Today: What’s beautiful? Making progress and building community.

As I shared a few weeks ago,  my measurable goal for Under Amour’s What’s Beautiful campaign is to complete an unassisted pull-up.  This is something I’ve been working towards since joining CrossFit Southie just over a year ago, but only when they came up in workouts.  In other words… it was time to put forth some real effort.  

I started with jumping pull-ups.  Then I moved on to a green band for assistance and, starting out, I remember how challenging that felt.  Eventually I could crank out sets of 10 with relative ease.  Then we added weight (either a 5lb plate between my knees or ankles, or a chain across my shoulders… which made me feel like a bad ass rapper… sort of).

Having a set of bands and a portable pull-up bar at home has helped me sneak in sets before and after work, and in the last few weeks I’ve been able to ditch the green band for the blue band.  I’ve succeeded in doing 3 pull-ups with the red band (which provides the least assistance and is often referred to as the placebo band), but they haven’t been pretty, so I’m sticking to blue for a bit and reminding myself that…

Practice leads to progress.

I am thrilled by the progress I’ve made toward my goal, but in some ways my focus has shifted more toward the community aspect of the campaign, and how participating is a reward in itself.  I thought about this a lot lately.  While I can’t wait to finally get above that bar on my own, it’s important to enjoy and celebrate the process (and progress) along the way.

I have gained so much inspiration from the other women participating in Under Armour’s third round of What’s Beautiful.  From Twitter chats and blog posts, to posts on the #whatsbeautiful website, to Pinterest boards and Instagram check-ins, there is a wealth of incredible content, motivation, and encouragement being shared.

An incredible bonus?  This bag full of Under Armour goodies (including the new Armour39 fitness tracker), a prize for participating in a recent Twitter chat, that arrived last week.  Thank you, Under Armour Women!

If you’re looking to score some UA Women gear (a tank, crops and shoes) of your own, several of my fellow FitFluential Ambassadors are hosting giveaways:

• ElectriFi: Under Armour Giveaway (ends 7/13)
• Running Hutch: Women’s Under Armour Giveaway (ends 7/13)
• Gabby’s Gluten Free: Under Armour Giveaway! (ends 7/13)
• Through Heather’s Looking Glass: Under Armour Giveaway (ends 7/11)
• Our Knight Life: Under Armour Giveaway  (ends 7/17)

Under Armour recently announced the 10 What’s Beautiful finalists: 10 strong, accomplished, ambitious women.  See their stories in the video below (or click here if viewing in a feed reader):

I can’t wait until the winner is announced!  Looking to make progress towards your own goals?   I highly recommend logging onto the What’s Beautiful site to share your plans and aspirations and gain inspiration from the rest of the community.

This post is part of an ongoing campaign with Under Armour and FitFluential.  I was not compensated for this post, and all thoughts and opinions are my own.

Also On Tap for Today:

•  Looking for a local farmers market in MA?
• Enjoying this cooler weather 🙂
• Brainstorming summer day trips (I need more beach.)

Where do you find community?