How to increase your vertical jump

A 12-week plan to increase your vertical jump, built on what research reviews found works: enough weeks, enough jumps, strength work and regular testing.

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Upload a video

Best: a slow-motion video from your camera app. On iPhone, slow motion takes a few seconds to prepare after you pick it. Your video stays on this device. Nothing is uploaded.

Set up in 30 seconds

1Put the phone on the floor or at knee height, 2–3 m (7–10 ft) away, so your whole body and both feet are in the picture.
2Stand still, jump straight up as high as you can, and land on the same spot with straight legs.
3Then step through the video and mark two frames: take-off and landing.

The plan in short

01Test your jump today: the average of three jumps.
02Train jumps two or three times a week for at least 10 weeks, building volume gradually.
03Add strength work: squats or Olympic lifts.
04Re-test every two weeks, same time of day, same shoes, same setup.

Vertical jump training: what works

Time: programs longer than 10 weeks with more than 20 sessions worked best [1]. In women, longer programs had a large effect and shorter ones a small one [2].
Volume: more than 50 jumps a session, mixing squat jumps, countermovement jumps and drop jumps [1]. Average gains were about 2–6 cm [3].
Strength: Olympic lifting did as well as plyometrics [4], and strength plus jumps in the same session beat strength alone [5].
No weight vests needed: jumping with added weight brought no extra benefit [1].

A 12-week example plan

An example built from those findings, not a prescription: adjust it to your sport, your season and how you recover.

Weeks	Jump sessions	Jumps per session	Focus
1–4	2 a week	50–60	Low hops, squat jumps, countermovement jumps; learn to land softly
5–8	2–3 a week	60–80	Add bounds and drop jumps from a low box
9–12	2–3 a week	80–100	Mix all jump types at full effort, with full rest between sets

Track it

Test every two weeks: three to five countermovement jumps, the same way each time, and compare averages [6]. If your average drops, you may be carrying fatigue: after a hard session, jump measures mostly returned to baseline within 24 hours [7], so test rested.

Young athletes and safety

For young athletes, plyometrics can be safe and worthwhile when appropriately prescribed and implemented [8]. Even four weeks, eight sessions, helped in youth studies [9], and in children twice a week for 8–10 weeks starting at 50–60 jumps gave the largest gains [10]. Too much is a risk: the same statement describes a 12-year-old who developed exertional rhabdomyolysis, a serious muscle breakdown, after more than 250 squat jumps [8]. Stop if anything hurts.

Questions

How long does it take to increase your vertical jump?

Research programs that ran longer than 10 weeks with more than 20 sessions did best. Test every two weeks so you can see the change.

How many times a week should I train jumps?

Two or three sessions a week is typical in the studies, with rest days between. For children, twice a week.

Can I increase my vertical jump at home?

Yes. Most plyometric exercises need only floor space and something sturdy to step off for drop jumps. Strength work helps, which may need weights.

Do weighted vests help?

Not in the research: jumping with added weight brought no extra benefit over plain plyometrics.

How much can I add?

About 2–6 cm on average in plyometric programs, more for beginners and less for trained athletes.

More on the vertical jump

How to jump higherHow to jump higher: technique you can use today, like arm swing and the dip, and the training that adds 2–6 cm over 10+ weeks, from research reviews.Countermovement jumpWhat the countermovement jump (CMJ) is, how it differs from the squat jump, how coaches use it to track fatigue, and a free CMJ test from phone video.Average vertical jumpAverage vertical jump by age and sex from a national survey of 5,188 people, plus college athletes and the NBA and NFL combines. See your percentile.