AllonsY!

Way to go! A great tip I once heard for DL is to activate your lats and shoulders. Your arms are kinda like meat hooks in the DL but they're not inactive. Lock your lats down and put your shoulders back. If you put your back against a wall and push the wall with your palms those shoulder muscles are the ones we're talking about. This will help keep your upper back very well stabilized as you ascend.

Awesome! I'm really terrible at running. Did the warrior dash a couple years back and I was soooooo thankful to hit the obstacles just so I could NOT run for a minute or two.

After playing with several different programs and goofing around all summer I got my DL up to 470! I'd been plateaued at 455 for months. First I loaded 465 on the bar and pulled it. I wasn't the prettiest pull but I got it. Then, an hour or two later my trainer mentioned that he'd wished he'd videoed it so we loaded it up to 470 and I got a easy pull!

Nah. I'm pretty sure you could do it. My grip is about the same and I think you have a higher DL than me (my 1RM is 455). The neutral grip makes it much better than a standard dead.

The carry was 450, so 225 each hand. I was especially nervous about that one. I'd done a tiny bit of training on a rocky surface and had not been able to make the turn. I was pretty stoked to do so well!

Wound up taking the silver because the other guy was lighter. This was a <200# weight class. We had four events: Atlas stones- max reps in 60sec of 205# & 240# stones I got two - this was my worst event Axle Clean & Press- max reps in 60 sex of 195# I won this event; 5 reps (would have been 6 but by first was a no-rep because I didn't wait for the judge to signal me to drop) Farmer Carry- 100ft total (50ft around a keg & back) I won this even too- 35.3 seconds. I would have been a touch faster but I dropped about 6 inches from the finish. Sled Medley- 3 minute cap. Sprint with one odd object at a time for 50ft (keg 160#, ammo box with weights & plates 140#, 100# dumbbell & 75# dumbbell) then push a 325# sled 50ft. I came in 2nd for this one. There was almost no traction in the warehouse we were competing in. I had a blast and this was my first competition. I'm certainly going to do more stone work and stomp it next time! I want to be like Link with the Master Glove- throwing huge stones! I was even more happy with all this because 5 days previous I'd pinched my shoulder and was afraid that I wouldn't even be able to compete. Talk about a major thrill! Drank all the health potion I could and rehab'ed like crazy!

Awesome Sauce! I freakin' love the gym too! Wow!

Seriously it looks like you've got really good form. It is hard to tell but it looks as though the further you go down the further you look up. I've been coached to heed my head in a neutral position from start to finish in order to maintain a strong bracing of my upper back as you descend.

Oh hey. The Challenge is over! I didn't even notice! I guess I'll sum up and divvy the points: Programing overall grade: Programing: 97.5% STE+3, DEX+ 3, STA+2 Sugar: 86.7% CON+1.75 Read: 100% WIS+3 Paint: 100% WIS+2

Okay. Update time: Programming: 95%, I missed one WOD to take my wife out on a date. Sugar: 100% It works well to have a friend doing it with you. This is only the 2nd week I've ever had where I actually avoided sugar the whole week. Read: 100% my fiction book is the type that breaks down in the end. I'm disciplining myself to finish it while attempting to control my impulses to read my newly acquired The Books of Blood Vols1-3 by Clive Barker and Live Free or Die by John Ringo. Paint: 100% - Still working on the underdrawing for amy & Rory but I'm probably going to have to abandon it. I tried to do the underdrawing with colored pencil instead of graphite or charcoal. The idea was that when the drawing medium inevitably mixed with the paint that the maroon color I was drawing with would complement the flesh tones instead of impede them like the muddy gray that comes from pencil. However this made the drawing turn pink when I erased. I also did a quick portrait of Roger Corman with the same colored pencil underdrawing. The pencil bled so bad it turned the b&w portrait to a weird shade of mauve (the intergalactic color of alert). I personally hate this new painting but my wife really likes it. (and she's not even a fan!) So.... ta da!

I forgot about that episode! I might have to watch it closer to see if they get in costume for it.

Thanks Mr. S'meat, I was pretty stoked to hit 100% across the board. I've not done that yet! As for the painting I would love to do a 20s pic but since no scenes were filmed I don't have a reference photo and it is extremely difficult to mix pictures so even if I found a good 20s picture I don't think I have the skill to meld the photos.

