Pull Ups

What is a pull up?

The Visualisation

You reach up to the metal bar above you. At first it seems impossible to lift your entire body with just your arms, but you feel your stomach clench and the muscles in your back harden and you manage to lift yourself until your chin is level with the bar. You breathe, amazed that you have done what you thought would be impossible and you let yourself drop to the floor again.

You tighten your hands around the bar and lift up again. It's harder than it was in the first time and you feel all of your muscles more acutely. You let yourself drop and pull up again. Your arms are beginning to feel like cooked spaghetti and the rest of your muscles are suffering a similar fatigue. You drop and pull up again, experiencing a strange feeling of both strength and weakness as you work your muscles until they're fatigued.

You're more aware of the muscles in your back than you've ever been as you lift yourself up again and a throbbing burn spreads up your arms, to your shoulders and down your back. Your hands are growing slippery on the metal bar and you breath, pushing yourself to do just one more.

You grip the bar and lift with your arms, feeling the muscles harden all over your body as you lift yourself again so that your chin is level with the bar. You hold yourself there and count down from ten. Your muscles flex to maintain your position. You can feel them in your arms, your back and your stomach, using their strength to hold you up in the air. As your countdown reaches zero, you let yourself drop to the floor.