Topic: How tall are your jerk boxes?

[Paul LaDuke]

If anyone has built jerk boxes, how tall did you build them?  If you have used them in your training, how tall were they?  If you have stacked some boxes, how tall did you stack them?

I have some really nice 4x4 stock that is just waiting for me to convert into some jerk boxes but I would like to know what others have experienced as I have never been fortunate enough to. 

I did some brief measurements off a video and the bumper height from the floor at the lowest point of my jerk dip is just at 37".  So I would guess I would want to use a 36" box or so.  The video was from a max attempt of 125kg so I would think that would be my max depth.  Lighter weights would probably be the same depth or even less dip length.

Any thoughts and experiences to share?

I am thinking of making 4 boxes that could be stacked at 18" of height each.

[Shaun Le Conte]

Hi Paul, I would just consider whether you intend to allow people to train with you at some point that may be a bit shorter than you. Maybe recruits, or clients of yours for example. My clubmate jerks up to 195 kg@92 kg bwt and he is fine with using racks that for him could easy be a few inches taller. It's up to you and what you see in your future.

[Matt Erdman]

I'm 5'11" and made mine 43". They are too tall to jerk in, but I realized that I am to clostrophobic to want to jerk between the boxes anyway. So I'll leave them. I'm the only one that uses them. For me, I think 36" would hard to get under the the weight in the first place. I would be at half squat.

If you can figure out a good way to adjust the height in 2" increments, you would be golden.

[Paul LaDuke]

I should have pointed out that I am 5'9" tall.

I have been thinking about some sort of adjustable height box similar to a plyometric box but of course able to hold several hundred pounds dropping from a couple of feet high.

Any ideas would be appreciated.

[Chris Ⓐ LeRoux]

Personally, I have come to the decision that the use of jerk boxes is counterproductive for several reasons. First, I believe learning to bring the weight down to the collar and absorb the impact efficiently is useful for developing overall jerk skill. At least with weights you would do for reps, you should be able to do this without great difficulty. But, if one really doesn't want to deal with the impacts with heavy singles or the risk of injury with heavy behind the neck jerks, it is not such a big deal to simply dump the weight, strip some off the bar, and then power clean it back to the rack and reload the weights for more sets. I'd rather do this then spend the money and time building blocks, let alone give up the space in the gym for them. Further, blocks make it much more difficult for a coach to observe the footwork/overall movement and of course adjusting them to different athletes needs according to height is a pain in the butt.

Just my two cents.

[Walter Bailey]

We have some "semi-adjustable" jerk boxes at the gym in where I train.  I'll try and take some pictures in the next couple of days.

Walter

[Walter Bailey]

Pictures of the jerk tables at our club

[Paul LaDuke]

Walt,

Thanks for the images!  Great stuff. 

I think I will build stacking boxes that are 18", 12" and 6" tall and then 2-3 more 2" risers.  This will make the jerk boxes pretty adjustable from 36" to 42" or so in 2" increments. 

All of this will be free for me as I found some pallets behind a local strip mall made out of 3"x3" wood with true 1" thick slats on top.  I also had found another 4x4 sheet of 3/4" plywood skid at another strip mall about 1 year ago.  It pays to dumpster dive!  I will post pictures when they are done.