Nerd, check. Fitness... working on it!

[luaurenpants]

Hi friends!

I'm Lauren, I'm 27, I'm a physical therapist, and I am ready to come out of the lurker shadows of NF and introduce myself, so I can start replying to all of your inspirational posts and blogs!!

I've always loved exercising, even though I've only recently started back into a routine (actually exercising again v. talking about how I used to be able to run and lift!!) I love reading about other people's challenges because they inspire me to do them too, and I love reading about other people's success stories, because I love happy people!

I am making my current goals public so that I can hold myself accountable! :-)

- 10 push-ups without losing form or dropping to knees

- squat my body weight (in time)

- incorporate dead lifting into my routine (this one involves ignoring the personal trainer who keeps trying to show me other "better" exercises to do instead!!)

- run 3 miles without walking (possibly more of a mental block at this point :-P

- PULL UP!!!!!!

All I want out of summer 2012 is to do a dang pull-up!!! (okay, maybe not ALL, but MOST!) I've been saying it for years, but now I am COMMITTED to doing my first pull-up ever, and NF is going to get me there :-)

[unicornassassin]

Welcome!

I am with you there on working toward a pull up. One day!

[shutupndance]

I'd love to be able to do a pull up as well! I have never, ever done one!

[AwesomeAri]

Me three! I'm busting ass trying to do just one pull up. We can do it. What kind of upper body exercises are you doing to get there?

[Mixy-Chan]

Good luck...I would very much like to do a pull up....I=nor have i actually tried one...I don't exactly have a bar hanging around anywhere....the tot lot might have something.... but I too want to do one because I want to put it in my Pokemon Workout

[luaurenpants]

Me three! I'm busting ass trying to do just one pull up. We can do it. What kind of upper body exercises are you doing to get there?

until about a week ago, mostly body rows (sometimes on the TRX straps, sometimes from under my picnic table in the backyard :-P) and using the assisted pull-up machine.

A trainer at my gym came up to me the other day and reinforced how much the pull up machine does all the stabilizing, so now i'm a little less excited to use the machine (though I think for the pure upper body strength needed for a pull-up, it will likely still help somewhat, similar to a lat-pull-down)

The trainer also told me he recommends doing an "assisted" pull-up from a bosu-ball or step. he had me set up my arms on the bar, start the movement doing what I could, but jump from the step/bosu into as much of a pull-up as I could get into. I didn't love this, because it felt like a LOT of pressure on my biceps, and my negative is so weak that I just came back down in an uncontrolled way!! Plus I nearly fell off the step because my core was NOT stabilizing me enough!! Basically too uncontrolled of a movement right now.

My new plan of attack is to do:

-body rows on the smith machine

-negatives (using a BENCH so I don't come flying down!)

-ab work (planks and hanging from the bar with scapular stabilization while pulling my knees up toward my chest)

-lat pull downs v. pull-up machine

We can do it! What have you been doing to get there?

[tigersheart]

welcome and good luck!

You can get there, just remember to take it in little steps, and before you know...a pull up!

[AwesomeAri]

until about a week ago, mostly body rows (sometimes on the TRX straps, sometimes from under my picnic table in the backyard :-P) and using the assisted pull-up machine.

A trainer at my gym came up to me the other day and reinforced how much the pull up machine does all the stabilizing, so now i'm a little less excited to use the machine (though I think for the pure upper body strength needed for a pull-up, it will likely still help somewhat, similar to a lat-pull-down)

The trainer also told me he recommends doing an "assisted" pull-up from a bosu-ball or step. he had me set up my arms on the bar, start the movement doing what I could, but jump from the step/bosu into as much of a pull-up as I could get into. I didn't love this, because it felt like a LOT of pressure on my biceps, and my negative is so weak that I just came back down in an uncontrolled way!! Plus I nearly fell off the step because my core was NOT stabilizing me enough!! Basically too uncontrolled of a movement right now.

My new plan of attack is to do:

-body rows on the smith machine

-negatives (using a BENCH so I don't come flying down!)

-ab work (planks and hanging from the bar with scapular stabilization while pulling my knees up toward my chest)

-lat pull downs v. pull-up machine

We can do it! What have you been doing to get there?

Wow! This post changes everything for me. I have been working on the assisted pull up machine at my gym and adjusting the weight every few days. I did feel most of the work happening in my biceps and forearms and it's terribly hard to engage my core and back muscles...probably bc of what your trainer said! The machine is doing all the stabilizing work for you. DOH!

I will definitely change my approach to this I like doing rows so I think I'm going to start there. Thanks for sharing!

[RedCedar]

Wow! This post changes everything for me. I have been working on the assisted pull up machine at my gym and adjusting the weight every few days. I did feel most of the work happening in my biceps and forearms and it's terribly hard to engage my core and back muscles...probably bc of what your trainer said! The machine is doing all the stabilizing work for you. DOH!

I will definitely change my approach to this I like doing rows so I think I'm going to start there. Thanks for sharing!

hmmm... this is making me rethink my approach to that first darn pull up too. I've been doing a combo of inverted bodyweight rows (on my kitchen table) and the assisted pull up machine. Maybe tomorrow I will look for a good place to try doing negatives along with my inverted rows, and only use the assisted pull up machine to check how close I am to that pull up every once in a while.

Good luck everyone on the pull up quest, I am rooting for you all!