Thump, thud, thump, thud. “What’s that noise?” I asked myself. “Thor hitting people with Mjolnir or a T-Rex break dancing to It Takes Two.” I turned the corner, hoping it was a T-Rex. Please! No luck—just some jerk doing box jumps.
Now, before anyone gets upset, I’m not against box jumps. I use them in my training and in the programs I write for others, and I believe they have a time and place (as does almost any other exercise).
Any solid strength coach knows box jumps can help with explosiveness and athleticism. If we look a bit closer, the real benefits are:
– Force summation, rate of force development, and learning to put force into the ground.
– Landing mechanics: learning to absorb the impact.
The goal isn’t to jump to the tallest box or to do endless repetitions.
DUMB
REALLY DUMB
DUMBER
Commentary on Video 1
Before the camera rolled, you could tell those two guys were thinking, “If you nail this jump, it’ll go viral and you’ll get laid tonight.” He’s lucky he didn’t injure his back or neck.
Commentary on Video 2
With all the knee injuries and scraped shins I’ve seen, I wish CrossFit would realize box jumps aren’t a great conditioning tool, and there are far better options. Even something as extreme as that would be safer than high‑rep box jumps.
Commentary on Video 3
Yeah, it’s JJ Watt, it’s an old video, he’s an elite pro, he nailed it—stop whining. It was a superb jump, and I’d trust his ability too. But from a cost‑benefit view, as a coach who’s worked with many top athletes, I wouldn’t touch it with a ten‑foot pole. I have to wonder if the coaches in that video prescribed this to boost rankings or if they were chasing YouTube views. Not worth the risk. See Video 1.
MY REAL BEEF: NOT BOX JUMPS, BUT HIGH BOX JUMPS
A while back I watched a great video by Nick Tumminello where he explained why he doesn’t like high box jumps, and he made a point I hadn’t thought of before.
High box jumps reward people with excellent hip mobility, especially those with great hip flexion. Here’s the idea:
Stand next to a high box and lift your leg. The real distance you’re jumping is from the bottom of your foot to the top of the box. Not as impressive as it sounds.
And this is what the same jump looks like when someone lacks sufficient hip motion:
They start cranking through their lower back, again and again, and… “I blew out my back.”
Speaking of the lumbar spine, how many box jumps end up with a poor landing?
BOX JUMP: POOR LANDING
Happens all the time, right? Yuck.
If your box jumps look like this, you’re using too high a box and you’re getting zero real benefit.
How you start (chest up, knees slightly bent, in an athletic position) is how you should end. Like this:
BOX JUMP – GOOD LANDING
Another common mistake is landing too loudly on the box. Remember: one of the main benefits of the box jump is absorbing force.
BOX JUMP – LOUD LANDING
If someone can hear your box jumps from far away you’re doing them wrong.
Instead, land softly, or as I tell my clients, like a ninja.
BOX JUMP – WHO’S THE NINJA? YOU ARE.
A FEW OTHER RANDOM THOUGHTS
Even with a seemingly low box height, the idea is to cue your clients to jump as high as they can and then land softly. External cues work wonders:
Try to touch the ceiling.
Jump off the ground.
Look, a snake!
I like to program box jumps for low reps. Sets of 1–3 are ideal. I also love doing box jumps on lower‑body days before squats or deadlifts, as they help wake up the nervous system.
Do 3–4 sets of 1–3 reps, and you’re good to go. Quality over quantity.
Except for Smith Machine BOSU ball squats. I once saw someone add an unstable surface to an exercise that already moves in a fixed plane of motion, and I was baffled. Am I missing something?
I don’t lump all CrossFit boxes together. Many understand this and use box jumps sparingly, and only for their intended purposes.
