Cross Training workouts: Mastering Double Unders

A jump rope is such an incredible piece of exercising equipment that people tend to ignore because of how it reminds them of their childhood plays. Even the world greatest such as Muhammad Ali used the jumping rope to enhance their coordinating and stamina while at the same time building speed and agility. 

In CrossFit workouts, one thing to be appreciated is that irrespective of your level of fitness, there is always a learning curve to mastering a new movement.

A lot of CrossFit athletes and jump rope enthusiasts sort of struggle with double unders despite their fitness. Below are some of the double unders mistakes and how you can avoid them.

Moving the Rope with the Whole-Arm

In double unders, you should never swing your arms because this won’t help you in getting the rope around twice for every jump.  The key here is to learn how to move the rope efficiently.

To fix this, you should work on your wrist. The starting point is to do a single bounce so that you can get comfortable. Instead of moving your arms, you should just do a quick flick of your wrist. Once you get used to one of these CrossFit workouts, you can try flicking faster as you consistently develop your swing timing. The pros in double unders or triple unders focus on the heights of their jumps by moving their wrist faster.

Keeping Your Feet Too Close Together When Jumping

Bringing your feet together when doing double unders can easily throw you off balance. It may cause you to jolt right, left, back, or forward too much. This wastes the same energy you should be using in bouncing up and down.

The correct positioning of your feet should be at least hip distance apart. This will give you a stable base which in turn will put you in control as you perform more coordinated jumps.

Launching into A Dolphin Kick Position Mid-Air

Shooting your legs into a pike position may seem like a trick to get some extra time in the air as you swing the rope around but the reality is that such move can make you land heavier and undermines your recovery. Experts from CrossFit workouts, recommend that you should keep your legs right under you while in the air so that you can be prepared to do a quick rebound once you land on the floor.

Arms Floating Away from the Body

Imagine you are in the CrossFit gym and then out of nowhere you get smacked by a rope. This usually happens when an athlete doing double unders moves their arms away from their torso, and this makes the arc of the rope around the body shorter. To solve this, keep your elbows as close as possible to the rib cage. Try to keep your arms in as much motionless position as possible while extending the elbows. Remember it is your wrist that should be doing the work and not your arms.

To add to the above, ensure you change your rope each time you do your workout. Avoid picking any rope because ropes come in different thicknesses and lengths which may affect your tempo.