Challenge yourself!

I admit it.  I CANNOT do a pull-up.  It is physically impossible.  And hey - I'm not gonna lie...even assisted ones are no fun.  Now, I don't hate them as much as I do burpees, but they are definitely a close second.  At the same time, I think of how wonderful it will be when I can actually do one.  I remember that feeling I had when I went from girl push-ups to "real" ones.  I bet doing my first pull-up will be right up there with excitement.

In talking to some friends about pull-ups, I did get some sound advice I thought I would share.  First of all, it's better to do a pull-up unassisted, the reason being is that it is measurable.  Even if you just hang there or go up a little bit, you know next time if you're doing better.  Whereas with assisted pull-ups, you are never really doing a "real" pull-up.  Therefore, you never really know how much you are improving.  Makes sense that you would want a true measure of your improvement.

Another thing I learned that can help strengthen those upper body muscles is something called negatives.  I had never heard of this before, but it's when you use a chair to help you get up to the top and as slowly as you can lower yourself down.  You are getting that upper body workout and strengthening those muscles for the true pull-up.

So what did I do to challenge myself?  I went out and bought a pull-up bar.  The only way to keep getting better is to keep trying and this way I don't have to embarrass myself at the gym, right?  We'll see how it goes, and you better believe I'll be reporting back when I do that first one!