One of the first YouTube high jump channels I noticed years ago was that of Jussi Viita, a high jumper from Finland with a personal best of 2.24m, and a famous 1.84m standing high jump (see video below). Finland has a great history in the field events of track and field, and their coaching is top notch.
I asked Jussi six questions regarding his training; enjoy his answers!
What are some special strength exercises that you find useful for high jump? (barbell skips, kettlebell jumps, speed step-ups, etc?) Â What proportion of your training do these tend to make up?
Jussi: Strength is strength. Nowadays I believe that the less you spend time in gym, the more you have energy to give on the field. I personally do a wide variety of squats (one leg, two leg, deep, high squat), but tend to bound without a barbell. Sometimes I do bounding or special HJ drills with horizontal resistance… a special machine with 60m string!
Does Finland have any sort of recommended strength standards for high jumpers?
Jussi:  Yeah we do. This table is not a universal truth, but we Finns tend to emphasize tests and development in the tests.  It’s usually beneficial to some point!
How is an off-season training week typically split up?
Jussi:Â
One training session per day, 1-2 hours per training session
- One technical training session
- One bounding/HJ drills session
- 1-2 Strength sessions (typically the second one is easier)
- Speed or just easy running (longer dist.)
- One easy training session
- 1-2 rest days
I don’t usually have a rigid weekly plan.  Sometimes I do a 7 days cycle and sometimes a 5 days cycle (preparation period).  I rest when my body says so.
What is your approach to depth jumps for high jumpers?
Jussi: It’s a very good method for systematic testing (2-3 times every year) with contact mat etc. We test both contact time and flight time; that offers a good overview of a jumper’s ability to produce power.  It also gives you a good glue, how a jumpers technique should be developed (speed or power flop).  Our head coach Mr. Juha Isolehto has got a large data set of hundreds of test results during a long time period over 15 years.  As far as I know, such test pattern (developing a jumpers technique on speed vs. power derived from test variables) is applied only in Finland.
As a part of everyday training it (Depth Jumps) could be a little tricky to recover for other more important training sessions
Drop jump example:
- 40-80cm box to drop off
- Contact time 150-200ms (200ms is the limit for an eligible performance in our test conditions)
- Jump height 60-82cm (calculated by flight time)
- Fast flop technique emphasizes contact time
What is your approach to speed and sprint training for high jumpers?
Jussi Viita:Â The speed of movement is more important than the maximum speed (flying speed test). Of course they are in close relation with each other. Longer intervals gain aerobic capacity and sprint technique.
With speed of movement being important, I meant that the free leg (swings) needs to be very fast during the take-off. Â I train it with hurdles and with special drills.
Who will win the Sweden vs. Finland track meet this year?
Jussi: We’ll crush them!
About Jussi Viita
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Place of birth    Tampere, FINLAND
Age                  28 years
Height              186cm
Weight             78kg (in season)
Hometown       Tampere
Education        Msc. (tech.)
Workplace       Tampere University of Technology
Family              Wife and a son
PBÂ Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â 224cm (2011)
  Best performances
EC U23, Bronze (2007)
EC Indoor, 13 (2011)
NC 2x Gold outdoors (2011, 2013)
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