It is Benchmark Week at Crossfit Impavidus. Yesterday I said hello to Fran, and amazingly, my wife is just fine with me spending time today with Annie. Here is our 2nd benchmark:

ANNIE

50-40-30-20-10 rep rounds of:

1. Double-under jump-rope
2. Sit-ups

I have actually been looking for a replacement for double-unders for some time now. It is a rare Crossfit combination of agility, endurance, and hand-eye coordination. In the past my coaches have attempted such things as firing medicine balls at my head, but it’s not quite the same thing. This time around, Impavidus owner Conan came up with a nifty adaptation. And by ‘nifty,’ I mean ‘tortuous.’

Instead of a jump rope, I’d be using a climbing rope. Battle jump-rope FTW.

50-40-30-20-10 rep rounds of:

1. Double-under jump-rope = one swing forward or backward over head with climbing rope
2. Sit-ups = medicine ball crunches (14lbs)

Conan got pretty fired up with joy watching me struggle. Not because he’s sadistic (probably) but because he could see I was struggling with the very same things able-bodied people struggle with when trying to get the double-under technique mastered.

My final time was 11:11, but given that this was my first attempt with the battle jump-rope, I expect to improve the next time Annie shows up on my doorstep.

Thanks to Coach Conan for the inspiration and for Coach Lori who provided the video footage.