peacekeeper

Here is my first week in review. I completed all three of my bodyweight routines for the week. I cooked dinner for my family twice and breakfast once. I had a TKD test and passed. I practiced TKD at home after my workouts but did not achieve a half hour a session. I need to figure out how to get more practice in. I am proud of myself for what I have achieved this week. I have plenty of room for improvement but I stuck with it the first week and met all my goals for the most part. School starts tomorrow so we will see what changes need to me made to keep my goals within reach. Time to cook some chicken breast for lunch for the next couple days.

I would definitely count moving as a workout! Moving should be a form of military torture. It is good to hear that you have a new roommate and your life is moving in a positive direction.

Well it's Saturday and I just finished my TKD test to move up to blue 2. It was a pretty tought 2 hour test. I passed and only made a few mistakes. I was so caught up in my body position during my form that I forgot to K'ihap. I did well other than that. I think I could of done better during sparring but my test judge said I did well. So I am now a blue 2. I am proud of myself. Getting fit has been so much easier since I found something I am passionate about. Its also great that I am a part of a forum of fellow martial artists that support one another. On another note. My workout yesterday turned out to be very impromptu. I struggled with the idea of counting it or not but when I woke up sore I knew it was a workout. I went and picked up a 50 gallon aquarium from my brother last night. It was in his basement full of rock, water, and fish. I, alone emptied the tank a five gallon bucket at a time and carried it upstairs to empty it. i made 8 trips up the steps with the five gallon buckets. I kept ten gallons of water in two buckets to put back in the tank when I set it back up. I got help to carry the tank and the stand out to my truck. I then got back to my house and carried everything down to my basement and started setting it all up. I then had to fill the tank by filling 5 gallon buckets with water from my upstairs bathroom. I carried a lot of watter up and down steps! The whole process took about 3 hours. I was exausted when I was done. I was too tired to get my workout in. I was very dissapointed with myself. I then thought about how people got fit ages ago before desk jobs. This was how they did it. They did not need to set up a workout time. They where running, hunting, carrying, and fighting. They got a workout everyday! So I decided that I worked out whether or not I realized it at the time. I still need to cook dinner 2 nights this week. Looks like I will be cooking tonight and tomorrow. I do not know what it will be yet but I will let everyone know when I do.

Thanks Kishi! I have been an commercial/industrial electrician since I was 18. It is all I have ever done. My father had a electrical contracting company so I was led into the same occupation. I have never liked it. I have never been fullfilled. The problem is I make a substantial amount of money. I have been afraid to give up good money for a career I have dreamed of. Long story short, I am 36 and now attending one of the top schools in the country for social work. I either want to become a high school counselor or maybe do private practice. Btw, I attended a new student orietation tonight. I got my student ID, and picked up my books. My classes start this monday. I am stoked!!. I already have most of my gen ed requirements completed. I have been attending a jr collage off and on for the past 10 years. Anyway, I just got home and I am going to postpone my workout until tomorrow. I will still get my 3 workouts in this week wih a day off in between. I will check in tomorrow.

Thanks cob. I get so much support and inspiration from this place it is incredible! Well practice went well tonight. I can not express enough how glad I am that the holidays are over and I am back in the DoJang! on another note, I am going to a new student orientation after work tomorrow. I am also picking up my books and my student i.d. I think it will be official tomorrow. I start classes next monday. I am still nervous but excited as well to be hopefully changing careers in the next few years. Well thats it for now. I will be back tomorrow!

Thanks Spaurachio. I appreciate and love the support I get here. Ok well I cooked dinner tonight. My wife and I had a T-bone steak, asparagus, and cauliflower. I seasoned and lightly buttered the veggies and threw them in the oven. They came out roasted and delicious. After dinner I took a half hour break and then headed downstairs to my workout area. I worked my push ups, pull ups and squats. I also hung a 3/4 inch rope through a rafter and use that to support myself while working on pistol squats. Man those things are tough! After I completed three sets of each and was quite fatigued, I proceeded to work on some slow motion side kicks and round house kicks. I only did 10 per leg but every bit helps. I also did a few ax kicks. I have a B.O.B. dummy so I worked on palm thrusts, ridge hand, and knife hand technique. I did not do a lot of each but every little bit helps right? It was more than I was doing before this challenge. Well that is it for tonight. Time to relax and find some good footwork videos. My sparring footwork needs a ton of help! I definitely move nothing like Ali.

