Are you looking for an effective way to train your lower body muscles? I’ve a perfect exercise for your workout routine that will challenge your strength, agility and balance. This exercise is known as the box jumps.
What are box jumps?
Box jumps are dynamic exercises that involves jumping on a raised platform from a standing position. You only require a box or a flat bench as the equipment for box jumps.
This exercise is widely performed by athletes and fitness enthusiast for various workout programs like HIIT, CrossFit, and plyometrics.
Box jumps are popular for building explosive strength, endurance, balance and improving overall athletic performance. This exercise is also used in training for different sports activities such as basketball, volleyball, and football.
In this article, you’ll take a closer look at the box jumps training including the benefits, correct form and helpful tips.
Box Jumps Muscles Worked
Box jumps primarily targets your lower body muscles like your quads, hamstrings, glutes, and calves. These muscles work together to generate the explosive strength required for jumping on to the box. The secondary muscles involved are your lower back and abdominal muscles.
Your quads and glutes works the most during this exercise. These large muscle groups helps in extending your knees and balance your body as you jump.
Benefits Of Box Jumps
Here are some of the major benefits of doing the box jump exercise with the correct technique. These benefits are genuine and backed by scientific studies.
Builds Explosive Strength
Adding box jumps to your workout routine is an excellent way for building explosive power in your legs.
Explosive strength is the ability of your body to produce a large amount of force in a short period. This move needs a lot of force to lift your body from the ground to a higher platform. While performing the jump, you’re using a combination of both strength and speed.
This dynamic exercise helps in building your overall athletic performance for sports that involves explosive movement like sprinting, jumping and throwing.
Improves vertical Jump
If you’re looking to improve your vertical jump then you must try box jump exercise. By practicing this move, the height of your jumps will be increased along with your overall jumping ability.
Jumping on a high box requires a lot of upward momentum, which can improve your ability to jump higher. Improving your jump is beneficial for sports activities that require you to jump higher like basketball, vollyball and athletics.
Better Coordination And Balance
Box jumps times the jump and landing on the box. This challenges your muscle coordination and control. Better muscle coordination improves your performance in activities that that require rapid change in direction and balance such as soccer and tennis.
Stronger Lower Body Muscles
Box jumps are one of the most effective way for strengthening your leg muscles. During the movement, the major muscles of your lower body are engaged like the hamstrings, quadriceps, glutes and calves.
Targeting these muscle groups improves your strength in other resistance training exercises. Building stronger legs also makes your everyday activities more efficient.
Step By Step Instructions
Below is a step by step guide on how to do the box jumps correctly. These instructions will help in improving your form and prevent injuries.
1. Begin by standing one step from the box. Keep your back straight and feet shoulder width apart.
2. Bend your knees to lower your body into a squat position. Push through your feet to lift your body explosively to jump onto the box.
3. Land on the box with both feet while maintaining your balance and keeping your knees bent to absorb the impact.
4. Hold the position on the box and then jump off to land back on the ground. This is one repetition of the box jumps exercise.
5. Aim for doing 3 sets of 10 repetitions. Try increasing the number of repetitions as you master the form. You can also do box jumps with weights for higher intensity.
Helpful Tips
Here are some of the helpful tips to get the most out of the box jump exercise. Following these tips will prevent mistakes and reduce the risk of injuries.
1. Start With a Smaller Box
It’s crucial for beginners to improve their technique with a smaller box before attempting a higher one. Increase the level of the box as you master the form.
2. Use Proper Form
Engage your abdominal muscles and keep your back straight. Your knees should be slightly bent when landing on the box to absorb the impact and Keep your joints safe.
3. Land Softly
Try landing on the box with your feet together and maintaining your balance. Keep your core engaged to stabilize the movement and land softly.
4. Rest Between Sets
Box jumps are high intensity interval training exercises, so make sure to take enough rest between sets. Rest of 1 minute is sufficient to allow your muscles to recover.
Conclusion
Box jumps are high intensity and effective exercise that helps in improving your explosive strength, endurance and agility. By using the correct form and gradually increasing the sets and repetitions you can reap all benefits that it offers. Try box jumps today and take your workout routine to the next level!