Training guide
A broad jump, also called the standing long jump, is a jump forwards as far as you can from both feet to both feet, the arms swinging hard. Train it with a stuck landing, held still, and test it for distance: it has been a school fitness test across Europe since 1987, and it tracks leg power in adults too.
Children and teenagers have good norms from over a million test results; adults have only averages from a few surveys, and the jump goes with faster sprinting without proving that a longer jump makes you faster.
This guide covers the steps on the 3D figure, how to do the test and measure it, what's a good jump for your age, the link with sprinting, how much training adds, how many to do, and the warning signs.
Toes behind a line, dip and swing your arms back, then swing them forward hard and jump forwards off both feet, landing on both feet. "Broad jump", "standing broad jump" and "standing long jump" are the same jump. Train it with a stuck landing held for 2 seconds; test it for distance onto a soft, non-slip surface.
In a lab study of 3 men, swinging the arms added 21% to the distance, mostly through a faster take-off, and a forward swing beat a backward one in another study.
In children and teenagers it tracks other lower- and upper-body strength tests, and in 410 adults aged 18 to 64 it tracked horizontal power measured on a force platform (r = 0.83). It has been a Council of Europe school test since 1987.
In 1.35 million European results, the median at 18 is about 211 cm for boys and 158 cm for girls. There are no adult percentile norms, only averages from a few surveys, so the fairest comparison is your own last test.
In trained adults a longer jump went with faster acceleration and top speed, but that's a link, not proof that a longer jump makes you faster, and in one trial the direction people jumped in training made no difference to sprint gains.
3 or 4 sets of 3, walking back between jumps and resting about a minute between sets, within about 80 to 100 landings a session for beginners, twice a week (our workouts and jump guides). Test jumps land hard: do them onto grass, sand or a mat.
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Broad jump, standing broad jump and standing long jump are the same two-footed jump from standing. The running long jump is the athletics event; our jumping events page covers it. The American Council on Exercise (ACE) calls it forward linear jumps and rates it beginner.
The broad jump with a stuck landing is the training version: jump only as far as you can control and hold the landing still for 2 seconds. It's in 14 of our workouts. The standing long jump is the all-out test version, the feet reaching forward to land; its move page warns that it landed hardest of nine jumping drills, so jump onto sand or grass.
A fast push through your hips, knees and ankles, with the hips doing relatively more and the knees less than in a vertical jump, in a computer simulation and a lab study of 12 male track athletes. The move page lists the glutes and quads, with the hamstrings and calves. The landing asks you to stop a body moving forwards.
It's the most widely used field test of leg power in children: in the Council of Europe's Eurofit battery since 1987, the ALPHA-Fitness battery and the new international YFIT battery, where 98% of 169 experts agreed on it. Norms come from 1.35 million European results.
Quiet snapdown landings and jump squats, as the move pages suggest. ACE rates it beginner, and our teenagers' workout adds it from week 3, only if every landing so far has been quiet.
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From the move page's steps and cues, the Eurofit handbook and ACE; the squat depth and the landing details are our editorial wording, as in our landing guides.
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The movement on the figure: Standing broad jump with stuck landing
In 3 men, jumping with an arm swing added 21% (2.09 against 1.72 m), about 71% of the gain coming through a faster take-off. Computer simulations agree (2.00 against 1.60 m), and a forward swing beat a backward one. Small studies, but consistent: swing hard.
In 5 men the best take-off angle was calculated at 19 to 27 degrees, lower than the 31 to 39 degrees they chose, but the cost of the difference was "relatively small": take-off speed matters more. Studies define the angle differently, so don't chase a number.
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Coaching pages disagree about tucking the knees in flight. Getting the feet further forward at touchdown added distance in the arm-swing study, so reach your feet forward for a test jump, and accept a shorter jump with a stuck landing in training (our view).
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An all-out standing long jump had the highest landing force and loading rate of nine jumping drills in 20 adults used to jumping, in a conference paper. That's why test jumps go onto sand, grass or a mat, and why training jumps stop where you can still hold the landing.
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The protocol of the Eurofit, ALPHA-Fitness and YFIT batteries and the Adult-Fit study. ALPHA and YFIT add the warm-up and a demonstration (Eurofit's 1987 school protocol allowed no practice); YFIT counts a fall forwards if the back foot stays planted. The rest between tries is our editorial suggestion.
