Injury Free- Box Jumps

Box Jumps are a fantastic way to exercise.  It's a whole body exercise that works on your strength, power, conditioning and burns fat.  Unfortunatley many people struggle with them and end up hurting themselves.  Here are a few quick tips to get you in performing box jumps without hurting yourself (and having better performance too!)

1.  Swing Your Arms
        When one jumps, it's not the ability to push the ground down that has you jump high.  People with huge squat one rep maxes aren't the people that can jump the highest.  It's the ability to coordinate all your forces upward while transferring your forces through your core.  A highly effective way of accomplishing that is by getting a great deal of momentum going with your arms.  The more force your arms create, the less your hips, knees and ankles have to.  It's a fantastic way to keep the stress off your body.

2.  Don't Let Your Knees Travel Inward

Whether its your takeoff, or your landing, don't let this happen.  You might even want to concentrate on having your knees travel to directly away from each other, as this increases stability in the foot, ankle, knee complex.  It will minimize the stress on your body.

3.  Step Down
         Now if you're a highly competitive Crossfit type you might not like this one.  It's true that if your just going for performance, jumping down is faster.  However it adds so much force to the calf, achilles tendon, ankles and plantar fascia that it significantly increases the chances of you injuring yourself.  Alternating which foot you step down off the box will allow you to minimize the stress on your body without wearing down either leg.  

If you have any questions or are injured, please email me at drscotthoar@gmail.com.  If you are in the Boca Raton area, you can visit us at www.Mobility-4Life.com