If you’re looking for an effective high jump workout plan that can level up your jumping ability, you’ve come to the right place.
In this article, I’ve shared an example of a high jump training program that can increase your strength, explosiveness, speed, and mobility and help you prepare for jumping higher.
From males to females, anyone looking to enhance their jumping skills can follow this program.
Note: Please note this article is for general information only and shouldn’t be substituted with any professional advice. If you have a specific goal to achieve in the jumping domain, you should consult with a professional coach in your field.
How to Design a High Jump Workout Plan?
A good high jump workout routine must include the following elements to achieve optimal results:
- Dynamic Warm-up
- High Jump Drills
- Plyometrics Workouts
- Core Workout
- Strength Training
- Short Sprints
Dynamic Warm-up
Your high jump workout session must start with 5-10 minutes of dynamic warm-up.
The dynamic warm-up helps increase heart rate and oxygen flow, prepare your muscles to perform intense and challenging exercises, and can boost your performance. It also helps reduce the risk of injury.
Here are the best dynamic warm-up exercises you can do before starting your main high jump training session.
- Forward Backward Skip
- Leg Swings Side to Side
- Leg Swings Front to Back
- High Knees
- Tall Shuffle
- Ankle Hops
- Butt Kicks
- Squat Jumps
- Jumping Lunges
You can also see in the below video how The Jump Guy is demonstrating a great warm-up for high jumps.
High Jump Drills
The high Jump drills are specific high-jump training warm-up exercises that help prepare the body and nervous system for intense and explosive workout sessions.
They also help improve strength, speed, technique, and focus and power up your jump.
There are various high jump drills you can integrate into your training schedule. Here are some examples:
- Fast Leg Drill
- Single Leg Ankle Hops
- Straight Leg Bounds
- Power Skips
- Scissor Drill
- A and B Skips
Plyometrics Workouts
Plyometric training includes various high jump exercises that help increase jumping skills.
You should incorporate those plyo jumps that fit your fitness level and can help you achieve your goal.
For example, you can do vertical jumps, single-leg hops, scissor jumps, back-overs, side-to-side ankle hops, front-to-back cone hops, standing long jumps, lateral jumps over the barrier, and side-to-side cone hops to enhance your jumping ability and performance.
Core and Strength Training
The legs and core are the primary muscles that are needed to be strong and flexible for jumping high.
From body weight to resistance, you can do various exercises to bolster your abdominal and lower body muscles for scaling your jump height.
Here are some of the best exercises you can include in your high jump workout program:
Core Exercises
Lower Body Exercises:
- Front Squat
- Lunges Variations
- Dumbbell Romanian Deadlift
- Push Press
- Hip Thrust
- Landmine Squat
- Step-up
- Good Morning
- Glute-Ham Raise
- Perform mostly unilateral exercises because each stride, from the approach to the takeoff, is done on a single leg during the high jump training.
You can also perform some of these upper body strength exercises to bolster your torso.
Short Sprints
You can also include short sprints to enhance your speed and endurance.
Sprint distance can be 20, 30, or 50 meters.
Example of a High Jump Workout Program
Monday
Week 1 – Workout
- Dynamic warm-up – 300 meters, strides, dynamic
stretches, sprint drills (a-skips, etc.) - Sprint training – 3 x 30 meters, 2 x 60 meters
- Low-impact bounding, low-depth jumps,
standing vertical jumps, 3 stride vertical
jumps, 5 stride vertical jumps - Bodyweight strength series
Week 2 – Workout
- Dynamic warm-up
- High Jump – 8-10 Approaches, Hurdles
Jumps - Sprints on curve – 3 x 30m, 3 x 40m
- General strength
Week 3 – Workout
- Dynamic warm-up
- High Jump – Approaches, Full Jumps
- Body weight strength circuit
Tuesday
Week 1 – Workout
- Dynamic warm-up, hurdle walkovers
- Endurance runs – 4 x 100 meters (4 min rest between sets),
2 x 2 x 250 meters (walk back recovery) - Sand Plyometrics
- Gym-based strength session
Week 2 – Workout
- Dynamic warm-up, hurdle walkovers
- Plyometrics: Weighted jumps, depth jumps
- Full approach jumps
Week 3 – Active Recovery
Wednesday
Week 1 – Active Recovery
Week 2 -Light sand running or swimming
Week 3 – Workout
- Dynamic warm-up
- High Jump – Approaches and Full Jumps
- Gym-based weights
Thursday
Week 1 – Workout
- Dynamic warm-up – 300 meters, strides, dynamic stretches, sprint drills (a-skips, etc.)
- Speed training – Hills (30 meters), Sled pulls (30 meters), Free Sprints (30 meters) x 3. 1-3 min rest between reps.
- Body weight strength series
Week 2 – Workout
- Dynamic warm-up
- High Jump Approaches
- 3 or 5 stride approaches with jumps
- Medicine ball series
Week 3 – Workout
- Dynamic warm-up – 300m, strides, dynamic stretches, sprint drills (a-skips etc.)
