The double-under has been the source of much frustration to CrossFitters around the world and it need not be the case. Check out our tips below to start you on the road on the road to double-under mastery.
1. Learn how to do singles. This might sound obvious but you need to know how to skip – really well. Practice your skipping to the point where it is a no brainer. If you can already to double-unders but you can’t skip very well – go back to the drawing board and work on this basic skill.
2. Use the right rope. If the rope is too long or too short then your making the job harder than it needs to be. If the rope feels like it is going to hit you in the back of the head, it is too short and if you find yourself holding the handles of your rope at full extension of your arms to the side of your body, it is too long. Start with a rope that is about armpit height when you stand on it and make small adjustments from there.
3. Aim for small sets before big ones. The first goal is 1 rep, then 2, then 3 etc. If you’re trying to do big sets before you’ve built consistency and efficiency into your movement, you are essentially training yourself to do the reps incorrectly. Perfect practice makes perfect performance.
4. Be patient. It can take a while to get these but that is not a reason to give up. Every activity in the gym relates to another in ways that you might not even realise – the neurological (coordination, accuracy, agility, balance) training value of the double under will carry over to other movements without you even realising.
5. Here is a simple training idea that you can use as a warm-up or finisher that will help to improve your double-unders. Pick a rep scheme that is appropriate and perform it every day for a week before you move onto the next rep scheme. The reps need to be done unbroken in all sets to count.
1-2-3-4-5-4-3-2-1
2-4-6-8-10-8-6-4-2
5-10-15-20-25-20-15-10-5
10-20-30-40-50-40-30-20-10
So there you have it – follow these simple steps and you could be the next Buddy Lee!
