Jumping Is Dangerous Don't Do It

I remember being at the top of the wall.

It was at least 8 feet tall. I'm trying to under-guess. I don't want to fall into tall tell story time... haha!

This was during a Spartan Race... so of course I was soaked and caked in mud.

I was flipping my second leg over the wall so I could hop down...

Suddenly... my hand slipped and I was falling.

I can't remember where I learned... but I had learned how to fall.

When my legs hit first... I let the rest of me crumble. I was not trying to stick the landing.

I reached my arm under me and to the side. I wanted to land and roll to my upper body behind my shoulder.

I did and then continued to roll on the ground... with the momentum of the fall.

It worked perfectly.

I even got compliments from other racers who saw. They were like...

"Whoa!!! That was a nice fall!"

Most of us don't know how to fall.

Most of us don't know how to land after jumping.

In fact... when it comes to training women (and men)...

I Advise DON'T JUMP!

Kindal jumping up to a 16 inch box and she is mid air and you can see how high she is and why this can be very dangerous.

Kindal getting ready to land on the box and accept the landing with her feet completely on the box.

Kindal accepts the landing and the momentum as to not rattle her joints and keep her balance as well.

This can be tough because there are so many amazing exercises that require jumping.

Burpees
Box jumps
Box over burpees
Lunge jumps

So why no jumping?

Mainly because most women don't jump.

Think about it... when was the last time you were actively jumping in your normal... day to day... life?

And because most women don't jump... most women don't know how to land safely from jumping.

And this opens you up to "stupid" injuries.

big idea

A "stupid" injury is an injury that is easily preventable. You get stupid injuries because...

Because you think you can do something when you know deep down you probably should not be doing the thing you're about to do.

In short... a "stupid" injury is an injury caused by overconfidence.

Over Kindal and mine's more than 25 years of combined training...

We've seen:

Ankle
Shin
Knee

...injuries due to jumping or attempting to jump.

Ankles... surprisingly from jump roping... but also exercises like lunge jumps or lunges with a hop.

Shins... all from the fascination for box jumps.

Just one brief moment of trepidation and BAM... shin into the corner of the box and the blood is flowing. (Even Kindal has a pretty gnarly scar from when she started box jumping way higher than she was ready for in her early twenties!)

Knees... mainly from doing step ups that are just too high for the person. Think about it... coming down from a high box is similar to landing during a little jump.

Kindal in the middle of a lunge jump and with the feet swapping position you can see how this can be dangerous when landing.

Kindal lands with her legs bent so she can accept the momentum and not rattle her joints plus she has a better chance to keep her balance too.

While... I'll attempt to help you jump and hop below...

Ask yourself these questions:

Do I consider myself coordinated?
When was the last time I actually jumped outside of a fitness experience?

If you answered:

I am not coordinated...
I can't remember or I don't think I've ever jumped outside of a fitness experience...

As a trainer... I recommend - at least for the time being... you should not jump... or start VERY basic if it's something you want to do.

You're Not Missing Out On A Fitness Secret

Kindal jumping off the box down straight into a burpee but she is coming off a 16 inch box which is pretty high.

Kindal is coming down from the box and you can see how high she is coming from and why an exercise like this can be very dangerous.

Kindal is coming down to the ground and you can see her knees are already bent so she can fall direction into the rep and not land hard on the ground.

Kindal is landing on the ground and going straight down into the burpee controlling the momentum of the fall.

Kindal is taking the momentum of the fall and jumping straight back into her burpee. This is safer and it will speed up the rate of each rep too for more intensity.

Jumping is not a magic fitness secret.

Jumping falls under the plyometric zone of training.

And YES! Plyometric training is pretty great. But it's not something that's vital for the everyday woman or man.

If you're a professional athlete... you need it.

If you're not a professional athlete... you probably don't need it.

You can still train plyometric explosiveness without actually jumping.

Just so you know...

The only types of training you should put nearly all of your focus on are:

Strength training
Flexibility and mobility training
Cardio (running, biking, etc)

How To Jump From A Non-Expert

Let me say... I am not a jumping expert.

Mechanically... I am sure I am about to miss a lot of major points about the "correct" joint positions.

But as I say... you can't be perfect. You just need to be good enough.

It's About The Landing

Kindal at the top of a squat jump ready to land directly into the next rep.

Kindal landing with her legs bent almost as if she is at the bottom of the next squat already.

It's about the landing.

Let's look at a couple exercise examples...

When you're coming back down from your jump, I've seen many women land hard - like their stomping bugs aggressively - then go into the next rep.

When you land hard:

You make it harder to "roll" or "collapse" out of mis-landing
You rattle your joints and add tons of impact stress to them
You ruin the flow of the exercise

You want to land softly, or as I like to say "have a ninja landing"... and as you land you're immediately going into the next rep.

And as you're going into the next rep... you're engaging your muscles so they can activate and complete the rep.

I call this "accepting" the landing.

You don't rattle your joints
You burn out your muscles keeping them engaged in the exercise
If you land funny you an collapse out of the exercise easier

How To Collapse Out Of An Exercise

Kindal at the top of the lunge with a hop. It's only a few inches but still an exercise that carries a lot of momentum from the hop.

Kindal takes her front leg and immediately goes back into the next lunge using the momentum of the hop and still finding balance.

Collapsing out of an exercise is essentially just falling to the ground in a special way.

Similar to how I fell during in the Spartan race.

Now... there is not "real" science of testing this but here's what I always do...

I don't stiffen my joints.

If you've ever been on a large bridge... you'll stand there and feel it sway and bounce as traffic goes over it.

This is because a stiff bridge will form cracks in the foundation and break.

Same with your body.

If you stiffen up... you'll break bones and/or injure joint ligaments.

Rather collapse down almost like a rag doll.

As you land... I always try to find the back of my shoulder so I can roll a little.

The back of your shoulder is pretty robust and by rolling you're dispersing the momentum of the fall.

This drastically decreases the chances of injury.

Do You Want More Expert and Non-Expert Fitness Training?

Haha!

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This is the high intensity strength training that produces the best results.

If the style of training in our programs...

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Of course:

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