Rope skipping: successfully completing the Double Under

Rope skipping is an exercise used in many sports, including cross-training. It provides an intense workout for muscles all over the body and improves cardiovascular health. There are many variations on this workout, including the “Doubles Under”, literally translated as “double rope turns”. This technique is very demanding, but not impossible to perform. With WODANDGO, find out how to make a success of your jumps.

Why make Doubles Under?

Rope skipping is a great way for athletes to work on their cardio, burn calories and improve their overall fitness. It mainly involves the lower body, toning your calves and developing the muscles of your legs and thighs. In addition to these benefits, this exercise promotes abdominal sheathing and is effective for achieving a flat stomach. It also improves balance, endurance and coordination.

Doubles Under exercises give you all these benefits, but in a more optimal way. They involve twisting the rope twice around you in a single jump. They therefore require a bigger leap, as well as greater speed, concentration and precision in practice. If classic rope skipping seems too simple, this variant is perfect for you. It involves very rapid concentric contractions that sculpt your calves to give you an athletic look.

How do you make your Doubles Under?

The key to mastering the Doubles Under is to get your jumps right. First of all, launch yourself in the right way, making high jumps and being able to absorb the landing. Do this exercise without a rope and get used to doing high jumps consistently for a few minutes. Try not to pause during your jumps.

When you’re ready to use a rope, make sure you use your wrists to lift it off the ground. Don’t use your arms for rotations, as this can lead to shoulder injuries. Also protect yourself with the quality cross-training accessories you can find in the WODANDGO store.

Use a double wrist movement to rotate the rope twice under your feet while you’re still in the air. This movement must be performed at very high speed to prevent the rope from catching on your legs during the descent. Once you’ve found the technique that works, you’ll be able to perform this movement with less effort during your training.

Once you’ve achieved good coordination between the jumps and your wrists, you need to find the ideal rhythm to link the jumps together easily. This requires a lot of practice and patience.

During your first fitness or cardio sessions, you can alternate three single jumps with a Double Under. As the workout gets easier, shift up a gear by reducing the number of single jumps. The aim is to get the joints and muscles of your wrists, legs, feet, shoulders and arms used to the movements.

What are the main mistakes to avoid?

To do Double Under properly, you need to master theclassic jump rope exercise. Most beginners try to jump into Double Jump too quickly. So make sure you practice single jumps over several sessions before moving on to the next level, at the risk of falling or seriously injuring yourself.

During this exercise, many people bend their knees forward. This posture is very bad for the back and can lead to muscle and joint damage in the legs. To avoid these injuries during your workout, try to keep your chest facing upwards, as if you were doing squats.

You shouldn’t bring your knees up during the jump either. This can lead to a significant impact of your weight on your shins and ankles on the way down. You should also keep your legs straight during the exercise.

Don’t spread your arms wide during your jumps either. The level of the rope rises when your elbows are away from your chest. There’s a risk of the rope catching on your feet and causing you to fall. That’s why you need to keep your arms close to your body during your jumps.

You can also combine the Wall Ball with your skipping exercises to improve your explosiveness, speed, coordination and endurance. This is an all-round fitness exercise. It consists of doing squats to send a ball against a high wall in rhythmic sets and repetitions.

Discover all the skipping ropes on sale in our WODANDGO store.