I decided to create a free month-long jump program for those who want to get their vertical jump as high as possible over four weeks.
I don’t typically recommend doing four week programs and suggest a longer approach to periodization, however it might make sense for certain circumstances like if you’ve got a tryout or tournament on around a month from now.
You should use this program simply for inspiration. I never recommend following cookie-cutter programs verbatim because you might not be able to do certain exercises due to injuries, you might not have access to certain equipment, and your other training commitments will have a big impact on how much additional training volume you can handle.
The best approach is to use this for some ideas and then adapt it so it suits your situation.
Important Points Before You Begin
Before even looking at the program, make sure you understand the following points.
Training Volume Warning
Because we’re trying to get the maximum results in only four weeks, I created this program so that we’d be training four days a week.
If you are already playing basketball or volleyball 1-2 times a week or are engaging in any other physical activity, this program is not suitable to follow as it is. The training volume is already very high and if you are doing anything else on top, you’ll not see the results you want.
Remove Training Days
If you are playing a sport once or twice a week, you should cut out one of the four days from the below program so that you’re only doing this jump training three times per week.
It doesn’t matter which day you axe, but just be mindful that I’ve included most of the upper body training volume on Saturdays so you may or may not want to get rid of those exercises.
Some Advanced Exercises
While this program isn’t terribly complex, I wouldn’t recommend this for a complete beginner who’s never stepped in a weight room before. Many of these exercises such as back squats, Bulgarian split squats, and hang cleans require some experience and understanding of proper technique.
If some of these movements are too difficult for you, feel free to replace them with simpler exercises that you’re confident with that fall into the same category of exercise. I’ve included a key after the first week so you can see which color codes correspond with which training focuses.
Do I Need Equipment?
As it is, this program requires you to have access to a gym. There’s simply no way to achieve the best possible results in such a short period of time without having access to a squat rack and some dumbbells at the very least.
If you don’t have access to a gym, familiarize yourself with the best at-home vertical jump exercises and replace the ones you can’t do with some of those.
For Detrained Athletes
Don’t just jump straight into this program if you’re detrained or haven’t lifted or jumped much recently. You should go into a more gradual ‘adaptation phase’ before diving into this program to dust off the cobwebs first.
You don’t want to be sore for the entire first and second weeks, so make sure you’re hitting the ground running so to speak prior to beginning this program.
Foam Rolling
I highly recommend foam rolling and/or static stretching after each of these workouts. Because our training volume is so high, you want to put a big focus on recovery and foam rolling is going to reduce soreness so you’ll be in better shape to perform well the following day.
Make sure you eat as well as you can and get as much sleep as possible while on this program to get the best results.
Week 1 – Strength Focus
As with any vertical jump training program, our initial focus will be on developing strength. But because we only have 4 weeks to be jumping as high as possible we’re going to be doing a good mix of jump work as well.
You don’t have to do the exact same workouts on the same days. This is just a guide and you’ll need to adapt this so it makes sense for you. If you’re unsure about any of these exercises, jump on YouTube and you’ll quickly be able to find a demonstration.
| Monday | – | Wednesday | – | Friday | Saturday | – |
| Warm Up | Warm Up | Warm Up | Warm Up | |||
| Depth Jumps x10 | Single Leg Bounding 3×5 EL | Depth Drops x15 | Running Vertical Jumps x8 | |||
| Running Vertical Jumps x8 | Standing Vertical Jumps x8 | Depth Jumps x 8 | Barbell Jump Squats 3×5 | |||
| Med Ball Tosses x10 | Barbell Jump Squats 3×4 | Med Ball Tosses x8 | Smith Machine Bulgarian Split Quarter Squats 5×4 | |||
| Back Squats 5×5 | Smith Machine Bulgarian Split Squats 3×6 | Barbell Jump Squats 3×4 | Back Squats 5×4 | |||
| Hip Thrusts 5×8 | Weighted GHRs 5×8 | Med Ball Wall Slams x6 ES | Hip Thrusts 4×6 | |||
| Foam Roll | Weighted Calf Raises 5x Failure | Med Ball Slams x8 | Chin Ups 4x Failure | |||
| Foam Roll | Back Squats 5×5 | Bench Press 4×6 | ||||
| Barbell RDLs 4×7 | Woodchops 4×20 ES | |||||
| Foam Roll | Foam Roll |
Warm ups = Blue Plyometrics = Teal Power = Olive Strength = Red Upper Body = Orange Core = Brown
Week 2 – Power Focus
The second week we’re going to swap out some of the strength volume for slightly more power-oriented movements as we shift the focus to increasing rate of force development.
