Gllarso

Sorry everyone, I just lost my grandfather and it's taking me a little bit to get back on track. Hopefully I will have more to report later though. Life goes on.

The weekend hadn't been very productive at all, my paleo diet has suffered since Friday for the most part and I havne't stayed very active. On the plus side I did get to spend a LOT of time with my kids over the weekend, we went and checked out a Dinosaur park in Denver, learned a lot of cool things and saw and touched dinosaur fossils. Had a good Father's day and in all had a fun weekend. But now I need to get back on track and buckle down on my goals this week. As they say the next meal and the next workout just became the most important one.

I need a non-Ranger friend to do this week's Ranger mini-challenge: Your challenge this week is three fold: 1) Make a friend in a different guild! 2) Make measurable progress towards ONE of your challenge goals. 3) Learn something new from your new buddy. If there's anyone that wants to team up with me on Paleo diet goals, weight-lifting/push-ups/pull-ups goals, running or flexibility goals. I've been trying to transition into near-barefoot running and have been having problems with my calves locking up, so if anyone has some suggestions on that for example? Or my weight training isn't progressing into actual weight increases or gains, anyone with good advice on how to work a good routine into my schedule would be appreciated? Thanks!!

I slacked off with my pull-ups over the weekend, getting back on track today.

I completed my part of the challenge. 27:49 on the 5k run, not too bad, but I'm sure I can do better next time.

Wednesday was strength training day, got in a really good training session, my squat weight didn't increase because of some residual soreness from all of the cardio I've been doing this week. The Incline on Saturday kicked my butt pretty hard, then I did some more running Tuesday and earlier yesterday. Also my push-press went down a bit and bench-press didn't move from all of the pull-ups the day before. Going to have to adjust my training schedule to make sure I'm not interfering with my primary strength exercises (Squats, Push-Press, Deadlift, and Bench Press). Either way I pushed out a good workout and was thoroughly tired by the time I was done. Squat: 225lbs - 3 sets of 5 repsPush-Press: 85lbs - 3 sets of 5 reps (-5lbs)Deadlift: 255lbs - 1 set of 5 reps (+10lbs)Bench-Press: 185lbs - 3 sets of 5 repsChin-ups, side dips and leg raisesI have been doing a lot better with my diet goals this week, pretty close to 90% paleo and feeling a lot better. Also I was almost able to touch my toes yesterday after my workout! Flexibility is almost there and we're not even half way through the challenge. My weight hasn't changed much in the past few days and I haven't gotten a chance to do a current set of measurements, so I'm not sure about my progress there, but I think I am looking good and feeling sexy in the mirror so far!

Yup, good old Colorado Springs. Of course we are on fire again, so sometimes running outside is a bit of a challenge right now. Hopefully they will get things under control soon.

Wow! That sounds like a kick-ass team workout! Congrats on the win!

Wow, I just did my civilian jobs version of a fitness test...what a joke. I am glad I got in to the reserves, because I sure do miss people who take their fitness seriously. And before you laugh about the Reserves, let alone the AF Reserves, taking their fitness seriously, I have to say that my unit on Peterson really does take it seriously and we do have to pass the AF standards on the anual PT Test, lol. Anyway all I had to do today to pass was: - 16 push-ups in 1 minute (I can do up to 50, but they stopped me at 16) - 13 sit-ups in 1 minute (I can do up to 50, but they stopped me at 13) - Jump 9" (did at least 12") - Sprint 400 yards in 40 seconds (I did it in 18s) - "Run" a mile in 18 min (7min 49sec) I guess as a Security Officer it really doesn't take much fitness-wise to do our job, especially since we don't really persue or apprehend and are specifically told not to put ourselves into harm's way (which I find ironic since the whole justification for the fitness test for our company nationwide is these are skills you will need in the event of a persuit). Oh well, I blasted it out of the water and it made me feel good, even if I didn't get any credit for exceeding the minimum. I was actually pretty happy with my mile time, I haven't timed myself running just a mile in a really long time and I actually ran yesterday too, so I'm happy with it.

