SpeakEasyV

Nymeria, that problem looks insanely fun. Wish I had a climb like that at my gym. That drop knee looks really high, but I'll know you'll get it. keep up the strong climbing

OK so thursday and friday were both busts. I allowed myself to give into that lazy voice in my head that kept saying start the leg day tomorrow. Friday rolled around and I planned a great gym session following the personal trainer training, and then allowed excuses to not only stop me from staying at the gym for a great 40 minute work out but also stopped me from going climbing. Today, I hopped on facebook when I woke up with my slight hangover (so much for cutting alcohol out) and found this Cracked.com post. The article is rough, but its message is real; I guess I need my Alec Baldwin [it's in the article] every once in awhile because right now I'm falling into the same traps that stop me from achieving the goals that I set.

Im a student and former Marine

Lvl 0 Rookie checking in with you Assassins. I'm still looking forward to joining you all next challenge cycle.

Nymeria. That climbing video is awesome. That problem looks so fun.

So far I've developed my Leg day. This is the foundation of my leg day for the rest of this challenge cycle. Each week I will be adding to it in order to ensure strength progression through the 6 week cycle. Leg Day Week 2 Warm-up Jump rope 2 minutes Jumping jacks 50 Body weight squats 20 Back lunges 5 each leg Hip extensions 10 Hip rotations 5 each leg Forward leg swings 10 each leg Side leg swings 10 each leg Push-ups 20 Spiderman steps 10 each leg Plyometric Leg Circuit: SuperSet: Weighted Walking Lunge Bent Over Rows SuperSet: Box Jumps Elevated Push-ups Long Jump (multiple) High Box March Weights: 45-degree back raise Perform 1 set of 10 with bodyweight Perform 1 set of 8 with 25 pounds Perform 1 set of 8 with 45 pounds Perform 1 set of 8 with 70 pounds Barbell Squat Do 3 warm-up sets. Perform 5 sets of 8 reps with 8RM. Deadlift Do 3 warm-up sets. Perform 5 sets of 8 reps with 8RM. I'm still trying to decide if I want to have the weights before the plyo circuit or keep it as it is. any input? This is my work out for tomorrow. I'll let everyone know how it goes.

Cara has been crushing it. I'm so proud when I see her climbing, and the new job stuff is amazing. Big Smiles all day long. Keep up the work.

OK SO FINALLY! here's my recap of week 1. I promise from here on out i'll have daily posts, but this giant recap kind of scared me for a minute. Last week I was hired for a new job. A job that fits into my Overall Life Quest and goal #3. I was hired as a personal trainer pending my certification. Last week turned into Personal Training cramming, so that I could pass my certification exam. Which I did over the weekend. now just to re-certify CPR. All that good stuff coupled with a couple realizations when it comes to my dietary goal and my strength goal. Dietary Goal: I'm poor. I'm a broke college(esque) student, with very limited income. I'm also very very hungry and require alot of food. UNFORTUNATELY the good stuff that I want to eat, i.e. Paleo/primal(ish), is expensive; while grains are cheap. So I'm having to put more grains back into my diet. BUT the good news is, I'm still going to limit my intake of them; while continually increasing my veggie consumption. This is great because I have a new found love for veggies since cutting grains out last month. I'm still shooting for between 3,500 and 4,000 calories a day and have been making good efforts to this. After reading today's blog post about IF I realized that I have been eating like this for years and have recently added breakfast back in. I actually like the idea of 8/16 and am going to revert back to this dietary behavior. Also, with the new job and this amazing new focus on health and fitness I have decided to finish cutting alcohol out of my diet, with the exception of wine with dinner on special occasions. I'm working in the fitness industry now and want to lead by example; plus get the personal results I desire. Fitness Goal: I started the TRX. I liked it a lot. I started the new job, and have been doing personal trainer training. I like it more. Not that the two are mutually exclusive, I've just been working to muscle failure much more efficiently and consistently with body weight/free weight work outs. These incorporate upper-lower super sets and are of sound training philosophy design. Today, since it is my off day, I will be re-working out my training program for the next 6 weeks. I'll post it for everyone to take a look at and make comments in a bit (once it is finished). Assassin Goal: My climbing. I'm really happy with my climbing lately. The beginning of last week didn't start great. I was way too strength dependent and my foot work was horrible. But as the week progressed my footwork started coming back, especially when I stopped hating on the lower grade problems. I went back to focusing on good climbing technique on V0s and V1s and then my v2s started coming much easier. A proper warm-up also helped me scale 3's very easily near the end of the week. Which was fortunate because I was able to finally climb my v3 overhang project that I've been working for weeks. My climbing partner, CaraStarBuck (you need to check out her assassin challenge thread), kept me motivated and progressed amazingly well over the week. Below are some videos taken over the last couple weeks (including the v3 overhang project). Edit: I looks like the best way for me to post videos is to upload them to my youtube channel and just post the link here; unless someone has a better suggestion. I like posting videos of my climbs and think I want to post videos of select workouts that I develop for myself. This is my new YouTube Channel. It is completely safe for work and only has workout/climbing/training related videos on it. please enjoy and let me know what you think.

I used to be stationed down in the DC area. Do you climb at Sport Rock? or Earthtreks? I love the Rockville EarthTreks, but I used to climb at the Alexandria Sport Rock primarily. I understand about being hesitant to get back into the training side of martial arts. It's been the same for me and getting back into doing anything involving it; but the only way to get over it is to just start from where you are now. Training will get you back to where you were (atleast that's what is motivating me). The challenge has been going great btw. My next post (which will be following this one in a few minutes) will be a week long recap... let's just say it has been a big week for me. CaraStarbuck..... you wanted an update. well the update is coming up next.. complete with links to you and all the videos from this week. 8D

Thanks Nymeria. Climbers always need to stick together Where do you climb at? I have practiced martial arts since I was a young child. I'm traditionally trained in Shuri-te Karate-do which is a traditional Okinawan style of karate (in fact it's the root style to Shotokan and Shuri-ryu and more). The most modern form of it is actually a traditional jujitsu which encompasses throws and ground fighting. I'm also trained in a smattering of muay thai, akijitsu (aikido), brazilian Jujutsu, and iaido (traditional form of swordmanship focused on the drawing and single killing cut). Unfortunately I haven't trained in years and am looking forward to getting back into it along with the increased fitness. We'll definitely have to keep on top of each other and make sure we achieve what we want out of the combat arts

Cooking a late night meal. I think this is a good way to start off the first challenge.

sounds good Nuala. I'm looking forward to alternating between Assassins and Monks each challenge cycle. and my roommate that put me on this website is already part of the assassins guild, so we are planning on holding each other accountable plus joining a squad. so in other words I accept your mission.

Thanks, it took me awhile to figure out how to do it in the size limit. Thanks Nuala, I'll definitely return the favor Good luck on your challenge.