Pull Up Tuesday & Grip strength for Longevity

How’s it going with those New Years resolutions? Personally my goals tend to emerge as the year progresses. They may have started as a vague idea such as this year’s intention to be more consistent with my own resistance training. Which has historically been strong in autumn and spring but a bit hit & miss when skiing, biking or running takes centre stage.

Grip strength along with getting up from a chair or the floor, are strong indicators for longevity. Does this mean we should all go out and buy things we can squeeze to improve our grip strength? I think not. They really reflect strength and mobility, which can be gained in lots of ways.

This year, 3 strength goals have emerged for me. Pretty simply they involve pushing, pulling, and legs. This is the most simple, full body workout framework there is. It’s my ‘go to’ when strapped for time or motivation.  Sometimes it’s all done in one day, sometimes it’s split over different days.

For legs, I’m working on my pistol squat. I like that it’s a single leg movement and has always been a challenge for my weaker left leg. (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xBFtRTLVGQk)

Poor ankle flexion makes this an extra struggle for me. But, really it’s probably the lack of core strength to hold a single leg up at that extreme angle that is perhaps my biggest barrier. I’d like to be able to squat from sitting on the floor. I can currently do single leg lowers to a small curb or step and then push back up with both feet. Thus minimising any potential knee trauma. I’m mixing up alternating legs with working one side at a time and doing single leg high step-ups and using a TRX to assist with that tricky up portion of the exercise. Both work mobility and strength at the same time. Win win.

Push ups are probably the one out of the 3 exercises that I’m best at, although I’m a long way off from handstand push ups. I love all the variations of push ups.

Pull ups complete the trio. Having spent much of my youth rock climbing you maybe surprised to hear I wasn’t able to do a single pull up until about 10 years ago when I consciously taught myself by doing super slow lower offs. After a few weeks I could do 1-3. Then I stopped practicing. Skip a few years and even a hanging hold felt risky for my shoulder stability. So strengthening this area is now a priority. The TRX is my biggest friend here. I can now do pull ups like the one illustrated above but am still working on the regular looking ones.

The really nice thing about these exercises is the fact that they are compound movements that utilise many muscles so the combination works my whole body.

As I haven’t distracted myself by having a race target this year it's been easier to persuade myself to slot in strength sessions even with long, sunny days that make me want to be in the mountains all day. Progress is definitely not as it would have been in the past or as quick as I would like but even maintenance of my current strength is a worthy outcome. I’m not a particularly patient person but patience is required to respect my body’s tendons and ligaments. My collagen levels are declining I can see it in my skin but its more concerning when you consider joints and the increase in injury risk. So in addition to a thorough warm up, specific to each exercise, I must be patient and err on the safe side of progression tuning in to the messages that my body is telling me rather than sticking to a rigid progressive plan.

I’ll update this post at the end of the year so you can see how I’ve gotten on and any insights learnt.