If you get stronger, will you run faster and jump higher?

Short answer

Yes, but by much less. Over 10 weeks, as squat strength rose 31%, jump power rose 18% and 40 m sprint time improved 2.2%. To get faster still, add jumping and sprinting to your training.

If you get stronger, will you run faster and jump higher?
'Heavier squat → stronger legs → faster and higher' — is that right?
One belief says a heavy squat means strong legs, so you will sprint faster and jump higher. Another says lifting makes you slow. We checked which is right, study by study.
As squats went up, sprints got faster
An analysis of 510 people: strength gains carried over to sprinting
An analysis that pooled 15 studies with 510 people found that groups whose squat strength rose more also got faster over short sprints. The link was very strong. Strength training improved sprint times by 3.11% on average. The idea that lifting makes you slow did not hold up.
But the size of the gains was very different
Strength up 31%, jump up 18%, sprint up 2.2%
In a study of heavy squats 3 times a week for 10 weeks, the best squat rose 31.2%, the power they produced in a jump rose 17.7%, and their 40 m sprint got 2.2% faster. For someone who runs 40 m in 6 seconds, that is about 0.13 seconds off.
Light jump training did no worse
The only difference was squat strength
In the same study, a group doing jump squats with no weight to light weight, jumping as high as possible, improved jump power by 17.6% and 40 m sprint by 3.6%, no worse than the heavy squat group. But their best squat rose only 4.5%.
An analysis of 6,710 people showed the same picture
Strength improved the most, sprinting the least
A 2024 analysis that pooled 295 studies with 6,710 people found strength training improved maximum strength the most and sprinting the least. Maximum strength grew most with heavy weights, while jumping grew most with light weights, about 30% of your max.
Comparing training methods gave the same picture
Strength, jump and mixed training all raised jumping and sprinting
A 2024 analysis of 1,396 people found strength training, jump training and a mix of both all raised jumping and short acceleration by similar amounts. What differed by method was strength, and strength training built far more of it than jump training.
Bottom line: getting stronger makes you run and jump better
To get faster still, add jumps and sprints
Running and jumping improved as strength rose, but when strength went up 31%, sprinting got only 2.2% faster (3.11% on average across studies). Strength grew best with heavy weights, jumping with light ones. Heavy strength work plus jumps or all-out sprints is the combination that works.