No food porn album yet. Still in the learning phase of cooking. Well I had TKD practice tonight. Man do I miss it when I am gone! I have a test this Saturday for my blue 2 belt. I am almost ready. I need to practice a bit more on some technique but all in all I am prepared! I am cooking dinner tomorrow night. It is either going to be spaghetti with zucchini noodles or a nice steake with asparagus and mashed cauliflower. Whatever I dont cook tomorrow, I will be cooking Friday. I will also be cooking either Saturday or Sunday.

Yeah, They kicked my butt!

As far as workouts go, I did the beginner bodyweight routine last challenge and loved it! I still do a modified version of it on days I want to mix things up. To be honest, I do not own the rebel fitness guides so I have no experience with any of those workouts. The beginner bodyweight workout is a great workout!

I am glad to have you with us! You definitely belong here! As far as the beginner bodyweight routine goes, it kicked my butt last challenge. You wil be where you want to be before you know it. Looking forward to watching your progression.

You are an amazing person to follow during the challenges! I really enjoy the specificity and intensity of your challenges. On a side note I am taking a creative writing class this semester as an elective. I have alot of respect for writers! Maybe someday you would post a little excerpt on here?

Glad you are here! I would love to knowhow they made the beet box! Very cool. Would love to see something you build.

Glad to see you back giving it another go! Just take it one workout at a time!

I have been seeing alot of people talking about these races. The Warrior dash, Mud run etc. I would love to do one of these! Please give us all the details when you kick that races ass! Good luck!

Thanks Kaze. I heard back from Waldo in the bodyweight thread. I feel like I have a better grasp of what to concentrate on. I worked out tonight. I worked on push ups, pull ups, and squats. I did 3 sets of 13 push ups. I did a two second down, one second pause, and two second up. I did 3 sets of 5 pull ups. I did 3 sets of 20 bodyweight squats making sure I came to a stop at the bottom. I tried to do assisted pistol squats but did not have anything to help get me down or up. I think I will affix a rope to a rafter tomorrow and use that to asist my squats. I also did some stretching afterwards. I worked on my inner and outer hips and my quads. I also did some slow motion roundhouse kicks and slow motion side kicks. It was a good workout. I am going back to TKD tomorrow. Two weeks off due to the holidays and I am dying to get back!

Thanks!

I rally apreciate the advice. So I completely understand that I should really have only 3 exercises I should be concentrating on such as pull ups, push ups and squats. I also understand I should be doing a +1 technique meaning I did 5 pull ups last time, I am now going to try to do 6 etc. My final question is how many sets to do and should it be every day or every other day? Thanks Waldo.

Thanks Waldo! That is exactly what I was looking for.

Thanks for the input. I am probably just overthinking everything.

Good luck on the brewing business! I did a small amount of brewing and kegging myself. I loved it. For personal reasons I completey gave up alcohol but I give props to a good brewer! Glad you are here.

Fitness goal #1. bodyweight routine 3 days a week. This is going to be a modified version of the beginner routine and the advanced routine. I just read Convict Conditioning and am going to implement the technique into my workout. What I mean is I am going to begin working through the 10 levels of some of the exercises such as pull ups and push ups. My workout is listed below. The sets and techniques wil advance as the challenge progresses. As a matter of fact I would like to keep this goal for several challenges and build upon it as I go. Warm up will be jump rope for 5 min. Push ups 2x10 working my way up to 2x20 with perfect form. Then moving on to close hand push ups 2x20 max. Squats 2x15 working my way up to 2x30 with perfect form. Then movin to close squats 2x30 max Walking lunges 2x20 Pullups 1x5 working my way up to 2x10. Flat knee raises 3x35 working my way to hanging leg raises. (there are quite a few steps in between for this. I will post them as I progress.) Straight bridge 1x10 working up to 3x40. Then working up to angled bridges 3x30 Wall headstands 30 sec working my way to 2 min. Then working my way into crow stands 10 sec then up to 1 min. Dips 2x10 I read the thread about Convict Conditioning and am now asking for help. I want to work up to pistol squats and handstand push ups. Please tell me what I need to change to make this a good bodyweight routine. I am open to any and all suggestions. Thanks in advance.

