Muscles Involved in the Vertical Leap

A powerful vertical jump is important in a number of sports -- dunking the ball in basketball, contesting a header in soccer and jumping to intercept a pass in football are all good examples of this skill. Jumping is a complex combination of muscle and joint actions involving most every part of your body, but it is possible to identify the major players that do the majority of the work when you try to catch some air.

  1. Hip Extension

    • Adding a slight forward lean when jumping means that the muscles that extend your hips become more involved than if you tried to keep your torso vertical. The muscles that extend your hip have great potential for generating force and are more active is they are rapidly stretched. This is called the stretch-shortening reflex. The main muscles responsible for hip extension are the gluteus maximus and hamstrings. These muscles work together to drive your femur backwards, which, in turn, generates lift.

    Knee Extension

    • Your thigh muscles, properly known as your quadriceps or quads for short, extend your knees. The deeper you squat before jumping, the greater the amount of work that is done by these muscles. The quadriceps also play a part in keeping your knees stable, which helps prevent any loss of power and also minimizes the risk of injury on landing.

    Ankle Extension

    • The last part of a vertical jump involves pushing off the floor with your toes. This action is called plantar flexion. Located on the back of your lower leg, your triceps surae is responsible for this movement. Comprised of your gastrocnemius and soleus muscles, a powerful push from the triceps surae can add a little more height to your vertical leap.

    Upper Body Muscles

    • Although vertical leaps are predominately the result of lower body muscle power, momentum from your arms can help you to jump higher. Swinging your arms forward and up is the job of your deltoid or shoulder muscles, which are assisted by your pectoralis major or chest muscles and your biceps. To see how much of a contribution your arms make to your vertical jump, jump with and without using your arms and compare the difference. You should be able to jump significantly higher using your arms along with your legs.