Is a 44 box jump good?

Thanks for sharing. Lots of great information.

I'm always skeptical of any "don't do this at high volume" restrictions. I actually focus on bracing with each jump when I box jump during a wod. I always step down to protect my Achilles.

That said, when I get to my gym before the class, I'll definitely use smaller sets of good form box jumps as a primer.

This is actually the jump. I think the height I achieved is a combo of both decent explosiveness and hip mobility. My landing is with my chest down.

View Full Version : What's a good max box jump?

When I searched I found a lot of threads posting some impressive box jump heights. I've been practicing these lately.

I'm wondering if maybe anyone has some standards for a beginner, intermediate, advanced, and elite max box jump from a standstill. Or maybe it is a body height to box height ratio?

Gavin Harrison

11-06-2008, 11:24 PM

Louie Simmons says he's got a guy who can jump onto a 60" box.. I haven't really heard anything higher than that. Weightlifters tend to have great box jumps. I think 42 would be very good for most people. In the 30 range is pretty normal, I think, except for excessively de-conditioned people, I think.

Anthony Bainbridge

11-07-2008, 05:10 AM

A good max box jump is higher than what you did last time. ;)

Herm Blancaflor

11-07-2008, 05:56 AM

A good max box jump is higher than what you did last time. ;)True

Mine is 44". My Clean & Jerk is 242 lbs (110kg). I am 5'9" and 200 lbs. I have a feeling each one of these numbers are very correlational. The higher your C&J and height is, and the lower your BW is, the higher your box jump should be.

One note on box jumps. Don't go too far past your comfortable limits. I have seen and heard of people hurting themselves falling back from the box in failed attempts: Concussion, bruised tailbones, and broken wrists. PLEASE BE CAREFUL!

Brian Degenaro

11-07-2008, 08:06 AM

I'd think vertical jump would be a better standard and safer. Or even better a standing box jump landing straight-legged or near straight-legged. That's a better indicator of actual jumping ability. You know what I mean? My best box jump was like 50" and landing on a box straight-legged, no arm swing is 31".

I'd think vertical jump would be a better standard and safer. Or even better a standing box jump landing straight-legged or near straight-legged. That's a better indicator of actual jumping ability. You know what I mean? My best box jump was like 50" and landing on a box straight-legged, no arm swing is 31".

Interesting suggestion. Maybe the max height box jump is a bit of a hazard but isn't it a better indicator of flexibility and balance than the straight-legged box jump? Assuming jumping ability isn't the only thing I want to test, that is.

Brian Degenaro

11-07-2008, 09:43 AM

Box jumping for height is more of a gimmick, a party trick. You only really do it to have a contest with friends. It does require some coordination and timing but no significant athletic ability.

Box jumping for height is more of a gimmick, a party trick. You only really do it to have a contest with friends. It does require some coordination and timing but no significant athletic ability.

Really? Would you say instead that a standard vertical jump test (a la pro football/basketball) is a better indicator of athletic ability? I don't know much about the two but it seems like your vert and your max box jump would test nearly the same physical components.

Ron Horn

11-07-2008, 10:10 AM

I'd think vertical jump would be a better standard and safer. Or even better a standing box jump landing straight-legged or near straight-legged. That's a better indicator of actual jumping ability. You know what I mean? My best box jump was like 50" and landing on a box straight-legged, no arm swing is 31".

I think that box jump vs. vertical jump are just two different exercises/tests. Both are valid for their own purposes...just as specific sports use their own measurements (volleyball, for example measures an athletes "attack jump"). I'll link you to Jon Gilson's AgainFaster.com (WFS) video (http://www.againfaster.com/the-micd-instructor/2008/6/24/the-box-jump.html)about why box jumps are useful. I'll spoil the fun (for those unable to watch it) by telling you it's because box jumps measure an athletes capability to both explosively open AND close the hip.

Back to the original subject: My best box jump is 52" at 6'3" and 185 lbs. I'm interested in hearing some other peoples PR's for comparison and goal setting.

Better than last attempt definitely qualifies as good.

