Tiny girl ISO chinups

[Susie_Derkins]

Hi!

I'm Alex, 24, vegetarian, reforming cardio-junkie. My upper-body strength leaves a lot to be desired.

Goals:

• Run a 7 minute mile.
  
• Complete a chinup.
  
• Squat 75% of my weight.
  

Plan:

• One hour of yoga per week.
  
• Three full-body strength-training sessions per week - and no skimping on the core.
  
• Limit cardio-specific activities to 150 minutes per week.
  

Reward: Splurging on trapeze classes (makes the upper-body and core strength REALLY relevant!)

I've done years and years of cardio, always with the intention to lose weight and be thinner. Unsurprisingly, I'm still working through some body-image issues. I've found that strength-training gives me a peace and confidence that I never found in running or biking.

My overall goal is to be more well-rounded; fast enough to catch the bus and strong enough to move heavy things. I also want to subvert peoples' assumptions - who expects the 5'2" Asian girl to be deadlifting in the weight room?

Thanks for reading!

P.S. My nerdiness includes board games, the Secret Life of Machines, and spreadsheets.

[Michele]

Susie,

A trapeze class sounds fun! Good luck with your goals.

[Red1263]

Heya Suzie! Welcome to the Rebellion! Here we can help you with anything you might need from Advice to Motivation! Just don't hesitate to ask. Just out of curiosity what's your Status in terms of your goals right now?

[RedCedar]

+1 for being fast enough to catch the bus!

[leadchipmunk]

who expects the 5'2" Asian girl to be deadlifting in the weight room?

Well, that's just cheating. You only have to lift it 5 feet...

Welcome! Sounds like you have some solid goals and plans. Good luck with everything.

I was going to suggest checking out the Pittsburgh meetup thread, but I guess you've already found it.

The Secret Life of Machines, eh? How have I never heard of that show?

[Pat G]

Hi!

My overall goal is to be more well-rounded; fast enough to catch the bus and strong enough to move heavy things. I also want to subvert peoples' assumptions - who expects the 5'2" Asian girl to be deadlifting in the weight room?

Thanks for reading!

P.S. My nerdiness includes board games, the Secret Life of Machines, and spreadsheets.

Hoorah!! Deadlift, Squat, lift the heavy things!

In doing so you'll probably scare a few people. It'll be worth it for the looks alone.

[Susie_Derkins]

Thanks for the warm welcome, all!

Just out of curiosity what's your Status in terms of your goals right now?

Thanks for asking!

• My mile is 7:36.
  
• I can do assisted chin-ups, using weight assistance equal to about 50% of my bodyweight. So this one needs a lot of help.
  
• I can squat about 45% of my body weight.

The Secret Life of Machines, eh? How have I never heard of that show?

Right?! It's awesome. You can download or stream it for free. The creator, Tim Hunkin, also has an awesome website.

[leadchipmunk]

Thank you. I will definitely check it out.

[br!t3r]

welcome

[davidc]

hi, I was just wondering why there is such an interest among some on here on pull ups? Is it thinking being able to do them is a measure of fitness or strength? They are always going to be more difficult for females to do, just as push ups are. Maybe bent over rows, one or two handed would be a help. Also seated lat pull downs would be a similar movement. Just don't pull down behind the neck it's easier to hurt yourself doing that. If you dont go to a gym you can do it at home with rubber exercise tubing attached to a door or trx type of equipment. http://youtu.be/UMC48BO-GQE

[Susie_Derkins]

Thanks for the resistance band suggestion!

hi, I was just wondering why there is such an interest among some on here on pull ups? Is it thinking being able to do them is a measure of fitness or strength?

Yes. I would say that being able to do them is one -of many- measures of fitness/strength. For me, personally, it's a goal on my bucket list, a sorta "touchstone" of my strength training.

Also, when hanging out with friends, chinups/pullups are easy to show off with (moreso than rows or lat pull downs) and I'm obnoxious like that.

[caponerd48]

Welcome aboard! Good luck with them fitness plans!

[gymell]

Welcome Susie! I expected your avatar to look more like this:

[ATTACH=CONFIG]3402[/ATTACH]

Anyway, the beauty of being 5'1" is that you have an advantage at bodyweight exercises like chinups. There's less of you to pull up, and not far to pull! Also with deadlifts, presses, etc ... not as far to move the weight.

I was watching some of the CrossFit Games central east regionals from last weekend. One event was a 2k row, 50 pistol squats, and 30 hang cleans (the women's weight was 135#.) One of the women, Jolene Grant, is 5' 115lb. She had a real disadvantage on the rowing and the cleans that were 20 lb over body weight, but it was really impressive that she got through all that, under the time cap!

For working on pullups/chinups, I highly recommend the Iron Woody pullup bands. Also doing negatives is very helpful.

[Susie_Derkins]

I'm planning to use one of these (which a friend is picking up for me): http://www.bigw.com.au/sports-leisure/exercise-fitness/strength-training/bpnBIGW_0000000246303/action-multi-function-chin-up-trainer Its super cheap at only $10! I saw similar ones in sports stores for $90. I can see you're over in the USA, but maybe you could find one similar locally, or online, if you're keen.

Thanks for that link! I would like a bar at some point...but right now I feel so pathetically far from being able to use it. I think dumbbell rows is a good way to train. I've been doing some of that as well.

[Draydenn]

Welcome Susie and hope you meet all your goals and reach all your mile stones

Strength, Honor and the Rebellion !!

[ErikAndress]

Wow! Trapeze! You totally get 50+ awesome points right off the bat!