Move It Monday ? Pipes Challenge

Happy Mondaaaay! Today?s Move It Monday is extra special. Instead of me talking at you, I want to motivate you to get moving with me!

It?s all inspired by my friend Morgan and her new 6 Week Pipes Challenge.

It?s all about whipping those girly arms of ours into shape. You know what I?m talking about. Those of us who do a few tricep dips after a run and call it a day. Upper body strength is SO much more important than that!

Alright, and let?s face it, it won?t hurt for looking good come tank-top season ;)

Now this challenge can take on many forms and I encourage you to pick a goal that suits you. Morgan will be following the 100 push up plan. Some other great ideas are doing your first arm balance pose in yoga?

Or how about doing a full tricep dip?

Now, you may be wondering why a girl who just spent a month in a full arm-cast is yammering about getting ripped pipes.

Clearly, I am not going to spend the six weeks doing bicep curls (OUCH). But I have set a unique goal for myself.

By the end of the challenge I want to be able to almost fully flex and extend my left arm. As most of you know, I shattered my elbow a month ago in a skating accident. I just got my cast off and started physiotherapy tonight!!

I took ?before? pictures so you get an idea of what I?m working with.

My bad arm, flexed toward my body as far as it will go. Mind the chipping nail polish and pyjamas ? I?m currently unemployed.

My bad arm extended as far as it currently goes. I also can?t hold it up on it?s own.

For comparison?s sake, here?s the same movements with my good arm!

Flexion. What?s up.

Extension. Hiya!

My doc says those two movements should come back quickly, so it?s a very reasonable goal for me right now. Although, chances are I?ll fall an inch or so short of where I used to be able to move it. Nothing too noticeable.

The more difficult, and more long-term goal, will be to get rotation back in my wrist.

This is it pronated, which is actually pretty good. Because of the location of my injury, this direction is easier than it should be.

On the flipside, that means supination is more difficult than it should be. Normal arms can rotate the palm to face the ceiling. Mine just stops dead right there.

Or on my good arm, I can do it 360 degrees when straightened ;)

Meeting with a physiotherapist tonight was very interesting. She was able to work my arm into moving much more than this. Although, I am still hindered a lot by pain. She instructed me to take my percocet before our next session so we can work it a little better.

What I didn?t realize is just how tense the left side of my upper body is. My left bicep is essentially in constant contraction to keep in the 90 degree position and elbow protected. Hard as a rock. My left shoulder is also super tense and really hard to loosen up.

I?ve been instructed on how to start moving my elbow and wrist properly several times a day, as well as massaging out my left bicep and loosening up that shoulder. Despite the pain, I plan to work diligently at it to get my elbow moving back and forth with relative ease when the challenge is over!

The challenge officially starts next Monday. You can find posts at Life After Bagels every week for support over the six weeks (and maybe some guest posts from me!). We?ll also be chatting about it on her Facebook page and on Twitter under the hashtag #6weekpipes.

If your looking for more info on building up those pipes, check out these old posts of mine!

The Perfect Push Up
The Perfect Tricep Dip
Ripped Arms: A How To Guide 

So now my question to you is ? will you be participating? What?s your goal to get those pipes in shape?