Depth Jump

The depth jump is a plyometric exercise in which you step off a box, absorb the landing and immediately jump as high as you can. It is not a box jump in reverse: the point is the transition between landing and take-off, the moment where the tendons store and return elastic energy. Athletes use it to develop reactive strength, the quality that separates a fast first step from a slow one, and it transfers directly to sprinting, jumping and change of direction. It is also the most demanding exercise in the plyometric family. The forces at landing are several times bodyweight, which means it belongs late in a training progression, after you can squat and land well, and early in a session while you are fresh. Quality of contact matters far more than the number of repetitions.