Ups and Downs during the past three months

Here I'm going to talk about some of the big ups and downs I experienced during the past three months.

1.  Pull-Up Strength.  I love doing Pull-Ups, but this is one move that if I stop doing then for an extended period of time, I will go down in strength... A LOT and QUICKLY.  During the two weeks of inactivity, I was literally doing no strength exercises.  Not because I couldn't, but I think I was mentally afraid of injuring myself again.  But as my ankle got stronger, my desire to workout again became stronger.  But after two weeks, I could barely do 8 reps.  But after a couple of day, I was able to get back to about 10 reps and that was one plateau.  About a month later, I got up to 15 reps and plateaued again.  Last week, I got back to 20 reps in a row.  I've done that three times since then.  I'm very happy.

2. Yoga.  My flexibility has gone to pot.  Again, like Pull-Ups, if I stop doing it, I lose it.  Two and a half years ago, I joined a tennis club.  Sundays and Wednesdays are now Tennis days.  Previously, at least one of those days was a yoga day, and one was either a stretch or a Foam Roller Day.  Now, I do nothing for flexibility.  And it shows.  When I did a Yoga routine after about two months, in the middle of July, I couldn't even get close to doing the Yoga Wrap.  My Shoulders were just too tight.  A couple of times since, I barely was able to touch my tippy tips of my fingers together, but no clasp or hook.  But I kept doing it and just today, August 28, for the first time in over... I don't know, a long time, I actually was able to hook my fingers for a quick moment on both sides.  So my flexibility is slowly coming back.  I am also making it a part of my routine to stretch my Hip Flexors and do Shoulder Opening Yoga stretches.

Another thing in Yoga is my Half-Moon pose and my Warrior 3 pose.   The first time I got back to a yoga routine in June, I was falling all over myself.  I couldn't hold the Half-Moon pose for longer than a few seconds.  I was very unstable and my legs would just poop out.  But since I started doing the Chisel and Hammer program, the routines also work the legs and I could feel my legs getting stronger.  After a few of the Chisel and Hammer routines, I did a yoga routine, and my Half-Moon was solid as a rock.  My Warrior 3 pose was also extremely stable.  I could even do it with my arms forward, not back.  I thought that playing tennis would be enough leg work for me since I did a lot of "getting low" to the ball, but it wasn't nearly enough.  Now, I know I have to do Leg-specific training moves to keep up my leg strength.

3. Over all Strength.  The old saying is right, "If you don't use it, you lose it."  I am proof of that.  Whenever I take any type of break from working out, strength workouts, for longer than a few days, I start to lose strength.  It has taken over three months, but I am back in the habit and on my way to reaching my fitness goals.