Vertical jump training: what the research says works

Build your week below. Tap a day to see the session.

How much can training add?

A 2007 review in the British Journal of Sports Medicine pooled 26 studies of jump training. Jump height rose 8.7% on average, and 7.5% in jumps with an arm swing.

In all, that was about 2 to 6 cm, or about 0.8 to 2.4 inches.

For a player who jumps 24 inches, an 8.7% gain adds about 2.1 inches.

For a player who jumps 30 inches, the same gain adds about 2.6 inches.

Who gains

In that review, athletes and non athletes gained about the same. A 2009 review found people in good and poor shape gained alike, and players with more sport experience gained more.

How long does it take to jump higher?

A 2009 review of 56 studies found the biggest gains after more than 10 weeks and 20 sessions.

It ran in the Journal of Strength and Conditioning Research.

20 sessions over 10 weeks is 2 sessions a week. A third session gives you room to miss a day.

How many jumps per session

The same review found high effort programs with more than 50 jumps per session among the most effective.

Mixing jump types beat using one: squat jumps, jumps with a quick dip, and drop jumps from a low box.

Skip the weighted vest

Jumps with added weight gave no extra benefit in that review.

Should you lift weights, jump, or both?

Both. A 2025 review in the Journal of Sports Science and Medicine compared each with routine training:

• Lifting and jumping together: 5.0 cm higher
• Lifting alone: 2.2 cm higher
• Jumping alone: 2.0 cm higher

Lifting plus jumping beat jumping alone by 2.9 cm, about 1.1 inches.

No gym?

Jumps alone still work: about 2.0 cm in the same review. Add bodyweight split squats and calf raises at home.

The best exercises to jump higher

• Strength: squats, split squats, Romanian deadlifts and calf raises.
• Jumps: squat jumps, jumps with a quick dip and arm swing, drop jumps from a low box, and broad jumps.
• Run up: jumps off a short run up of a few steps, to use the inches a run up gives.

Use your arms

A 2016 study in the Journal of Human Kinetics tested 18 elite volleyball players. Their jumps with an arm swing were 37.7% higher than without one.

Land safely

Land softly on both feet with your knees bent. Rest at least one day between hard sessions, and stop if anything hurts. With an injury, talk to a doctor or coach before you start.

How to track your progress

Stand by a wall and mark your standing reach. Then jump from standing and mark your best touch.

Measure between the two marks. Test every 2 weeks, at the same time of day and after the same warm up.

Add each result to the jump log in the tool above. The green band shows the 5 to 10% range from the research.

Will training get you to the rim?

Put your numbers in the dunk calculator to see your gap. Then compare it with what training can add.

If your gap is bigger than about 2 inches, take the free inches too. At NBA combines, a run up added 5.37 inches on average, and our dunk guide shows how to use it.

Questions people ask