Since january 2017 I have been working towards achieving a pull up. I am kind of close now but not there YET. I feel like I have been working towards this forever. My aim was to achieve it by Christmas ( I had the same goal last year!) so I need to step it up a gear. Any recommendations on key things to do?
Have you been working towards a goal for what feels like forever? How have you managed to keep going?
Are you planning some new goals for the new year? What are they? My list is getting longer!!
Pic is me on my pullup bar in March that was a christmas present from my husband last year- I am on the rubber band assisted pull up btw!
Juju
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My ongoing goal is to try to run without injury, but my track record over the last two and a half years is pretty poor 😍. I'm currently giving regular yoga a whirl and have discovered I like cycling which may help as good cross-training, but regular strength work is still very much a work-almost-in-progress 🙄
I'm beginning to think it is! I'm also realising that strength work I'm happy to do is far better than strength work I'm not happy to do. So right now, yoga is my flavour of the month😍
Urgh, I have been struggling with those damn pull ups too! I keep hurting a muscle(s) in my back on the right side - rhomboid/trapezius I think. I suspect I am tensing up my neck and shoulders too much.
I was really interested in that video you posted earlier this week about the handstands, because it occurred to me that it could be a good warmup/strengthener for my problem muscles and posture. Worth a try anyway, although I must admit I feel really weird after being upside-down! I would love to be able to do a handstand press though, so maybe that could be a goal 😜
One thing I would suggest (or ask) is have you tried having your hands closer together on the bar? It engages different muscles if you do it - pecs particularly, but I'd think that the outer back muscles would still be involved and trained, if to a lesser extent. And I find it's a little easier to pull up that way, particularly with the type of grip I think you have on your bar. It would give you a great mental boost if you could get your chin above that bar unassisted, I just bet! 😍 And then you could move your hands out a bit, then a bit more, etc.
Thanks for the link, and I will take on your advice. I so want one for the new year!! And that injury sounds a bit yucky. I definitely recommend Gabo's handstand warm up, I have been doing it pre pull up stuff and it makes a huge difference. He has loads of other vids too which I think you would like...
I think its a great idea to warm up the wrists and shoulders before pull ups - I am really quite lazy about warming up for them because they are such a short workout, and possibly this is why I hurt those muscles!
I cannot be helpful her Ju as I have not tried this at all! But am in awe of your efforts .. which look amazing to me.
My goals are, a tad like linda9389 's ..to stay injury free and to keep moving forward. Focusing on upper body strength currently, as small runner in training is going through a growth spurt and her tired legs ( and most unusually for her), mean she needs a pick-up more often ! Normally she walks for miles and never bothers
She is getting heavier and longer, and going upstairs with her is hard work!
Oh bless.... and yes I love your goals, that sounds really sensible to me. I will try and post tips on here as I have learnt a few things on the way.... often the hard way!!!! And Thankyou x
Apart from my own children, I was a childminder for 26 years, which is the reason I walk so slowly (and run slowly) I was so used to going at their pace. It also helped that I am a patient person. In saying that carrying was always a ‘no-no’, which they accepted because they knew that was just the way it was😊. Parents could never understand how come they ‘walk’ for me or eat certain foods for me. I used to find those conversations amusing 😉
If it is any consolation my journey to pull up is going slower than yours I have been told by my physio that there is a chance I probably will never achieve it because I have had two frozen shoulders and only have 95-97% stretch in each shoulder but I am a stubborn one and I’m not giving up yet. I have just changed gym so I can use an assisted pull up machine to get me back on my journey again, It is just something I want to do. Well done for getting so far that is fantastic, as usual I am in awe. Rfc x
My pull ups are coming on slowly. I can do 4 sets of 4. That 5th one I might as well be lifting a small country. I'm determined to get at least 8 by the time my plan is done. Who knows tho
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