Phayze

Rowan C: Gah! Two Rowans!? o0 Welcome to the Traverse! Watch out for Geth, and if you have any questions just ask Avena. ^^ --- SL: Thanks for stopping by! ^^ Everything's better with shotguns. --- Damn you, Dragondoor! Damn you for releasing yet ANOTHER book that looks as though it were specifically written just for me, and that will make me question every fitness choice I've ever made, and probably result in a system-wide reboot of my entire workout scheme!! >< On a side note, can anybody spot me tenner until payday? ^^; Oh, and speaking of my workout scheme, here's a long winded explanation of my current experimental system: It's taken a lot of introspection to decide what I want/need from my training right now, but I think I've got the start of something good. At least for now, I want to focus my attention on building strength for more advanced BW moves and gaining some flexibility in my hips/hamstrings, so in order to accomplish that I have dialed everything else back quite a bit. I thought about dropping explosives and grip training completely, but I don't want to lose the gains that I've already made, so instead I'm testing out a simple maintenance plan. I'm hoping that the consequent neural adaptations from that will make it easier to progress with those moves when I get back to training them more earnestly. Skills training is still an important part of my plan, but it's getting harder and harder to find new moves to add to my Rope Dart repertoire and it's really hard to self-teach acro so I've decided to ease up a little and let myself really consolidate what I can already do and explore new applications for it. I may also try teaching myself to swing dance, which is only going to be mentally taxing, not physically. Strength training is based on the tried and true "Big 6" of Convict Conditioning fame (supplemented occasionally with additional progressions from Startbodyweight.com), but I'll be using a further modified version of the sub-max protocol that I love so well for its ability to jack my reps with minimal effort. If all goes well with this system I intend to add Dips and Horizontal Pulls, but really I'm in no rush to do that. Once I've reached some arbitrary point where I feel "strong enough" or just need a change of pace, I will modify this basic format to refocus on something else, and then reduce strength training to maintenance levels.

I think training like a peasant fits right in with traditional karate weapons. ^^ I did the same thing years ago with tonfa for a stage fight I was involved in - my favorite thing about goonie-style weapon training is merging different styles just to see what happens... it's not always something good, but it IS always fun. ^^

Rowan: I know, right!? It's so easy to start writing something, but then there's that horrible point where you feel like you just can't bridge this immense chasm between where you are and where you know you need to go... it's awful! The rush of actually hitting a satisfying ending had better be worth all the pain it takes to get there... Yeah, stomach vacuums looks like this: The idea is to strengthen the transverse abdominus to better hold your squishy bits behind your belt. I know I have some belly fat, but when I tense my abs, I can feel that there isn't nearly as much there as it would seem just by looking, so I'm hoping this process will reduce the bulge, at least a little. It's also supposed to have posture and breathing benefits, so it's hard to go wrong. It doesn't even take any time - I just hold it in while I'm walking around at work. Multitasking! And yes, Garrus is awesome. ^^

Oh, so Rowan is still being awesome? Raise your hand if you're surprised... anyone? Anyone? Bueller? No? That's what I thought. ^^ Also, totally going to investigate this magical balance point of yours, RaideR! Sounds rather useful.

Daaang, MG is like THE Assassin! Remind me not to get on your bad side. ^^ Awesome plan, bro. You'll perforate it from the shadows before it ever knows your there.

Bats, your alive! Welcome home! ^^

T: You know, I had the idea for the tl;dnr to spare casual passersby from my rambling, but discovered pretty quickly that I needed a simple version, too. -- Clem: Hi! ^^ Here's hoping I can produce some out-of-the-park-smashing for your enjoyment.

[Oh crap, I thought I had another week to get ready! o0! - ed.] Main Quest: Become My Own Hero In celebration of the recent completion of my first (and certainly not last) career in Mass Effect, I’m joining N7! I briefly considered going for one of the “pure†classes, but quickly thought better of it and rolled up a Vanguard - ME’s answer to the classic fighter/mage. My Shepard was a real sweetheart, friend to all living things, and a synthetic’s worst nightmare. Naturally, I relied heavily on the assistance of my crack engineering team, Tali and Garrus, but this challenge is based on the Vanguard skills that got Shep the farthest in his mission. tl;dnr Throw -3min Kip Up practice, 5 days/week Charm - 30 min/week creative writing practice Unity - Loving-Kindness Meditation, 2x/week Barrier - Stomach Vacuums, 4x15s 3x/week Shotguns - All HabitRPG Dailies complete everyday. Let’s get versatile!

