What I Learned from Jumping Over 1,000 Times

I’ve recently been obsessed with jumping on plyometric boxes.

These measured boxes and I go back to my high school track days, when I remember loving them. But doing them now, it’s a whole different experience of jumping.

Starting them again, it wasn’t nearly as fun because there was a feeling that consumed me.

It was strong and overcoming.

And each f-ing time I was just about to launch myself in the air, it poured over me.

It was fear.

Fear of scraping the skin off my shins.

Fear of hitting my face hard on the surface.

Fear of one leg making it on and the other missing.

After countless hours in the gym jumping on these boxes, it teaches you a couple lessons. Lessons that I think are parallel in life.

Here’s what I learned—

confidence is built through action

Fear strikes because you’re afraid. You’re afraid because you’re not confident.

The way to build confidence is through action. It’s like your mind maintains a subconscious log of “because I have done this when I thought I couldn’t, I know I can do that.”

Rather than approaching a 36” plyometric box scared as shit, I built up my confidence with shorter heights. I got familiar with it in muscle memory and in my own self belief.

I kept jumping, building up to larger heights as my confidence was building with it.

The cool thing is that confidence is transferable. You take that and apply to other areas where you might feel doubtful.

what’s the worst that can happen?

To combat fear, I like to think: “What’s the worst that can REALLY happen here?”

I stared at the tall, cold, metal box with its sharp corners and edges as Kanye is booming in my ears trying to amp me up.

I could fall too forward.

I could hit my face.

I could scrape my legs (which has happened plenty)

OK, but then what?

Then, nothing.

The worst thing that happens is cuts and bruises and I live another day.

The worst thing is not even bad at all. So tell fear to go F itself.

Control what you can control

When you jump your highest, you focus only on your explosiveness.

The possibility of you screwing up and eating the gym floor will be there. But you can’t think about that— this is when you just. do. it. You need to jump with outright intent to stick the landing.

If you launch yourself in the air with doubt in your mind, thinking that you might fall, you will.

Focus on jumping as high as freakin’ possible and your body will instinctively catch itself. Control your launch.

Real quick— when is the last time you tried to jump as high as you could?

I think as we grow up, we forget how to play and we stop challenging ourselves to run our fastest and jump our highest.

Jumping on plyometric boxes has been one of the best forms of play for me recently.

I’m working my way up to the 42” box and yes, I’m still scared as shit but I got this.