Rough and worn edges, that typical reflection of the wood used for gym equipment, threatening air: flex your knees, and get ready for the box jump of your life ...
… But you don't run it. You extend back to a standing position, exhale, shrug your arms.
Then bend your knees again.
Welcome to the fear of box jump.
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The fear of Box Jump: when body and mind know what to expect
Are you an adult? Perfect: it's likely your last jump upwards, carefree and without reason, they go back one or more decades.
You have lost the habit of one of the fundamental movements - it happens - and meshing again with the mental pattern that allows you to face it without hesitation is not obvious.
Add that by now we are digital animals, and for each fail compilation set in the gym, at least a third of the videos are catastrophic box jump which end up in peeled shins and stacks of stepper falling to the ground.
And let's not take away from the psychological equation the fact that, for a refined survival mechanism, our body knows very well that a wrong box jump it can result in bruises, peeled knees, tendons stretching, and worst of all: back bent to landing and aesthetically bad execution of the movement.
Box jump, and the secrets to overcome its fear
To learn how to bounce the creepy look of the box - complete with a generous shrug - there are some tricks that you can put into practice right away, and that will be all the more functional if you take them into consideration while you are still learning (again ) to jump.
- Start from the bottom. Start with reassuring heights. Does WOD say we start with 20 inches? It does not matter. Take one box lower, and use that. Raising the box from time to time, you will come to those 20 "... and far beyond.
- Focus on the goal: yours feet in the middle of the box. Not on the edges: in the center. View them in that position.
- Eye to fatigue. Especially if you're coming to the end of the WOD. The risk is that of ruinous falls, and thus of eliminating the security you are laboriously building. Focus again (point #2).
- Use the low exposure technique. Ten jumps at the beginning of each workout, and fear passes.
- If you fell - as they say in motivational commercials - get up immediately, and jump again. Don't let yourself be intimidated, or worse still, block.
The last two points are particularly insightful. Exposing oneself to one's fear in a calculated way, little by little, is the key psychological trick to overcome it.
Finally there is a bonus secret: in the article on box jump horror stories we suggested how to use a stack of bumper plate instead of the wooden box, for your first jumps, is a way to "soften" the cerebral and angular impact of the box, e to overcome fear.
Try this one too: you won't regret it.