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.

Free Yoga during National Yoga Month

Throughout the month of September, people across the country will have access to an entire week of free yoga classes by visiting www.yogamonth.org. The offer is part of the National Yoga Month campaign which is designed to educate, inspire and generate awareness of the positive impact of yoga on health.

During National Yoga Month, one of a select few national health observances, millions will come together for free events and activities. Festivities will take place across the U.S., with hundreds of studios, teachers, individuals and organizers taking part in their own hometowns. The events are all designed to educate people about the mind and body benefits of yoga practice.

“We are all looking for ways to take an active role in managing our health. There are readily available solutions that don’t necessarily require insurance or even a doctor,” said Johannes Fisslinger, co-founder of National Yoga Month. “Preventative wellness can be accessed by simply unrolling a yoga mat!”

As part of its mission to provide actionable guidance and tools, National Yoga Month is providing people with an opportunity to try yoga for free. Whether you are attempting it for the very first time or are an experienced yogi looking to deepen your practice, participating is simple:

1. Visit www.yogamonth.org.
2. Pick a participating yoga studio
3. Print your Yoga Month Card (One Week Free Yoga)
4. Visit the studio and enjoy!
5. Invite your friends to participate by visiting http://www.yogamonth.org/fwfiles/2009_inviteyourfriends.php

About National Yoga Month

In 2008, the Department of Health and Human Services designated September as National Yoga Month, one of a select number of national health observances. That same year, thousands of yoga and health enthusiasts participated in a 10 City Yoga Health Festival Tour featuring yoga classes, lectures, music, entertainment, exhibits. Since then, the initiative has taken root as a global awareness campaign, educating, inspiring and motivating people to achieve a healthy lifestyle.

The Yoga Month campaign is administered by the Yoga Health Foundation, a 501 (c) 3 non-profit organization registered in the State of California. All funds benefit the national awareness campaign and yoga health education for at-risk kids in schools.

Yoga Myths

Apparently, I’m on a fitness myth-busting mission recently. Make sure you check out my previous myth versus reality articles, Exercise Myths and Common Diet and Nutrition Myths. Today we separate fact from fiction regarding one of my favorite subjects: Yoga.

The word probably conjures images of skinny women in fashionable yoga pants twisting their bodies into a variety of pretzel shapes. Don’t let that image deter you. Yoga is a 5,000 year-old practice. Certainly for it to have thrived for so many years there must be something to all of that meditation and funky poses.

Modern research is finally starting to catch up with what centuries of yoga practitioners have known. Yoga is GOOD FOR YOU. Yoga has a whole list of proven health benefits, including increased flexibility, lower blood pressure, and decreased cholesterol levels. Also, yoga relieves the symptoms of asthma, back pain, and arthritis.

In spite of all the evidence, people still hesitate to walk into the yoga class at their local gym. Never fear! Wo40 is here to bust through the common yoga myths and misperceptions.

Myth: You have to be flexible to practice yoga.

Reality: Yoga does have a lot to do with flexibility, but that doesn’t mean that if you aren’t flexible you can’t practice yoga -- or that if you are flexible it will be easy. Yoga is an individual practice. Everyone is at a different place and while some postures may come easier for others, there is no competition with yourself or anyone else. Besides, if you think you are too inflexible to try a yoga class, how will your flexibility ever improve if you don’t try something? Yoga is an effective way to get started with improving your body’s flexibility.

Myth: Yoga is a religion.

Reality: While some people approach their yoga practice from a spiritual perspective, yoga in and of itself is not a religion. Yoga has no deity to worship. It has no creed or statement of faith. Yoga has no ordained clergy or priesthood, and there is no system of temples or churches.

The meditative aspect of yoga, may cause some people to think of yoga as a religion. Meditation through Yoga should be looked at as a time to quiet the mind and connect with your breath. It is not meant to be a time to connect with the Divine, unless that is how you wish to approach it.

Myth: Yoga isn’t a “real workout”.

Reality: Yoga is an effective way to strengthen and tone the muscles of your entire body, as well as burn calories. If you think yoga isn’t tiring and challenging, you’ve probably never attended a yoga class. There are also many forms of yoga out there, some are more focused on meditation and breathing, while others are more physically taxing. Besides, have you ever seen Madonna’s arms? Yowza!

Vanity Sizing and Lowering the Bar

Have you heard of this little thing called vanity sizing? Vanity sizing, or size inflation, is basically putting smaller numbers on bigger clothes. Over the years, standard clothing sizes have changed in order to make people feel better about the size they wear, and therefore feel better about themselves.

It’s really all about money. Clothing manufacturers realize that spending money is quite often an emotional decision. Women will spend more money for a smaller size, because it makes them feel thinner, prettier, more attractive, more acceptable. As American waistlines have gotten progressively larger, the sizes on women’s clothing labels have gotten progressively smaller.

For example, the famed symbol of beauty and feminine sexuality, Marilyn Monroe wore a size 14. Now before you go tooting your horn about large voluptuous women, you have to realize that Ms. Monroe wore a 1950s size 14. By today’s sizing, Marilyn would be squeezing into a size 8. While it’s true that she was much more curvy than today’s pencil-thin models, Marilyn Monroe was definitely no chunky cow.

Maybe vanity sizing is just one more symptom of how we’ve lowered the bar of acceptable. Slowly we’ve made overweight normal. 66% of American adults are overweight. 32% of American adults are obese. Those statistics should scream at you. It’s true that overweight IS normal if more than half of us walking around in this country fall into that category, but it certainly doesn’t have to be acceptable.

I’ve heard the cries from fat people on daytime talk shows. They want to be accepted for who they are. “We should love ourselves regardless of how we look.” “We focus too much on looks.”

It’s perfectly true. We do focus too much on looks. It’s NOT about what you look like. What’s important is what’s on the inside.

But shouldn’t those insides be healthy and strong and functioning properly to keep the you - the real you, that fabulous personality inside your body - living and functioning and well, being you?

It may not be about looks, but it should be about how healthy you are. Your health affects every other aspect of your life, your energy levels, your interpersonal relationships, how you are able to spend your free time, even how you spend your money. Are you spending your money on doctor visits and prescription medications, or are you spending it on fun vacations with your family and building memories with your loved ones? Are your closest relationships strained because of low self-esteem, or are you confident and comfortable with yourself? Do you struggle through each day tired and sluggish, or are you energized to tackle the next challenge that presents itself?

Just because you should be loving yourself just as you are, doesn’t mean you can’t be striving to make yourself better. Love yourself through the process. But don’t lower the bar just to make loving yourself easier.