A week off was glorious! Lots of gaming, Lego building, and a few nights of getting to bed early made a huge dent in my motivational problems. I'm not quite ready to start singing "Everything is Awesome!" just yet, though. I've decided to see my doctor about these prolonged bouts of low energy, and I'm hopeful that he'll be able to help me figure out why I can't seem to get my act together for more than a few weeks without burning out. Anyway, stating the new system today, and it's built specifically for working with my known weaknesses, so we'll see how things go.

Nice! Establishing routines is always worth focusing on. Too bad info is hard to find, she sounds like a great goddess for the whole Rebellion! You should start your own chapter of the cult. ^^

I wonder if workout-related decapitation is covered by your insurance? You may want to ask about that before dropping another sandbag on yourself. 0o Also, nice goals! I think the marriage lifts plan sounds like a good fit for you and your workout-ADD. Anthony comes up with some quality stuff!

Congrats! And welcome back! ^^ Okay, we'll I don't actually have a vajayjay for my son to have come out of, but I can totally relate to your situation as much as any guy can! Baby steps, Clem! (No pun intended...)

Yikes, elimination diets are no fun, but food intolerances are worse. u.u Good luck finding your trigger! ^^

Oh, cool! That makes us even, then, because I've been thinking about doing that too, but I'm nowhere near stating yet. I'll just quietly steal ideas from you until I've got some spare cash to sink into my own course. ^^

Rowan: A wise man frog once said Apparently, it also ain't easy being If you ask me, Nature and Consciousness need to get their collective crap together and quit screwing with the rest of us. I got stuff to do, damnit! --- QDM: Yeah, that's exactly where I'm heading, too! I'm sorting out a schedule that (I hope!) will be flexible enough to keep more or less intact as I occasionally change gears to focus on different stuff. You probably guessed from my battle log that I'm in a highly experimental mood lately, so it's all subject to change. Did you make a rope dart yet? You should make a rope dart - it's more fun than reading about mine. ^^

â€Nice knives - almost a shame to cut ‘em off your carcass!†Turns #6: All Hostiles Eliminated Artillery Ape: 12/12 100%! DEX+3, STR+1 (Prop-free skills training sessions) This was such a great idea! I’m making progress with learning a few new moves, experimenting with Qi Gong and Tai Chi, and finding interesting ways to integrate basic acro stuff with my rope dart. It’s been a great way to break up my training and get me searching for new stuff to play with, so I intend to keep forcing myself to leave the dart alone at least once a week. Gatling Raptor: 5/6 83%! CHA+1 (Prep 1+ build for Repubrick.com) I never actually got anything posted (u_u;), BUT I did get all of my instructions, descriptions, and cover images done and ready to post; unfortunately I’m still waiting on the admin guy at Repubrick to send back the rendered images. Even though I got as close as I could under the circumstances, I docked myself that one point because I really could have gotten more of my work done sooner (but didn’t because I was playing Mass Effect instead), thus giving the renderer more time, so it seems fair to reward what I did but not overlook my procrastination. Phantom Mantis: 41/42 97%! WIS+2, CON+2 (Mindful Coffee) This practice has raised several interesting questions for me. What counts as “being mindfulâ€? Do I have to be intentionally mindful of that fact that I’m being mindful of whatever I’m doing? What if I look back on my day and can think of several instances of being immersed in an activity (like cooking, or eating, or training, or playing, etc.) without actually noticing that I was immersed in it? Is that just being “in the zoneâ€? Is “the zone†a state of mindfulness? Does mindfully admiring the way Mrs. Phayze looks in her swimsuit count? @_@ I don’t know the answers to any of these questions, but I still found this practice satisfying and intend to keep doing it. It’s starting to become a habit, and I like that. The S.W.A.R.M.: 41/42 97%! STA+2, STR+2 (Complete all HabitRPG Dailies) I was forced by circumstances to make a lot of adjustments to my schedule here (The Boy’s swim lessons and Mrs. Phayze’s doctor visits played hell with my routines), but I far exceeded the bare minimum requirements for just about every day and only missed a Daily once(!), so I’m still pretty pleased. I was able to keep a hand in the Mini, but only because of the unique format for this challenge, and the fact that I basically just used my regular strength training time to work on it - I’ve been completely absent from the Hufflepuff common room, though, and I feel a little bad for that, and for how I’ve just generally not made the forums a priority this time around. I intend to remedy that next time! DING! Phayze has gained a level! Level 15 Mini-Fig Assassin/Tactician STR: 39 STA: 35 DEX: 39 CON: 34 WIS: 34 CHA: 33 Tactical Forecast: I was hoping to avoid this sort of thing, but I’ve been working in semi-secret on a new and improved program based on some things that I’ve learned from this past 6 weeks. I’ll be using the break to prototype a few things and get some new base-line data, so I’ll present the new program later, but the general idea is to put a greater focus on strength and ease back on the skills stuff. I’ve got a new (less intensive) setup for grip/explosive training, though to be honest I’m seriously considering shelving both of those for a while. I’ve been slowly ramping up the volume and difficulty of too many things at once, and I’m seeing the writing on the wall that I need to stop trying to do everything and instead get my priorities straight. I know that I can make a lot more progress if I focus my effort on just one or two things so trying to master the rope dart, learn acrobatics, advance with BW moves, get flexible, build my grip strength, get explosive and not die in the process is just not realistic. Back to basics, Uncle Phayze!