ALright. Boy o boy it has been a crazy week. Both jobs were swamped did a ton of yard work and got a decent sunburn. Here is how I'm doing on my goals: Programming: 100% I even had to move a ton of stones in the back yard this week (about 40 stones @70# each) still I was able to make every one of my WODs and I'm sticking with it! Sugar: 100% I actually did it! It really helped to have a friend that is doing it with me. Even with the holiday I managed to have 0grams of sugar this week! Read: 100% I missed one day's worth of non-fiction but made up for it on the next. Also I've upped my pages from 5 per day in Calvin's Institutes to 7 pages per day. That way I can finish it this year. (it is a really long book if you're unfamiliar, about 1700 pages of theology) Paint: 100% Started a double portrait of Amy and Rory. I'm struggling with the underdrawing but it is coming along.

Update: Doing .... alright. Programming: 90% I had to take a couple of days off after doing 20 min AMRAP of 6 burpees and 6 toes to bar. My abs and lats were so freaking sore that I couldn't get out of bed without a grimace. Sugar: 90% doing a little better. We had a big event yesterday and a strategic indulgence kept me from just freakin' raiding the desert table (as I'm wont to do). Read: 100% looks like this is the only one that I've been perfectly consistent with. Feeling convicted about wasting my time this afternoon though. I need to get productive. Paint: 100% Finished my Matt Smith painting, it looks pretty good. Started painting a weeping angel day before yesterday and I should finish it today. My wife thinks I should paint Amy and Rory next but I'm not sure that I'm up to a double portrait and as much as I love Doctor Who, I'm getting bored painting characters. I might need to move on to another franchise. Interesting point: I'm considering selling my works. I would probably just appeal to the fandoms and sell prints and decently priced portraits. Dunno, maybe it's just a wild hair.

So I need to be better about updating. It has been a crazy busy week. Here is how it breaks down: Following LBEB: 100% Sugar: 80% Read: 100% Paint 100% I finished my Matt Smith Painting. I choose to do it in a semi Van Gogh style since Vincent is probably my favorite episode of all time! Also I added 10 lbs to my squat. I'm up to 425! Here is the caveat: I'm not in a place to join a gym so I just workout at home in my garage BUT I got a groupon for a month at a Crossfit here in Denton. I am going to take advantage of that just because it is too good of a deal. I can still do some of the LBEB in my garage but I'm also going to do Crossfit 2x per week. Obviously I'm not going to be working out 7x per week. I'm going to stick with 5x per week and supliment the conditioning workouts of the LBEB with Crossfit. We'll see how it goes.

Not sure where you're located but at the Sprouts near me they have unflavored whey in the bulk bins for fairly inexpensive. Otherwise online you've got Now Sports which is usually pretty decent stuff. I've not looked at the label in person though just head about it from a few different places.

Seriously eat anything but cliff bars. They are a pseudo-food. Not a step more healthy than a snickers. If you check the ingredients you'll see soy protein isolate, corn syrup solids, other sugars and tons of junk. If you've got an hour before your workout I agree with some whole milk or hardboiled eggs. I say an hour because If I have a ton of activity after drinking milk I wind up renacting that scene from Anchorman. If you're not a milk or egg fan I'll have some greek yogurt. You get some good carbs and a shot of protein. For a while I was following the lean gains program and while I didn't have great results they suggest 5-10grams of BCAA (branch chain amino acids) and a pre-workout caffeine boost. There is some controversy there but I could certainly notice a difference between the days when I'd had a caffeine boost from a pre-workout and when I didn't.

Avast Mates! I should have hopped on here earlier but here it is so far. For last week my grades are: 1. Following LBEB: 100%. Thankfully it was a deload week. I missed one workout due to illness so I'm not deducting points for that. 2.Sugar: 70%: I didn't do to great. Cookies during a lunch meeting and an evening meeting did me in. However I'm hoping for a bit of classical conditioning since I spilled a cup of hot coffee on my crotch while taking a bite. Maybe I can mentally link sugar and pain? 3.Read: 100% Boom! I didn't miss a day. 4. Paint: 100% I finished my TARDIS door. The lettering took hours but it looks really great. Haven't made it any farther on my Smith painting. I think he'll be the last character I do but who knows it's fun. uh.... thats it.