Anthony Bainbridge

11-07-2008, 10:11 AM

Really? Would you say instead that a standard vertical jump test (a la pro football/basketball) is a better indicator of athletic ability? I don't know much about the two but it seems like your vert and your max box jump would test nearly the same physical components.

Vertical is going to be a better indicator of power.

Box jump is going to be a combination of height, power, and hip flexion.

Edit: I think my best is 51 or 52 @ 5'7.

Ron Horn

11-07-2008, 10:19 AM

Box jumping for height is more of a gimmick, a party trick. You only really do it to have a contest with friends. It does require some coordination and timing but no significant athletic ability.

Is your point that the measurement is not used anywhere? As in, you don't tell a football recruiter your max box jump to get on the team.

Or is the point that both opening AND closing the hip explosively is not a useful athletic ability?

If it's the first, I understand, if it's the second, I think that's arguable. There's something that we do around here that requires closing the hip quickly...

Roger Harrell

11-07-2008, 10:31 AM

The box jump is definitely more of a skill thing and vert better indicator of power. For me I can do disproportionately high box jumps relative to vert. Folks with noticeably higher verts can't box jump as high as I can because of timing and flexibility issues. Of course when we go really high we have nice padded boxes for it. :-)

Benjamin Smith

11-07-2008, 10:41 AM

I think that 42" would be a good standard for most people to shoot for. The highest box jump I've ever done was 49 inches, but that was from the ground onto the toolbox of my truck (diamond-stamped steel - a little intimidating). I'd like to test my max sometime in a safer environment. We're talking from a stand, right, not with a run or walk-up?

I think that a regular squat clean is a better indicator than the C&J.

In the name of collecting data:

Height: 5'11"
Weight: 165
Max clean: 190 (pre-starting strength - probably higher now)
Max box jump: 49"

David Meverden

11-07-2008, 02:06 PM

Box jumping for height is more of a gimmick, a party trick. You only really do it to have a contest with friends. It does require some coordination and timing but no significant athletic ability.

Who doesn't like party tricks? :D Like roger said, it's more skill than power, but so is a standing back tuck (back flip with no hands), and a standing back tuck is freakin cool! (and yes, I know that actual gymnasts don't consider this very hard. It's still cool.)

As for height standards . . . there's something to be said for absolutes: being able to jump from a stand onto a 4 ft fence is pretty cool, but maybe we could break this into a % height thing? Or even better, a % of hip height to account for the long legged among us. The bony protrusion at my hip that is part of my femur (called the Greater Trochanter, Thanks Wikipedia (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Image:Gray243.png)! [WFS]) is 36" off the ground (total height 71"). So, if we somewhat inaccurately assumed this 0.51 hip/height ratio were constant for the other posters on this thread their box jump height as a percentage of their hip height would break down as follows:

Herm Blancaflor: 125%
Benjamin Smith: 136%
Ron Horn: 136%
Anthony Bainbridge: 149% or 152% (said box jump was 51" or 52")
Brian Degenaro: "Like 150%" (said his box jump was 'like 50"' Got height off blog)

As I said, it's my opinion that percent of hip height is better than percent total height, and since I don't have that measurement it's really just correlated to total height, but you get the idea. I'd guess that the only persons who's number would actually change much if leg length were exactly included would be Ron Horn's, with his height of 6' 3".

And looks like, from these numbers, a box jump 150% of your hip height would be pretty badass (that would be a 54" box jump for me. Eesh. Stand by for a post from me on saturday describing the injury I incurred trying to see how close I could get, haha).

Thanks everyone for the responses; there is some good discussion here.

I guess this brings up another question: will doing lots of high box jumps at max or near-max height have any significant benefit to power, strength, or speed? The AgainFaster video showed how it helps explosiveness for the clean, but can I expect to clean more by working on really high box jumps? (I have equipment access issues and can't lift as frequently as I want because otherwise I'd just clean more to get better at cleaning, obviously.)

Last night I did box jumps 5x5 at 36" just for fun after my WOD. Probably could have gone over 40" easily. Any benefit to this type of workout?