I just looked in the body weight forum and found the thread about convict conditioning. I think I am going to post my workout in the bodyweight thread and try to get some feedback.

Thanks Kishi. I will definitely look in those forums. I can say that I use the term "follow" very loosely when it comes to convict conditioning. I just completed my first workout of the challenge. I followed the routine listed above to a T. I was pretty worn out after the workout. It felt good. I plan on woking on some TKD stretching tomorrow. All is good for now. I need to figure out three meals to make for dinner next week. I guess I will jump over to that part of the forum to see what deliciousness I can find. On a side note, I have not been to TKD in two weeks. Two nights the Dojang was closed because of Christmas and New Years and I missed two nights because of holiday parties. I am so glad to be back to a regular schedule without all of the interuptions.

I am glad you are here Thrillho! You seem like a monk to me! Good luck with the challenge.

Ok so I learned a LOT during the first challenge. I learned about setting goals and sticking to them. I also learned that its ok to be flexible. I shot way too big on some of my goals on my first challenge. I am not going to that this time. I have a much better idea of what I want to achieve and how to achieve it. This does not mean that my goals will be easier, just more realistic. Fitness goal #1. bodyweight routine 3 days a week. This is going to be a modified version of the beginner routine and the advanced routine. I just read Convict Conditioning and am going to implement the technique into my workout. What I mean is I am going to begin working through the 10 levels of some of the exercises such as pull ups and push ups. My workout is listed below. The sets and techniques wil advance as the challenge progresses. As a matter of fact I would like to keep this goal for several challenges and build upon it as I go. Warm up will be jump rope for 5 min. Push ups 2x10 working my way up to 2x20 with perfect form. Then moving on to close hand push ups 2x20 max. Squats 2x15 working my way up to 2x30 with perfect form. Then movin to close squats 2x30 max Walking lunges 2x20 Pullups 1x5 working my way up to 2x10. Flat knee raises 3x35 working my way to hanging leg raises. (there are quite a few steps in between for this. I will post them as I progress.) Straight bridge 1x10 working up to 3x40. Then working up to angled bridges 3x30 Wall headstands 30 sec working my way to 2 min. Then working my way into crow stands 10 sec then up to 1 min. Dips 2x10 The goal for the workout is to workout hard. It is not to get to the max that I have posted. The max is a long term goal. If I get there in 6 weeks then great but it is not what I am shooting for. I am shooting for consistancy and effort. I will grade this challenge on a sliding scale. I missed 6 workouts last challenge so the grading will work like this (str 2) (sta 2) workouts missed more than 6=0% 6=50% 5=60% 4=70% 3=80% 2=85% 1=90% 0=100% Fitness goal #2. Work on stretching/practice for TKD 3 days a week. I want to work on my forms and increasing the height of my kicks. I will spend at least a half an hour a night 3 nights a week working on TKD specific technique. It may be forms, kicks, or blocks. If I am going to ever make it to black belt, I need to be practicinfg more. (DEX 4) 6=50% 5=60% 4=70% 3=80% 2=85% 1=90% 0=100% Diet goal. Cook dinner 3 nights a week. I want to contribute more to my healthy eating and diet. I leave all the cooking up to my wife. I want to try to cook 3 nights a week. This may be Friday, Saturday, Sunday or whenever I can. My diet has been great and I am down 20 lbs since Sept. but I feel like I should definilty cook more for my family! (Con 1.5) (Cha 1.5) This challenge will be graded on a percentage scale. I will figure out percentage of points earned by how many times a week I actually cook with 100% meaning I cooked 18 times in 6 weeks. Life goal. Study at least one hour a night! I am going back to school to finish my BSSW and start MSW. I need to buckle down and put time in. I need to carry at least a B in every class I take to qualify for a scholarship that will save me around $400 a credit hour. Plus I really want to excel in school. This has been a lifelong dream to go into social work. I have held the same job as an electrician now for 17 years. I am psyched to finally found the courage to follow my heart and chase my dream job. I do not think I can grade this on a sliding scale. I need to do this period!!! School starts January 14th. (Wis 4). So these are my goals. I feel good about this challenge. I will be starting this challenge tomorrow. Why wait.