Double Unders, a Lesson in Patience.

Double unders. Two words that brought anxiety and frustration to me for a couple years. I can look back on my struggle with this movement and see that some of the things I did actually sabotaged my progress. Here is my experience.

My biggest mistake was thinking that I would just get them. You may laugh reading this, but it was true. I thought it would just come naturally. When it didn’t, I was frustrated. Other people made it look so easy. In reality, double unders are like any other movement. It takes practice and time to get better. When I wanted to get my pull-ups, I had to put the work in. It didn’t happen overnight but I did get them. Double unders are the exact same. I just didn’t see that at the time.

The frustration of not getting them right away left me not wanting to try. I would spend a week or two practicing and then go back to single unders. After another couple weeks or so I would try again. Still not any better than my previous attempt, I would get frustrated and quit...again. I repeated this cycle for almost two years. I never once got any better at double unders. I made every excuse I could. I wasn’t coordinated enough. It hurt too much when I whipped myself. I have had too many babies and my bladder can’t handle it. If there was an excuse, I had it.

Finally, after the Open in the spring of 2019 I realized I had to put the work in. I am not 100% sure what made me change my mindset. I decided this was going to be the year I got double unders...and I did! It wasn’t pretty, but I got them. It is funny how powerful our minds can be. I started slow. I would just practice for time in the workouts. Sometimes I would get 5, sometimes I wouldn’t get any. After a month or so, I got to a place where I was consistently getting 5. Instead of practicing for time I started giving myself a number to hit. If the workout called for 50 then I would hit 25. There were some long, ugly workouts. I finished last many times, but I wouldn’t let myself quit. Eventually I got where I was linking 25 du. This was huge for me. I knew that I could do it.

Now, my biggest set is 50 unbroken. I can do that pretty consistently. I still mess up. The difference is I won’t quit. I hope in sharing my progress you can avoid some of the mistakes that I made.