Search for ways to jump higher and you will find programmes that promise ten extra inches in a month. The research is more modest, and more useful. This guide covers how to measure your vertical jump properly, what plyometric and strength training have actually been shown to add, how technique and body mass fit in, and what a realistic result looks like.
Step one: measure it the same way every time
Your vertical jump is how far your body rises, and the usual wall test measures it as the difference between two marks. First stand flat-footed beside a wall and mark the highest point your fingertips reach. Then jump from a standing start and touch the wall as high as you can. The second mark minus the first is your vertical jump.
Because it is a difference, a long reach does not make the number bigger. It only raises both marks. That is why arm span and ape index matter for reaching a rim or a ball, but not for the jump score itself.
You can also work from flight time using a jump mat or slow-motion video. A jump rises and falls in equal time, so height equals 9.81 times the flight time in seconds squared, divided by eight. A flight time of 0.58 seconds gives about 41 cm, or 16 inches. The method assumes you take off and land with straight legs, and tucking your knees before landing makes the result look better than it was.
Whatever you use, keep the method, the warm-up, the time of day and the arm use the same, and compare the average of several attempts. Differences of a few centimetres can be noise.
What the research says increases vertical jump
Plyometric training
Plyometrics are jumping and bounding drills that load the muscles and tendons quickly, such as countermovement jumps, box jumps and depth jumps. A 2007 meta-analysis by Markovic pooled 26 studies in healthy people and reported average improvements of about 4.7% in a squat jump, 8.7% in a countermovement jump, 7.5% in a countermovement jump with arm swing, and 4.7% in a drop jump. As a rough illustration, 8.7% of a 40 cm countermovement jump is about 3.5 cm.
Heavy strength training
A 2025 systematic review and network meta-analysis by Ma, Xu and Xu compared training methods in healthy athletes. Eight studies fed the vertical jump comparison. Against routine training, weight resistance training was associated with roughly 9.9 cm more vertical jump height (95% confidence interval 6.7 to 13.5 cm) and plyometric training with roughly 5.2 cm more (2.6 to 7.7 cm). The difference between the two was about 4.8 cm in favour of weight training.
Take that with care. Eight studies is a small base, the participants were athletes rather than the general public, and the comparison group was routine training, not doing nothing. It supports the idea that getting stronger matters, not that plyometrics are pointless, and the same review found that other jump types respond differently to different programmes.
Putting the two together
Both methods work, and they train different things: strength raises how much force you can produce, and jumping drills train you to produce it quickly. A common coaching approach is two heavy lower-body sessions a week (squat or deadlift variations) plus one or two short jumping sessions, increasing load and jump volume gradually and leaving recovery between hard days. That is standard practice rather than a finding from the studies above, which do not prove one exact schedule. Depth jumps and other high-impact drills suit people who already have a base of strength, so build up to them.
Technique: use the countermovement and the arms
In a 1990 study by Harman and colleagues, 18 men jumped for maximum height on a force platform with and without a countermovement and with and without an arm swing. Both a countermovement and an arm swing significantly improved jump height, and the arm swing had the larger effect. In practice that means a fast dip, a full extension of the hips, knees and ankles, and a hard upward arm swing. It also means you should never compare a jump with arms against a jump without arms.
Body mass and composition
Every jump lifts your own body off the ground, so mass that does not produce force is extra load. That is one reason lean athletes often jump well for their size. It is not a reason to crash diet: losing muscle or training on too little energy reduces power. If you want to see where you stand, the Body Fat Calculator and the FFMI guide show how much of your weight is lean mass, and the ideal weight guide explains why healthy weight is a range.
What about the power number?
If you enter body weight in the calculator, it estimates peak power with the Sayers equation: 60.7 watts per centimetre of jump height plus 45.3 watts per kilogram of body mass, minus 2,055 watts. Jump-power equations give widely different answers for the same jump, and none replaces a force plate. Use the figure to follow your own progress, not to compare yourself with a friend.
Realistic expectations
Averages like 4.7 to 8.7% in plyometric studies, or a few centimetres to about ten above routine training, describe groups of people over weeks or months of training. Beginners with a lot of room to improve may gain more, and experienced athletes usually gain less. If a programme promises many inches in a few weeks, ask what it measured and how.
Increase training gradually, warm up, stop if you feel sharp pain, and speak to a doctor or qualified coach if you have joint, tendon or heart concerns. This guide is informational and not medical advice. See our disclaimer.
Sources
- Markovic G. Does plyometric training improve vertical jump height? A meta-analytical review. British Journal of Sports Medicine. 2007;41(6):349-355.
- Ma S, Xu Y, Xu S. Effects of physical training programs on healthy athletes' vertical jump height: a systematic review with meta-analysis. Journal of Sports Science and Medicine. 2025;24(2):236-257.
- Harman EA, Rosenstein MT, Frykman PN, Rosenstein RM. The effects of arms and countermovement on vertical jumping. Medicine and Science in Sports and Exercise. 1990;22(6):825-833.
- Sayers SP, et al. Cross-validation of three jump power equations. Medicine and Science in Sports and Exercise. 1999;31:572.
- Topend Sports. Vertical jump test and normative rating scale (flight-time caveats and rule-of-thumb ratings).