From Princess to Pumped: push-ups to pull-ups

By Hayley Woodin [Contributor]

This is it.

Friday, April 16 is my second to last day of classes, a major deadline and the day I have been dreading: my chin-up competition. The competition date has already been pushed back once, and no more excuses will be tolerated by my opponent.

Everyday, I have done reps with 10 pound free weights, and have executed my curl & press routine dozens and dozens of times. I have practiced holding myself up in a chin-up position with the chin-up bar at eye level. This has helped the right muscles tone up and strengthen.

I have also been doing the “girl” push-up version of a chin-up regularly to practice the proper motions with a little less strain on my arms. I have not been able to fully pull myself up using only my arms. I can blame it on not dedicating enough time to my workouts or to the stress of assignments and deadlines.

Nonetheless, I have gone from zero to, let’s say, 60.

I’m not at 100 per cent, and nowhere near my goal. But I did go from not being able to hold onto a bar with my arms fully extended to considerably building up my arm muscles.

I will not give up without a fight: there are still a couple of days left. Next stop, the competition.

Next stop, the competition.a-pound-a-day within a week.