So, you want to step up your jump rope workouts? Add a little variety? Ramp up your calorie burn?
Well, double unders are a great option if you’re looking for a new challenge.
Welcome to the ultimate double under training guide. In this post, we will teach you how to do double unders, like a pro.
Before we get going, we don’t recommend jumping right into the double under exercise if you’re new to jump rope fitness.
If you’re just starting, check out our beginner guide on how to jump rope for a detailed breakdown of the basics to get you started.
Where This Guide Will Take You
When we first started developing the Crossrope System, our founder, Dave Hunt’s, goal was to get to 100 double unders in a row.
It took a long time to even nail down 80 consistently. Hitting that 100 double under milestone proved quite the challenge.
So Dave created a game-plan. Instead of practicing double unders randomly, he put together a strategic double under program.
Within two months, Dave was crushing 200 double unders consistently. He used the same double unders tips and techniques we’ll share in this guide to build up to 639 unbroken double unders (video proof included).
If you stick with this guide, you will learn all the tips and techniques you’ll need to become a double under wonder.
Let’s get started!
What is a Double Under?
A double under is a jump rope exercise where the rope passes under your feet twice during a single jump. This move is more advanced than a standard basic jump and requires both timing and coordination. While the speed of your jump will remain the same as a basic jump, to successfully execute a double under, you must spin the rope faster.
How To Do Double Unders Step-By-Step
In this post, we’re going to provide a lot of details on how to do double unders so make sure to bookmark this post and refer back to it as you’re practicing.
Step 1: Master Basic Jump
Before you learn double unders, your basic jump technique has to be solid.
Your jumping needs to be powerful and controlled so you are landing in a balanced position on your midsoles to allow for quick rebounding.
Quick Tip: a basic jump is when the rope passes underneath your feet once while you’re jumping low to the ground. To progress to double unders, you should be able to do basic jump without pausing between rotations or doing a double hop.
Step 2: Practice Explosiveness
The next step for learning double unders is to get the hang of a power jump.
Your form for double unders will stay the same as it is for basic jumps, except your jumps will be more explosive.
The best way for you to learn the proper bounding for double unders is to practice a nice slow basic jump and gradually bound higher off of the ground.
Watch how Dave does it in the video below.
Step 3: Do Your Penguin Taps
For the third step in the double under progression, you’re going to put your jump rope aside.
This double under tip is a lot of fun, and it’s going to have you looking like a penguin, but stay with us.
The height of a power jump is very personal, and it varies from person to person, so you need to figure out what works best for you.
Some people can get a lot of air in their power jumps, leaving them lots of time for a double rotation. Others don’t have a huge vertical, so the timing is tricky.
So how do you improve your double unders?
Practice penguin taps.
You’re going to do your power jump without a rope, but when you’re in the air, you’re going to tap the sides of your thighs twice quickly.
By practicing your penguin taps, you’re going to get the wrist rotation’s feel that’s key for controlling the rhythm and pace of your double unders.
Now, if you want to do multiple consecutive double unders, you need to be able to do penguin taps over and over.
1 penguin tap = 1 double under.
You’ll likely be working on this step for a while before using a jump rope again. But trust us, once you’re thinking like a penguin, you’re going to get the hang of double unders really quickly.
Step 4: Put It All Together
Now it’s time to pick the rope back up and start putting everything together.
So let’s recap:
- Master basic jump
- Practice explosiveness
- Think like a penguin
Once you can string 10 to 20 double unders together, you’re ready for some advanced double unders tips.
Advanced Double Unders Drills
The advanced double unders training we have lined up next will help you increase the speed of your double unders and help you make fewer mistakes.
Again, we only recommend moving to these drills once you feel comfortable with your basic jump and you're able to consistently string together a set of 10-20 DUs.
Watch this short video that demonstrates some advanced double under drills and double under workouts you can try:
What Is The Point Of Double Unders?
Now that you have all the tools you need to learn how to do double unders, you might be wondering why you should even focus on them in the first place.
Well, once you get good enough at double unders to use them in your training, the benefits are impressive. You’ll start to see intensified fat loss, improvements in coordination, strengthened agility, as well as the pure satisfaction of learning a challenging skill that not everyone can do.
What’s The Best Double Under Jump Rope?
We get this question a lot.
If you’re entirely new to double unders, you’ll want a slightly weighted jump rope.
It sounds counterintuitive, but a little bit of weight goes a long way.
A slightly heavier rope (like our 1/4 LB jump rope) is excellent for learning double unders because you can feel the rope moving around your body. It works wonders for timing your double unders.
Using an even heavier rope (a 1/2 LB jump rope) allows you to build strength and endurance as you get better. That’s how you’re going to hit those big PRs (personal records).
Think about this.
If you can train to do 100 double unders with a weighted jump rope, it becomes effortless to crush 100 double unders with a speed rope. Like with any other form of training, it's all about progressive resistance. And that's exactly what heavier jump ropes allow you to do.
So the best jump rope for double unders is not a single jump rope, but a set of ropes that allow you to progressively increase your resistance.
Our Get Fit Bundle offers four ropes you need to master double unders, whether you’re a beginner or a seasoned athlete. It comes with our 1/4 LB, 1/2 LB, 1 LB, and 2 LB ropes that you can work your way through as you build up your double unders.