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The movement on the figure: Standing long jump
In 94 children aged 6 to 17, the standing long jump tracked other lower-body tests (R 0.83 to 0.86) and upper-body strength tests (R 0.69 to 0.85), and the authors called it a general index of muscular fitness in youth. In 363 children it tracked leg-extension strength (R = 0.70).
In 123 European teenagers the systematic difference between test and retest was "nearly 0", with no learning or fatigue effect. In under-12s tested by PE teachers, trials differed by about 4 cm.
In 410 adults aged 18 to 64, distance tracked force-platform horizontal power (r = 0.83) and knee strength (r = 0.66 to 0.67). A 2021 review had found that its validity in adults had not been studied, so this is the first good evidence.
Adults jumped about 12 cm further at a second session a week later, and the smallest real change was 29 cm; after three practice sessions the retest difference was under 1 cm. A review rated adult reliability moderate to high. Practise a few times, then test every 4 to 6 weeks the same way (our suggestion).
In 62 inactive adults, 12 weeks of mixed training three times a week raised the jump by about 17 cm, while the control group didn't change. One trial, but a clear sign it responds to training.
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From 1.35 million test results in European children and teenagers, the 20th, 50th (the median) and 80th percentiles, in centimetres, at the middle of each year of age. Girls' medians level off from about 14; boys' keep rising. An earlier European study's medians were nearly identical.
UK children's results averaged the 41st percentile, 29th of 32 countries, though the UK data weren't nationally representative.
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We found no adult percentile norms. The averages that exist: in the Spanish Adult-Fit study, 121 cm for women and 164 cm for men, falling from about 160 cm at 18 to 34 to about 121 cm at 50 to 64 (women and men together); inactive adults averaged 131 cm and active ones 154 cm.
Japan's national survey, read off its charts, gives about 224 cm for men and 167 cm for women at 20 to 24, falling to about 178 and 132 cm at 60 to 64. A Korean survey analysed in a preprint (not peer reviewed) looked similar to Japan. Nothing covers people over 64. These are averages, not standards to hit.
"Jump your own height" has no source. In the Spanish study, average jumps (121 cm for women and 164 cm for men) were shorter than average heights (161 and 175 cm).
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Combine and record jumps come from elite, trained, mostly young men. Compare yourself with your own last test, done the same way.
In young people, a longer jump goes with less body fat and lower heart and metabolic risk, mostly in snapshot studies, and children in the top third had a lower risk of metabolic syndrome 20 years later. That's a link, not proof the jump causes it. We found no study linking adults' jumps to health, falls or lifespan.
In trained adults, a longer standing long jump went with faster acceleration (r = -0.45 with the times) and top speed (r = -0.73, from about 4 samples). In elite sprinters, horizontal jumps and 100 m times were closely linked (r about -0.81). These are correlations, not predictions.
Pooled trials found forward jump training improved forward outcomes more than vertical training did (effect size 0.65), with no difference for vertical ones. But a 2024 trial in 24 footballers, 100 foot contacts twice a week for 8 weeks, found no direction-specific pattern, and forward jumps helped the first 10 m but not 10 to 20 m in under-20 footballers.
Add broad jumps and bounds to sprint training, as our sprint faster guide does (4 × 3 broad jumps), alongside sprinting itself. Don't expect a longer jump alone to make you faster (our reading).
Jump training added about 6.5 cm to the standing long jump in adolescent athletes (7 studies, 134 people), with similar effects before and after the growth spurt. Adult footballers gained about 7 cm in 8 weeks whichever direction they jumped. The smallest effective dose was about 4 weeks and 92 jumps a week, at low certainty.
Inactive adults gained about 17 cm after 12 weeks of general training, a bigger gain from a lower starting point, in one trial.
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In schools, strength training was the most effective method for the standing long jump in a network meta-analysis of 66 studies (standardised mean difference 1.03). Squats and hinges belong in the plan.
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Training on sand improved the standing long jump more than hard surfaces in pooled studies, and jump training on sand caused less muscle soreness than on grass in 37 footballers.
Coaching pages promise 15 to 30 cm in weeks, or "a foot in a single session". Trials found about 6 to 7 cm in trained young people, and 17 cm only in inactive adults over 12 weeks.
