Stepping up to the bar

One of my biggest fears as a young girl was... gulp... the physical fitness test in gym class. I dreaded that day nearly has much as the day when the school nurse would make us wear our bathing suits for the annual scoliosis screening. Who cared if I had curvature of the spin? I was not going to be seen in a swimsuit in front of my classmates. 

I was never really a sedentary child. I played soccer, softball and basketball, but it seemed I ate more junk than I burned. Thus, I was chubby as a teenager and didn't shed those extra pounds until late high school/early college. That being the case I was never able to pass the physical fitness test because I couldn't do a pull-up. 

It was those damned pull-ups that broke nearly every girl in my gym class--not like we ever practiced how to do a pull-up or were given the chance to build some strength to be able to do one. The day of the physical fitness test came and our gym teacher called out each of our names to meet our fate at the bar. It was pure embarrassment. 

Well, I finally conquered that embarrassment once again at the gym this morning. I stepped up to the pull-up handles, extended my arms upward, jumped, grabbed and pulled myself up, up, up. 3 times! And then I did my own end-zone dance on the gym floor... inside my head at least. 

The last time I could do a pull-up was right after I was married, three years and two babies ago. And that took a lot of hard work to accomplish. A round of P90X with its countless pull-ups crammed into 3 different workouts. Hours at the gym with my husband lovingly grasping my ankles and helping me eke out the last few inches to reach the top of the bar. Dieting and cardio to get my weight down because let's face it, it's easier to lift less weight. 

Ladies (if anyone is reading this), have you ever tried to do a pull-up? Using an assisted pull-up machine is a good start, but eventually you have to break away from that and just go for the bar. Find a friend and let them help you. Yeah, they're going to have to lift some of your weight for you, in the beginning at least. 

But over the course of several weeks or months, you'll be able to pull yourself up all on your own. And once you've gotten one down, two and three come much more easily. Before you know it, those horrible memories from gym class will be gone and you'll be kicking some a** in the gym. 

The point...? Do the hard stuff at the gym. Don't be afraid of what people will think or how you will look. You might look silly in the beginning--ask someone, a trainer or fellow gym-goer who looks like they know what they're doing. You might not be able to do too much--take baby steps at first. But over the course of time you will get stronger. And you will be doing your own end zone dance--real or imagined. And it feels great.