Garbage That GOO!

Today’s shocker…

I had a MOMENT on the assisted pull-up machine today!

OK, let's face it, at my weight, a real pull-up is kind of in that realm of never, never land. I've never actually done one in my ENTIRE LIFE!

Last fall, I got a trainer and she had me try the assisted pull-up machine. I was so weak we had to set the counterweight at my bodyweight before I could do any. I could barely pull up ZERO POUNDS of my weight! She had me doing the overhand grip and the neutral grip. After about a month of me working with it, my bad shoulder just got worse and worse and I had to stop. Mind you, she had me doing a lot of other upper body stuff at the time. So it may not all have been the pull-up machine's fault.

So, I liked the idea of just focusing on TWO exercises during the challenge. I thought that might be do-able without killing off my shoulder and it was.

I didn't really focus hard on the pull-ups, because I was afraid of getting my shoulder irate. I do sometimes feel this weird sensation, kind of like a rubber band snapping over something. And it doesn't feel right. So I like to play things very safe... I only did pull-ups about once a week... and only with the neutral grip which is MUCH easier on my shoulder.

I hadn't done any since 11/8, so no reason to expect much today. More so, because I was doing them after a fairly rigorous water aerobics class and my arms felt tired.

After I showered and dressed, I trotted over the the assisted pull-up machine. I normally set it at my bodyweight (220 pounds of counterweight) to warm up for a few reps, then I set the counterweight at 200 pounds, so that I am really pulling a little of my weight up. Only, I *thought* I had set it at 220 pounds, and I was cranking out more reps than I ever managed before and suddenly I realized that it WAS at 200 pounds!

Training: Resistance: Assisted Pull Up Machine

Yeah! 7 more reps! It felt unbelievably good!