Plyometric exercises: what counts, what the research found and a starter session

Plyometric exercises are fast, springy movements: jumps, hops, bounds and throws, where a muscle lowers under load and then drives straight back out. A squat jump is one. So is a medicine ball throw. This page covers what counts, what the research found, the exercises from easiest to hardest, a starter session, and where jumping fits in a week. It's about training, not the scale.

The rope has its own page, the jump rope workout. If you'd rather keep both feet on the ground, the low-impact workout swaps every jump for a step.

What counts as plyometric

A 2021 review defines it like this: plyometric exercise involves a rapid eccentric action, the muscle lengthening under load, immediately followed by a rapid concentric action, the muscle shortening to push. That quick switch is called the stretch-shortening cycle.¹ In a jump, it's the dip and the take-off with no pause between them.

The same idea covers the upper body. A 2023 meta-analysis of upper-body plyometric training gives bench press throws and medicine ball throws as examples.² By the definition above, a slow bodyweight squat isn't plyometric, and a squat jump is.

What the research found

• Jump height went up. A 2007 meta-analysis of 26 studies in healthy people found plyometric training raised vertical jump height by about 4.7% in the squat jump, 8.7% in the countermovement jump, 7.5% in the same jump with an arm swing and 4.7% in the drop jump.³ The paper calls the squat jump concentric-only, the countermovement jump a slow stretch-shortening-cycle jump and the drop jump a fast one.³
• The dose that seemed to matter. A 2009 meta-analysis of 56 studies found that programs of more than 10 weeks and more than 20 sessions, with more than 50 jumps per session, seemed to maximize the chance of larger gains in vertical jump height. Combining squat jumps, countermovement jumps and drop jumps was recommended over using one kind, no extra benefit came from adding weight, and people in good or bad physical condition benefited about equally.⁴
• Another range, from a review. A 2010 review reported that 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
• Leg muscle size. A 2021 review of eight studies concluded that plyometric and resistance training may produce similar effects on whole-muscle size in the lower body, in untrained and recreationally trained people over up to 12 weeks. Evidence at the level of single muscle fibers was too limited to draw conclusions.¹
• Upper body. In a 2023 meta-analysis of 30 studies and 1,412 healthy male and female participants aged 7.3 to 27.2, from various sport and fitness backgrounds, upper-body plyometric training improved maximal strength (a small effect) and medicine ball throw performance (a moderate one) compared with controls. The certainty of that evidence was low or very low.²

Read these as what the trials measured: jump height, strength and muscle size over weeks. They don't tell you your exact week.

Plyometric exercises, from easiest to hardest

This order is practical, not a finding. It goes by how much height, speed and balance each one asks for.

A starter session

This is a practical session, not a protocol from a trial. Warm up for five minutes first: easy cardio, then a few practice squats and small jumps (how to warm up has more).

• That's 60 jumps, a little above the 50-per-session mark the 56-study analysis linked to a greater chance of larger gains in vertical jump height.⁴ That mark came from programs of many designs, so treat it as a guide, not a rule. For the first two weeks, do two sets of each.
• Stop a set when the jumps get shorter or sloppier. This is skill and speed work, not conditioning. Rest long enough that every jump is a good one.
• Land quietly. As a practical choice, jump on a gym floor, grass or a mat.
• Progress one thing at a time: a third set, then a harder exercise from the table, then a fourth set.

Where it fits in your week

Two sessions a week, a day or two apart, sits inside the 2 to 3 a week the 2010 review covered,⁵ and 11 weeks of it is 22 sessions, past the 10 weeks and 20 sessions in the 56-study analysis.⁴ As a practical rule, jump first, right after the warm-up and before any lifting, because the exercises need you fresh. Don't put them at the end of a heavy leg day. If you also do cardio, cardio and lifting covers what the research found for explosive strength when the two share a session.

Common questions

Are plyometrics only for athletes?

No. The jump-height meta-analysis covered healthy people,³ the muscle-size review covered untrained and recreationally trained people,¹ and in the 56-study analysis, people in good or bad physical condition benefited about equally, though people with more sport experience gained more.⁴

How many jumps and how often?

The dose that seemed to maximize the chance of larger gains in vertical jump height across the 56 studies was more than 50 jumps a session for more than 10 weeks and 20 sessions.⁴ The starter session above is 60 jumps, twice a week.

Can jumping build leg muscle like lifting does?

Over up to 12 weeks in untrained and recreationally trained people, the 2021 review concluded that plyometric and resistance training may produce similar whole-muscle growth in the lower body.¹ It doesn't show that jumping replaces lifting over years, and it reports little at the fiber level.

What if something hurts?

If you have pain, an injury or a medical condition, a doctor or a physical therapist should set the limits before you add jumping; this page is general guidance for healthy adults.

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, work 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 starter session once this week, with two sets of each.