Omega v1.1

It's good to be back! I hope things haven't changed too much.

Will do. I'm just working out what exactly I'll be doing to become more explosive so I'll post it as soon as I'm done. Thanks for the support.

I'll fill on more details here over the next few days but I just wanted to get something down now so I'm 'pot committed' to the next challenge. I've been away from the boards for a long long time but I feel now is right for me to make my return: on September 17th I will be taking part in a Tough Mudder so in preparation for this Epic Quest goal, I'm going to throw down with my old pals in the Assassins guild and partake in a four week challenge to get myself straightened out. My goals will be: 1. Eat clean- no more sugar loaded crap, no more unhealthy snacks, no more liquid calories. (before the challenge starts I'll work out how I'm going to quantify this). 2. Start running- I'm not a cardio kind of guy preferring to stick with my bodyweight strength training for ny calorie burning however a Tough Mudder is going to require at least some sort of running about so I'm going to have to get used to it. I'm going to aim low and just try one run per week at this point however in future I think I'll have to make this more frequent. For the purpose of this challenge though, I want to just make a start on it. 3. Plyometrics- I do a lot of pushups and pullups and squats but nothing requiring sudden bursts of movements. My goal therfore is to do at least one work out each week that involves plyometric explosive movements. 4. For my life goal I'm going to do something entirely unrelated and start playing the guitar again. It's been at least 5 years since I rocked the axe and I really miss it at times so I'm going to commit to doing 3 hours of guitar practice every week. I'm going to keep a log of how long I play each day and hopefully it'll add up to 3 hours by the end of week. I'll fill in more details later and possible added some pictures and stuff to make this more exciting but this is me committing to the next challenge- I can't walk out of it now!

Getting more limber will definitly help your back. I know from my own experience that lower back issues can usually be solved by working on your hamstrings so even if you don't start doing full yoga, just trying half bends and forward bends for a few minutes everyday, working your way until you can touch your toes will really relieve back pains. Keep up the good work.

Whoops, my mistake. Carry on as you were...

Regular daily practice is the way forward. Keep on grinding and you'll get there in the end. Keep up the good work.

Hi Xisiqomelir How are things? Have you worked out any challenge goals yet?

HI Jaz Xiao Long, HOw is the challenge going?

Hi StarGazer Hows the challenge going?

HI Nightshadow, How is it going? Are you doing well with your goals?

HI Kokuryuu Cool goals; how is the challenge going?

Hi vikinginyogapants How is the challenge going?

Hi boxcarkid What happened? Where have you gone? How is the challenge going?

HI littlewolf, How are things? Do you have any updates for us?

Hey Cheeky Aardvark (great name by the way) Hows the challenge going?

Hi cmhutch, Any progress to report?

Hey Piper How are those pushups going?

Hey Apfel, where did you go?

Hey Anim07734 How are the HSPUs going? Are you any closer to getting that elusive first full rep yet?

Hey BenBot, How is the challenge going?

Hey Laodamaren, How are things going with your challenge?

Hey Northman, hows the challenge going?

It's been over a year since I've posted on my battle log. I've been mainly keeping a paper-based log and for a while I kept none at all which was a terrible idea. So, I'm going to start logging on here again now to keep myself accountable. This mornings weigh in was 166.8lbs and 19.9% bodyfat. At the beginnig of the year I got down to 155Lbs and 15% but I felt that I was too skinny at that point- not much fat but not much muscle either so I've eaten myself back up to around 168. Now my aim is to stick around this weight but lower my bf but this will only be as a consequence of my renewed efforts to increase my overall strength. I've spent too long focusing on my weight and bodyfat when really it's just been a source of continuous frustration. I'v ebecome sidetracked by my appearance and I've known this for a long time. From today then I'm just going back to the basics: eating heathily and training for strength. My immediate goal is to totally own the four main Convict Conditioning exercises at the Level 5 progressions: 2 sets of 20 pushups 2 sets of 10 pullups 2 sets of 30 squats 2 sets of 20 flat straight leg raises. Only when I can comfortably hit those targets for an exercise will I start working on a harder variation. A couple I think I shoudl have no problems with (the squats and the leg raises) but I want to prove it to myself by actually doing them. My actual workouts are going to be as simple as possible. Following a warmup I will focus on just two exercises per session. Session 1 will be pushups and leg raises, session 2 will be pullups and squats. I'll alternate them and try to do a session everyday for 4 or 5 days each week.

I've been absent from the Rebellion for a while as I absconded to the Academy to find focus however I've missed the 6 week challenges and the structure they provide so I'm signing up to this one to get back on track. All my previous challenges have been with the Assassins however for the last couple I began to feel out of place and not able to concentrate on my Assassin-style goals. Increasingly I was experimenting with mindfulness and stretching so I've decided to just go for it and try 6 weeks in the Druids with some sort of yoga and meditation goals. I'll write up my challenge thread in the next day or so but I thought I'd introduce myself because it's the polite thing to do and also so I've made the commitment and can't back down from it!