Double Unders: My New Nemesis?

I grew up in rural Pennsylvania, and in the ’70s, Muhammad Ali located his training camp in Deer Lake, about 5 minutes from our house. His entourage stayed at my dad’s motel called The Country Squire and joshed around with my dad like they were old pals. I thought it was the coolest thing in the whole world. His manager called me Mo-lissa, and when I broke my leg two days before the start of 5th grade, Ali signed my cast. I was in heaven.

We were invited to go to the camp to watch Ali spar and jump rope a few times. He was so handsome and magical. I was completely awestruck.

Here’s a video of Ali working the ring in Deer Lake.

I thought of that a lot when I was going to Richard Lord’s boxing gym back in 2002. I’m a pretty good jump roper, and we started every workout with about 30 minutes of rope work. I can criss-cross my ankles, run with high knees, cross the rope in front… all kinds of fun tricks. But this morning, I could not get the hang of the double-under. I whipped my ankles and elbows with the jump rope every time. Once again, CrossFit has shown me I’m not as tough as I thought. (I love it!)

Guess I’ll be adding the double-under to my list for 2009, too.

Bootcamp workout:
45 seconds each station, 3 rounds:

• double-unders
• broad jumps
• med ball slams, 10-lb. ball

• med ball knee slams + soldier run w/ med ball, up the snake path
• 20 overhead throws, 10-lb. ball + 20 dips
• med ball knee slams + soldier run w/ med ball, up the snake path
• 20 chest pass + 10 decline pushups
• med ball knee slams + soldier run w/ med ball, up the snake path
• 10 L + 10 R throws + 12 pistols w/ med ball, 10 lbs.