How to climb a rope - Nerdy girl style

The rope climb is a one of the stereotypical enemies of nerds in gym classes everywhere. Rope climb is for jocks. Not stringy, pale people in glasses.

Ppp-shhaaw I say to that.

We have a climbing rope in our gym. It took me months to learn to climb it. Well, kind of. We'd do pull-ups on the rope and I couldn't strong-arm my way up the ropes like the guys can. I tried and tried to climb the rope, and could get a few feet up. In frustration I googled "how to climb a rope" and it was all over. The next time I went to the gym, I climbed 3/4 of the way up. And shortly after that, all the way up. (This is the video I found most helpful. I watched it several times: http://youtu.be/uKGy8EsN0VI)

The key is a foot wrapping technique. 

1) Jump up on the rope. If there's a knot you can base your feet on, use that. Grab as high up on the rope as you can and then stand up.

2) Wrap your foot (I use my right) around the rope.(With the rope on the inside of your leg, wrap your leg outside and then tuck your foot back inside the rope. So part of the rope will be on your leg. It will go across your ankle or top of your foot and then under your foot again.)

3) Step on the wrapped foot with your other foot and pull yourself up.

4) Repeat. Keep wrapping and rewrapping. (Watch the video. She explains so much better then me.) 

5) And then come down from the climb. Just watch out for rope burn! (And the knot at the bottom. That can hurt if you come down too fast and hit the rope with your crotch.) 

This way you use your legs AND your arms to get up. The foot wrapping technique gets easier with practice. The first few times I tried it, I had to really think about it, and concentrate on rewrapping my foot. (I miss my footing once in the video.) 

Don't worry, you still get an arm workout. (It really burns my arms out. I can climb 1 time to the top max.) 

This is one of my tricks that I'm proud of—because climbing a rope is awesome. And you do have to be strong to do it. Maybe it looks impressive? #Beastmode.

With Youtube, maybe there's not an excuse not to be able to climb a rope? Except for maybe rope burn….On your thighs. That totally sucks.

Nerdy Gym Clothes

Don't know what to wear to the gym? I just found this site: http://www.lookhuman.com/browse/apparel/?collection=402-fitness 

All the tanks nerdy girls could ever need. There are Harry Potter tanks, Nintendo tanks, Star Wars tanks, cat memes, Disney characters, Shakespeare and all sorts of cartoons from my youth. 

Also good to know I'm not the only gym-obsessed nerdy girl.

Never workout immediately following allergy shots

What happens when you get an allergy shot before arms day at the gym.
Apparently shots don't mix with handstand pushups. 

Never work out immediately following an allergy shot or four.

For some reason, I thought my allergy doctor said it was fine to workout after getting my shots. I've gotten my shots in workout clothes, even told the nurses I was going to go workout. And I have before. I got an allergy shot after work, say 5:20 and then headed to the 6 p.m. class at the gym and had no reaction.

Today, I got an allergy shot after 5, headed directly to the 6 p.m. circuit training class—and my arm broke out into a giant itchy welt.

I didn't actually notice it until I got home around 8 p.m. But it was massive. I put hydrocortisone on it, took a pictures for the doctor and vowed not to do it again.

But, you're really supposed to wait about two hours after a shot to work out—otherwise there's too much blood flow to the tissues and cause the allergens to get into your blood faster. (Thanks WebMD)

So now I know! And from now on, only lunch time shots if I'm working out in the evening.