I took this session really really slow – so slow in fact that I set up the blog page between sets… I did my first attempt at the walk-the-plank chin-ups on Saturday, and really knew about it by the time Monday and Tuesday had swung round! Not my because of my shoulders or arms – my abs were killing me! If I keep this up I’ll just need to do some oblique sit-ups to work on the side and lower abs, the chin-ups are taking care of the top and central muscles! They really made their presence known every time I laughed or coughed. I’ve read on weight-lifting sites and in books that if you’re shifting heavy weights (and I guess shifting me counts as that!), then the muscle build and metabolism gain last about 48 hours – so you’re best to do a work-out every other day to have sufficient recovery and growth time, so ideally I should have been hanging off my bar on Monday or Tuesday, but my abs just couldn’t face it on Monday, and I opted for going out with Run England on Tuesday instead as I haven’t been out with them for ages.
So, tonight was the night! I could feel my abs trembling when I first got my hands into position on the bar – like they were dreading taking the weight of my legs. I took the first set really slow – it probably took me twice the time it took me to do a set last time, when I was keeping my hands on the bar after landing and just stepping back onto the step again. This time I left the bar completely and re-settled on it in between chin-ups. I was able to do the 2 second lowering which I was pleased with, but my abs were really not happy about it – I was literally steeling myself to step off the step every time as though I were going to be jumping off something slightly higher than was likely to give a comfortable landing…
Set one complete, I waved my arms about and pondered my ability to do a second set – the prospect of doing five total at any speed at all was looking daunting as it wasn’t the lowering that was the issue, and I was hoping to be in some sort of state to maybe do something on Saturday again without ripping my abs up. I decided for my second set to deviate somewhat from Scooby’s session and stood with my hands on the bar in a chin-up position, and used my arms to lift my weight off my feet so I was on tiptoe, then dropped back down, again trying to use just my arms to do this – this felt like it might possibly count for something for my arms and shoulders, while still giving my poor stomach a rest!
I did another set of walk-the-planks, begrudgingly! I really had to force myself to do the eight reps – and as before, it wasn’t my arms that were the problem. The last two sets I did my ‘chin-up lifts’ instead of dropping, so I at least feel I’ve done something this evening. Next time I may try adding some leg exercises between sets or something – no crunches though!!!
Blue Runnings 
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