Pull-Ups, Not Just for Guys

Why should I want to do pull-ups?  Pull-ups are the exercise reserved for super macho muscle-bound guys that grunt and fling sweat, right?  Absolutely not.

It might surprise you, but women can do pull-ups, too.  Don’t waste your time thinking pull-ups are as unfeminine as farting in public.  Pull-ups are just plain cool.  If you’re female and you can’t do a full-range unassisted pull-up (And don’t feel badly if you can’t.  Most women can’t.), I promise you that it’s something you want to work toward. 

Not only are pull-ups great for strengthening your back, biceps, forearms, shoulders, and core, but they are completely empowering.  I promise you will feel like a goddess.  Plus, pull-ups are pretty darned impressive to watch.  You’ll be the envy of the strolling treadmillers and magazine-reading stationary bikers.  You’ll probably even impress some of the die hard gym rats.  By the way, it is perfectly acceptable to run victory laps around the gym and force onlookers to kiss your throbbing biceps upon completion of even one well done unassisted pull-up.  

Now that you’re convinced pull-ups are worthwhile endeavors for every female, you might be wondering how you will ever be able to do even one.  Fear not my female friends, I am here to help. 

Let’s just get the uncomfortable part out of the way.  The lighter you are, the easier it will be to do pull-ups.  If you have some extra baggage in the weight department, consider a plan to shed the extra pounds through a healthy nutrition and exercise plan.  But don’t wait until you’ve reached your ultimate goal weight to start your pull-up training.  Start strengthening those essential muscles now.  Besides, I didn’t say it was impossible for a heavier woman to competently perform pull-ups, just that it would be easier for the woman who has less weight to pull up.  

If your gym has an assisted pull-up machine, that’s a good place to start your training.  Start by using the lowest amount of assistance possible to complete a set of assisted pull-ups with good form.  Use a full range of motion, but don’t lock your elbows at the bottom.  Make the negative count, too.  This means you should be lowering your body slowly and with control.  Don’t let gravity do all the work for you. 

If you don’t have access to an assisted pull-up machine, don’t give up.  There are other training methods you can use on your journey to pull-up mastery.  Using the lat pull-down machine or the cable trap in a standing, rather than seated position.  Pull the handle or bar attachment to your chest as you normally would.  Once again, remember to make the negative count.  

What if you only have a bar?    Negative pull-ups are a great way to work up to full pull-ups.  In this exercise the negative (or eccentric for you regular fitness nerds out there) aspect of the motion is emphasized, in other words, the lowering motion of the pull-up.  The starting position will have your chin over the bar and your arms full bent.  With a lower bar, you can easily achieve this by jumping up into the starting position.  With a higher bar, you made need help in the form of a step or chair.  Then you lower your body in a slow and controlled manner.

If you have a workout partner like I do (Lucky me. He’s handsome, too), assisted pull-ups are a great next step toward full-fledged pull-ups.  Grip the bar and bend your knees at a 90 degree angle.  (Your shins will be mostly parallel to the floor.)  Have your partner place his or her hands on your shins and gently push upward as you pull up.  You will still be doing 90% of the work, but the subtle boost from your partner may be just what you need to get that pretty chin of your up over the bar. 

Of course the next step is actual assistance-free empowering pull-ups.  Try varying the grip if you need to.  The wider your hands on the bar, the more work for your shoulders.  An underhand grip (often referred to as a chin-up) works your biceps more.   

And don’t forget to celebrate.  High fives all around.

5 Proven Treatments for Sore Muscles

Everyone who has ever exercised has experienced muscle soreness.   Sometimes you feel it the next day and sometimes you think you’re home free only to have it sneak up on you a couple of days later.  Mostly it’s just annoying, but extremely stiff, sore muscles can interfere with your training schedule, not to mention making going up and down stairs something you’d really rather not do.  

Delayed Onset Muscle Soreness (DOMS) is both loved and hated by most exercise enthusiasts.  Loved, because it’s often seen as a sign of an effective workout (although the jury is still out on that aspect of DOMS).  Hated because, well, it makes you sore. 

Here are a few tips for treating DOMS.  Remember that DOMS usually is mild and only lasts a couple of days.  If you are in serious pain, or your muscle soreness lasts more than 7 days, see your doctor.  It could be something more serious. 

1. Vitamins and Antioxidants.  There have been a few research studies that suggest supplementation with certain vitamins and antioxidants as a promising treatment for DOMS.  One gram of ascorbic acid or vitamin C taken three times a day BEFORE exercise is recommended by this study.  There is also some promising research concerning the use of vitamin E as prevention for DOMS.  Other sources of antioxidants to try include green tea, goji berries, acai berries, and blueberries.  While there is no specific research regarding these sources, it is very possible that their similar antioxidant effects could also help prevent DOMS.
2. Arnica Montana, a homeopathic compound, (and my personal favorite DOMS remedy), is also used as a treatment for DOMS.  It can be taken in pill or liquid form, or applied topically.
3. Non-Steroidal Anti-Inflammatory Drugs (NSAIDs) seem like a logical treatment for DOMS.  You’re sore so reach for the aspirin or ibuprofen.  While this may mask the symptoms, it doesn’t shorten recovery time.  There is also some research that suggests the use of NSAIDs may interfere with protein synthesis resulting in less strength and lean muscle gain.  So if you’re a body builder, think twice before reaching for that bottle of Tylenol.
4. Ice Therapy is one proven effective way to treat DOMS.  A 1999 study focused on the effects of cold water immersion on the symptoms of exercise-induced muscle damage.  Immerse the affected muscle in ice cold water 15 minutes after exercising, and then follow up every 12 hours with a similar 15 minute immersion.
5. Low-impact aerobics may help reduce muscle soreness.  Some easy, low-intensity exercise between episodes of vigorous exercise helps improve blood circulation.  Improved blood circulation helps speed the recovery time of sore muscles.  Yoga seems to have a similar effect.

