• Home
  • Locations
  • Training
    • Personal Training
    • Group Training
    • Success Stories
  • Membership
  • Programs
    • Bridal Bootcamp
    • Hot Mom Program
    • Fuerte Team for Competitors
    • Online Options
    • Programs Alumni
  • About
  • Contact
  • Specials
  • Health Blog
  • Classes
Fuerte Fitness: Seattle Personal Training for Your Lifestyle and Goals

Health Blog

That First Pull Ups

3/1/2015

0 Comments

 
Some of you may know that in place of a New Year’s Resolution my husband and I entered 2015 with a 3 month fitness challenge. My challenge was to do 1 pull-up while my husband’s challenge was to double his consecutive (single set) pull-up count (with professional massages on the line if we met our goals!). The ability to do a pull-up is in my opinion one of the most empowering displays of one’s physical strength and mental will; the task being to lift one’s body weight off the ground high enough to get your head over the bar. So what exactly is a pull-up and how is it different from a chin-up? Good question!A pull-up involves using an overhand grip on a bar high enough to reach with arms completely straight and pull oneself up so that one’s chin is higher than the bar. A chin-up is different in that it requires an underhand grip on the bar. Due to the differences in grips on the bar each of these exercises actually uses very different muscle groups! A pull-up relies primarily on your back muscles as well as shoulders, chest, and arms, whereas a chin-up primarily recruits your biceps and chest muscles as well as back and shoulders. So these exercises differ by much more than just the grip alone. It is for these reasons of primary muscle recruitment that women tend to have a high amount of difficulty with the pull-up. Women tend to have weak back muscles, which contribute to their inability to perform a pull-up, however, many women (and men for that matter) find the chin-up much easier to perform because they are able to engage their biceps and chest muscles which are usually more developed.
When I began this challenge I was unable to pull myself even halfway up when attempting a pull-up. At about 2 months into our challenge when I tested myself to see my current progress I was surprised that it just happened and suddenly my chin was above the bar (pictured above, my first pull-up!). It was a daunting goal because I was not sure that the workout plan I had made would work or the frequency of workouts would be enough and I was afraid of putting in all of the hard work to end up failing at the end of it all. After all, how does one prepare to do a movement they cannot do?


Picture
0 Comments

    Living the good, fit life in Seattle, WA. Stay tuned for more bilingual fitness tips and nutritious recipes.

    Archives

    November 2018
    September 2018
    December 2017
    November 2017
    October 2017
    July 2017
    March 2017
    February 2017
    January 2017
    August 2016
    May 2016
    April 2016
    February 2016
    June 2015
    May 2015
    April 2015
    March 2015
    February 2015
    January 2015
    November 2014
    October 2014
    September 2014
    August 2014
    July 2014
    June 2014
    May 2014
    April 2014
    March 2014
    August 2013
    May 2013

    Categories

    All
    Fitness
    Health And Fitness
    Healthy Recipe

    RSS Feed

Locations

Fremont Health Club

Beacon Hill Studio

Get our latest updates



Hours

By appointment only

Telephone

206-293-1882

email:
​fuertefitness@gmail.com

Copyright © 2018, Fuerte Fitness. All rights reserved.
Website by Blockbeta Marketing
  • Home
  • Locations
  • Training
    • Personal Training
    • Group Training
    • Success Stories
  • Membership
  • Programs
    • Bridal Bootcamp
    • Hot Mom Program
    • Fuerte Team for Competitors
    • Online Options
    • Programs Alumni
  • About
  • Contact
  • Specials
  • Health Blog
  • Classes