Workouts That Make You Jump Higher

There are a variety of workout components to focus on if your goal is a higher vertical jump. You'll need to strength train your lower body muscles, which are needed to propel your body upward against gravity. You'll need to train your core for both strength and stability for the jumping and landing phases. Last, some specific jump training for power will round out your needed workouts. Since jump training is skill and performance based high-end training, proper supervision in a gym is helpful for safe and effective technique.

Lower Body Strength Training

Your strength training should consist of heavy lifting for your lower body one to two times per week. Try these exercises using a weighted bar on your upper back:
Squats: Place your feet shoulder width apart and keep your toes pointing forward. Move your hips back as you lower your body down into a squat, keeping your back straight. Your body should look like it is sitting back over a toilet and then return to standing position.
Lunges: Stand in a split stride position with your back foot in a heel up position. Make sure your front knee faces directly forward and stays vertical over your front foot. Lower your body down by bending both knees and stopping before your back knee touches the floor, and then push back up. Keep your back straight and control the speed as there is some balance involved.
Heel Raises: Lift onto your toes and pause at the top of your lift before lowering your heels back to the ground. Concentrate on pressing up through your middle toe and not allowing your ankles to turn out.
Leg Press: Using the leg press machine in a gym, place your feet shoulder-width apart with your toes pointed slightly outward. Lower the platform slowly, keeping your back against the seat, and then push the platform upward dynamically to begin training for some power.

Go Hard Core

Your core plays a huge role in jumping so you want to train both strength and stability for the core. Since you can train the core daily, alternate each day with either a strength or a stability focus.
For strength, lie on your back on a bench and put your legs straight up in the air. Hold onto the end of the bench behind your head, and as you exhale lift your hips and part of the low back off the bench with a focus on your legs going straight up to the ceiling. Lower as you inhale.
Lie on your back on a mat with your legs over a bench and your low back down firmly. Reach your arms out to your sides, and with an exhale curl your head, neck and shoulders off the ground as you reach up to touch the bench. Inhale as you lower back down.
For stability, lie face down on a mat, then place your elbows under your shoulders and forearms flat on the mat. Lift your entire body just off the mat with your weight on your toes and forearms; make sure your low back doesn't sag. Hold for one minute, take a break and then repeat.

Jump Training

Last but not least, actually practice jumping! Start by jumping just on the floor, and focus on landing softly with the ball of your foot landing first and your hips moving back as soon as your feet touch the ground. Progress your jump training by jumping onto solid platforms for different heights. Also progress from using your arms to help with momentum to not using your arms at all--this helps your core and legs learn how to work harder. Combine all these elements into your training program to get the "high" into your jump.