I made a Facebook post about not being able to do a pull-up, and my aerial instructor responded that it took her a year to be able to do her first pull-up. o.O A year! This actually makes sense, because most women find their strength in their legs - especially dancers. I knew immediately that aerial would be a challenge, because most of the climbs (except for the Taco Climb...gotta love the Taco Climb!) depend on your upper body to do most of the work for you; and I had little to no upper body strength when I started.
My instructor did, in her infinite wisdom, impart to me that starting by jumping up and lowering myself as slowly as possible would utilize the same muscles thus making those muscles stronger. Good to know!
So, I tried it. I'm glad I was alone in the house when I did, because I'm sure I looked ridiculous. I'm 4'10", so I couldn't exactly jump up and reach the pull-up bar. I had to use a chair. So, I got in the chair, pulled myself up into the top of a pull-up and slowly lowered myself to the ground, climbed back into the chair and did it all over again. I was only able to do 8 reps before the muscles in my forearms screamed at me to stop.
I'm convinced I need to be doing more of these, because my trapezius, deltoids and scapular muscles were sore the next morning. In fact, they're still sore two days latern (despite my foray into active recovery techniques), which could be a problem since I have aerial class tonight. My plan is to incorporate these bastardized pull-ups into my routine three days a week so I can get to work building those muscles that will most certainly help with my foray into the aerial arts.
I hope this helps someone out there who is just as hopeless at pull-ups as I am.
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