It took a few more days after the bruising showed up on my arm for it to feel strong enough to try a pullup again, but it was not to be. The muscle that was hurting in my abdomen was still extremely painful and is immediately engaged when doing a pullup.
I had to exercise patience and wait for it to heal completely. Good for the soul, but extremely frustrating. I was worried for a while that I’d caused a hernia somehow.
It has taken over 2 weeks to heal sufficiently that I only experience a small stretching sensation in that muscle. A few days ago, Hannah noticed that there was a line of bruising in the area. Yesterday, I tentatively attempted my first pullup and it was a success, if harder than it had been before the break.
I’ve also lost all the head start I had. I had a few hundred pullups “in the bank” (ahead of my schedule) and I’m now around 300 behind. A lot of ground to make up, and it was already getting harder to keep up.
Ho hum. This is why it’s called a “challenge”.
Remember you can sponsor me any time you like ๐ – http://www.justgiving.com/20000pullups
I share your frustration – I’ve felt the same in the past when I get some running related injury. You feel bad/lazy/whatever for not being able to follow your normal routine, and annoyed that your body can’t do it…
Unfortunately waiting weeks seems to be the only way to heal it properly – at which point you feel like you’re back to square one as you’ve lost some form/fitness.
Good luck!
It’s particularly annoying when you’re trying to reach a difficult target over a long time for charity (hint, hint) and you’re losing ground on that target.