Burpee to Pull up !?!?!? Whattttt!?!?!?!

You know me by now.

You know I like to up the ante on a regular basis.

You know I want to push myself

You know that when I see an improvement/gain I ALWAYS want more.

Well..here it is. After the celebration pull up post it was time to raise the bar.

Ok.. so... who likes burpees? Anyone? Anyone? I know.  But the reason they are such a hated exercise is becasue they work so damn good! You are hurting/tired/and probably swearing in all of 60seconds.

Now...Up the ante. 

When you jump. .do a tuck jump which just means bring your legs up higher and bend your knees.

Do a full push up when you go down rather then just kicking your legs back.

Do all of the above and then add in a jump amd pull up under a bar. (See pic below)

10 of these bad boys and you will hurting...well I was hurting. Maybe you can do more, maybe you can one. You will never do any unless you try to.

When Maddy and I do pull ups in the gym, we get a few comments and a few looks. It feels good to be rewarded for how hard we have been working at this and it also pushes us not to stop. The lesson here though is I have no doubt there were a few stickers when we couldn't even pull up one rep for one set.. our faces showed how hard we were trying.. and we wouldnpause before attempting again becasue we knew we looked stupid....BUT it didnt matter. We had/have a goal and the only way to get there is to start with one.

Dont be intimidated by anyone else. Your value as an athlete (or mom or professional or anything else for that matter) does not depend on what others think of you. Sometimes we let a handful of naysayers deter us from what important in our lives. 

For myself, being able to do pull ups is about being strong, being in control of my body, calling the shots of what I want to accomplish, looking good, feeling proud, and proving people wrong ;) . I love doing that! It is about making my body better becasue I owe it to myself to be the best I can be and funny looks from peanut gallery as I am part way through my journey wont stop me from carrying on..dont let it stop you!

One pull up at a time my friends,  one pull up at a time.. always pushing to do more. There is such strength in that.

Xo
Kara

PROGRESS!!!!!!

There are very few things that are as rewarding as seeing progress. ...in any aspect of life.

I am so proud of my workout partner and I as we have been really focused on achieving a goal of unassisted pull ups.

When Maddy and I started we could do ZERO wide grip and 3 close grip with a little push on the rear end for the last ;) .

We work chest and back once a week and have been doing pull ups (as many as we can!) consistently every week for the past 4ish months... and drum roll please......

We currently do 4 wide grip pull ups (yaaaahhhooooo)
And 3 sets of 7 close grip
**dont mind the faces..this is hard sh*$

This is a celebration blog post :) and though we are no where near our goal (which is typewriters ..google it..amazing!!) We are getting there,  seeing progress and celebrating it!

Xo
Kara

Push and Pull

The dreaded combo ↑↓ ←→ push ups and pull ups.

These two exercises are fantastic for super setting to really hit the back and chest and no matter how much I change my workout, these two are always included!!

First and foremost ~ they are frickin hard!! Starting pull ups and push ups is not always that rewarding..especially when you can only complete single digit reps :/ ..  but you often see awesome gains becasue even doing one more can sometimes double your previous! :)

There are machines, bands, partners, modifications and changes to form to help you get a higher amount of reps (these are called assisted pullups, or assisted pushups) But ALWAYS try to do the original tried and true version first before changing it up.

For example. . Get as many full out pushups (even if it is just 1!!) Before opening your legs to do a GI Jane push up, then do as many as you can be for you go to your knees etc etc.  Or try to do a regular pull up before going to the pull up machine that takes some weight off.

Starting back to the gym I was doing one set of 3pull ups. I am now doing 3 sets of 5/6 depending on when I fit them into the chest/back workout...if its at the end im pushing for 3 sets of 4. There is a point as well >> do them first! If you wait until you have done your rows, cable flys, lateral raises, pull downs etc etc and then hit the pull up bar. .you may be dissatisfied with your results.

Don't be intimidated, don't be shy, hit those exercises to see awesome results in muscle tone and strength.

Xo
Kara