Brian Degenaro

11-07-2008, 02:55 PM

I like to do multiple response box jumps for power/speed/plyos rather than just box jumps. The problem I have with max height box jumps is that you can't quite do it for multiple reps [fast]. It helps you determine what box height works best for you in training though.

Regarding mutiple response box jumps, these are box jumps where to immediately do something afterwards rather than just standing up. So immediately after jumping onto the box you perform a vertical jump or broad jump. To make things even more complex you would do jumps onto a low box immediately onto an even higher one or into a sandpit for distance.

I consider box jumps more of a tool than a test. Is that better clarification, Shane?

Blair Robert Lowe

11-07-2008, 02:58 PM

Again, what's decent for one bloke ain't decent for another and this has to do with height.

My box jump would not be as impressive if Rog did it. I base most of my ranking of vert height as a factor of percentage of body height. With a box jump, it gets down to how high you can tuck more so than jump.

36-40 isn't bad, I think. That's as high as the kitchen counter, which I'm sure I could do if I cleaned all the stuff off. Most of the tables in the house are around 28" and that would be an average jump for my height ( roughly 3 inches shorter than my hip ). A few years ago, I was trying to jump up to a Balance Beam but could only make the shorter than regulation medium beam.

Benjamin Smith

11-07-2008, 09:39 PM

The best possible application of box jumping prowess is just hanging out with a bunch of guys, daring each other to jump onto/over things like cars, picnic tables, etc. from a standstill.

I wouldn't expect box jump practice to translate to increased C&J, but I have seen my standing vertical increase (which helps with box jumps) with squat and clean training. Running vertical doesn't seem to be impacted as substantially, though I've seen a difference there, too.

Greg Privitera

11-10-2008, 06:36 PM

For those saying box jumps are only good for showing off:

How is a barbell deadlift (to most of you) any different?

I can certainly think of situations (like running around the woods, hurdling tacklers in sports, etc) where having a naughty box jump is very important.

Adam Scheiner

11-10-2008, 06:40 PM

Box jump is not important!? parkour anyone?

I can certainly think of situations (like running around the woods, hurdling tacklers in sports, etc) where having a naughty box jump is very important.

If anyone saw the Giants vs Eagles game on Sunday there was an awesome jump by TE Kevin Boss after he caught the ball. His legs were split so it was more like a hurdle than a box jump, but considering he is such a big guy, I was really impressed.

Here's the play on YouTube, wfs.
http://in.youtube.com/watch?v=k_-DT0OlXL0

Benjamin Smith

11-11-2008, 09:47 AM

I believe there is *some* transference between a good box jump and parkour-type skills. However, a box jump is (as I understand it) taken from a standstill, while parkour moves have more to do with redirecting momentum. Up is a good direction to be able to redirect it, but then you're talking about the more esoteric skills of timing and coordination, not just explosive movement.

Brian Degenaro

11-11-2008, 11:38 AM

Also, in parkour, you're going to be using your hands to help hurdle objects, which reduces the need to be able to jump onto something.

Devin Henry

11-11-2008, 11:48 AM

I have only been at the Crossfit thing for a little over 7 months. I have done a series of plyometrics workouts while I competed in track and field specifically the high jump and triple jump in college. I have always used 24-48 in boxes which is great for vertical leap increase but my gym does not have anything over 24 inches so I use weights ranging from 5-15lbs to increase explosivness. As for a max I have no idea but if you want to increase explosivness try using the weights.

David Meverden

11-16-2008, 12:26 AM

And looks like, from these numbers, a box jump 150% of your hip height would be pretty badass (that would be a 54" box jump for me. Eesh. Stand by for a post from me on saturday describing the injury I incurred trying to see how close I could get, haha).

Woot! Didn't hurt myself doing this! I made about 51-52" (don't know exact height yet because we had no tape measure. We marked the height of the weight stack on the wall and will measure later). So by my metric discussed before that puts my box jump at about 140% of my hip height. I'll take it! My high level of flexibility (thank you gymnastics experience) definitely helped me out on this one.

