Cheap alternatives to plyometric boxes?

[Ben Gash]

Anybody got any suggestions for something cheap that I can use for box jumps?

[MasterKiller]

Milk crates?

[GunnedDownAtrocity]

plywood and 2x4s

random walls in the neighborhood.

playground

cars of people you dont like

[sanjuro_ronin]

Anybody got any suggestions for something cheap that I can use for box jumps?

Cheaper than what?
Cheaper than stuff you can find a wal-mart of the depot ?

[sanjuro_ronin]

plywood and 2x4s

random walls in the neighborhood.

playground

cars of people you don't like

On that note:

Faces of people you don't like
Your bosses desk
Your neighbour's bed when he is away

[Ben Gash]

Cheaper than the purpose made $200 plyometric boxes you can get.
Milk crate's not big enough
I live in a new suburb, there are no random walls
people look at you kinda funny here if you hang out in playgrounds.

[Oso]

i'm in the same delima (sp?...no, too tired and ****y to look it up) luckily we train in a room built for aerobics and there is a stage w/ a 14" or so rise. Not much for gains but great for 30 second runs at it.

i have figured out that we are going to use our puzzle mats one day when we go for max heights. they are pretty stable when stacked up and easy enough to figure total height 7/8" at a time.

back at my old kung fu/ninja school we used to practice jumping up on both regular stools (leave it alone, just don't go there!) that were 30" in height I think?

we also jumped up on 2x4's that were resting across the backs of folding metal chairs...kinda a biotch since the tops were rounded off and if you didn't stick it you fell down on the 2x4 and the chairs...and had to do pushups afterwards.

[Pork Chop]

In the kung fu school in DC; we used to jump up and back down stairs (no turning around).
Start off on the first step - jump up, as soon as your feet touch, spring off and jump back down.
From there we'd either pyramid up (1st up & down, 1st - 2nd up & down, 1-2-3rd, etc) or we'd start with the first for 20 reps, do the second for 20, the third for 20, until you found the step you couldn't get to.

We usually did the jumping forward & backward; but both workouts (especially the pyramid) could be done side-to-side; you'd wanna switch sides somewhere in that workout though.

If you want more height, you could probably find those step aerobics platforms pretty cheap and just add the spacers till they're the height you want.

Personally, I don't have much of a vertical, so 3 or 4 stairs was usually good enough for me.

Other things I've seen used:
a stack of mats,
park bench (concrete probably the best),
car bumper,
stack of plywood....
be creative

[Oso]

cool, we did stair stuff too, both jumping and crawling up and down on just the hands and feet (DRAGON crawling ooooohh!)...headfirst & assfirst both up and down

[GunnedDownAtrocity]

Cheaper than the purpose made $200 plyometric boxes you can get.
Milk crate's not big enough
I live in a new suburb, there are no random walls
people look at you kinda funny here if you hang out in playgrounds.

there are always walls.

people wont look at you funny if your at the playground with a buddy. ill admit its easier for me since 2 of my buddies are my 8 year old daugher and 14 year old nephew, but you can still do it if you have a friend.

the steps thing is a good idea. ive done it for random fun, but never thought to use it for training.

[Royal Dragon]

Just do what the Monks at shaolin do, Dig a Hole, and jump out of it. When it gets too easy, dig it deeper.

There, simple, problem solved and it's free.

[sanjuro_ronin]

Just do what the Monks at shaolin do, Dig a Hole, and jump out of it. When it gets too easy, dig it deeper.

There, simple, problem solved and it's free.

Especially useful for apartment dwellers

[David Jamieson]

just scrap it.

you don't need any devices for good plyometrics training anyway.

substitute with other plyo routines to fit.

squat/ touch the floor/ explod upwards with hands high

squat touch the floor/ explode up/change stance in air/land repeat

creek jumping. jump around as if you are jumping over water, really push your distances.

squat with weight (light) / explode and jump (this one is deadly! go light!)

lunge training and more lunge training and then some more

tire jumps (just like in football)

ski-twists one foot and two l>c>r>c>l - repeat

all these routines you can do for 1 minute per and you will feel it...big time.

Now, here's why i suggest you don't use boxes.

1. you can miss and get hurt
2. you will find that people will rest when they get up there

keep the pace of jump training brisk and vigorous, you will get a ton out of it.

the more you can workout with as few devices as possible, the better off you are imo.

with the exception of heavy resistance training, which, well...you need weight! lol

also, i did mention the use of weights a couple of times in plyo.
there's tons of stuff out there. box training is not the best plyo training though.

[SevenStar]

benches and various other objects you run across.

[Oso]

We did some work using our puzzle mats saturday. Worked out ok but you have to make sure they are stacked straight.

One of my students (male, 21, 165) cleared just over 48". Everyone else cleared at least 36"