Double unders have been a thing of fear to me since I joined the gym. Honestly, the only person that should be doing these is Rocky- and even then, I believe Sylvester Stallone may have had a stunt double who did them for him! I NEVER thought that I would be able to do a double under, let alone two in a row. Yesterday, when the work out came up in such a way that you were simply trying to get as many reps as you could in 2 minutes I figured, "Why not?" I am so used to being last at the gym that even if I only got 2 in those 2 minutes I would be glad I got something. I was pretty sure my shins wouldn't be glad, but I would.
There I stood. Warm up done, preparing the bar for my pull-ups (I'll go there another day...) and grabbing my jump rope for that portion of the workout when I decided I would try to get 1-just a warm up. BAM! To my own amazement and surprise, I did one. Now I couldn't turn back. I had to see how many I could do in the work out. Therein lies the problem. There is no turning back.
What drove me to try a double under? Let me tell you. The workouts are scaled and as you get better at some things, you get a much higher ratio. So, as my jump roping improved, thanks to many years of playground games, my ratio went from 2:1 up to 4:1. So, rather than doing 50 double unders I was doing 200 singles. In a workout where you are doing 5 rounds for time that means I am doing 1000 singles. If you have had children and tried jump roping (or sometimes, simply jumping) you can understand what 1000 singles can do to a woman. I wanted out of that scenario. Fewer jumps, higher and faster would get me there.
No turning back. 19 double unders in two minutes. I am PSYCHED and frightened at the same time. It was not at all pretty. I was an uncoordinated mess. I forgot how to do a single at one point and couldn't pull it together enough to figure out the double without stopping. Part of me was just so excited that I was getting any that I couldn't even hold myself together. The other part of me was exhausted, but had to keep going and couldn't remember how.
The issue now is that I have done them. I can't go back to singles. Doubles will be a major challenge and it is one that I accept but from here on out I will have to understand that I will be even slower in the workouts. I know that with practice, they will come. The only way I can get better is to keep doing them and I will. Picking and choosing what you are going to do is not an option. I have shown that I am capable and now I will have to make myself proficient. It's the only way to do it.
As I sit here and look at my times and talk about being the slowest one I realize that I am improving. Even if I am not getting faster, I am getting stronger. The last time I did a workout my box jumps were only about 12 inches-now I can do them at 20 inches. My jump roping ratio was 2:1 and as of yesterday, I am able to move to double unders. So, I may not be the fastest at any of this stuff, but I am getting better. Each day is a challenge. As I choose to accept the challenge I know that it would be a lot easier to keep doing what I am doing, but wouldn't that defeat why I am there in the first place? I am not going to sit here and be complacent with my own abilities or accept mediocrity by saying "that's good enough."
Stronger. Better. Faster. That's the direction I am going. Watch out, Rocky!
1 comment:
sooo true!
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