Yeah it's also fun to see if you can do everything that they can too, scouts, assassins, monks and warriors as well as your own. Though Nightlight said we couldn't technically get points awarded for those challenges, that's kind of what I figured they would say. Yeah I missed the first mini-challenge because the last 6-week'er I did the Rangers never posted a single mini-challenge and barely posted the results thread let alone actually tell us who won. I guess I forgot to check the main thread to find out. Oh well, I am making it up with another Military Nerd this week and won't miss next weeks!

Rpage1977 and I are doing this mini-challenge belated this week. We will do Pull-up pyramids (7-6-5-4-3-2-1-2-3-4-5-6-7) and then a 5k run for time by Friday. Better late than never at least!

Yesterday I did another pullup test, I am at 11 consecutive. Up 1 from last week, woot! I then did 5 sets of pull-ups for my workout (6, 5, 6, 5, 6) for a grand total of....(drum roll please)...39 pull-ups!!! Then 3 sets of 10 dips and 10 leg raises and 20 minutes of running. Today is lifting day, I will post my wieght improvements tomorrow.

Yesterday I did another pullup test, I am at 11 consecutive. Up 1 from last week, woot! I then did 5 sets of pull-ups for my workout (6, 5, 6, 5, 6) for a grand total of....(drum roll please)...39 pull-ups!!!

You are doing a lot of those mini-challenges, I didn't know we could do cross-guild challenges.

Thanks! That is one of my biggest problems is planning ahead. Something that I think I am getting slowly better at especially with these challenges helping keep me accountable.

Yeah, it is especially hard when my wonderful Fiance makes delicious enchiladas mmmmmmmmmmmmmmm...

I missed the challenge too, if you want to be my buddy for it I'm up for running, pull-ups, strength training or whatever? May be too late to get any Exp Points, but at least we can say we did it!!

And it's Monday! Time for another update: Diet:( a ) Weekend did not go very Paleo at all, more like 5/50, but up until Friday I was doing good and even closer to 85%-90%!( b ) Today I'm going to do another fast (all day if I can make it) to try and help balance out the weekend's transgressions.Fitness I:( a ) Friday I did a total of 36 pull-ups as part of my training for the pull-up PvP challenge, I also did some light squats and back exercises.( b ) Cardio was intense on Saturday going up the Manitou Springs Incline in 46 minutes, about 2,000 feet in elevation gain nearly straight up (Hense the light squats the day before).( c ) Continually stretching throughout the day, especially after my run in with the Incline.Fitness II:( a ) I was feeling sexy and down some weight on Friday, but the weekends worth of diet lapses is catching up to me and I feel like crap today. Hoping to get back on track this week and be able to report some positive results soon!Level up my Life:( a ) First automatic draft went in today towards my emergency fund. A little lax on the budgeting over the weekend though, still a work in progress.All in all it was a pretty good first week for the challenge other than the lapse in diet over the weekend, definitely paying for it now though. I'm really excited to see how many pull-ups I can get to for the PvP challenge and I am going to put the incline on the schedule again real soon. It was one hell of a leg and cardio workout! Today I have another Pull-up training session to do and I will let you all know how that goes tomorrow! From the top of the Manitou Incline on Saturday:

I got in a good pull-up test on Friday with a max of 10 pull-ups. I also did 26 in 4 sets of pull-ups afterwards for a total of 36!! Today I'm going to do another 4 or 5 sets for training.

Glad to see that you are staying on track for the most part. You are doing a lot better than I am in the firebending department, I didn't do so well over the weekend. Keep up the good work!!

Sounds like a pretty good start with the strength training! I know a good place to start are the basic four movements, squat, overhead push press, deadlift, and bench press. Those will give you a full body workout and increase your strength in all areas.

Moving right along and kicking butt!! My pull-ups are coming along pretty nicely too, though I wish I had more time to dedicate to them and the gym. I would love to start off my day at the gym, but my schedule only allows for a quick afternoon training session between jobs. Good luck and keep it up!!

Awesome! Keep up the good work! It's all about how you look and feel.

I'll add my congratulations too! You would have kicked my butt on the sit-ups for sure. Keep up the good work and I'm sure the 260 will be a piece of cake!

Good luck and great goals!!! I am trying to work on my running and pull-ups this time around too. I look forward to following your progress on here. Go Military Nerds!