Snapdowns, 2 sets of 5, holding each landing 2 s (our plyometric workout); jump squats, 3 × 5 (our vertical jump workout); broad jumps with a stuck landing, 3 × 3 (our vertical jump workout, weeks 3 to 5) or 4 × 3 (our plyometric workout); the standing long jump for distance, 3 sets of 3 (its move page's editorial starting point); the sideways standing long jump, 3 sets of 4, 2 each way; lateral bounds, 3 sets of 6 to 8; hurdle hops, 3 runs over 4 or 5 hurdles, walking back (each its move page's editorial starting point); the single-leg hop and stick, 2 × 5 each leg, and bounding, 2 × 20 m (our plyometrics for runners workout).
3D demoSnapdown to athletic landingBeginner · No equipment
3D demoJump squatIntermediate · No equipment
3D demoStanding broad jump with stuck landingIntermediate · No equipment
3D demoStanding long jumpBeginner · No equipment
3D demoSideways standing long jumpIntermediate · No equipment
3D demoLateral bound (skater jump)Beginner · No equipment
3D demoSingle-leg hop and stickIntermediate · No equipment
3D demoAlternate-leg boundingAdvanced · No equipment
3D demoHurdle hopsIntermediate · Other / check instructionsNo 3D demo for these; teach them as later steps, over the stuck-landing jump and the single-leg hop and stick.
Two or three broad jumps in a row, landing and taking off again at once. Only once single jumps land quietly; count every landing.
Take off and land on one leg, holding the landing. Start with the single-leg hop and stick, short and controlled.
From both feet, hop, step and jump: an athletics drill for experienced jumpers.
A burpee followed by a broad jump, as in Hyrox races; our burpee guide covers it.
It costs about a fifth of the distance. Swing back as you dip and forward hard as you jump.
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Land softly into a quarter squat, knees over your toes, as in our landing guides.
Keep your weight moving forwards as you land: "Fall forward on landing, never back" is the move page's cue.
In training, "Jump shorter if you cannot freeze the landing", as the move page says.
Use grass, sand or a fixed mat: "Avoid: testing on a hard floor" is the move page's cue.
Your second session can be 12 cm better from learning alone. Practise first, then compare like with like.
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Starting points that match our workouts and jump guides. The stuck-landing move page gives no dose.
3 or 4 sets of 3 broad jumps with a stuck landing, walking back between jumps: our vertical jump workout uses 3 × 3, our plyometric workout and sprint faster guide 4 × 3.
3 sets of 3 jumps for distance, walking back and resting about a minute between jumps: the standing long jump move page's editorial starting point.
About a minute between sets, as the move pages and our jump guides suggest.
About 80 to 100 for beginners, warm-up included, counting every landing, twice a week, 48 to 72 hours apart (expert guidance, untested).
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A full effort, but only as far as you can land well. End the set when landings get loud: our editorial rule, as in the site's plyometric workouts.
Every 4 to 6 weeks, the same way, after a few practice sessions (our suggestion).
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2 sets of 3 from week 3, only if every landing so far has been quiet, with an adult watching, as our strength workout for teenagers does. The NHS says to start any new exercise slowly and increase it bit by bit.
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From our vertical jump workout: goblet squats, 3 × 6 to 8, stopping 2 to 3 reps short; dumbbell Romanian deadlifts, 3 × 8, lowering over 3 s; rear-foot elevated split squats, 2 × 6 to 8 each leg; and single-leg calf raises from a step, 2 × 10 to 12 each leg. Hip thrusts for hip extension (no page dose; follow our hip thrust guide), and kettlebell swings, 5 sets of 10 or 30 s on and 30 s off, as our kettlebell swing guide suggests, for fast hip drive.
3D demoDumbbell goblet squatIntermediate · A dumbbell
3D demoDumbbell Romanian deadliftIntermediate · A dumbbell
3D demoRear-foot-elevated split squat (Bulgarian split squat)Intermediate · A bench or box
3D demoSingle-leg calf raise from a stepIntermediate · A step + A wall
3D demoBarbell hip thrustIntermediate · A barbell + A bench or box
3D demoKettlebell swingIntermediate · A kettlebellThe vertical jump workout adds broad jumps in weeks 3 to 5; the plyometric workout uses 4 × 3; the teenagers' workout adds them from week 3; the runners' plyometrics and sprint speed workouts build forward power.
