Tuesday, February 17, 2015

Holy Matrimony, It's Double Unders, Learning to Dominate Them In Good Times and Bad...

Nope, def not me jumping
Never in my life have I had such an on again, off again relationship with anything in my life; introducing my relationship with the double Under. A
seemingly simple move - rotating a jump rope under your feet twice during one vertical jump into the air. Just like I can't dance, and I also can't coordinate my arms and legs to sync up enough to do multiple double unders consistently. The end result of my double under effort has left me with long-lasting whip marks and various tones of F-bombs spewing from my mouth. I also sigh and say "oh my God" a lot.

My best double under solution happened yesterday (hallelujah!!) with a double under seminar taught my Molly Metz of JumpNRope. Let me tell you the ease at which her and her team can jump rope. First off, Molly has been jumping rope for 32 years and she looks like she is 20 years old. Have you heard of rebounding (jumping) on trampolines and with jump ropes in order to detox your lymphatic system? Well, Molly is a breathing example to the anti-aging benefits of rebounding. Her team doesn't look at double unders like the rest of us, instead they do triple unders and even do gymnastic style jumping with splits and stuff that makes you question how a body can move like theirs.
Practicing Double Unders 5 months ago. Daughter  more impressed than I was

The double under seminar started with us meeting Molly and her writing our name on a name tag with the most double unders we have ever done consecutively. My number was 27, which meant I was grouped into the advanced category thus I realized I should have said my number was 5. It also meant I once had a spark of hope for my double unders and then I lost it because I wasn't consistently practicing them. If you're also missing your double unders, then your problem could be as simple as this: Consistency. Can you pick up your rope everyday and practice? (talking to myself here, too). Even if you have never done double unders in your life, the following tips should be incredibly useful, read on my jumping friend.


                Double Unders in One Minute: World Record, 169. Prepare to be amazed!



How To Have A Successful Marriage 
With Your Double Unders:

Part 1. Rope and Body Positioning:

  1. You want to jump with a rope that when rotating above your head, ends up being about 10" above your head. Any longer or shorter will work but 10" is the most efficient. A good rule is to stand on the rope mid foot and bring the handles up. The handles should reach to about nipple height
  2. Hold your rope mostly with your thumb and index finger, they will drive the rotation of the rope. Use your wrists to move the rope - it is what controls the speed and the rotation
  3. Keep your core in a hollow body hold position - which means suck in your gut and keep your chest up high. Don't lean back while jumping
  4. Keep your whole hand on the handle, holding with your thumb facing up, this will give you the most endurance during the wrist movement


    The Hollow Body Position
Part 2. The Jump
  1. Don't jump for 2 hours straight (like I did) if you have to do anything the next day that involves walking because your calf muscles will be worthless
  2. Focus on jumping higher, but also slower - you need time for the rope to under twice
  3. The most efficient way is to keep your hands and elbows near your hips, but the more tired you get the further from your core your arms tend to go. The Best tip I got for hand/arm position is to hold your jump rope and place your fists on your hips like headlights. Then relax your shoulders. The position where your hands are now is ideally where they should be for jumping.
  4. Relax your shoulders, relax everything that you can, in fact. Your goal should be to make double unders in your workout be a resting period. The only way to do that is to find a speed that works to make them flawless.
  5. Check your rope speed. This is the complicated part for me: timing. Can you slow down or speed up your rope while changing the speed of your jump? This is the part I struggle with most. My wrists tend to get over excited to double under, but my legs are less than thrilled. Thus while my legs are rolling their eyes like a cranky teenager, but arms are amped like little hampsters in a cage, so things get messy. Change the timing.
  6. Mantra them. Mentally (or out loud) say 1,2,1,2,1,2 over and over to keep rhythm
  7. Stay positive that you will get them, and practice like you mean it

Can you find me?

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