Training guide
A depth jump is a step off a low box, a landing on both feet and an instant spring back up: a short, springy contact that trains your legs' quick rebound. It's an advanced jump, the last step after landings and box jumps.
A higher box doesn't make it better. In study after study the rebound stopped improving above a fairly low box while the landing got harder, and depth jumps haven't beaten ordinary jump training for jump height.
This guide covers the steps on the 3D figure, what to call it (depth jump or drop jump), how high a box to use, what the research says depth jumps do and don't do, who should wait, how many to do and how often, and the warning signs.
Stand on a low box, step off (don't jump off), land on both feet and spring straight back up at once, arms driving up. The time on the floor should be short and springy, not a deep squat. It trains your legs' quick rebound, which researchers call the stretch-shortening cycle.
In many small lab studies the rebound stopped improving, or got worse, above a fairly low box, while the landing got harder as the box got higher. Start at about 30 cm or lower, as our jump workouts do, and go higher only if your contact stays short and your landing quiet.
Jump training improves the quick rebound off a drop (moderate-certainty evidence across 61 studies) and drop-jump height. But depth jumps haven't beaten ordinary jumps for jump height in head-to-head trials, and mixing jump types did best.
Depth jumps are an advanced drill. Learn quiet landings, box drop landings and box jumps first, as our vertical jump workout does over 5 weeks. The often-quoted rule "squat 1.5 times your body weight first" is one author's opinion from 1993, not a tested threshold.
3 sets of 3 or 4 from about 30 cm, resting 1 to 2 minutes between sets (our workouts), within about 80 to 100 landings a session for beginners, twice a week, 48 to 72 hours apart. End the set when your contacts slow or your landings get loud.
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Anyone new to jumping or with knee, Achilles or heel pain; anyone pregnant; people with osteoporosis (the UK consensus advises against landing from height); and people with unstable diabetic eye disease, who are advised to avoid activities that jar the head.
You stand on a box, step off, land on both feet and spring straight back up as high as you can, keeping the contact as short and springy as you can, then land again and reset. The 3D figure's box is about 40 cm high, a standard figure box: start lower, at about 30 cm or less.
Many people use the two names for the same exercise, but researchers also use them for two styles, and not always the same way round. In the "bounce" style you reverse the landing as fast as you can with little knee bend; in the "countermovement" style you sink deeper and more slowly before jumping, which lets you jump higher but isn't the quick-rebound drill. This guide teaches the bounce style and calls it a depth jump.
Step off and stick the landing instead of rebounding: that's a depth drop, or box drop landing. It's the step before depth jumps, and the steps are below.
Your calves, thighs and hips, and your Achilles and kneecap tendons, absorb the landing and give the energy straight back. The move page lists the quads, glutes and calves, with the hamstrings helping. The usual measure is the reactive strength index (RSI): jump height divided by the time your feet were on the floor.
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A box jump lands on the box near the top of your jump, so the landing is light; a depth jump starts with a drop and trains the rebound from it. Depth jumps come after box jumps, and our box jump guide covers those. Rebound box jumps and depth jumps are both advanced drills.
Most depth jump studies are small and in young, trained men. The two main meta-analyses pooled mostly male participants, and the reactive strength one spanned ages 8 to 73. Treat the numbers on this page as a guide, not a promise.
From the move page's steps and cues, ACE (the American Council on Exercise) and NASM (the National Academy of Sports Medicine); the box height is our editorial starting point, and "the floor is hot" is the cue in our Gaelic games strength workout. The figure's box is about 40 cm: start lower.
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The movement on the figure: Depth jump
The move page's steps. Our vertical jump workout uses 3 sets of 5 from a 20 to 30 cm step in weeks 1 and 2, sticking each landing. Raise the box only while landings stay quiet, knees over your toes.
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The movement on the figure: Box drop landing
In 30 men the best rebound came from the lowest of six heights (12 cm, of heights up to 68 cm). In 6 people, going from 20 to 40 cm added nothing to push-off output, and 60 cm made the ankle work worse. 40 cm beat 90 cm in 11 volleyball players, and there was no significant difference across heights from 50 to 150% of jump height in 20 volleyball players, from 15 to 90 cm in 10 women, between 30 and 60 cm in 18 players, or up to 50 cm in 60 children.
