10 Great Plyo Box Exercises for Powerful Legs and Extreme Fat Burn

Plyometric box exercises are very common in CrossFit boxes. It is because they have many benefits when it comes to exercising, as they develop our strength, power and endurance.

It is important to note that the box is also characterized by having 3 different heights which makes it a powerful workout equipment that can be used to increase the intensity of your workouts. If you have never used it before, start with the lowest one and when you get used to it, try a higher height.

If you don’t feel very confident you can put some plates on the box to raise the height little by little or add difficulty when you want to test the explosiveness of your jumps.

Usually we reduce the exercises with box to the box jumps, but there are many more exercises that will allow you to train your lower body improving your strength, power and endurance and burning fat. Here are the 10 great plyo box exercises for powerful legs and fat burn

1. Box jump

It’s good to have strong legs, fit and able to move weight, but what if we were also able to give them power and speed to be able to run faster and jump higher? With the most basic exercise that we can perform with the plyo box – the box jump, we can get all these benefits and burn a lot of fat.

This one of the 10 great plyo box exercises for powerful legs and fat burn exercise, consists of jumping with both feet at the same time and land on the box also with both feet at the same time, once on it you stand up to extend the hips.

To get off the box, lower first one foot and then the other. Be careful when getting off the box with a jump backwards, although it is a practice that we see in pro athletes, for a rookie it can be dangerous and even cause injuries. In this exercise you get on and off the box on the same side.

2. Box Jump Over

You can do it in 3 ways: jumping on the plyo box with both feet, placing both feet at the same time and going down (with one or two feet) on the other side. You can also do a step over, which would be stepping up the plyo box with one foot, following by the other one and stepping down on the other side of the box.

You can do the fast mode in which you don’t extend your hips at the top, jump with both feet, land in half squat and jump again with both feet to go down, it’s almost touching the surface. Note that this last one must be practiced a lot to do it correctly and safely but is still one of the10 great plyo box exercises for powerful legs and fat burn.

3. Burpee Box Jump

The combination of these two exercises is FIRE. Both burpees and box jumps are an incredible test of explosiveness and strength. Putting those movements together, you’ll improve your cardiovascular endurance, strengthen your entire body…and burn tons of calories.

To start this exercise, get into the starting position of a burpee and perform the movement, either facing the box or to the side.

Once you perform the burpee and are back on your feet, push yourself up and jump on the box, landing softly with both feet. Then come down on the same side of the box, or if you want to increase the difficulty, land on the other side and repeat.

4. Step Up

This plyo box exercise is very simple but great for powerful legs and fat burn. Step up one leg, then the other and once up on the box, you extend your hips. You come back down on the same side, lowering first one leg and then the other, or both at the same time with a jump. This exercise performed at a high intensity or with weights can give an extra boost to your metabolism which will not only strengthen your legs but also burn more fat.

5. Step Up Over

A variation of the exercise explained above. It consists of stepping up on one side of the box and stepping down on the other side of the box. Still, performed at high intensity it will help you to improve your fitness and also to burn more fat.

6. Explosive Step Up

One of the 10 great plyo box exercises for powerful legs and fat burn. The explosive step-up is an effective explosive strength exercise for the thighs, hamstrings and glutes.

Stand in front of the box and place one foot on the box while keeping the other foot firmly on the floor. Then, move upwards explosively, as if you wanted to perform a jump by pushing yourself up with the leg that is resting on the floor and squeeze your legs and glutes.

7. Weighted Step Up

Is basically a step up with extra weight – with medlball, with dumbbell, with kettlebell, with sandbag, with plate, with barbell behind the neck…

The extra weight will make you have to work harder to perform this exercise, you will work on strength, balance and burn more fat.

Be careful when going up and down, going down will always be more complicated and where we can get injured.

8. Bulgarian Squat with Jump

Meet another one of the 10 great plyo box exercises for powerful legs and fat burn.

The Bulgarian squat is an excellent exercise to work the lower body and strengthen the legs and glutes quickly.

It basically consists of placing the tip of one foot on the box and bending the other leg. Among the variations of the Bulgarian squat, you can’t miss the one that includes a vertical jump. Like any type of squat, this exercise is perfect for gaining endurance and burn fat quickly. To perform this variation, once you’re going up, add a vertical jump.

9. Box Calf Raises

Stand with your feet slightly wider than your shoulders. Adjust your foot so that both heels are out of the box.

Shift the weight to the toes of your feet. The calves have the function of a cardio pump, preventing muscle cramps, swelling, varicose veins, etc. When practicing certain movements, such as sprinting, it is necessary to change position, in these cases, the calves support more than 10 times the weight of the body, in addition, during jumping exercises, they stabilize the knees and protect the joints.

10. Deep Jump and Jump

Deep jumps are a fundamental plyometric exercise that works the entire body and are one of the 10 great plyo box exercises for powerful legs and fat burn. Perform a box jump and once you land on the ground, explode vertically as high as you can.

Use your legs on the jump, swinging your arms for extra height and supporting your core on the landing.

This movement is all about shortening your reaction time and will also increase your lower body strength, which will translate into increased strength in deadlifts and squats.

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