Before starting my chin-up journey, I need to work on my alignment and upper body strength.
Check yourself, before you wreck yourself: Try this to check your alignment: rest your arms at your sides, then look down. Are your elbow pits facing forward, or are they pointing inward with the knuckles facing forward? If the elbow pits are pointing inward, your upper arms are internally rotated. Your body molds to what you do most often…your habits become your posture. Unfortunately, modern life doesn’t require our shoulder joints to move through their full range of motion. Instead, we spend much of our time with our arms internally rotated, for example, while driving a car (10 and 2), writing at a desk, and typing on a computer.
Go out for a walk and watch how people swing their arms. Some arms look like windshield wipers swinging in front of the body. Sometimes you’ll see one arm swing behind the body like they’re fanning away a fart.
In the picture below are two twins separated at birth; the one on the left was raised by gorillas (or raised in front of a computer, I’m not sure?) That’s me on the right. Notice my clavicles are not in the ideal neutral (horizontal) position- this is from a lifetime of elevating my shoulders. I’m working on it, so cut me a break here. Horizontal clavicles are essential; if they’re in a V formation, the muscles around them are not in the correct plane, making it difficult for them to work as a team with the rest of your muscles, like keeping the head in the correct position (ears over shoulders). You also run the risk of cervical disk problems, upper back strain, and blood flow to the head.
“The shoulder girdle maintains the environment and geometry for activities in the thoracic cavity (those of the heart and lungs) and the health of the cervical and thoracic nervous system,” Katy Bowman, a biomechanist, said.
Chin-Up Journey
Today I turn 45, and I wanted to do something at 45 that I couldn’t do at 25. That something is a chin-up without having to use my pull-up assist thingy (or crap my pants in the process).
The trick is consistency. It’s pretty amazing how quickly the body builds strength (or loses it) depending on your frequency of use. Once or twice a week, I’d make an attempt at a chin-up, and then I’d whine about how hard it was. Well, I guess turning 45 is a motivator because I went from half-assing it to putting in a consistent effort every day for a week. Use it or lose it, baby!
My gift to myself every year is to be healthier and stronger than I was the year before.
This is me before. I could hold my sippy cup up all by myself (but not without pooping my pants). Not bad considering the cup was the size of my head.
Author: Barbara Horsley has more than 26 years of experience as a licensed massage therapist. She specializes in abdominal massage and Visceral Manipulation™ and is an NCBTMB-approved educator. In addition to being certified in abdominal massage, she also studied biomechanics and restorative exercise. She is also a Certified Women’s Herbal Educator and a graduate of the IWHI Perimenopause & Menopause Certificate Program.