Exercise Spotlight – Box Jump

The box jump is a great introductory plyometric and power exercise. It is growing increasingly popular but is often done poorly or with inappropriate and excessive risk. Once you have mastered a bodyweight squat and can control your body through the full range you are able to progress to introductory plyometric like the box jump. The focus should be on controlling the landing before progressing to jumping onto higher boxes. The box jump forces the muscles of the lower body to work together rapidly to develop the force to get you flying into the air. This makes it great for power development, speed of movement and for intermuscular co-ordination (how well your muscles cooperate).

Exercise Suitability:
Beginners: ✔️
Advanced: ✔️
 
What are the key technique points?

• Think about landing first, both as you land on the box and as you come off and step back down to the ground. Keep your chest up, absorb the impact smoothly through your legs with good squatting posture.
• Focus on jumping as explosively and as high as possible
• Use a lower box than you’d actually think you could jump onto, you can still jump higher than necessary without going onto a higher box.
• Consider stepping down off of the box with control rather than jumping down to a hard landing.

If you are interested in learning how to safely and effectively improve your strength and power then why not send me a message now to learn more about private coaching options?

You can view all of my exercise spotlight series by clicking here.