Tip High Box Jumps – The New Tide Pod Challenge Search Skip to content Menu Menu follow us Store Articles Community Loyal-T Club Loyal-T Points Rewards Subscribe to Save Search Search The World s Trusted Source & Community for Elite Fitness Training Tip High Box Jumps – The New Tide Pod Challenge The box jump is an okay test but it' s not really a training method at least not how most dopes do it Here' s why by Nick Tumminello April 25, 2018August 18, 2019 Tags Athletic Performance, CrossFit, Tips, Training The internet is riddled with box jump fail videos. Instead of watching those videos and learning from the mistakes of others, lots of people take it as a challenge to try it themselves. Basically, it's the gym culture's version of Tide Pod eating challenges. Gym fail videos aren't just for entertainment, they're also an educational tool in what not to do. The only thing smarter than learning from your own mistakes is learning from the mistakes of others. High box jumps get misused when the emphasis is on the height of the box instead of the height of actual jump. Sounds weird, but here's why that is: Let's say you're standing next to a high box platform that's the same height as your waist. Now pick up one leg off the ground and flex your hip as high as you possibly can. The distance between the bottom of your foot and the top of the box is the actual height you'd have to jump in order to get on top of that box. The rest comes from hip flexion. Now, if your goal when using high box jumps is to emphasize work on quick hip flexion, fine. But most people are using high box jumps because they want to emphasize explosive jump height. This is where box jumps get misused. Trying to increase vertical jump height? That will require a powerful and explosive hip extension action, instead of a hip flexion action, which means you actually want to limit the amount of hip flexion involved in landing on top of the box. If you do this, you won't land on top of the box in that super-low crouched position we see during high box jumps. Instead, you want to find the highest box height that you're able to land on, but with your knees and hips only bent around 30 degrees. With this method you'll get all the good stuff from the exercise and you'll be far less likely to become the star of the next high-box fail video. Of course, you won't be able to use as high of a box if you're limiting the amount of hip flexion involved in the movement, which may be a blow to your ego. But there's a big difference between what determines smart and effective training and what makes for cool social media material. Get The T Nation Newsletters Don' t Miss Out Expert Insights To Get Stronger, Gain Muscle Faster, And Take Your Lifting To The Next Level related posts Training Tip The Worst Time to Stretch Here's when to stretch for best results, plus an overview of the targeted dynamic warm-up method. Bodybuilding, Powerlifting & Strength, Tips, Training Peter Tzemis September 26 Training What You Don t Know About BOSU Balls Newbies and bad personal trainers love them. Experienced lifters and most coaches hate them. Here are the actual facts. Bodybuilding, Powerlifting & Strength, Training Dean Somerset October 2 Training Tip The 36 000 Reps Challenge Start doing 100 easy-ish reps per day of these movements and you'll look better, feel better, and perform better. Challenge Training, Tips, Training TC Luoma July 7 Videos Tip Single-Arm Bottoms-Up Kettlebell Waiter s Walk Keep your shoulders healthy, stable, and strong with this unique accessory exercise. Exercise Coaching, Shoulders, Tips Eric Cressey April 18