Getting to a Box Jump, One Step at a Time

I don’t know why something as simple as a wooden box can scare me so much, but it has. You see, at Crossfit a frequent part of a workout is to perform box jumps. It’s as simple as it sounds – jump on top of the box and then back down. Because I’m overly cautious and have an active imagination, I started thinking of all the things that could go wrong. I could attempt to jump, not make it all the way up, and cut my shins. I could make it onto the box, lose my balance and fall over the other side. Since my wedding was coming up, I kept using the excuse that I couldn’t injure myself, lose a tooth, or break my nose before the big day, so I avoided them altogether. I stepped up and down on the box instead of jumping. I knew that I wasn’t getting the same cardio and strength benefits, but at least a step-up was something.

How could something so simple, be so scary?!

But once I was on the other side of wedding planning, I decided it was time to tackle box jumps. Believe me, I still didn’t want to fall off a wooden box and break my nose, but I wanted to get over my fear.

I started small, by placing mats on top of each other on the ground and placing them next to a box (as shown below). If I stepped onto the mats before jumping, I’d only have to jump 12 inches instead of the standard 20. Surprisingly, it wasn’t that bad.

This simple trick turned a 20″ jump into a 12″ one.

A few weeks later when it was time for box jumps again, I made the mats even higher and just jumped on those. I was actually getting it! Placing the mats against the wall made me feel more comfortable. Something about the wide surface area of the mats made it less scary and being able to put my hands out against the wall after the jump assured that I wouldn’t fall over the other side.

Then, our coach, Andy, came over to me and placed a wooden box next to the mats. Believe it or not, but the mats I was jumping on were a smidge higher than the box. I could jump that high, after all! I attempted a proper box jump on the wood and I did it! Instead of thinking about what to do during a box jump, I realized that it’s best not to think. Being able to jump high onto the box seemed like instinct. I was just mentally psyching myself out each time.

See, the mats I was jumping on and the box were the same height after all.

That day I did ten in a row and needed to stop because my legs were shaking. Just yesterday, a workout required 50 box jumps and I was able to complete all 50.

Here I am actually doing one (or two). Warning: This is not the most professional video, but you get the point. And, you don’t have to lift your hands into the air after a jump – that’s just me being victorious!

My next box-jump-related goals are to 1) move the box away from the wall(I use the wall as a crutch, so I need to start jumping without relying on the wall to fall back on) 2) to slowly start adding inches. The next box height is 24″ and then after that, people start adding plates on top to add in inches. See the photo below.

Wow!

For now though, each time I do a box jump, I walk out of the gym with my held held high and a huge smile on my face. Reaching this small goal gives me the confidence to take on others.