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Boxjumps as an accessory

wingman

Super M0derator
Hi,

Who here uses boxjumps as an accessory movement for PL? (As opposed to repping them out for conditioning).

If so, what kinda rep/set scheme do you use? Do you progress by going to a higher box or holding bigger dumbells in your hands? (Or both?)
 
Probably not a popular option but definitely worth trying. Id start with 10x3 imo and progress with weights increasing or weighted vest.
 
I throw them in every now and then. But I generally prefer them as a warmup/priming excercise BEFORE serious lifting - for assistance work of that nature I prefer to do power cleans or snatches.

But to be honest I just do jumps mainly for fun/variety, I don't feel like they add much training effect - since I'm naturally quite fast/explosive but rather weak - ~90cm+ vertical despite not being able to do a double BW high-bar squat.

However for someone who is relatively strong but slow, apparently jumping work can be quite effective in increasing bar speed and poundage?

I do 5 sets of triples onto a box that is fairly easy. I'll start from a bottom ass to grass olympic squat position, explode fast from the bottom and land with my legs extended.

Next I just do some singles from a stationary standing position, or with a short run-up. My gym (FF) doesn't have boxes high enough, so I just pick something sufficiently high like an A/C duct and aim to touch it on every rep. For weighted jumps or reps I do power cleans.
 
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To paraphrase Verkoshansky for the second time, they are best off done before or after a similar max effort exercise. Doing them before will increase your squat/deadlift more and doing them after will increase your jumping more. I messed around with them but honestly I prefer lifting my warm-ups for explosive triples
 
But to be honest I just do jumps mainly for fun/variety, I don't feel like they add much training effect - since I'm naturally quite fast/explosive but rather weak - ~90cm+ vertical despite not being able to do a double BW high-bar squat., explode fast from the bottom and land with my legs extended.

90cm vertical? That's 90cm under your feet, not onto a 90cm box right? Only asking because the NBA combine's top Verts have been 92cm and 96cm for the last two years and that would make you part of the top percentile.

People will tend to have the ability to grind or to be more explosive. If you have a good vertical/box jump them utilise speed as part of your training rather than doing heavy singles all the time.

Wingman, try them out and see how you find them. Use sets of 3, resetting after each rep. Use ~85% of your best max jump and keep doing sets until you start to struggle, probably in the 6-10 range. If you don't have access to higher boxes use single leg or weighted jumps.

But one of the biggest things I hate when I see people doing jumps is after jumping onto a large box they jump down again, negating what is one of best attributes of the exercise; eccentricless training. So either step down while assisting yourself as much as possible or get another box to step down on.
 
My box jump is around 110-115cm @ 178cm

They're something I've always wanted to give a run for a while, but the garage roof is too low lol
 
My box jump is 1.5 feet. While I absolutely HATE doing these for the copious amounts I had to do as a fat girl, I remain very conservative with height.....
 
Can I ask what people are using for their boxes? I'd like to add this to my training...and I have the shed roof height :p
 
90cm vertical? That's 90cm under your feet, not onto a 90cm box right? Only asking because the NBA combine's top Verts have been 92cm and 96cm for the last two years and that would make you part of the top percentile.

People will tend to have the ability to grind or to be more explosive. If you have a good vertical/box jump them utilise speed as part of your training rather than doing heavy singles all the time.

Yep that's 90cm under foot. Though that was measured from a step-forward, not from a completely stationary position. I was under the impression the NBA high-flyers have verticals of over 40" or 1 metre, and according to wiki 40" or above is considered 'elite'. Either way, @5"11" I don't think my vert has much application for sport, or I lack the skill to make much use of it :p Though I did greatly enjoy playing volleyball in late high school and had relatively decent hops without ever touching a weight.

Interesting, I definitely plan on programming in proper rep jumping work at some point to see how it affects my lifts or vert. No idea what my box jump is because my gym doesn't have anything higher than about 70cm...what's considered a 'good' box jump?
 
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Yep that's 90cm under foot. Though that was measured from a step-forward, not from a completely stationary position. I was under the impression the NBA high-flyers have verticals of over 40" or 1 metre, and according to wiki 40" or above is considered 'elite'. Either way, @5"11" I don't think my vert has much application for sport, or I lack the skill to make much use of it :p Though I did greatly enjoy playing volleyball in late high school and had relatively decent hops without ever touching a weight.

Interesting, I definitely plan on programming in proper rep jumping work at some point to see how it affects my lifts or vert. No idea what my box jump is because my gym doesn't have anything higher than about 70cm...what's considered a 'good' box jump?

Wow, thats a mad jump dude.

Yeah some of the bigger jumpers are 40+'s but Kobe, for example, is around 37-8 from memory. Best AFL draftee is mid 80cm range, some kid this year. Oh and the highest Vert in the world is by a guy who is 5'11".

Good box jumps are 45"+. Some of the guys in the states I've seen do 50"s and 60"s
 
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I use them a lot.
We made two boxes specifically for jumps. Great exercise on leg day. You really have to talk yourself into it when the legs are tired!! Plenty of skin has been shed off the shin in those sessions! Hahah
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