Seriously.  At week 9, I thought my hands would be much stronger by now.  However, I am noticing that the joints in my fingers are feeling numb…almost arthritic.  I know that this is because I am tearing down to build up, but my grip on the silks is not where I need it to be yet.

While I am feeling generally stronger overall, it’s my hands and shoulders that are really, really feeling the pain.  I want so much to be able to soar like I see others doing, but my hands have recently begun to slip from my grip on the fabric.  I feel like I was able to hold on tighter a couple of weeks ago, but the more I use my arms to pull myself up, the more I feel it in my fingers.

Ok…I am working on strengthening exercises like squeezing a ball in my hand, but I guess it takes a while.

Improvements:

– I can get into an inverted stag and hold it longer

– I can do a layout, even though the silk in the hip crease still kills, and I can pull myself up out of it

– I can get into a hip key pretty regularly

– I am improving my roll up

Frustrations:

– I still cannot get into a ball to hang upside down

– I keep falling out of the side plank because my right hand loses its grip

– I still cannot climb

I guess I am just feeling a bit blue tonight for reasons beyond my control (not silks related), so I think I will call it a night and go ice my shoulders.

Tomorrow is another day, and I gotta get a grip in more ways than one.