In 239 elite teenage handball players the rebound improved from 20 to 35 cm but not from 35 to 50 cm, and in 18 male college athletes it peaked at 30 cm (of 30, 45 and 60 cm). Each study is small, but they agree.
Peak landing force, and the load inside the knee, rose with box height in every study that measured them. In 15 athletes, a higher drop added landing force without adding jump height. A box that's too high costs you without paying you back.
Stronger people rebound best from higher boxes: 62 cm in strong men against 32 cm in weaker men, in a study of 16. In elite men the best height averaged about 45 cm, rising with strength relative to body weight and falling as body weight rose. A fixed tall box suits few people.
Junior basketball players improved as much training from 50 cm as from 100 cm. In 4 weeks, drop jumps from a 30 cm box improved a quick-rebound index (rebound height divided by contact time) as much as training from a mix of 30, 50 and 75 cm boxes, and the 30 cm group's contacts got shorter.
In two youth trials, a box set to each player's best rebound height beat a fixed 30 cm box for jump height, rebound and sprinting. In one, the chosen heights ran from 10 to 40 cm. Finding yours means testing several heights; starting low works for most people.
Start at 20 to 30 cm. Move up 5 to 10 cm only if your contact stays short, your landing quiet and your rebound at least as high; if you sink deeper or the contact slows, the box is too high. That's our editorial rule. Bobbert advised keeping drops to 20 or 40 cm when studying this jump, and ACE says no higher than knee height, and only for experienced exercisers.
The reactive strength index (RSI) is your jump height divided by the time your feet were on the floor: a higher number means a higher jump from a shorter contact. It's reliable when measured the same way: very consistent from a 30 cm box in 22 people, varying by 2 to 3% between trials in 13 professional basketball players and by about 6% with a wearable sensor in 23 elite hurlers. For jumps without a drop, an "RSI-modified" uses the time to take-off instead.
We found no general-population norms for drop-jump RSI. Values change with the box, the device and the units (elite hurlers averaged about 1.6 m/s from 30 cm), so compare yourself with yourself, measured the same way each time.
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Telling people to cut their time on the floor shortens it and stiffens the leg, but in 15 male athletes power peaked at middling contact times, not the shortest. The often-quoted 250 milliseconds (a quarter of a second) between "fast" and "slow" rebounds is a convention, which a 2026 review called an unvalidated rule of thumb. Aim for short and springy, not rushed.
Across 32 studies, a higher RSI went with faster acceleration, top speed and change of direction: moderate correlations (r = -0.43, -0.33 and -0.57 with the times), with signs that small studies inflated them. A link, not proof that raising your RSI makes you faster.
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A phone app that times contact and flight, or a jump mat, used the same way each time. A change needs to beat the day-to-day noise of a few per cent before it counts; our jump higher guide covers measuring your jump.
Pooling 26 studies, jump training raised the countermovement jump (a jump from standing) by 8.7% and drop-jump height by 4.7%, with no significant difference between types of programme. The trials were small and unblinded, and many drop-jump trials didn't describe the technique.
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Across 61 studies of 2,576 people aged 8 to 73, jump training improved RSI by a moderate amount (effect size 0.54, moderate certainty), more with programmes over 7 weeks and 3 sessions a week. More than about 1,080 jumps in total added nothing more.
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In 26 female volleyball players, countermovement-jump training beat drop-jump training for jump height (17% against 7% across four jump tests). In 103 people, the deeper, countermovement-style drop jump added 2.9 cm to the countermovement jump and the bounce style nothing. A 1990 review concluded that "regular jumping exercises can be just as helpful".
Across 56 studies, programmes that mixed squat jumps, countermovement jumps and drop jumps beat any one type, and those over 10 weeks with more than 20 sessions and more than 50 jumps a session did best. Adding weight gave no extra benefit. These are comparisons across studies, not head-to-head trials.
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Drop-jump training on its own raised RSI by 12 to 27% and the countermovement jump by 9 to 10% in 8 weeks, and a quick-rebound index by 14% in 4 weeks. Small trials, but consistent: the quick rebound is what depth jumps train.