 This list isn’t all-inclusive.  Ask any gym rat and you’re likely to get a lengthy list.  These are the methods most backed by research.  Feel free to hit me up in the comments section with your own personal DOMS treatments.

Woman Makes Finals of Bodybuilding Championship Just Weeks After Giving Birth

Here's an interesting article about KT Coates, a 32 year-old mother who placed second in British Natural Bodybuilding Federation (BNBF) just weeks after giving birth.  Coates stayed very active during her pregnancy, swimming, cycling, and even running up until days before her daughter's birth.  Too often women use pregnancy as an excuse to limit physical activity, but pregnancy shouldn't be treated as an illness.  Regular physical exercise can help a woman's body prepare for the big (and often very physically taxing) event of childbirth.  Of course, you should check with your physician for any limitations before engaging in any exercise program.

Bodybuilding mother makes finals of national championship just eight weeks after giving birth

A mother has wowed judges by qualifying for the finals of a national bodybuilding championship - just eight weeks after giving birth.

KT Coates, 32, came second in the British Natural Bodybuilding Federation (BNBF) heat despite giving birth to daughter Blossom on May 31.

Ms Coates, who runs her own pole dancing fitness business, was also teaching classes nine days later, training 10 days later and performing on the pole after just two weeks.

Read more at Dailymail.

Why Do You Train So Hard?

 I get this question a lot. It usually comes after one of those sideways looks, the one with the curled lip and just a hint of disgust, and always from someone at least slightly overweight. I’ll admit I’m in very good shape for a thirty-something mother of 4. What people don’t seem to understand is why I’m still in the gym 5-6 days a week when I already have a slim, toned body. So I’m setting the record straight.

First of all, I swear I’m not doing it to make the rest of the world (at least the people carrying around some extra pounds) look bad. While I’ll readily admit there’s at least a hint of vanity behind my workout and nutrition regimen, (Hey. I’m human. I want to be hot.) it’s definitely not the main reason I’m so vigilant.

Nor is weight loss my reason for exercising in the first place. There’s a problem with a goal of losing some arbitrary number of pounds. What happens when you reach your goal? Do you go back to life as usual, eating whatever you feel like and rarely going to the gym? Remember, that lifestyle got you in your predicament to begin with. Statistics show people are more likely to stick with a fitness and nutrition lifestyle change if their overall goal isn’t weight loss, but health.

I train because I want to maintain a healthy body, one that I’m comfortable in, one that isn’t prone to sickness or injury. I don’t ever want to feel winded going up a flight of stairs. I don’t ever want to hurt when I bend over to tie my shoes. I want to be able to run and bend and stretch. Having a healthy fit body is very freeing.

Do I like to work out? Not particularly. I’d much rather lay on the couch and watch late night television while munching on potato chips. But after years of consistent exercise, it’s really just part of my routine now. Something I do almost without thinking. But I do feel good about myself when I leave the gym. There’s something that boosts your self confidence and your self-esteem when you know you’ve done something good and right even when you didn’t want to.

Even though I may look pretty good in a bathing suit, I haven’t reached all of my fitness goals. There are yoga poses I still struggle with. I want to be able to do 10 pull-ups. (I’m at 5 right now.) I want to be able to bench press 100 pounds. I want to be able to throw an awesome round kick in karate. They may be small goals, but they keep me climbing, striving, moving forward. But when I reach these goals, I’ll just set new ones, because in the words of a possibly cheesy Miley Cyrus song, “It ain’t about what’s waiting on the other side. It’s the climb.”

Don't Be Afraid of the Free Weights

 Our gym seems to have a funny way of splitting up couples. Husbands and wives, boyfriends and girlfriends walk through the front door together , and then they go their separate ways. The men head for the back of the gym, straight for the free weights, where they spend the next hour or so pumping iron and building muscle. It’s straight for the cardio equipment for the women. They tend to spend the same hour or so sweating away on the elliptical trainers or tread mills.

Besides myself, I’ve seen one other woman in the free-weight section of our gym. Why? Women are generally afraid that weight training will make them “bulk up”. They are afraid pumping iron will make them look like the overly muscular female bodybuilders. You know, the freakish women with large biceps and deep voices? The ones most men wouldn’t want to meet in a dark alley? Most of those super-muscular women got their bulk with the assistance of anabolic steroids. Women cannot naturally produce as much testosterone as men, and therefore aren’t able to gain huge amounts of muscle mass just by lifting weights at the local gym.

By only plugging away on the cardio equipment, a woman is doing her body a huge disservice. By only doing cardio (especially at a low to moderate, steady pace), the body burns both fat AND muscle tissue for fuel. Lifting weights helps prevent the loss of muscle tissue that occurs during most cardio workouts. Consistent weight training also helps increase the body’s resting metabolic rate since muscle requires more calories to maintain than fat. Basically, weight training will help a woman achieve a lean toned body. What woman doesn’t desire that?

So don’t be afraid to head on back to the free-weight section of the gym right along with your husband or boyfriend. Hitting the weights won’t make you look bulky, it will only help you on your way to having a more beautiful feminine body.

For some guidelines on scheduling your weight training and cardio workouts, check out Keith’s article, “When Do I Do Cardio? When Do I Lift Weights?”