BunsenBurner, … (Drumroll)… pull ups. But with some progressive variations. First, you can try doing just the negative portion of the pull up. Use a step stool to climb up to the full concentric pull up position and then just lower yourself slowly to a 5 count focusing on the negative while resisting gravity. Try to build yourself up to 8-10 slow ones. Then, see if you can find an assisted pull up machine or a a crossover cable machine with a pull up bar at the top. If the latter, you can use the sling that often comes with cable machines to fashion an assisted pull up by attaching the sling to the pulleys and setting the weight stacks to offset your body weight to the extent needed to enable you to do a pull up. Hang from the pull up bar and put your knees in the sling for support. Use whatever offsetting weight assist you need to do 8-12 reps. Work on reducing the weight assist a pound or two as frequently as you can as you get stronger.
I would publicly like to thank MNK for his helpful hints backchannel re my strong shoulders / weaker back / tendency towards kyphosis. Very helpful to try to strengthen myself for a healthy future!
Great link acollegestudent!
My pleasure Pizzagirl. Hope the suggestions are working well for you.
The Presidential Fitness test - I don’t think I ever passed a single section! Another part of gym class I HATED!!!
Gym class is why I didn’t do anything remotely athletic for years, and why, the first time that I ran a mile on a treadmill, I broke down and sobbed like a baby because I thought I could never do it. Because those stupid gym teachers never actually instructed us to BREATHE. Which is what non-athletes like myself do - we hold our breath without realizing it.
Brisk hilly 5K walk for me. I’m enjoying walking on pavement. Haven’t done it much for about a year and it is completely different from the walking I do on hikes. It even works different muscles. I don’t see high heart rates, but I get breathing hard booking up the hills.
Pullups were a long-term project for me and I had to do a little bit at a time, like every other day, to avoid soreness. I used exericise bands looped over the bar (knee in band) to provide assistance until I could do one. There’s definitely some technique involved – us the big lat muscles of the upper back rather than just arms. It’s also requires a strong core, IMO.
Thank you, acollegestudent and MNK!
sabaray, sorry to hear about the ankle. Until the swelling goes down, I would avoid any running and find a non-impact cardio activity you enjoy. And once it goes down, start back with lower intensity on flat, evenly graded supportive surfaces. It’s frustrating, I’m sure, but you’re in this for the big picture long haul. Give yourself time to heal. You’ll heal faster if you avoid pounding away on inflamed injured tissue.
Just wow. Here’s a video of Michelle Obama working out. http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2015/05/20/michelle-obama-workout-video_n_7342206.html?ncid=fcbklnkushpmg00000013
After watching this, I can see why she has great upper arms. She bench presses 35 pound weights.
It was a big day when my D did her first pull up, she was so excited lol!
My 10k is tomorrow! Trying to figure out what to wear. It’s been unseasonably cool here and the race time temp is going to be between 35 and 40. It’s going to warm up to 70 but since my 10k is only around an hour I don’t expect it to be much warmer than the start.
I think I should wear tights, I think it might be too cool for shorts. This is what I was thinking. Tights with compression socks, unless it’s not too dorky to wear capris with the compression socks. Short sleeve shirt with long sleeve pullover. I have a vest but I’m thinking that would be too warm.
Any opinions on what I should wear?
I would wear capris (and the compression socks- don’t worry about dorkiness) and just one shirt. I would go with a mid-weight long-sleeved shirt or at the very most just wear a singlet under a long sleeved shirt. Remember- I am cold-blooded and overdress…
I am just too work out from work and could not face the planned 6-7 miler before work today. I’m having house guests all weekend and wanted to get a longer run out of the way (now that 7 miles is “longer”) but I just couldn’t. It was 44 degrees and clear. Managed to get out the door for 4 miles. They will have to just sit around and drink coffee or go for a walk while I do the run this weekend. They do exercise, but they aren’t runners. I was glad I got out there. It was gorgeous, even if I did have to dig out the long sleeved stuff again.
Fully intended to be on the bike at sunrise today. Didn’t happen. Sipping my coffee and getting myself motivated now.
@Pizzagirl, I totally agree about PE. They used to tell us to just go out there and run a mile. They never taught us about pacing or anything. The track stars would head out at incredible speed and the rest of us would try to follow at the same pace. The athletic girls could do it (probably in major pain, but they could do it), but the unathletic like me would quickly run out of steam and walk the rest of the way, to the glares of the PE teachers standing at the finish line with their wretched stop watches.
Bad memories coming back… X(
I am definitely guilty of overdressing - the top half of my body always gets too warm - do you have arm warmers?
No exercise this morning - not even a dog walk. Thanks for all the good wishes and helpful tips. I’m the only one in my group training for a fall marathon so I simply can’t continue running like this, even if I wanted to (which I don’t). Not every run needs to be 6 or 7 miles - I just needed to tell myself that! D is coming home this weekend - I am really looking forward to that.
