Box Jumps, a demonstration video where I jump on 23 Stacks + the Bench Top.
Just like how you should only lunge jump once you’ve trained with normal lunges for a period of time, you should only box jump when you’ve been squatting correctly for a period. This is because it teaches you how to land, absorb and move under force, and it prepares your joints, bones, tendons, and ligaments.
If your squat is poor with your knees collapsing inward and joints out of alignment then you can imagine what’s going to happen when you land in that position with all of your bodyweight. All of your weight comes down placing a lot of force on your joints kind of like a squat, you are slowly applying pressure as the weight lowers to control it’s decent.
Commonly we see classes / ‘boot camps’ throwing often-random explosive / ballistic movements and circuits at people, which is fine… only if you can get participants to regress the exercises, progress technique, and build them up to the good stuff. Unfortunately that’s rarely the case… many trainers are great motivators, fewer fitness professionals.
I like to screen this stuff when taking people through warm ups as it quickly informs me as to where to start one with their training. Knowing this, you could essentially Do It Yourself.
Conclusion for Box Jumps
Learn how to squat correctly and with a full depth, once you are able to perform a full squat with your bodyweight for a dozen repetitions then you may look at box jumps, if you wish. If you have no weighted squat experience you can start building yourself up immediately by simply using bodyweight squats as part of your warm up routine. Take a look in the mirror and assess yourself on the key technique points, visit my squat article to learn more.
I’m on Instagram @AliasDayne