Yesterday for the first time in my life I completed 10 chin-ups* in a row. It doesn’t seem like a lot but 10 chin ups is surprisingly hard. 10 legitimate all-the-way-down and all-the-way-up chin ups (for me) has been a long time coming.

As a kid in Tipperary, we used to do chin-ups in the cow-shed on my grandmother’s farm. Again, I never recall being able to manage 10 in a row. Even then the few I could muster were not legitimate but mostly "gimmes" to compete with my cousins.

In the last few months I have lost some weight, probably around 10lbs, and when the chin-up record was broken I immediately weighed myself afterwards as a healthy 173lbs. That’s 12 stone, 5 pounds if you’re in Europe.

The TV show Fear Factor used to screen contestant’s fitness levels and one of the requirements was to be able to complete 10 chin-ups. So were this show not already off the air, I could consider entering. Perhaps Ninja Warrior is in my future?

* A chin-up is when you grip the bar, underhanded (palm facing towards you) and pull your chin-up. A pull-up on the other hand, grips the bar palm facing away from you. I still can’t do 10 of these.