Thanks to Summer for refusing to come here in Vancouver.

My hopes for a beach day were dashed by clouds and cooler temperatures (STILL!)…

sigh …

I had a little extra time on my hands today. Seemed like the perfect time to get back to one of my long lost loves: POWERWALKING.

So, I hit the seawall today for a good, long and energetic powerwalk.

I don’t have time for it as much these days, cuz it takes a little more time to get a decent amount of work done than a good hard run or a HIIT session.

But… KNOW THIS:

No matter what anyone else out there tells you, powerwalking is a GREAT way to get in shape, a great way to burn fat and a great workout.

Sure, it’s been dubbed ‘long slow boring’ cardio by some of the fitness gurus out there … but if you’ve got a place like I’ve got to walk, how boring is it REALLY?

Not very.

And boring or NOT, it’s a great way to burn calories and get your cardiovascular system worked out.

Just make sure you WORK at it… no “strolling”, ya hear?

Anyway, I decided to take the camera and have you along for a little walking tour while I was out there so I could show you how the Vancouver Parks Board and City Hall did on the repairs they started way back last Autumn and promised to have finished by February …

Were they finished by February?

No. Of course not. This is Vancouver we’re talking about here. Nothing ever gets done on time, or on budget.

They only just reopened the last section on my running path a couple of weeks ago.

It’s JUNE, PEOPLE!!!

And as far as I can see, the engineers weren’t thinking with their brains when they designed this new seawall… cuz come Autumn, there’s gonna be a mess and they’ll all be slapping their foreheads.

I could have done a better job of figuring this out. A FOUR YEAR OLD could have figured THIS one out.

It’s not ROCKET SCIENCE, for pete’s sakes!!

Anyway, like I said… I took the cam … and I vented my ire a little.

Check it out!

And, of course I capped off my powerwalk with a little bout of pull-ups on that shower contraption I keep talking about.

How’m I doing? Gettin’ better, eh?

I’m not swinging my body quite as much as I was a few months ago -> My Pull-ups Last November

… and I got one more rep out of me than I did last time!!! Hee Hee!!

It’s coming… this is a hard exercise to progress, but it’s COMING!

Anyway, ENGINEERS!! Any out there? If so, am I right? Did they screw this seawall thing up? Or am I missing something here? Leave us a comment.

Okay, that’s all the b*tching I’ve got in me today!! LOL

Time to get back to work on the website and graphics for my upcoming book! WEBSITES!! GAH! Technology will be the death of me yet, I swear.

But I digress.

See ya again soon!

Have a fit, fun and fantastic day.
Girlwithnoname

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Aaaah!! That felt goooood!

Just got finished my run and thought I’d whip the camera out and show you the place I’ve been talking about where I do my ‘end-of-run’ pull-ups on the shower contraption at the beach.

And, I’d love to hear from you.

I think my form is kinda sloppy. What do you think?

Any tips for getting those pull-ups done without looking like I’m flailing? lol

Thanks in advance, if so…

Btw, we know what a great full-body exercise Pull-ups are, right?

Don’t believe me?

Try one and feel your core engage. No joke!

I was surprised myself the first time I tried one (just for fun on my nephew’s monkey bars) and felt every muscle in my body tensing to help me get my chin over that bar.

No wonder I’m so addicted to them now, huh?

You’ll really do some great isolation muscle building on your back, shoulders and arms with pull-ups, too! I HIGHLY recommend them to men AND women alike.

Think they’re too hard to master? They really aren’t as hard to master as you might think. It’s all a matter of progression.

Once you can do one, you’ll be surprised how fast you’ll be able to do TWO (and so on).

Starting out and can’t even get one done?

Try this:

Put your feet on a chair, box or bench either out in front of you, or behind you. Then pull yourself up to the bar using ONLY as much support as you need from your legs. Make your arms and back do as much of the work as possible. Practice that way until you don’t need the chair to pull yourself up ONCE. Then do ONE as often as you can until you can do TWO and build up like that.

Another way you can start out is work the ‘eccentric’ direction (down) instead of the ‘concentric’ direction (up). Simply JUMP up to the top position and then slowly (and admittedly slightly painfully) lower yourself to the bottom position until your arms are straight. Jump up again and slowly lower yourself to the bottom. Repeat until you can’t lower yourself with control anymore. Eventually you’ll train your muscles to handle the load and the feeling of the move until you can pull yourself up at least once.

Combine the two strategies to get yourself there even faster.

That’s how I did it, anyway!

Pull-ups!! I Love Them. You will too, once you’ve got them mastered. Trust me on that one!

Have a fit, fun and fantastic day.
Girlwithnoname

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Hey everyone!! Hope your weekend was fabulous! I’m talking about Body Weight Exercises again!! The Pull-up is a fabulous body weight exercise, check it out:

here’s the demo:

don’t forget, you can get a 3 week trial of Craig Ballantyne’s book “Turbulence Training” by CLICKING HERE!!

Ok, Pullups. Yes, close grip… beats not at all, right? Am working on the wider grip. Those blue handles mess with my grip, I can’t hang on to them for very long. I really must cut those off sometime so I can get with the program for a wider grip.