Become a Personal Trainer
What Muscles Work In A Vertical Jump, And How To Work It Out For Any Exercise
From the FASTER syllabus: this article is taught in full in The honest route from scratch to qualified →
In short: A vertical jump is driven by the glutes and quads, loading through the dip and then firing hard to open the hips and knees, finished by the calves through the ankle at the very top of the drive. The hamstrings help the glutes finish hip extension, and the hip flexors help arrest the dip and reverse it. The core keeps the trunk stacked so none of that drive leaks out sideways, and the smaller muscles around the ankle and knee take the same force back in on the landing. The four steps that produce that answer are: decide where the force is acting, find the muscles working directly against it, find the muscles assisting, then find the muscles supporting the joint, the same four steps that already answered the same question about a squat, a lunge, a deadlift, a press-up, a row, a shoulder press, a loaded carry, a suspended plank, a sprint and a medicine ball throw.
What muscles work in a vertical jump
The glutes and quads, lengthening through the dip and then firing hard to drive the hips and knees open. The calves, finishing the job through the ankle right at the top, adding the last bit of height once the legs are already extending. The hamstrings, helping the glutes finish hip extension, and the hip flexors, helping arrest the dip and reverse it into a drive. And the core and the smaller muscles around the ankle and knee, holding the trunk so the drive doesn't leak out sideways, then taking the same force back in on the way down.
That's the answer, and like the squat, the lunge, the deadlift, the press-up, the row, the shoulder press, the loaded carry, the suspended plank, the sprint and the medicine ball throw before it, it came from a method rather than a memorised list.
Nobody's taken a client yet, and that's fine
Somebody weighing up a career change into personal training can watch a vertical jump on a phone and file the whole thing under "explosive," which tells them almost nothing useful about what's actually happening between the dip and the ground. One of the things you learn on our CIMSPA-recognised personal training course is a method that turns that vague word into a specific list of muscles, each doing exactly the job it's built for, in the quarter-second between loading and leaving the floor.
Eleven exercises in, and the method still hasn't changed
A squat, a lunge, a deadlift, a press-up, a row, a shoulder press, a loaded carry, a suspended plank, a sprint and a medicine ball throw have all run through the same four steps:
- Decide where the force is acting on the body
- Identify which muscles work directly against that force (muscles that lengthen are easiest to see)
- Identify which secondary muscles assist that movement
- Identify which muscles would support that joint / movement
Run it on a vertical jump.
One, where is the force acting? Downward, through the feet and into the floor, as the body drops into the dip and then drives back up against it.
Two, what works directly against it? The glutes and the quads, lengthening under load through the dip and then contracting hard to open the hips and knees, and the calves, finishing the drive by pointing the ankles right at the top of the movement.
Three, what assists? The hamstrings, helping the glutes finish hip extension, and the hip flexors, helping arrest the dip at the bottom and whip the legs back through the reversal.
Four, what supports? The core, keeping the trunk stacked so the leg drive doesn't leak out sideways or through a rounding back, and the smaller muscles around the ankle and knee, controlling the landing by absorbing the same force in reverse.
Why that fourth answer is worth having
A trainer who only knows "jumps build power" has nothing specific to watch for when a client's landing looks loud or their knee drifts inward on the way down. A trainer who has run the four steps is watching the ankle and knee stabilisers specifically, which is usually where a jump starts looking sloppy long before the height itself drops off.
Point it at anything
A broad jump, where the same dip-and-drive happens but the force is sent forward instead of straight up. A box jump, where the landing muscles get an easier ride but the take-off asks exactly the same question of the glutes and calves. A jump onto one leg, where the ankle and knee stabilisers on that side are doing the whole landing job alone instead of sharing it. Any explosive, ground-based movement a client already does can be answered the same way, without a new list to learn.
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Also worth a look: Level 3 Personal Trainer — the anatomy unit this comes from.
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Frequently asked
Isn't a vertical jump just about how high you get?
It looks like one number, but the same four steps that answer 'what muscles work in a squat' find a specific, working list behind it, all the way from the dip to the landing, not just 'power'.
Why do the calves matter as much as the glutes in a jump?
The glutes and quads do the heavy work coming out of the dip, but it's the calves finishing through the ankle that add the last bit of height, which is why a jump trains the lower leg as hard as it trains the hips.
Does finishing the course get me PT Manager?
Yes. PT Manager opens the moment you sign up with FASTER, and adding real clients unlocks once you pass a course.
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