I also want to say that I believe that occasional box jumps for height is useful skill work for many/most of us: it requires a fast lower body movement (the same kind that could be used for jumping over things, pulling your legs up and out of the way) and exact placement of the feet, as well as a balance component. It's a fun combination of speed, power, and precision. And finally it helps many people realize they can jump onto things way higher than they thought they could, perhaps overcoming mental barriers in the process.

Tyler Smith

11-16-2008, 12:46 AM

I don't know... as far as a "functional movement" the box jump max would be pretty important... As far as first responder and military goes, that could be jumping onto a loading dock to chase a perp or jumping a wall in an urban combat situation. IMO the standard box jump (arm swing and bent knees and all) would be a more appropriate measure. As for me, im 5' 11'' and have jumped over 2 tractor tires (48'' combined height and 3' 6'' across) on the run and it was fairly easy, though I suppose the margin for error is very small.

Brian Degenaro

11-16-2008, 04:33 AM

For real life "functional" movement, the box jump is not important. When you're chasing someone, the time it takes to leap, to land on 2 feet, and to recover takes too long simply because you have to recover from a deep squat in high enough situations; the suspect would be gone by the time you finished the jump to stand up. When the barrier is that high you will be using your arms to hurdle yourself over something rather than jumping onto it and sticking a landing.

Blair Robert Lowe

11-16-2008, 06:49 PM

36 last night looked pretty challenging, especially 42. 36 is around belly button height and 42 around my solar plexus.

David Boyle

11-19-2008, 11:00 AM

44 to 50 is outstanding. I'm trying to increase mine day by day. You be surprised on how many things you can try to jump up on that's around your neighborhood!

Andrea Nitz

11-20-2008, 11:39 PM

Ask the teen-age boys at Brand X. The last I saw, they had 2 tire tractors stacked on top of each other, stacked on top of a doubled-up gymnastics crash mat. Must be over 50 inches. :eek:

Joseph Gammon

11-24-2008, 12:52 PM

how about 66" (not on box, over bar).

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7vL19q8yL54 (wfs)

In college, I worked for the NC State football team and he was a beast then. I have not seen him close up since he graduated, but I can only imagine by the video. 3rd year Arizona Cardinals now.

So after my C&J lifts today, I decided to try out some box jumps on the biggest box I could find. I managed to hit a box that was about 41"-42" high today (it came up to the bottom of my bicep). I got in 2 good jumps and then I went for the 3rd one without enough recovery and I whacked both of my kneecaps with some really deep cuts. I decided to call it quits after that. Just a word of warning to jump onto something soft and not a hard wooden box.

David Meverden

11-26-2008, 04:13 PM

Thanks for the anecdote Shane, sorry to hear you hurt yourself. I have definitely said that the "injury to usefullness" ratio of max-height box jumps seems pretty high, but I'm still glad I tried it. It gave me mental confidence and made me realize I could nail way more height that I thought. Because of that I was able to show up my non-crossfitter racketball partner today.

We were warming up (I was doing overhead squats and hang snatches with a 45lb bar, I think he was standing around?) and he saw a 36" box and goes, "man, I don't think I could jump onto that!" and my reply is something like "I guarantee you can jump on that."

Long story short, we found more boxes to stack on the first box and I easily nailed a ~48" jump ("dude, I don't know if you can make that, that's like four feet!") while he (at about 3 or 4 inches taller than me) was freaking out trying to get about 44". Muahaha. Box jumps, and crossfit, for the win!

Grant Anderson

11-26-2008, 04:20 PM

How do you think one-legged box jump height would correlate to regular box jump height?

David Meverden

11-27-2008, 05:27 AM

How do you think one-legged box jump height would correlate to regular box jump height?

Only one way to find out, right? My gut says the 1 legged box jump would be limited mainly by leg extension strength, and not as much by flexibility and post jump leg speed like a standard box jump, but I could be wrong. A trainer at the box was talking about messing around with these but I'll probably pass as pistols (at least the way I've been able to do then thus far) disagree with my knees.

What is considered a good box jump?

What does a 44 vertical jump mean?

What can the average person box jump?

What is the average NBA box jump?