- 30m sprints (generally 4-6 reps)
- Light hurdle hops
Friday
Week 1 – Workout
- 10-20 minutes Dynamic warm-up
- Jumps circuit in sand 150 meters and 200 meters reps
- Gym-based strength session
Week 2 – Workout
- Dynamic warm-up
- Bounding exercises: Skipping for height,
Single leg bounds, alternate bounds (keep very short distances 5-15m)
Week 3 – Workout
- Dynamic warm-up
- Bounding exercises: Skipping for height,
Single leg bounds, alternate bounds (keep very short distances 5-15m)
Saturday – Active recovery
Sunday – OFF
Source: Squarespace.com (Program created by Mellanee Welty, University of Florida’s High Jump coach.
Strength and Conditioning Program for High Jumpers
These programs are for collegiate high jumpers.
You can make necessary changes to make it fit for you.
Off Season Workout
Monday
- Event: Approach Jumps 3, 5, or 7 strides, 2-3 times at each stride length
- Plyometric: Box Jumps, 5-10 times, and Scissor Jumps and Stick Landing 5-10 times each leg
- Sprint: OFF
- Strength Training: Back squats, Romanian deadlift, Bent-over Rows, Bench Press, and Military Press, Three sets of 4-8 reps at 75-80% of your one-rep max.
Tuesday
- Event: OFF
- Plyometric: Bounds, Three rounds of 20-30 meters each
- Sprint: 5 to 10 rounds of 20-40 meters
- Strength Training: Power Clean, Clean Pulls, and Push Jerks, Three sets of 3 to 6 reps at 60-70% intensity. (During PC and CP, start lifting the bar from a knee level)
Thursday
- Event: Standing back- ward flop, 5-10 times, High Jump 5, 7, or 9 strides, 5-10 times
- Plyometric: Standing Long Jumps (5-10 times) and Hurdle Hops (3 x 10 meters)
- Sprint: OFF
- Strength Training: Split Squat, Good Morning, Incline Press, 1-arm DB Row, and Seated Military Press, Three sets of 4-8 reps at 75-80% of your 1-rep max.
Friday
- Event: OFF
- Plyometric: Bounds, Three rounds of 20-30 meters
- Sprint: 5 to 10 rounds of 40-60 meters
- Strength Training: Split Clean, One-Leg Dumbbell Clean, and Spit Jerks, Three sets of 3 to 6 reps at 60-70% intensity. (Lift the weight from a knee level)
Transition/Preparation Phase Routine
Monday
- Event: High Jumps 5-10 times
- Plyometric: Box Jumps, 5-10 times, and Scissor Jumps and Stick Landing 5 times each leg
- Sprint: OFF
- Strength Training
- Superset- Split Clean 3 sets x 2-4 reps and Split Squat: 3 sets x 8-12 reps (60-70 %)
- Standard Set – Romanian Deadlift: 3 sets x 4-8 reps (80-90%)
- Superset – Bench Press (4-8 reps at 80-90%) and Medicine Ball Chest Pass (10 throws) x 3
Tuesday
- Event: OFF
- Plyometric: Bounds, Three rounds of 30-40 meters
- Sprint: Stride length drill 3 x 10-20 meters and sprint 5 x 20-40 meters.
- Strength Training: OFF
Wednesday
- Event: High Jumps 5-10 times
- Plyometric: Standing Long Jumps (5-10 times) and Hurdle Hops (3 x 10 meters)
- Sprint: OFF
- Strength Training
- Superset 1 – Power Clean (2-4 reps) + Front Squat (8-12 reps) x 3 at 60-70%
- Superset 2 – Clean Grip Deadlift (6-10 reps) + Clean Pulls (4-6 reps) x 3 at 70-80%
- Superset 3 – Bent-over Rows (4-8 reps) + Behind The Back Medicine Ball Throws (10 Throws) x 3 (intensity level 80-90%)
Thursday
- Event: OFF
- Plyometric: Bounds, Three rounds of 30-40 meters
- Sprint: Stride length drill 3 x 40-60 meters and sprint 5 x 40-60 meters.
- Strength Training: OFF
Program Source: Coachinsider.com/The High Jumper Strength and Conditioning by USTFCCCA. I highly recommend checking the original site if you have any questions related to the program).
Tips and Consideration
- Allow your muscles decent recovery time. The recovery period allows the muscles to heal and rebuild, optimize performance and reduce the risk of overtraining and injury. There are two ways you can give your muscles time to recover. The first is one or two days during the week, and the second is one week after five or six weeks of training. During the weekly recovery period, you can still exercise but at a lower intensity.
- Adjust the program depending on age, experience, and ability.
- Keep tracking your progress and make necessary modifications to the routine.
- Intense training also requires proper nutrition and sleep. So, make sure not to skip this part.
