight back up. A 2007 meta-analysis of 26 studies in healthy people found it raised vertical jump height by about 4.7% in the squat jump, 8.7% in the countermovement jump, 7.5% in the countermovement jump with an arm swing and 4.7% in the drop jump.¹ The jumps, from easiest to hardest, and a starter session: plyometric exercises.

2. Mix the jump types

A 2009 meta-analysis of 56 studies recommended combining squat jumps, countermovement jumps and drop jumps rather than using only one, and found no extra benefit from doing the jumps with added weight.² A squat jump starts from a held squat; a countermovement jump is the dip-and-go; a drop jump steps off a low box and jumps as soon as you land. The box version and how high it needs to be: box jumps.

3. Get your legs stronger

Strength and jump height travel together. In 17 international male soccer players, maximal half-squat strength was strongly correlated with jump height and sprint performance.³ That's a correlation in elite players, not proof that squatting caused the jump. Training studies point the same way for fast lifts: a 2016 meta-analysis of six studies of 232 athletes and physical education students, averaging 19.5 years old, found Olympic weightlifting raised vertical jump height about 7.7% against control groups and 5.1% against traditional resistance training, with no difference from plyometric training.⁴ Where to start: squat form, the leg day workout, the power clean and how to get stronger.

4. Do enough jumps, for enough weeks

In the 56-study analysis, programs of more than 10 weeks and more than 20 sessions, with more than 50 jumps a session, seemed to give the highest chance of larger gains in jump height.² A 2010 review reported that short-term plyometric training, 2 to 3 sessions a week for 6 to 15 weeks, improved lower-body strength, power and stretch-shortening cycle function in healthy people.⁵ Two sessions a week for 11 weeks is 22 sessions: past the 56-study marks for weeks and sessions, and inside the 2010 review's range.

5. Jump fresh, and rest between jumps

A practical rule, not a trial result: jumping is speed work, so do it first in a session, right after the warm-up, rest a minute or more between sets, and stop a set when the jumps get lower. How to warm up: how to warm up. Fitting jumps and lifting into one week: cardio and lifting.

A sample week

A practical layout of the list above, not a protocol from a trial. The jump days are 60 jumps each, just above the 50-a-session mark in the 56-study analysis,² and mix the three jump types it recommended.

New to jumping? Do two sets of each for the first two weeks. If you play a sport that already has a lot of jumping in practice, count those jumps and trim the jump days to match.

Common questions

How do you jump higher in basketball?

The same list. A 2022 meta-analysis of 32 studies, 818 basketball players of any age, including players under 18 (the younger groups averaged about 14 years), found plyometric jump training improved countermovement jump height, with and without an arm swing, against control groups, along with sprint speed and strength. Some gains, such as sprints over 10 meters, were larger in the older players.⁶ Practical: lift on the days without hard practice.

How do you jump higher in volleyball?

Also the same list. A 2020 meta-analysis of 14 randomized controlled trials in healthy volleyball players of any age, including players under 19, found plyometric jump training produced a moderate improvement in vertical jump height, with no significant difference between programs of up to 8 weeks and longer ones, or between two sessions a week or fewer and more.⁷ The authors concluded gains may come from programs of relatively low volume and frequency.

Can you jump higher by training at home?

Yes. Plyometric jumps need no equipment, and the 56-study analysis found no extra benefit from adding weight to them.² Jump on a gym floor, grass or a mat (practical), and use a sturdy step or box for the drop jumps. Strength work at home: the bodyweight squat, the Bulgarian split squat and the home gym plan.

Do squats make you jump higher?

Squat strength and jump height go together in elite soccer players,³ and in the weightlifting meta-analysis fast lifts beat traditional resistance training for jump height.⁴ The plyometric trials above are the more direct evidence, so do both: squats for force, jumps for using it fast.

How fast can you increase your vertical?

No page can promise a number or a date. The dose linked to larger gains was more than 10 weeks and 20 sessions;² those are averages across many programs. The part in your control is the number of weeks you keep doing it.

The other goals

Jumping higher is one of the goal questions on this site with an answer like this one. How to run faster is the other athletic one, how to get stronger the lifting behind both, and how to get a V taper the upper-body one.

If you'd rather have the week planned

Jumps are a small part of a strength week; the harder part is fitting them around lifting, practice and the rest of your life. Coaching is the version where your workouts live in Trainerize, built around the days you actually have, and a weekly call looks at the week you just had and rebuilds the next one. Strength coaching explains how that works, and apply is the first step. Otherwise: do the jump session once this week, with two sets of each.