chin up, charlie

Some time in November, I hit a real low, triggered by the crashing down from heights of being trained to within an inch of my life... to the realisation that I couldn't actually lift my weight in order to do the required flexed arm hang. I wrote that I'd review my progress in another month and a half, but it slipped my mind. I guess when I stopped personal training I also lost my easy access to an adjusted Smith Machine, which was what I was practicing supported flexed arm hangs on.

I figured that I would grit my teeth and give it some time and more work, seeing as I was already surprised with what personal training would do for me in as little as a month. Similarly I've managed to get in a funk if I weigh myself too often, riding the highs and lows instead of paying attention to how I feel and the progression of my weight over a timeframe that doesn't involve hours or days.

So it's been about two months, and I've managed to surprise myself yet again. By chance, I was taking an easy stroll around one of the parks I run around, and I think that because I wasn't running and focused on making a time/distance I actually noticed some chin-up bars near a sports oval. I'd been practicing holding myself up as well as doing tricep dips and push-ups at a nearby playground (monkey bars are good for adults too!) for a couple of weeks, and even doing the climbing work I felt a lot better about my upper body strength than I did last year. I thought it was high time I figured out whether my chances of hanging had improved.

Who would have guessed? Seventeen seconds. I might have counted inaccurately, but the next time I go with someone I'll get them to time it properly for me. Even if my counting's slightly off (it's like the part of my brain that perceives time blanks out from the physical strain I'm going through), it's a heck of a lot better than nothing. I am now officially the fittest/strongest I have ever been, as when I was back in high school and fairly active, I couldn't run 5km to save myself, and I could only ever do the flexed arm hang for 3-5 seconds.

I'm at least halfway there. Most fantastic!