Box Jump
Vertical power for marking + ruck taps
How to do it well
The set-up and the rep in full, then the cues the app shows on the exercise card — the short version, for the moment you are standing in front of the bar.
Set-up
Stand about a foot-length back from a sturdy box, feet hip width, arms relaxed. Choose a box you can land on with the hips still above the knees. If you land in a deep squat, the box is measuring how high you can tuck your knees, not how high you can jump.
The rep
Swing the arms back as you dip into a quarter squat, then throw them up as you drive through the whole foot and extend the hips, knees and ankles fully. Pull the knees up to meet the box and land softly on the whole foot, knees over the toes, in about the same quarter squat you took off from. Stand up tall on the box, then step down, and reset before the next rep.
On the exercise card
- Full extension
- Soft landing
- Step down
What goes wrong, and the fix
| What goes wrong | The fix |
|---|---|
| Landing in a deep squat on a box that is too high | That tests hip flexibility, not power. Lower the box until you land in a quarter squat. |
| Jumping back down | Step down. The jump is the training; a hard landing off the back of the box adds load and nothing else. |
| Rushing the reps | Each jump is one maximal effort. Reset the feet and take a breath between them. |
| The knees caving in on the landing | Land with the knees over the toes. If they cave, the box is too high or the set has gone on too long. |
Make it easier, or harder
- Easier
- A lower box, or a countermovement jump on the floor with the focus on a quiet landing.
- Harder
- A seated box jump, which removes the dip so the hips start from dead still, or a single-leg jump to a low box.
How Train Smart prescribes it
The sets and reps below are the authored starting point. The actual weight you see is calculated from your own last top set and the week you are in within your four-week block.
In AFL it sits in the lower-body power block between the hang power clean and the trap bar jump, four sets of four onto a tall box: the same vertical drive as a contested mark or a ruck tap, with the landing taken off the knees. In cricket it is part of a short bodyweight plyometric primer before the strength work, to wake the legs up rather than to tire them.
If you cannot do this one
Rack taken, kit missing, or it does not suit you. These are the swaps the app offers, matched by movement pattern and body region — each with the reason it is a fair substitute.
| Alternative | Why it works as a swap |
|---|---|
| Broad Jump | Horizontal explosive power — sprint acceleration carryover |
| Standing Vertical Jump | Pure vertical power test — basketball, volleyball, AFL |
| Approach Vertical Jump | 3-step approach into jump — volleyball, basketball rebound |
| Pogo Hops | Stiff, reactive ankle power |
| Tuck Jump | Fast repeat vertical power |
| Hurdle Hops | Reactive bilateral plyo over low hurdles — court sport carryover |
This exercise, in a program that knows why it is there
Train Smart puts this movement in the right session, at the right point in your block, at a weight calculated for you — and swaps it automatically if you do not have the kit.
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