Guest Post: 5 Tips to DOMINATE Your Double Unders

How’s it going? Robby Blanchard here!

If you are reading this blog post right now then you already know and love Shawna and her awesome training, Challenge Workout programs and her pullups. I mean, Shawna can bust out pullups like nobody’s business…how awesome is that?! But on top of all that she is an awesome person and coach.

So the other day me and Shawna were speaking on the phone and she had asked me to write a guest post today to give you some tips on how to do a double under.

I guess you could say she “roped” me into doing it…bada bing!

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Don’t know what a double under is? Don’t worry…we will get to that in a second. But before I do…let me tell you a little bit about me…
I love to golf, I have an unhealthy obsession with sneakers and I love to ski. In fact, as I’m writing this right now we are in the middle of getting almost 3 feet of snow in the Blizzard of 2015 here in Boston so I’m pretty excited to hit the slopes later.

I have also been a coach and trainer for almost a decade and for the last four years I’ve owned a CrossFit Box (which means gym in the language of CrossFit…don’t worry I’ll be your translator).

In CrossFit we incorporate a lot of jump roping into our workouts. Of all the jump rope movements that you can do, the Double Under is the “gold standard.” Double Unders are basically when you swing the jump rope underneath you twice in one jump…hence the name, Double Under.
It really is an awesome movement because A.) it looks cool to do and B.) If normal jump roping can burn 19 calories a minute…just imagine the calorie burn that you can get from double unders 🙂

This movement can be hard to learn at first if you’ve never done it before. In fact some members of my gym would take up to 6 months to learn how to do a double under. And of course there would be many whip marks along the way.

Honestly, it shouldn’t take you 6 months to learn this movement. In fact, if you follow a program like my Dominate Your Double Under Program it can take you less than 21 days. I want to help as many people as possible learn how to do double unders because its an awesome fat burning exercise and is such a great way to tone and strengthen your body.
Without further adieu, here are 5 tips that will help you get closer to dominating your double unders in your next workout.

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1. The Setup:

In order to be successful in double unders, you need to be set up correctly with your jump rope.
Feet should be underneath your hips.
Stand tall with your arms slightly bent at your side.
Look straight ahead but should still be able to see your hands with your peripheral vision.
Also, thing about keeping your arms in tight…as if your triceps were stuck to your sides.

2. The Jump:

It’s important that when you are jumping that you keep your feet underneath you the entire time. You don’t want to donkey kick (kicking your legs back) or pike (kicking your legs forward). Both of these will make it really hard to rebound off of the ground. By keeping your feet underneath you, this allows you to stay light on your feet and rebound faster.
Also, think about lengthening your jump as if you were trying to touch your head to the ceiling. Remember, that rope is less than a centimeter thick…so if you jump 6″ in the air…thats more than enough room for it to pass through twice!

3. The Wrists:

The wrists should be doing the most work when it comes to getting that rope around. It’s important to keep your arms in tight and use your wrists as that is the most efficient way to do multiple double unders in a row. Remember, as long as your wrists are moving faster than your jump, you’ll be in a good position to get a double under. Even if you have to slow your jump a bit, thats ok…just as long as your wrist speed is high and in sync.

4. The Rope:

There are hundreds of choices when it comes to a good speed rope. In terms of brand its really personal preference. However, its very important that you size your rope correctly. Make sure that those handles are no higher than your armpits (leave it a little longer if you are just starting out). Also, the handles are like the shaft on the golf club…the most important part. If you can find handles that spin smooth without resistance, this will help give you an advantage.

5. Practice:

Above all, there is nothing more important to learning the double under than being consistent in your practice. If you are consistent, you can learn in less than 21 days as I prove in my program.

The Double Under is an awesome movement that is extremely cool to learn. If you follow these five tips from my Dominate Your Double Unders program  you will be well on your way to dominating your double unders and you will have another great fat burning too to add some variety to your jump rope and daily workouts.

Keep Rockin!
Robby Blanchard, MBA, BS, CPT

Robby is the Owner of CrossFit Reach and the Creator of Dominate Your Double Unders, a program designed to help you learn how to double under in 21 days or less. He is a CrossFit Level 1 trainer, CrossFit Olympic Lifting and CrossFit Strongman Certified as well as a USAW Level 1 Coach. Robby has over 9 years of experience in the world of Strength of Conditioning and uses his experience to help improve the health and fitness of everyone that is following his programs.