Across 26 studies, jump training improved sprinting, more with at least 15 sessions, more than 80 jumps a session and forward jumps. Drop-jump training improved teenagers' sprints when the boxes were set for each player.
Use them as the last step of a jump programme, for people who already jump and land well, mixed with other jumps. They aren't the key to a higher jump on their own (our reading of the trials).
Snapdowns, 2 sets of 5 (our plyometric workout); then from our vertical jump workout: box drop landings, 3 × 5 from a 20 to 30 cm step, and pogo hops, 2 × 10, and jump squats, 3 × 5 (weeks 1 and 2); box jumps, 4 × 4 onto a box you clear easily, stepping down (weeks 3 to 5); depth jumps, 3 × 4 from about 30 cm (weeks 6 to 8). Then the box-to-box depth jump, 2 to 3 sets of 3 to 5 with 2 minutes between sets (its move page's editorial starting point), and, for experienced jumpers only, the depth jump up onto a taller second box (no tested dose; 2 sets of 3 is our editorial starting point).
3D demoSnapdown to athletic landingBeginner · No equipment
3D demoBox drop landingIntermediate · A step
3D demoPogo hopsIntermediate · No equipment
3D demoJump squatIntermediate · No equipment
3D demoBox jumpIntermediate · A bench or box
3D demoDepth jumpAdvanced · A step
3D demoBox-to-box depth jumpAdvanced · A bench or box
3D demoDepth jump to a second boxAdvanced · A stepNo 3D demo for these; the figure shows the two-foot depth jump and the two box-to-box versions.
Depth jump, then sprint 20 m, as our Gaelic games strength workout does: 6 rounds of 3 bounce drop jumps from 30 to 40 cm, each round followed by a sprint. For field and court athletes who already depth jump well.
Land from the drop and spring forwards instead of up, as in the box-to-box depth jump but landing on the floor. Start with the box low.
A clinical commentary on jump training after knee ligament surgery places single-leg drop jumps in its high-intensity stage, after two-leg drop jumps from about 30 cm. Do these only with a coach or physiotherapist, from a very low box.
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Holding dumbbells added no benefit in jump training and raises the landing load. Make it harder with a better rebound, not more weight.
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A clinical commentary lists depth jumps among advanced drills. ACE says to use them only with a box no higher than the knee and an experienced exerciser; NASM keeps reactive work like depth jumps for people with the strength and landing quality to absorb it: "Landing comes before leaping, always."
"Squat 1.5 to 2.5 times your body weight first" comes from a 1993 textbook chapter, quoted by a commentary that rates such guidance the lowest level of evidence. For young people the NSCA (National Strength and Conditioning Association) says a set strength prerequisite "is not supported by current research and clinical observations". What matters is quiet, controlled landings and a gradual build-up.
Keep the box low: in elite men the best drop height fell as body weight rose. Build up landings and box jumps first, as everyone should.
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Supervised jump training is supported for young people. Drop-jump trials in 13 to 16 year olds used 10 to 50 cm boxes without reported injuries, and children aged 9 to 11 didn't jump higher from higher boxes. The NHS says to start any new exercise slowly and increase it bit by bit: landings first, low boxes, and a coach watching.
In 12 randomised trials of jump training in 289 people with average ages of 58 to 79, there was no rise in injuries, but only two used drops, from 5 to 25 cm. Start with landings and low box jumps, and keep any drop very low.
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Most of the evidence is in young men. In one small study of volleyball players, women's and men's responses to box height differed. The starting point is the same: a low box and quiet landings.
Leave depth jumps out while they hurt. In Achilles tendinopathy rehab, jumping comes late (weeks 3 to 12), guided by pain. Our jumper's knee guide keeps tendon pain at 3 out of 10 or less, settled by the next morning.
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Don't do depth jumps in pregnancy: the NHS advises against starting new vigorous activity and against activities with a risk of falling. After a birth the NHS advises avoiding high-impact exercise to start with; our move page follows UK guidance to wait at least 3 months before running and jumping, and only when walking, hopping and jogging on the spot cause no leaking, heaviness or pain. That timing is expert advice.
