Box Jump Mechanics: Help Athletes Master Their Takeoff and Landing for Better Performance

Learn the fundamental mechanics of box jumps that will improve not just your athletes' jumping, but also their overall movement quality in CrossFit workouts. In this coaching session, we break down the two critical elements of a proper box jump: Lifting the Center of Mass The box jump is a dynamic movement; athletes are not just tucking their legs underneath them. They're actually jumping, lifting their hips and center of mass higher to reach the box. This distinction is crucial for developing true jumping power. Athletic Landing Position The landing position matters just as much as the takeoff. Landing in a solid athletic stance — chest upright, knees out, positioned like the first few inches of a squat — creates good movement patterns that transfer to wall balls and other movements. Landing collapsed with the chest down reinforces bad habits that will carry over into all training. Bonus Coaching Point: Keep the knees tracking apart throughout the jump. When the knees cave in during takeoff, athletes will lose power and set themselves up for poor mechanics. — CrossFit is the world’s leading platform for improving health and performance. In the 20 years since its founding, CrossFit has grown from a garage gym in Santa Cruz, California, into the world’s most effective program for improving health and performance through nutrition and exercise. CrossFit is the world’s leading provider of accredited performance-based training courses and certifications and has more than 125,000 credentialed coaches across the world. The program can be modified to welcome people of all ages and abilities and millions of people have already experienced CrossFit’s transformational benefits in more than 13,000 affiliated gyms across 158 countries. CrossFit also directs the CrossFit Games season, beginning with the annual CrossFit Open, through which athletes at every level compete worldwide, and culminating in the CrossFit Games, where top athletes compete for the title of Fittest on Earth®. Learn more about CrossFit → https://www.crossfit.com/what-is-crossfit/?utm_source=social&utm_medium=youtube&utm_campaign=crossfit Find a CrossFit gym near you → https://www.crossfit.com/map?utm_source=social&utm_medium=youtube&utm_campaign=crossfit Find CrossFit Courses near you → https://www.crossfit.com/courses-near-you?utm_source=social&utm_medium=youtube&utm_campaign=crossfit View CrossFit workouts → https://www.crossfit.com/workout?utm_source=social&utm_medium=youtube&utm_campaign=crossfit Subscribe to CrossFit email newsletters → https://www.crossfit.com/newsletters/?utm_source=social&utm_medium=youtube&utm_campaign=crossfit Learn more about the CrossFit Games → https://cf.games/games-learn-more