continued... almost chin-up and balance trainer bike

While we were on our walk last night, we stopped by the playground. While we were there, my husband grabbed a bar and did a chin-up. He challenged me to try, so I did. First, I tried a pull-up (hands facing out) but only got half-way up. Then, I tried a chin-up with a little bit of jump and did it! I'm sure with some work in stage 6 of New Rules, I will be able to do a straight-arm chin-up. I was worried I wouldn't be able to, but now I have hope. Maybe I should set my sights on pull-ups! Today, I actually feel it in my shoulders. I can't think of anything I did at PT to make my shoulders sore, so it must have been the chin-ups. I did a couple of them with the initial momentum addition. The jump wasn't a whole lot of help, it's not like I jumped to the top. The bar was well over my head. Standing flat footed, my arms were almost straight reaching it.

Since I mentioned my daughter riding her balance trainer bike (aka foot-to-floor or pedal free bike) I thought I would put a plug in for it. I strongly feel this is the best way for kids to learn how to ride a bike. Both of my kids have learned on this bike, starting at about 2 years 4 months. Basically, as soon as they were big enough to touch the ground with the seat all the way down they were on it. Both had a good grasp on balance after only about 3 walks. After a month or so, they are flying down the sidewalk, gliding with each step. It is really a sight to behold. It is actually a bit easier for them going up a slight hill than going down, since slowing down is harder. They have limited the turning range of the handlebars so that the child cannot turn too fast and jackknife. Sure, we have a few accidents, but the accidents with these things are MUCH milder than with bikes with training wheels. With my son, after a summer on this, the next summer, he was riding a bike with pedals. He was 3 1/2 years old.

Below is the type of bike we have for the kids, although we didn't have a piece of padding on the handle bar. We paid something like $70 for the thing, which I felt was a lot, but it has now taught three kids how to ride. I definitely think it is worth the money. Ours was imported from Germany, but slowly I'm starting to see similar bikes available locally. I have no idea why it took so long to catch on here. With my son, I don't know how many comments we got from people who saw him. Everyone was in awe.

12inch Kettler balance trainer bike