The UK consensus recommends moderate impacts, about 50 a session (for example 5 sets of 10), "but not very high impact exercise such as landing from height", and impact only up to brisk walking after spinal fractures. Depth jumps are landing from height: leave them out. Heel drops are the usual first step.
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With unstable proliferative or severe diabetic retinopathy, the American College of Sports Medicine advises avoiding activities that jar the head. Leave depth jumps out until your eye team says otherwise.
Stress incontinence is leaking when your bladder is under pressure, and pelvic floor exercises help. It's common and treatable: build up pelvic floor exercises and lower-impact work first, and see a GP or pelvic health physiotherapist.
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Step off, don't jump off or hop up first: jumping off raises the drop. "Avoid: jumping off the first box instead of stepping" is the box-to-box move page's cue.
You sink into a deep squat and the contact slows, and the rebound gets no higher. Lower the box.
Lower the box and go back to box drop landings until your landings are quiet, knees over your toes.
That's a drop landing plus a jump, not a depth jump. It's a fine step on the way, but the quick rebound is the point.
End the set when contacts slow or landings get loud (our jump guides' rule), and put jumps early in the session, as NASM advises.
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Added weight gave no extra benefit in jump training, and it makes every landing heavier.
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Starting points, matching our jump workouts and guides. The depth jump's move page gives no dose.
3 sets of 3 or 4 depth jumps: our vertical jump workout uses 3 × 4 in weeks 6 to 8, and our plyometric workout 3 × 3.
Step back up and reset between jumps, a few seconds: in 12 men, 15 seconds between depth jumps was as good as 60 within a set of 10. Rest 1 to 2 minutes between sets, as our jump higher guide does; the box-to-box version's move page gives 2 minutes.
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About 80 to 100 for beginners, counting the warm-up and your other jumps: depth jumps use part of that total, not extra. A clinical commentary gives 100 to 120 for intermediate and 120 to 140 for advanced jumpers, from expert opinion.
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Twice a week, 48 to 72 hours apart (expert guidance, untested), after a warm-up and before any lifting.
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Give a programme 8 to 12 weeks: programmes over 7 to 10 weeks did better in pooled studies.
Every jump a full effort with a short, quiet contact. End the set when contacts slow or landings get loud: our editorial rule, as in the site's plyometric workouts.
A few minutes of easy movement, then skips, small bounces and a few practice landings, as our jump guides suggest.
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From our vertical jump workout: skipping, 2 × 20 m, and ankle bounces, 2 × 10, to warm up; 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; single-leg calf raises from a step, 2 × 10 to 12 each leg, slow on the way down; and the single-leg hop and stick, 2 × 3 each leg (weeks 6 to 8). Spanish squats, 4 to 5 holds of 30 to 45 s, hard but OK (the move page's dose), for jumpers' knees.
3D demoSkippingBeginner · No equipment
3D demoAnkle bounces (mini pogo)Beginner · No equipment
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 demoSingle-leg hop and stickIntermediate · No equipment
3D demoSpanish squat (band squat hold)Intermediate · A band + An anchor pointThe vertical jump workout builds up to depth jumps from about 30 cm in weeks 6 to 8; the plyometric workout uses them last, from a low box, once landings are quiet; the jumpers' workout adds them after 2 weeks; the Gaelic games workout pairs them with sprints.
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 50-minute session for jumpers and vaulters: landings and hops, squats and Romanian deadlifts paired with jumps, then tendon holds and trunk work.
50 minIntermediate15 movesCardio machine, A stepA 55-minute gym and pitch session for Gaelic games: drop jumps into sprints, squats, split squats, Nordics, back extensions, Copenhagens, rotations and presses.
55 minIntermediate17 movesA wall, A stepNone of these plans includes depth jumps; they build the leg strength that jumping rests on, as our jump guides suggest.
A 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 minBeginner3 days a weekA 3-day strength plan for men over 40 with power and bone work, two cardio days and mobility, built on research on ageing muscle.
3 training days45 minBeginnerLoad inside the knee rose with landing height in 16 men. Landing softly cut knee compression compared with natural and stiff landings in 20 men. Keep the box low and the landing soft.
