I decided to create a free month-long jump program for those who want to get their vertical jump as high as possible over the course of four weeks.
I don’t typically recommend doing four week programs and suggest a considerably longer approach to periodization.
If you want to make serious vertical jump gains, you need to appreciate that it’s a long game.
That said, I can appreciate how you might want to peak your vertical jump over a shorter duration, perhaps before a certain tournament or before finals begin.
Just understand that 4 weeks is simply not long enough to see meaningful results and your body need longer to respond to this training program.
I’ve designed it in such a way that will allow you to peak in week 4 and be rested enough that you should be jumping close to your highest by the end of the program.
You can download the PDF below or read on for more details.
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 quite high and if you are doing anything else on top, your true results will be masked by fatigue and you’ll likely end up disappointed.
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 is quite basic in nature, I wouldn’t recommend this for a complete beginner who’s never stepped in a weight room before.
This program does require access to a gym.
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.
Be sure to check out my full list of the best vertical jump exercises of 2023.
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.
Ideally you’ll want to ease into things with a more gradual ‘adaptation phase’ before diving into this program.
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.
Prioritize Recovery
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.
If you can get a couple massages throughout the program, that would also be helpful.
Listen To Your Body
Never lift or jump through pain.
If a particular exercise is aggravating a joint, attempt to replace it with a similar exercise you can do safely, or skip it altogether.
If you’re extremely sore, it’s probably better to take the entire day off and do some light walking and mobility movements to help speed up recovery.
Program Structure
I’ve decided to keep things super simple with this program so that it’s easy to follow.
| Week | Training Focus |
| 1 | Strength Development |
| 2 | Power Development |
| 3 | Plyometrics |
| 4 | Peak |
As I mentioned, we’ll be training 4 days a week in this program: Monday, Wednesday, Friday, Saturday.
If you’re not starting the program on a Monday, it means we’ll be training on Days 1, 3, 5, and 6.
You don’t need to stick with these particular days if they don’t work for you, but do your best space the workouts out across the week as much as possible.
Week 1 – Strength Focus
As with most vertical jump training programs, 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.
If you’re unsure about any of these exercises, jump on YouTube and you’ll quickly be able to find a demo.
I’ve done my best to hyperlink each movement to a video demonstration, but occasionally these links will break.
Week 1 Sample
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.
Week 2 Sample
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.
Week 3 Sample
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.
Week 4 Sample
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.
While you will get results with this program, you’ll get better results by following a proper vertical jump program of a longer duration.
Be sure to check out my full roundup of the best vertical jump programs for 2023!
Download This Program
You can download the full 36 page PDF for free below!
Hi Harvey,
Just wanted to say thanks so much for posting this–this is perfect for me, as my max vert deadline is March 19. I wrapped up Week 1 a few days ago and today is Week 2 Day 1. Appreciate the changes from today as well–I’ll keep you posted.
Once again thanks,
Dan
Hey mate, glad to hear it!
Yeah just completely redid this article yesterday, so great timing!
All the best.
hey! this programme looks interesting, but I don’t understand how should i continue training after finishing this 4weeks.
Hey Gio,
The point of this 4 week program is to help you peak your jump for a certain event.
If you’re planning on training for a longer period of time, perhaps you’d benefit from checking out my article on the best vertical jump programs which includes some great options to continue with.
Hello, I am interested in the program but I am just confused on how to perform some of the exercises. For the exercises with only the reps given, am I supposed to do them continuously for one set or do I split it into sets until I reach the rep goal. Your reply would greatly be appreciated! Thank you 🙂
Hey John, each of the exercises should hyperlink to demonstration videos.
Hello there Harvey; quick question, we are supposed to use weights (as in plates, barbells, etc) during exercises like back squats, Bulgarian split squat, etc and not just do the form without weight or resistance right? Even though some exercises don’t say “weighted” in front of it, it doesn’t mean that it doesn’t require weights correct?