Box Jumps Breakdown
Box jumps are one of the most popular bodyweight plyometric exercises for developing power and explosive strength. If you’ve ever seen a track athlete or Olympic level sprinter in action, you’ll notice they always train on a box jump.
Box jumps usually consist of the athlete jumping up in the air landing on a box. The height of the box usually ranges from 12” to 36”. Each time you jump, the pattern is the same. You step up onto the box, box jump in the air, and land down.
There are many ways to train box jumps. Sometimes you may be instructed to conduct the jumping up and down stationary, without jumping around. Other times you are allowed to jump around consistently.
Other variations of box jumps include standing on top of a box and then transitioning up and down in both a vertical and horizontal motion.
Regardless of the variations, box jumps are the ultimate plyometric exercise for athletes that will have you doing the exercise time and time again.
Why Box Jumps?
The box jump is considered to be a distance measuring exercise. The goal is to leap up onto the box and back down in one swift and continuous movement. When done correctly, the exercise is more similar to a leap than a jump, almost like the way that a dolphin uses its tail as a spring to jump out of the water. This exercise is ideal for developing explosive agility that’s useful for sports that require jumping or changing direction at speed, su