Finally!

3 years I have been going to Crossfit.  3 years I have had the goal of doing a box jump.  3 years I have been crippled with fear of jumping onto a box.  The highest I have successfully jumped with 2 feet jumping and landing at the same time has been 3 bumper plates which equates to 9 or 10 inches.  I have attempted 4 plates before but couldn't land 2 feet.  I have a 12" box at home but have been unsuccessful in jumping on that and it freaks me out more than the boxes we have at the gym.

I purchased a 20" foam box for home.  I would have liked to have gotten a smaller one but they were only available in sets of 3 boxes and way out of my price range so I chose to go with the 20" box and hope that I could jump on the darn thing.  Seeing as I could jump onto my bed which is around the same height there was not reason why I couldn't get my short little legs up onto that box.

It hasn't been as easy as I thought it was going to be.  I have failed over and over, I have had to hold onto Mal's hands and even then there was no guarantee that I would make the jump.  I started looking at buying a 16" box as I had lost all confidence in my ability to jump 20".

Last night Mal was at cricket training when I started my practice.  Jardan had suggested that I record myself doing tuck jumps in front of the box to prove to myself that I'm capable of getting my feet up that high.  It was close but my feet were clearing the box.  I had started doing this thing where I put my hands at the front of the box and jump up and down (rebound jumping).  This helped me get used to the height of the box as well as made me realise that I was capable.  I then did a fast step up and really tried to explode as I stepped up onto the box.  I went from that to again putting my hands on the box, jumping into the squat position and then standing up on top of the box and stepping down.  I noticed that I was resting on my hands less and less but when I tried to just jump onto the box I was finding it hard to bring my feet through into the squat and was landing on my knees.

A few months ago, I was at the gym doing weightlifting.  I couldn't make the lift and despite Tia's coaching failed a few times.  She eventually said to me that to succeed I really need to want it.  Last night I knew that I needed to get hungry.  I decided that I really wanted to make the jump.

Something I noticed when I had Mal hold my hands, my first few failed attempts involved me being able to get my right foot through with my left lagging behind so I decided to focus on getting my right foot into position and not worry about my left.  I did this a few times and then eventually my left foot figured out what to do.  I finally jumped onto a box!!!!  I needed to record it to show my coaches so I set up my tablet and did it again!  After 3 years I have finally jumped onto a box!