Jan 5, 2021
A Guide to Box Jumps

Plyometric or jump training is one of the best ways to develop muscle power. Muscle power is your ability to generate force quickly. Examples of muscle power include jumping, sprinting, kicking, punching, and throwing. Most sports involve muscle power, and athletes from all sports use power exercises in their training.

Box jumps are a popular power and conditioning exercise. However, they’re not as easy as they look.

box jumps
Photo: DRiV FiTNESS / Creative Commons

In a recent article on FitnessVolt.com, ex-Marine Patrick Dale broke down how to execute box jumps the right way, the muscles that are worked, and different variations.

Below is an excerpt from Dale’s article.

Box jumps work your entire lower body. They’re a compound exercise, which means they involve two or more joints and several muscles working together. Box jumps are a very functional exercise, which means they closely replicate natural human movement.

When you do box jumps, you extend your ankles, knees, and hips all at the same time. This movement is very common and is something you do when you walk, run, or jump. Because of this, box jumps can have a significant impact on your physical performance both in and out of the gym. If you want to squat more weight, jump higher, or run faster, box jumps can help.

The muscles worked while doing a box jump are your quadriceps, gastrocnemius and soleus, hamstrings, gluteus maximum, abductors, adductors, and your core.

How To Perform a Box Jump

  1. Set up your box. It should be sturdy, stable, and won’t tip over. Start off with a box that’s about knee-height or a little lower.
  2. Stand about one large step back from your box. Your feet should be around shoulder-width apart. Hold your arms down by your sides.
  3. Descend into a quarter-depth squat and swing your arms behind you.
  4. Without pausing, explosively drive your feet into the floor, swing your arms forward for extra momentum, and jump up and onto your box. Jump as high as you can.
  5. Land lightly on the top of your box, aiming your feet for the middle. Bend your legs to absorb the shock of your landing.
  6. Step back down, reset your starting position, and repeat.

The benefits of box jumps when done correctly are as follows: jump higher, sprint faster, increased muscle strength and bone mass, fat loss, a better squat, less joint stress than most other plyometric exercises, and they’re easy to do.

To read the full article from Patrick Dale on the box jump, click here




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