Most people seriously underestimate the power of jumping when it comes to physique and performance enhancement. Yes, your goal may be to get huge, or you may want to get strong. Nonetheless, power is just as important as muscle building when it comes to strength. Having more power in your workout sessions means that you are going to be able to lift even more weight, and more quickly.
Very often, building power is underrated. Exactly as adding a jump to your workout is. That’s because these two factors are related. If you start to add a jump, it will also improve your power, which will improve your overall performance and strength. Generally, power is a crucial element when it comes to smashing your workouts and therefore, reaching your goals faster.
So, how to increase that power? As said, all you need to do is… jump. Add a jump to your workout and that will take you to the next level if you want to improve your physique and performance.
How To Do The Box Jump?
To reach perfection when it comes to box jumps, you need to learn how to stay nimble on your feet. But to learn it, similar to lifting weights, you need to start off slow. You should not attempt jumping to the highest right away. First off, you’re highly unlikely to do anything, second, you’re increasing the risk of injury. You start jumping to the highest only when you’re ready. Let’s start with the basics.
First step: have a strong takeoff position
To get things started, you should find a box and stand facing it around six inches away. As you keep your hip-width apart, with your ankles, knees, and hips stacked above one another. Then, you should start swinging those arms up to get momentum.
Second step: loads the hips and jump
As you’re keeping your feet planted, swing your arms towards your heels and drive your hips back. You should do it because it loads up your hamstrings and glutes very nicely, as they are doing most of the job when it comes to jumping. Once you feel that stretch, you should extend your ankles, knees, and hips while you’re throwing your arms up which will increase momentum and finally jump.
Third step: land smoothly
Ask any professional jumper athlete and they will confirm that the way you land is crucial to absorbing your own body weight and the force of the jump. You need to ensure you keep your ankles, knees, and hips flexed to take on that force as you are landing in the squat position. From that point, once you’ve landed, just stand up smoothly.
Conquer box jump sets and reps
Yeah, box jumps can seem a bit straightforward. You just grab a box and jump on it, yeah? Well, there’s surely more than just that! Similar to strength training when you’re lifting weights, you need to understand and work out how box jumping can help maximize your training sessions’ efficiency.
- For technique, you need to use a relatively low box to start with. Start performing 3 to 4 sets of just 3 to 5 reps. You can rest for no more than 2 minutes between sets.
- For power, you should kick off with 3 to 5 sets having just 1 to 3 reps, and resting for about 2-3 minutes between sets. However, you use a higher box than you would for endurance or technique training.
- For endurance, you aim to do 2 to 3 sets having 10 to 20 reps, with a lower box. Your resting time should be shorter too, as you should rest for 60 to 90 seconds in between.
Mistakes to Avoid When Doing Box Jumps
It is a pretty common and simple workout move. You just simply get into jumping, doing these box jobs. However, a lot of people are making a lot of mistakes. As with strength training, you need a correct form. Not only does perfecting your form help get the most out of them, but you would avoid injuries.
Landing too hard
When it comes to box jumps, landing is crucial, and that’s where most people make most mistakes. Landing correctly will allow your body to absorb the shock of body weight when you’re landing. You should not put all the force on your feet, for example. Even worse – on your knees, as it would surely lead to knee issues. Instead, as you land, your knees should bend generously. It is extremely important to let your ankles and hips flex as you land, which will help prevent your feet from taking all the force. In short, you should not feel a real sudden shock across your body, starting with your feet. If you do, chances are that you are landing too hard. Ensure to keep on top of joint health to avoid injuries or future issues.
Not choosing the right box size
This is another pretty common mistake, especially among beginners. Many tend to think that the bigger, the better, isn’t it? Well, that’s not always the case. Pretty much exactly the same as with lifting weights, as not always the heavier the better. So, just because you can jump up onto a massive 40 inch box, it doesn’t mean that you should necessarily do it. So, choose the right box size based on your level and goals. For example, if you train for power, you will need to work with a higher box than training for endurance.
Doing too many
Yes, too many box jumps are a real thing. Considering that there are no weights involved, a lot of people may be tempted to do a lot of box jumps in their workout sessions. The problem is that when doing so, you may overtrain, and you may start forgetting to pay attention to your form, intention (endurance, power, etc.), and joint health! You should keep your volume relatively low, having a total of about 60 reps (20 reps per set) if you’re training for endurance.
Try Different Box Jump Variations
When you have more experience and you want to add a bit of variety to your workouts, there are three different and great box jump variations that you should look into.
Seated box jump
This type of box jump is designed to increase concentric power output. You start from a seated position and then explode into a box jump. However, in order to do it, you’ll first need to perfect the standard box jump first!
One step box jump
The one step box jump variation may help those who are looking to increase jumping ability for sport-specific reasons, although it can help anyone else. As soon as you master the regular box jump and you have perfect form, you can go to the next level. Taking a step can help you level up your box jump abilities. Moreover, taking a step beforehand will help you gain some momentum, which helps you increase jump height too.
Single leg box jump
Now, this is a box jump variation that you should not take lightly. The single leg box jump requires a lot of balance, and if you’re doing something wrong, you risk injuries! That’s why you need to start off small and work your way up in the box height. You will experience an increase in strength, power, and balance!
Muscles That Work During The Box Jump
Adding box jumps to your workout may not seem like much, however, they are going to help you a lot in the long run. Especially considering that box jump will work out more muscles than you may think they do.
While they may not be super effective at increasing muscle hypertrophy or strength, they will definitely increase your lower body’s power output. The box jump tends to work the following muscles:
- Hamstrings
- Quadriceps
- Glutes
- Calves
- They also tend to involve your core muscles
Box Jump Benefits
Besides increasing the lower body’s explosiveness and overall power, the jump box can offer a lot more benefits than you may think. Check out some of them:
Increases rate of force production
You are able to increase force production by building stronger legs which you can do when strength training your legs (such as doing squats and deadlifts). This means that box jumps will increase muscle and strength in your legs, which help with leg exercises during workouts. They will also increase athletic potential, increasing lower body explosiveness, which will have a positive impact on other forms of exercising such as sprinting, weight lifting, squatting, deadlifting, and so on.
Improves proprioception
Proprioception is one’s ability to control the body in space without even seeing the limbs. This is way harder than it seems, and it requires a lot of agility, finesse, stability, balance, and physical awareness. Adding the box jump into your workout can help a lot to establish much better body awareness and control.
Powerful hip and knee extension
In order to get from the floor to the box, your hips and knees must extend forcefully in order to drive up the body’s mass and perform the jump. This is an awesome way to improve the power of your hips and knees – go for a box jump.
Supps For Life Will Jump Up Your Results!
So, there it is. There’s no doubt that the box jump is going to be immensely helpful, improving your physique and performance enhancement, getting you closer to your goals. Incorporate them into your workout sessions and you will definitely level up your power. Not only that, but you can add the box jump even at home, as long as you have something stable enough.
Nonetheless, if you’re looking for something that would seriously up your game then Supps For Life is here for you. At Supps-For-Life.to you will find a lot of Performance Enhancing Drugs (PEDs) such as anabolic steroids, HGH, and numerous others that will help you get your strength and muscle gains to the next level. We work only with the best manufacturers so you don’t have to worry about quality. Moreover, we keep the lowest prices for each compound from whichever brand so you can save money. Lastly, we can help with cycle advice, so you would stay away from possible side effects. Whether you want to bulk up, cut down, speed up your results, or push through plateaus, Supps For Life got you covered!
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