Alrighty mates, I'm gong to make my grading on this challenge more consistent. Here is how I'm going to grade myself: Workouts- on a scale of 1-5 Sugar- on grams of sugar per week. 0-10 (100%), 10-20g (90%), 20-30g (80%) 40-50g (fail 0%) Reading- on a scale of 1-21 (3 points for each day) Paint- pass/fail- as long as I'm working on something I pass. BUT, 20 minutes on a Sunday night doesn't count. I have to actually work on it. In the end I'll calculate my points by the average of my weekly percentages and round them to the nearest quarter point. Here is how we're doing so far: 1. So far I missed 1 workout but made it up the next day. It is funny but the LBEB programming is not a difficult as I thought it would be. The workouts are pretty short so it wasn't a big deal to do them both on one day. I find myself adding to their program, specifically I've added more OHP, Behind the neck, Pull ups, and chin ups. I feel like my overhead lifts have plateued and I'm trying to correct any possible imbalances and kick it up a notch. GRADE: 5 (100%) 2. Processed sugar. Meh.... doing okay. I'm keeping it too a minimum but I still have a sweet tooth. I've probably had about 20grams of processed sugar in the last week. GRADE: 20g (80%) 3. Read. Done very well. I ran out of time reading Calvin on one day but I made it up the next. I'm looking forward to finishing my fiction book, The Puppet Masters by Heinlen. It is a great story but I'm not very interested. My bible reading has been a steady dedicated habit for quite some time so I'm doing well on that. It doesn't hurt that preach at least once a week so if I'm not reading I'm hurting. GRADE: 19/21 (90%) 4. Paint! I've done pretty well! I've got a portrait of Matt Smith in the works and I'm putting the finishing touches on my office door which I've painted as a TARDIS. If anyone is interested I'll post pictures:) I've also been considering finding a way to sell my paintings as further motivation to continue working. PASS!

I hit that wall a lot too. Most of the time I just have to force myself to keep going but since I workout in my garage it can be really tempting to just go back into the house. Sometimes I'll just switch up and do something I really enjoy. Sometimes If I've not had enough to eat all day my workout dedication can suffer, even a shot of caffeine can help put me in a better mood. Hope you're feeling better soon!

It's funny that you mention Rupert Grint, I was thinking about him the other day. I don't know if he'd be good as the Doctor but a ginger would be neat. Simon Pegg would make an amazing Doctor in my opinion. My only real hope this that they get someone older. We've had three young doctors it would nice to have someone like Hartnell back in the saddle.

Bwahahahahaha! No seriously. I'm fair and freckled. When don't tan, I tomato. I do mow without a shirt though and after one good burn, I'll turn a less violent shade of red so maybe I can catch some rays.

You gon' wrap this up sweets? Join the next challenge!

So here we are again. Summer is not here but it is currently in the process of invading North Texas. We've hit the 90s so far but this challenge ends in July when the invasion will be here in full force. Here are my goals: 1. Stick to the Lift Big Eat Big programming only missing workout once every two weeks. LBEB is 5x per week. Due to my work schedule realistically, I will miss one every once and a while but I can't just skive off! Especially with the heat creeping in, I'll have to be extra diligent since I work out in my garage (no AC). STE+3, DEX+ 3, STA+2 2. Stop eating freaking processed sugar dang it! I tried this the last 6 wks and I did ... meh, okay. I need to keep it up and keep it a habit. CON+2 3. Read: I've had a habit of reading one fiction book, one non-fiction book and my Bible every day. My goal is to not miss a day at all. At least 5 pages of non-fiction (currently Calvin's Institutes), at least three chapters of Bible, and few pages of non-fiction even if I'm tired. WIS+3 4. And on the topic of mentally healthy habits: PAINT. I need to stop wasting so much time on mental junk food and spend more time on my art. I will paint at least once a week. WIS+2 Any tips, suggestions, ammendments?

So we're a few days after the challenge time to level up. Goals: 1: garage- perfect performance. I'm actually up to 5x per week now that I'm doing the LBEB programing. 2. Squat/ Deads- flawless victory, my patellar was giving me some issue but I think it is primarily due to a muscle imbalance. My quads are stronger than my hams so I wind up squatting quad-dominant and it puts extra stress on my knees. I'm working to fix those issues and so far it has been pretty successful. 3.Snatch & OHP: flawless victory! I've also intoduced a limited range of motion for my OHP in order to gain some added strength in my shoulders and triceps. Introduced behind the neck press last week too so we'll see how that goes. 4.No Sugar: well, just shut up then. I think I might put me down as passed but certainly not flawless. My anniversary was in there so.... 5. Running: semi flawless: I had to give up jogging for all the rain we've had and my patellar issues but I did NOT give up conditioning. Lots of burpees so I'm good.