Once you’re comfortable with double unders, you’ll want to work on speed, that’s where our Speed LE jump rope set comes into play.
Our Speed LE jump ropes are a speed training system that comes with three interchangeable jump ropes ranging from 3 oz to 9 oz. If you want to take your double unders to the next level, weighted speed ropes are the secret.
Check them out in the video below:
Double Under Workouts For Rapid Improvement
We’re about to show you a simple and systematic program that will help you improve your double unders no matter where you are in your training right now.
Again, this is roughly the same program (although quite simplified) that helped Dave to improve his double under abilities, to the point where he was able to string 600+ double unders in a row.
Now here are some important things to mention first:
- Before you attempt these workouts, you must be able to do 10 unbroken double unders consistently and have a personal record of 20+ (if you’re not there yet, refer to the beginner drills).
- You can do the workouts outlined in this program with any jump rope
Now let’s get to the double under programming.
Step 1: Figure out your baseline
Establish your current baseline double under count.
Give yourself 5-10 minutes to get the longest string of double unders you can. Shoot for a new PR if you haven’t tried in a while. Whether you get 20 or 200, write it down.
Step 2: Figure the 3-Week program
Your PR number will be used in the calculations for the next steps of the program.
Here is the simple 3-week double under program you're going to follow:
WEEK 1 TRAINING
Objective: complete the workout below three times this week allowing for one full day of rest between workouts.
Workout: 3 sets X 50% PR resting 30 seconds between sets
Example: If you got a PR of 40 double unders, you will complete 3 sets X 20 DUs, resting 30 seconds between sets. You will complete this workout three times a week.
WEEK 2 TRAINING
Objective: complete the workout below three times this week allowing for one full day of rest between workouts.
Workout: 4 sets X 55% PR resting 30 seconds between sets
Example: If you got a PR of 40 double unders, you will complete 4 sets X 22 DUs, resting 30 seconds between sets. You will complete this workout three times a week.
WEEK 3 TRAINING
Objective: complete the workout below three times this week allowing for one full day of rest between workouts.
Workout: 5 sets X 60% PR resting 30 seconds between sets
Example: If you got a PR of 40 double unders, you will complete 5 sets X 24 DUs, resting 30 seconds between sets. You will complete this workout three times a week.
As you can see, these workouts are short and very easy to add to the start of any workout.
We don’t recommend doing them at the end of your training session since you are very likely to be overly fatigued.
The workouts will require a lot of focus and will be demanding on your lower body.
You want to make every effort to string jumps together without a miss through all the sets and fight the pain and temptation to stop in the later sets. If you do miss, that’s alright, but try to minimize rest and go right back into your doubles until you’ve completed the set.
Always make sure to stretch and foam roll your calves and feet for maximum recovery.
Step 3: Re-test
Once you complete the 3-week double under program, make sure to take a few days off to let your legs recover fully before re-testing.
When you're ready, go ahead and shoot for a new PR. Don’t be surprised if you increase your double under count by at least 25%-50%!
When you re-test, share this with your friends:
If you want to see the Rapid Improvement Program in action, watch this short video:
Make sure to check out our jump rope fitness challenge to put your double unders into action with free and effective workouts!
Trick to Getting 600 Double Unders
Now 25%-50% improvement sounds pretty good, but did Dave really use that program to get to 600 consecutive double unders?
The answer is absolutely. But he used a simple trick.
He used the exact template above only he used progressively heavier jump ropes as his double under abilities improved.
That's all he did.
As Dave's PR improved, a 3 Oz rope was swapped out for a 1/4 LB Jump Rope, then a 1/2 LB Jump Rope, then a 1 LB Heavy Rope, and finally a 2 LB Heavy Rope, all included in our Get Fit Bundle.
When you can do a couple of double unders with a 3 Lb jump rope, 600+ double unders with the 3 Oz rope (which is heavy by most speed rope standards) suddenly becomes easy.
Want to see what 639 double unders looks like? Check it out:
Bonus Double Under Tips
To give you even more double under guidance, we’ve polled our jump rope fitness community and asked some of our best jumpers for their top double under tips.
Here are some of the best shared DU tips:
To read the full list of tips, make sure to join our community here.
Quick Double Under Summary
We hope you've enjoyed this in-depth article on how to do double unders.
When it comes to finding the best jump rope for double unders, find a weight to learn on and have options to help you progress. Don't forget that you're dealing with a monster of an exercise here. This isn't something many people can do and it's not something you will master overnight.
It will take time, practice, and discipline to get it right.
But it's most definitely worth it. Check out our community member Brent's double under story.
The wide-range of benefits that double unders have to offer are worth the effort that's required to master them.
If you're just getting started with double unders, focus on your basic jump first and use the drills presented in the beginner section of this article to start your journey to double unders.
Good news is that you'll be burning calories and elevating your heart rate even as you're practicing double unders!
If you've been jumping for a while and really want to scale your double unders, try out the 3-week program we’ve provided. You should see a 25-50% boost minimum.
And when you're ready to REALLY start crushing double unders (and possibly working towards triples), get yourself a good heavy jump rope set and get jumping.
Your Turn
Let us know what your double under goals are in the comment section below! We’re looking forward to reading them all.
Happy Jumping!
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