Yola's Back to Basics: Double Unders

Jump once, pass  the rope twice. You would think that sounds quite easy right? I will  already tell you: it’s not. You gotta love them. Or hate them. Or both! Double unders can literally be a pain in the ass, but as soon as you managed to do once it becomes an addiction and you want to do more of them. This exercise is well known in CrossFit but I think everyone should try to fit them in a workout because these bastards are a great full body exercise and get you exhausted and out-of-breath in no time!

Muscles
The jumping rope is a full body exercise, you need all of your muscles to work together to get it right. While the rope goes round and round your upper body muscles are working really hard to keep it going while your core is solid as a rock. For the jump we need our lower body muscles like glutes, quadriceps, hamstrings and calves to keep us going up and down.

How to
Some of us probably would say: you shouldn’t, because it hurts. Well, that might be true, but we still think you should try them with the right instructions. Explaining a double under is really easy. It’s an exercise with a jump rope where the rope makes two passes per jump instead of one. Double unders take some coordination and have a higher intensity then singles. You need to have good control of the rope to do multiple double unders. You can practice your control by just starting with singles and speeding your jumps up.

Do’s
Tie your hair in a tight bun, because when you have a  tail or braid it will crash into your rope constantly and you will soon get irritated with it.

Keep your jumps short and soft. Making giant jumps will not make it easier. You don’t have to be way up in the air to succeed a double under. The secret is to move as less as possible (except for making small but steady jumps) while the rope goes round and round.

Rotate the rope from your wrists. The rest of your arms and body will hardly move, except for up and down ofcourse.

Use a speedrope, these ropes are made for fast movements so it will make it easier for you to double under. It's nearly impossible to do a double under with a regular jumping rope.

Make sure you are in a place where you have enough space and will not get interrupted by other people walking by. That is not just for your own safety, we don’t want anyone to meet that speed rope.

Absolute Dont’s
Please, do not scream like your ass in on fire when the rope hits it. We know it hurts, we really do..Just curse once. Or twice. Then start over again. Or quit. But we are Fit Girls, so I prefer you choose the first option. You can do it!!

Do not jump down like you want to create a giant whole in the floor. It’s a sort of natural thing to do   when you did a double under (I used to do it too) but it doesn’t make it easier. Just stay straight and keep your jumps short and soft.

Variations
When you want to do double unders in a workout but don’t want them to be high-intense you can can combine them with singles in between. It looks like this: 1 double under, 5 singles, 1 double under, 5 singles.

Then there is such a thing as triple unders.  Yup, for real! One jump, three rope passes. Make sure you can do some decent double unders first because this one is a real pain in the ass and can get your frustration levels up in no time! But when you manage to do one it feels awesome! Let's give it a go.

We suggest you just try it. Promise you don’t quit if it won’t work out the first time and you probably will end up with some nasty red and blue stripes on your body, but believe us when we say that practice makes perfect! The double under is truly a workout that gets  your heart rate up in no time!