How to Do the Box Jump

The box jump is an explosive jump from the floor onto a sturdy box, training power in your quads, glutes and calves. It helps you jump higher and move faster, and the box limits how hard you land. It suits athletic lifters with solid squat form and landing control.

Quads Glutes BodyweightAdvanced

Log every set of your Box Jump in Superlift

Muscles worked

Primary

Quads
Glutes

Secondary

Calves
Abs

How to do the Box Jump

1
Stand a short step from a sturdy box with your feet about shoulder-width apart.
2
Swing your arms back and dip into a quarter squat.
3
Explode up by driving through the floor and swinging your arms forward.
4
Land softly on the box with both feet, knees bent.
5
Stand up fully on the box to finish the rep.
6
Step back down one foot at a time and reset.

Form cues to remember

Swing your arms to jump
Land soft and quiet
Stand tall on top
Step down, don't jump down

Common mistakes

Jumping down from the box

Step down to protect your Achilles and knees.

Choosing too high a box

Start lower and focus on landing softly rather than maximum height.

Landing with straight legs

Bend your knees and absorb the landing.

Letting your knees cave in

Push your knees out and keep them tracking over your toes.

Sets and reps

Strength	3–5 sets of 3–5 reps, 90 sec–2 min rest
Conditioning	4–6 sets of 5–8 reps with full rest, never to exhaustion

Choose a box you can land on cleanly, and stop when your jumps get sloppy. Step down instead of jumping down to protect your Achilles tendons.

Superlift for iPhone

Track your Box Jump and watch it go up

Superlift shows what you lifted last time, times your rest, and charts your strength week by week, so you always know what to beat. Every exercise in this library is built in, with the same demos and tutorials.