Reverse, reverse

Rachel introduced me to reverse pull ups quite late into our journey together. These are where you stand on a step under the rig, hold the bars above your head, as if you are going to do a pull up, jump and lower yourself back down slowly. I remember the first time I did it, I was horrendous. I literally jumped and then crashed back down onto the step. I even missed the step quite a few times, like a fairy elephant, as my mother would say. Cheers mum. However, I also remember feeling a lot of pain in my lats, shoulders and arms the next day and so I figured this must be a great exercise and so have continued to practice my reverse pull ups. I now own a pull up bar and can do quite controlled reverses taking me a couple of seconds to get back down to the step which I am really proud of.

I think the next logical step would be to move on to actual pull ups and so by the end of this year I hope to be able to do one. I have been using the assisted pull up machine at the gym which I also love and have managed to get it down to 54kg (it’s counter balanced; the heavier the weight the easier it is).

This has just reminded me to look at my goals and update them. New post coming soon!

🧳 UNPACKED

Started reverse pull-ups late with Rachel. First attempt = fairy elephant crashing onto step (thanks mum). Now own pull-up bar, controlled descents, using assisted machine at 54kg counterweight. Goal: one real pull-up by year end.

Progress Track: Horrendous → controlled → working toward actual pull-ups. Lats/shoulders/arms hurt = it’s working.

Worth Knowing: Reverse pull-ups are brilliant for building up to real ones. Also brilliant for discovering you move like a fairy elephant.