Re: Presidential Fitness Tests – I can’t say I remember them when I was a kid, but I clearly recall them when D & S were in elementary school. D started as a competitive gymnast in 3rd grade, with Russian coaches. She spent A LOT of time on strength training and conditioning, as well as learning all the “tricks.” In 5th grade she blew by all the other kids (boys & girls) on the test. The PE teacher had to tell her to stop doing pull-ups because she just kept going … He was a very nice guy, but clearly never expected a girl to be the all-around school winner. I got a chuckle out of that.
5.13 miles this morning. Also not feeling overly motivated, but since I traded Wednesday’s run for walking the dog, I really needed to do it. Now I’m enjoying my coffee, feeling accomplished. Bring on the weekend!
Unfortunately, there was a lot of ignorance back in our day, and it hasn’t necessarily gotten a whole lot better. Gym and locker room time was traumatic for so many kids.
My daughter, who is now 30, had a (literally) life-changing experience in 10th grade. She went to a very prestigious private girls’ school in Dallas (nrdbs knows it). She was a musician and felt distanced from her family of athletes. Summer before 10th grade she started doing some running, enjoyed it, asked for real running shoes, and was excited to try out for the cross country team when school started. I was thrilled, because I thought the team experience would be good for her (she didn’t always feel as though she “fit in” with the Dallas “debs” at her school) and we were prepared to be very supportive. She had been a very good age group swimmer, but it got to where it conflicted with her music performances and practices too much. And- everyone knows that there are no cuts in cross country, right? I’ve seen the slowest sophomore runner become the senior star, and other sports teams (wrestlers, etc) run CC just for conditioning.
Practice started, and it was absurdly hot in early September- even for Dallas. I’m talking 110-113 in the afternoon. The day came, in the first week, when they were going to do a 2 mile run. I told my daughter to take walking breaks if she needed to, because it was dangerously hot. In fact, the boys’ team at the “brother” school wasn’t even practicing in the afternoon because of the extreme heat. My 8th grade son was the star of the high school varsity team at the time (hence some of his sister’s reluctance to try running…)
My daughter came home in tears. She had been cut from the team for taking a couple of short walking breaks! For anyone who isn’t familiar with cross country, I assure you that this is simply wrong and unheard of. There is no limit on who can run CC and never any cuts- not even at the huge, public school programs. I’m not a helicopter mom, but I was in their faces the next day. I told them it was negligent to even have the girls running in 113 degrees, much less cut a runner for walking. I pointed out that the boys were not practicing. The headmaster profusely apologized and admitted that they were wrong, but they didn’t reverse the cuts (I think only 2 girls were cut). It was pretty much the last straw for my daughter, who went on to develop some pretty serious depression and emotional issues that year at school. I honestly can never forgive that coach.
My daughter went to arts boarding school the next fall for her last 2 years of high school and thrived. She won national acclaim for her singing. She did fitness activities for a number of years, but it wasn’t until 2010 when she and I wound up running the half marathon we had intended to walk together that she realized that she is an athlete! She was so thrilled that the monkey was off her back, so to speak. She isn’t me, and she isn’t her brother, but she is a solid competitor. She just improved her sprint triathlon time by 8 minutes over last year this past weekend, won her age group in the swim and is preparing for her first half ironman triathlon. She has run 5 marathons, including the difficult Flying Monkey. And it almost didn’t happen because of that stupid cross country coach.
Thanks MOWC. That’s what I will go with.
Have a nice weekend with your guests! How terrible for your D, and how happy that she got the last revenge! My kids had a great cc coach and my S finished last in the first meet he particapated in. He went on while never super speedy to really count on his team and he worked hard. It’s criminal what that coach did to your D and I am glad she was able to transfer to a supportive school.
Sabaray, I do have arm warmers. Do you think I should wear short sleeves and the arm warmers? I wonder if I should wear shorts or a skirt. I will have the compression socks on so I wouldn’t have too much exposed skin.
With a skirt and high socks, you would be fine. Legs stay warmer than the rest of the body. If it were longer than 10K I would say definitely short sleeves/arm warmers, but I don’t think you would be miserable in long sleeves for a 10K. You can push them up. I have cute arm warmers that I hardly ever wear because I can’t really get them off over the Garmin, Mio, road ID etc.
MOWC, that’s awful. XC was how two of my kids became involved in HS athletics and for just that reason - there were no cuts. I’ve completed week 7 - all three 25 minute runs went really well. And given the great weather, I’m headed out for another walk this afternoon. It’s amazing how my stamina has improved in just a couple of weeks. Pizzagirl, I’m with you. Learning to breathe while I move makes all the difference! Hope everyone enjoys a great holiday weekend, regardless of what you’re doing. My D comes home from law school for the summer on Monday and will be with us for a week, then she moves into her apartment. Looking forward to seeing all the kids together next weekend.
MOfWC, that is an awful story. What kind of evil, rotten soul cuts kids from cross country?!!
deb, I would totally wear capris with compression socks. I would pick a long sleeve tee with vest instead of short sleeve tee/pullover. Vests are easier to strip, and long sleeves can be rolled up. If it is going to be below 40, consider wearing running gloves.