The Science behind a higher Vertical Jump

The ability to leap into the air is one of the best ways to showcase true athleticism, where in a single explosive movement you drive your entire body mass off the ground. Although many people still don’t fully understand what it actually takes to jump higher, so I’m here to break it down for you.

The components of a vertical jump can be broken down into the Triple S; Strength, Spring constant and Speed. These three elements work together to create a single explosive movement and understanding each one is the key to a higher vertical jump.

Strength: This is the part that most people are aware of and already train; strong leg muscles. The muscles involved are the quadriceps, hamstrings, glutes and calves which all work together to drive your body off the ground. They are the engine of your vertical jump and a more powerful engine can produce higher forces. Key exercises to develop this foundation include squats, deadlifts, calf raises and weighted lunges. You should try to progressive overload which consistently pushes your limits and forces your muscles to grow stronger over time.

Spring constant: Anything that bounces has to be able to store energy and release it, which is what your Achilles tendon does in a vertical jump. A stiff and elastic tendon can store the forces created by your muscles and releases it explosively in a vertical jump. It’s like a compressed spring and a stiffer spring can store more energy. To stiffen your Achilles tendon and allow it store more energy, you can do exercises like weighted calf raises, single leg bounding, squats and deadlifts. One important thing to note is that tendons adapt significantly slower than muscles.

Speed: This is the most important part of a vertical jump, being able to apply your strength and spring constant in at most 0.25 seconds. Even if you have extremely powerful legs or an extremely stiff Achilles tendon, if you cannot apply both of them fast enough then you won’t have a high vertical jump. This is why most bodybuilders don’t jump high despite being incredibly strong, they can produce large amounts of force but not within the narrow timespan. This speed isn’t about how fast you run but how quickly your nervous system can recruit and fire your muscle all at once. To train this aspect of your vertical jump, you can do plyometrics which are explosive exercises that involve quick powerful movements and because this is neurological, overtraining can dull your vertical jump instead of improving it so a few high-quality maximal efforts is ideal.