| Monday | – | Wednesday | – | Friday | Saturday | – |
| Warm Up | Warm Up | Warm Up | Warm Up | |||
| Depth Jumps x10 | Single Leg Bounding 3×5 EL | Depth Drops x15 | Running Vertical Jumps x8 | |||
| Running Vertical Jumps x8 | Double Leg Bounding 3×5 | Depth Jumps x 8 | Barbell Jump Squats 3×5 | |||
| Med Ball Tosses x10 | Barbell Jump Squats 4×4 | Med Ball Tosses x8 | Hang Power Cleans 3×4 | |||
| DB Jump Squats 5×6 | Standing Vertical Jumps x5 | Barbell Jump Squats 3×4 | DB Jump Squats 3×5 | |||
| Back Squats 4×4 | Smith Machine Bulgarian Split Squats 3×6 | Med Ball Wall Slams x6 ES | Smith Machine Bulgarian Split Quarter Squats 3×3 | |||
| Foam Roll | Weighted GHRs 3×8 | Med Ball Slams x8 | Back Squats 3×3 | |||
| Calf Raises 3x Failure | Back Squats 3×4 | Chin Ups 4x Failure | ||||
| Foam Roll | Barbell RDLs 3×7 | Bench Press 4×6 | ||||
| Foam Roll | Woodchops 4×20 ES | |||||
| Foam Roll |
Week 3 – Plyometric Focus
The third week we’ll shift focus once more to plyometrics. Our strength work now becomes primarily maintenance and the volume of jumping will increase.
| Monday | – | Wednesday | – | Friday | Saturday | – |
| Warm Up | Warm Up | Warm Up | Warm Up | |||
| Depth Jumps x10 | Single Leg Bounding 3×5 EL | Depth Drops x15 | Barbell Jump Squats 3×5 | |||
| Depth Drops x10 | Double Leg Bounding 3×5 | Depth Jumps x 8 | Running Vertical Jumps x5 | |||
| Running Vertical Jumps x10 | Split Jumps 3×5 ES | Med Ball Tosses x8 | Med Ball Tosses x10 | |||
| Hang Power Cleans 3×4 | Barbell Jump Squats 4×4 | Standing Vertical Jumps x5 | Standing Vertical Jumps x5 | |||
| DB Jump Squats 5×5 | Standing Vertical Jumps x5 | Barbell Jump Squats 3×4 | DB Jump Squats 3×5 | |||
| Back Squats 3×4 | Smith Machine Bulgarian Split Squat 3×4 | Standing Vertical Jumps x5 | Standing Vertical Jumps x5 | |||
| Foam Roll | Running Vertical Jumps x5 | Med Ball Wall Slams x6 ES | Smith Machine Bulgarian Split Quarter Squats 3×3 | |||
| Weighted GHRs 3×6 | Med Ball Slams x8 | Back Squats 3×4 | ||||
| Calf Raises 3x Failure | Back Squats 3×4 | Chin Ups 4x Failure | ||||
| Foam Roll | Barbell RDLs 3×7 | Bench Press 3×6 | ||||
| Foam Roll | Woodchops 4×20 ES | |||||
| Foam Roll |
Week 4 – Peak
The purpose of this week is to ensure we’re jumping as high as possible come Sunday. This week will act as a bit of a deload to allow us to recover from the previous three weeks of hard work. The training focus will still be on plyometrics.
| Monday | – | Wednesday | – | Friday | – | Sunday |
| Warm Up | Warm Up | Warm Up | ||||
| Depth Jumps x7 | Standing Vertical Jumps x10 | Depth Drops x5 | ||||
| Depth Drops x7 | Running Vertical Jumps x10 | Depth Jumps x5 | ||||
| Running Vertical Jumps x10 | Barbell Jump Squats 3×3 | Standing Vertical Jumps x5 | ||||
| Med Ball Tosses x7 | Standing Vertical Jumps x7 | Med Ball Tosses x5 | ||||
| DB Jump Squats 4×3 | Single Leg Glute Bridge 40s ES | Standing Vertical Jumps x5 | ||||
| Back Squats 3×7 | Standing Tibialis Raises 3×25 ES | Med Ball Wall Slams x6 ES | ||||
| Foam Roll | Calf Raises 3×15 | Med Ball Slams x8 | ||||
| Foam Roll | Back Squats 3×4 | |||||
| Foam Roll |
By following this routine you should be jumping your highest on Sunday of week four.
You might want to test your vertical on this day or perhaps you’ve got a big game or tournament starting around this time that you want to be your springiest for.
Download This Program
If you’d like to save this program so you can print it off or refer to it without having to navigate back to this page, right click on this page and click Save As.
The Best Vertical Jump Program Is Self-Made
I always say to never buy vertical jump programs. You’re far better off simply learning about the science of vertical jump training and figuring out why the above program looks the way it does.
The best place to start is by going through my free list of expert vertical jump tips so you can better understand how to apply these concepts to your own training.