In 14 power-trained men, a 30 cm depth jump landed more lightly than a maximal jump in place. The box height, not the drill's name, sets the load.
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More training and match time went with more jumper's knee in 141 young elite volleyball players over 4 years (the odds were 1.72 times higher for every extra hour trained). Across 31 studies, though, the evidence that jump volume is a risk you can change is limited or conflicting. Count your landings and build up gradually.
We found no study measuring Achilles or kneecap tendon force during depth jumps. In Achilles tendinopathy rehab, jumping comes late and is guided by pain.
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Injury prevention programmes that include jump training cut anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) injuries, a major knee ligament, to 0.40 times the rate, across 9 trials of 14,394 people. These are whole warm-up programmes with landing practice, not depth jump programmes.
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Rhabdomyolysis (a dangerous breakdown of muscle) has followed big, unaccustomed bouts of jumping in young people: more than 250 squat jumps in a 12-year-old, and a conditioning session with jumps in a 16-year-old. Not depth jumps as such, but a reason to build your number of jumps gradually.
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.
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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The rebound levelled off or got worse above a fairly low box in many small studies while landings got harder; the best height was higher for stronger people. Training from 100 cm was no better than from 50 cm.
In two trials, other jump training did as well or better for jump height, and pooled studies found no programme type clearly best, with mixing jump types doing best.
One author's 1993 suggestion, not a tested rule; the NSCA calls a strength prerequisite for young people unsupported. Quiet landings and a gradual build-up matter more.
Power peaked at middling contact times, not the shortest, and the 250 millisecond line is a convention. Short and springy, not rushed.
Trials reported few injuries, and programmes that include jumps cut knee ligament injuries. What raises knee load is a higher drop and a stiffer landing, and more jumping went with more jumper's knee in young volleyball players, though the evidence on volume is limited. Build up from landings, keep the box low and count your landings.
There's no evidence that supervised jump or strength training harms growth, and the NSCA supports age-appropriate plyometrics for young people. Height is set by the growth plates, as our jump squat guide explains.
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Added weight gave no extra benefit in jump training, and it raises the landing load.
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Stand on a low box, step off, land on both feet and spring straight back up at once, driving your arms up. Keep the contact short and quiet rather than sinking into a squat, then land softly and reset before the next jump.
Many people use the names for the same exercise. Some researchers call the quick, springy rebound a drop jump and a deeper, slower one a depth jump, and others do the opposite. This guide teaches the quick rebound and calls it a depth jump.
Start at about 30 cm or lower. In lab studies the rebound didn't get higher above a fairly low box, while landings kept getting harder; stronger people did best from higher boxes. Move up 5 to 10 cm only if your contact stays short and your landing quiet.
They're different. A box jump lands on the box near the top of your jump, so the landing is light; a depth jump trains the rebound from a drop and is an advanced step that comes after box jumps. Our box jump guide covers those.
Jump training does, by about 9% on average for a standing jump, and drop jumps improve your quick rebound. But depth jumps haven't beaten ordinary jump training for jump height, and mixing jump types did best.
3 sets of 3 or 4, with 1 to 2 minutes between sets, as part of about 80 to 100 landings a session for a beginner. End the set when your contacts slow or your landings get loud.
Twice a week at most, 48 to 72 hours apart, after a warm-up and before any lifting. Programmes lasting more than about 7 to 10 weeks did better in pooled studies.
No. That figure is one author's opinion, and the NSCA says a set strength prerequisite isn't supported for young people. What matters is quiet, controlled landings and building up from box drop landings and box jumps.
Not when built up sensibly, but they load your knees more as the box gets higher, so keep it low. Leave them out with knee pain, and if pain below the kneecap is worse the next morning, follow our jumper's knee guide.
No. Supervised jump training is supported for young people, and there's no evidence it harms growth. Teenagers should learn landings first and use low boxes, with a coach watching.
Your jump height divided by how long your feet were on the ground: a measure of how springy your rebound is. It's reliable when measured the same way, but values depend on the box and the device, so compare yourself with yourself.
Jump training was safe in trials of older adults, but those that used drops kept them to 5 to 25 cm. Start with landings and low box jumps, and with osteoporosis avoid landing from height.
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.