A staged jump session for 8 weeks: landings and small jumps, then box and broad jumps, then depth jumps, each followed by squats, hinges and calf work.
40 minIntermediate16 movesA step, A bench or boxAn advanced jump training session: pogo hops, box jumps, split squat jumps, broad jumps and depth jumps.
30 minAdvanced8 movesA bench or box, A stepA 40-minute first strength workout for teenagers: a warm-up, landing and jump drills, then squats, hinges, push-ups, rows, step-ups and carries, kept light.
40 minBeginner19 movesA wall, A dumbbellA 20-minute hop and bound session for runners: ankle bounces to pogo hops, one-leg hops and bounding, building foot contacts slowly over 10 weeks.
20 minIntermediate8 movesCardio machineA 45-minute speed session: running drills, five short accelerations and three flying sprints with full rest, then Nordic curls and calf raises.
45 minIntermediate11 movesCardio machine, A wallThe teenagers' plan uses the strength workout for teenagers, with its broad jumps; the others build the leg strength jumping rests on.
A 12-week workout plan for 13 to 17 year olds: technique first, then light weights, 2 or 3 sessions a week around sport and school, at home or in a gym.
3 training days40 minBeginner3 days a weekA 12-week beginner barbell program: squat every session, alternate bench and row with press and deadlift, and add weight each time until it stalls.
3 training days50 minBeginner2 days a weekA 12-week strength plan for runners: two sessions a week of heavy lifts, single-leg work, calf raises and hops, fitted around your runs.
2 training days45 minBeginnerThe test is feasible in children and teenagers (strong evidence) and safe (moderate evidence). Start any new exercise slowly and build up bit by bit, as the NHS says. Pain and swelling below the kneecap or at the heel in a growing child: see our Osgood-Schlatter and Sever's disease guides.
Jump training trials in older adults reported few injuries, but in a 12-week programme in 40 men aged about 70, 3 of the 14 in the jump group dropped out (2 calf strains and 1 knee pain). No trial has tested broad jumps in older adults, and the safety review found no evidence for adults of any age. Build up from squats, step-ups and small jumps, and keep landings short.
Build up from squats and step-ups first, keep jumps short with a stuck landing, and follow our knee pain guides.
Stress incontinence is leaking when your bladder is under pressure, and pelvic floor exercises help. Build up pelvic floor exercises and lower-impact work first, and see a GP or pelvic health physiotherapist.
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Don't start jumping in pregnancy: the NHS advises against starting new vigorous activity and against activities with a risk of falling. If you already jump, use the stuck-landing version on a soft surface and drop it when it causes leaking, heaviness or pelvic pain. After a birth, wait until walking, hopping and jogging on the spot cause no leaking, heaviness or pain, and at least 3 months (UK expert advice).
The UK consensus recommends moderate impacts, about 50 a session, but not very high impact such as landing from height, and impact only up to brisk walking after spinal fractures. Get individual advice before broad jumps; heel drops are the usual first step.
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With unstable proliferative or severe diabetic retinopathy, avoid jumping and jarring until your eye team says otherwise.
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If you get chest pain or pressure, feel faint or dizzy, are unusually breathless, or your heart races or beats irregularly during exercise, as our plans advise. The American Heart Association says these need immediate medical evaluation.
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For chest pain that comes on suddenly and doesn't go away, feels tight or like squeezing, spreads to your arms, neck, jaw, stomach or back, or comes with sweating, feeling sick, light-headedness or breathlessness; arm pain that comes on suddenly with pressure, heaviness or squeezing across your chest; severe difficulty breathing, or a chest that feels tight or heavy; someone who faints while exercising; palpitations that don't go away, or come with chest pain, shortness of breath or feeling faint; or a headache that starts suddenly and is extremely painful, especially while lifting or straining. The NHS says a bleed on the brain may be more likely when lifting something heavy. Don't drive yourself to A&E.
Call 999 or go to A&E if you heard a crack, the joint or limb has changed shape or points at an odd angle, it's numb or tingling, or the skin looks blue or grey or feels cold. Get help from NHS 111 (in the US, urgent care) if it's very painful, very swollen or bruised, very stiff, or you can't put weight on it or walk more than a few steps.
