Finding Fitness: Tips for better pull-ups

Hey everyone, thanks again for joining me this week as we look at some quick fitness and health tips. 

As I mentioned last week, today we will be looking at some excellent pull-up variations as well as easy ways to use fruits and veggies in our everyday meals without giving up on flavor.

When a pull-up is brought up as an exercise, most people think to themselves, “Well, this is useless. I can’t even do one pull-up.”

I am here to help you get that thought out of your head. We are going to look at some great ways to work your way up to a pull-up. Hopefully, after some work, you can achieve that goal. 

First, you want to either find a pull-up bar, or something with a ledge large enough to have some space for your fingers. There are some affordable doorway pull up bars available online.  A link to one that I think is a great budget-friendly choice can be found here.

If you have trouble doing a pull-up, you will want to bring a chair over and put it a little in front of yourself and the pull-up bar. Next, grip the bar. For biceps, try an underhand grip and for your back try an overhand grip.

Then, once you have a good grip, place one leg up onto the chair and pull yourself up using your leg as a bit of a spring to help give you a boost. Choose a resistance amount that challenges you and lets you do about 4-6 reps. I would aim for repeating the exercise for four sets. This should help you gain some strength in your upper body and aid in all the spring cleaning coming up.

Mealtime tips

As we move into new seasons, that means there are different dishes to make. I love fruits and vegetables, but I know many out there find it hard to incorporate them into their daily meals. Hopefully I can help you easily add them into your arsenal without compromising on what you enjoy. 

One of my favorite go-to substitutes is cauliflower rice. When I am eating anything with rice, I usually cut the rice amount in half and then add in the cauliflower rice for the remaining amount. This will add tons of fiber to the meal, which will help you feel fuller. Another easy hack is zucchini noodles. This is an easy way to sub out starchy pasta with some great fiber. They sell many great “zoodlers” on Amazon. You can find an affordable option here. 

Finally, an easy way to incorporate fruit into your diet is using it whole in fruit smoothies. I encourage you to keep the skin on most fruits, unless it is citrus. This way, you gain all of the good fiber while also getting the intended vitamins and minerals.

There you have it. I hope that you have learned something new today and feel a push to help make a healthier tomorrow. Next week we will be diving into some easy cardio you can use as it gets warmer out. 

Also, I’ll include a great grilling recipe. Have a great week guys and never give up!