I've decided that 2012 will be the year I dedicate to unprecedented upper body strength, of course knowing that upper body strength requires middle and lower body strength, which requires a suppleness to all tissues, so I guess 2012 won't be any different than any other year. Except that it will.
A month before I got pregnant my friend of all friends got me a pass to a 2-hour long trapeze class, which I took. It was awesome and afterward I realized that swinging and hanging from your arms is the natural movement most missing from our daily lives. Swinging and hanging require more than your arms. This full-gravitational pull requires every muscle about every joint to pitch in to hold whatever is below it. It's a full-body phenomenon that, let's face it, our puny, blistering hand-skin isn't ready to take on. Time to get over it.
Here's where I was about 16 months ago in terms of whole-body awesomeness:
Do you like the part where I didn't know how to keep my legs together while swinging? I'm thinking that adrenaline must affect hearing somehow.
Anyway, flash forward a pregnancy and a baby and breastfeeding and all-nighters and a move and some serious forgetfulness when it came to keeping up with my upper body. But starting today (or yesterday, actually) it will be different. No more excuses. I need to hang and swing and until I have my indoor jungle gym promised to me, I will find another way. And I did.
This branch is hidden in the trees out back:
After mowing the lawn this weekend, I found this au natural gym in my very own back yard. This branch is my personal trainer because it 1) cannot mock my pathetic attempts at any trapeze efforts 2) is thin enough to hold comfortably while strong enough to hold me and 3) is 10 steps away and available for 60-second play dates seven or eight times a day.
Also, I have this cow to cheer me on:
There's no huge time commitment needed for whole-body strength. You just have to decide.
1. Find a suitable tool (branch, bar, whatever.)
2. Write down all the reasons you can't do it (it's too far, too hard, too long of a drive, too much time, too cold where you live, too, too, too.)
3. Throw that list away.
4. Decide to do it.
After that, it's a breeze.