Do a chin-up

Work on Lat pull down and use the tricep pressdown machine to practice the chin-up motion with less weight. SO satisfying when you don’t stop halfway and hang there. Girls- you can do this!!

Yes, really, a good old-fashioned chin-up.

Because even though I was in sports in my youth and I’m one of the strongest girls I know, I still can’t do a chin-up.

Damnit.

I did some assisted chinups on Friday and did them quite well. I’ll keep on practising.

My personal trainer has suggested that, as well as sorting out my pushup, I should try chinups and dips. I’m going to give it a go. I can’t get anywhere near an unassisted chinup yet, but I reckon it will be really cool to be able to do them.

at the park… just dangling there!

tried to pull and pull and pull but moved only about 2 cm. gotta work on that upper body strength some!

Well, here’s the deal. When I first started going to the gym my buddy Sheila enticed me onto the machine. The one with the weights assisting you (with the knee rests). Even that didnt’ help. I just dangled there like a fool. Could not move myself up. Six months later… and loads of strength training and I could do 4 pull-ups. Yay.

But now it’s been about 8 months since I’ve tried, and there’s no such new-fangled machine around here. So… it’s down to the park tomorrow to give it a little try. Just a try… for one… I’ll be reporting back tomorrow evening.

Then I started training the muscles in my back with pull-ups (done lying on the floor and pulling your body up to a bar, keeping your body straight). Doesn’t work the muscles in the same way, but when I could manage 50 of those, I could do a chin-up.

The best advice I’ve heard for chin-ups is to start standing on a chair. Use your legs to asist you at first, then try using them less and less. Take one leg off the chair, then both, and you’re doing a chin-up.

As a note, my best, when I was 25, was 3 sets of 18, with three different grips (hands close, hands wide, chin-up behind head).

Fifteen years later, I can still do 13, and I’m working on getting them back.

It’s a cool trick if you can do it, and I recommend it.

i want to do a chin up because i need to for school we do fitness training that is compulsory and everyone stands a round you and counts how many you can do if u cant do any then you must hold yourself up for 20 seconds i want to do this as i currently cannot and am extremely embarassed

There is a chin-up bar in the room where I go to exercise classes. I have tried and failed. I have seen a girl do five, I would be happy to do one! (or maybe two…)

It IS possible, will just take a bit of work.

My personal work-out guru Krista in toronto has really cute pages on how to kick ass at this (which I’m totally going to do this year, I’m pumped) on www.stumptuous.com. Plus I think she’s a total hottie with the muscles and glasses ;)