About a year ago, I tried to do a pull-up during a workout – and didn’t even get close. I’m talking not even a tiny bend in the elbows. Like anyone who wants to learn how to get your first pull-up, I realized I needed to master how to train for them properly.

What really lit the fire under my butt was that I’d been training other people to do pull-ups. But here I was – a personal trainer who couldn’t do a single pull-up herself. I KNOW.

Pull-ups are exceptionally difficult because they involve lifting your entire body. Unlike a bicep curl where you can simply decrease the dumbbell weight if needed, it takes some creative solutions to find easier variations of pull-ups that allow you to gradually progress.

It’s 6:00 AM. Your alarm is blaring and you’re supposed to go to the gym before work. You’re tired, your bed is warm, and working out sounds awful. You’ll go to the gym tomorrow. You turn over and fall back asleep.

It’s 6:00 PM. You promised yourself you’d work out after work. You’re starving, your feet hurt, and work was ridiculously stressful. You’ll work out tomorrow. You go home and relax on the couch.

We’ve all been there.

How to Have a Healthy New Year

Like usual, the end of this year feels a lot like the end of a long work day – albeit, the craziest, most hectic work day. You’ve put in a lot of hard work, now feel drained, and lack motivation for anything else: to eat healthy, to exercise, to get chores done, etc.

I wanted to share all the ways I’ve been getting re-inspired by fitness. I’m now at the point where I’m tired of feeling blah, eating too many Christmas cookies, and taking too many rest days. I don’t know about you, but I feel wayyy better when I have a healthy routine, full of nutritious foods and regular exercise.