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A snap or pop at the back of your ankle, with pain and swelling near your heel or not being able to stand on tiptoe on that leg. A knee that's very painful, won't take your weight, is badly swollen or has changed shape, or locks or gives way.
Get help from NHS 111 if a wrist is very painful or swollen after a fall, has changed shape or colour, or you heard a snap, grinding or popping noise at the time.
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Pain in one spot on a bone that's worse with jumping or running, eases with rest and hurts when you press it: stop jumping, as it can be a stress fracture, and see a GP. See a GP too for heel pain that hasn't improved after 2 weeks of looking after it yourself, or shin pain that's getting worse or isn't improving.
Call 999 or go to A&E: loss of feeling or numbness around the genitals or bottom, new trouble peeing or controlling your bladder or bowels, changes in genital sensation during sex or problems with erections or orgasm, or pain, tingling, weakness or numbness in both legs. These are signs of cauda equina syndrome, which needs treating in hospital urgently. Don't drive yourself.
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Speak to your GP first if you haven't exercised for some time or have medical conditions or concerns, as the NHS advises. Get advice before hard, explosive or straining work if your blood pressure is uncontrolled (140/90 or higher at a clinic, or 135/85 at home), or you have heart disease or chest pain when you're active, a pacemaker or defibrillator, diabetic eye disease, glaucoma, a hernia, recent eye or tummy surgery, or you're pregnant, as our breathing guide lists.
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It's a school fitness test from age 6 across Europe, adults to 64 are tested in national surveys, and inactive adults improved theirs with 12 weeks of general training.
No source. In the one adult validity study, average jumps were shorter than average heights for both women and men.
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The two go together in trained adults, but a correlation isn't a prediction, and the direction of jump training made no difference in one trial.
Getting your feet forward for the landing adds distance; tucking high doesn't help on its own (our reading).
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Trials found about 6.5 cm in adolescent athletes and 7 cm in 8 weeks in adult footballers; the bigger 17 cm gain was in inactive adults over 12 weeks.
Jump training trials reported few injuries, and programmes that include jumps cut knee ligament injuries. A stiff landing raises knee load, so land softly and jump only as far as you can control.
Stand with your toes behind a line, dip and swing your arms back, then swing them forward hard and jump forwards off both feet. Land on both feet with your hips back and knees bent, and hold the landing still.
Yes. The broad jump, standing broad jump and standing long jump are the same two-footed jump from standing. The running long jump is the athletics event.
From the take-off line to the back of the heel nearest the line, to the nearest centimetre. Take two tries and count the better one; if you fall back or touch down with your hands, try again.
For children and teenagers, compare yourself with European norms: the median at 18 is about 211 cm for boys and 158 cm for girls. There are no adult percentile norms, only averages from a few surveys, so the fairest comparison is your own last test.
Leg power: how much force you can produce quickly. In children it also tracks overall muscular fitness, and in adults it tracked horizontal power measured on a force platform.
Swing your arms hard (it added about a fifth in one study), push off fast, and get your feet forward for the landing. Then train jumps and strength twice a week: jump training added about 6 to 7 cm in trials.
There's no evidence for that rule. In a study of 410 adults, average jumps were shorter than average heights for both women and men.
Broad jump distance and sprint times go together in trained people, especially at top speed, but that doesn't mean a longer jump makes you faster. Forward jumps, bounds and sprinting itself are all part of our sprint faster guide.
3 or 4 sets of 3, walking back between jumps and resting about a minute between sets, twice a week, as part of about 80 to 100 landings a session for a beginner. End the set when your landings get loud.
Not when you land softly and jump only as far as you can control, but an all-out jump lands hard, so test on grass, sand or a mat. With knee pain, build up from squats and step-ups first.
No. It's a school fitness test from age 6, adults up to 64 are tested in national surveys, and inactive adults improved theirs with 12 weeks of general training.
Practice: adults jumped about 12 cm further at a second session, and the difference all but disappeared after three practice sessions. Practise a few times before you test, then test the same way each time.
Exercise education, not a personal prescription, and clinical review of these guides is pending. Check with a GP before starting hard training if you have a heart condition, chest pain, dizziness or breathlessness when active, and stop for sharp or increasing pain. Health disclaimer.