You can never have too many, right? Thanks! ^^

Happy indeed! I'll have my wrap-up posted tomorrow, so further details will have to wait until then. ^^

7/12 -mobility warm-up -Confusion Fu: Rope Dart Playtime + target practice Nerdwarts Cram School: Testing Day! 34 Pushups (+1) 55 Lying Knee Tucks (+5) 26 Horizontal Row (bent legs) (+0) 43 Bulgarian Split Squat (+3) Done as a circuit, rest as needed. -Stretch: Pigeon L, Pigeon R, Child's - 1min each -10:00 meditation Nothing super-impressive here, but I'm still glad to have gotten some forward movement on most moves. This challenge cycle is almost over, so I'll be switching things up a bit soon. I have plans! 7/13 -mobility warm-up -Confusion Fu: Acro Play Nerdwarts Cram School: 30% AMRAP 10 Pushups 17 LyingKnee Tucks 8 Horizontal Row (bent legs) 13 Bulgarian Split Squat Repeat 2x. Done as a circuit, rest as needed. -5:00 Myofacial Release (tennis ball, mobility peanut, roller, etc.) -Stretch: Plow, Camel, Frog - 1min each -10:00 meditation Trying something different: because I just tested yesterday, I'm making today a back-off day to aid recovery and hopefully improve performance for the rest of the week. 7/14 -mobility warm-up -Confusion Fu: rope dart playtime Nerdwarts Cram School: 30% AMRAP 10 Pushups 15 LyingKnee Tucks 8 Horizontal Row (bent legs) 12 Bulgarian Split Squat Repeat 3x. Done as a circuit, rest as needed. -Stretch: Pigeon L, Pigeon R, Child's - 1min each -10:00 meditation 7/15 -mobility warm-up -Confusion Fu: qi gong, 8 brocades Nerdwarts Cram School: 30% AMRAP 10 Pushups 15 LyingKnee Tucks 8 Horizontal Row (bent legs) 12 Bulgarian Split Squat Repeat 3x. Done as a circuit, rest as needed. -Stretch: Plow, Camel, Frog - 1min each -10:00 meditation 6 hours of sleep, out of bed 2 hours early, 13 hours of work... x_x 7/16 -mobility warm-up -Confusion Fu: Nerdwarts Cram School: 30% AMRAP 10 Pushups 15 LyingKnee Tucks 8 Horizontal Row (bent legs) 12 Bulgarian Split Squat Repeat 3x. Done as a circuit, rest as needed. -5:00 Myofacial Release (tennis ball, mobility peanut, roller, etc.) -Stretch: Pigeon L, Pigeon R, Child's - 1min each 7/17 , 7/18: Rest Days. I think I like the 3x30%, though I'm going to need further experiments to decide where I want to keep the ratio. Start with 7/19, I'm taking a full-on vacation from pretty much all physical training. My CNS needs some time to cool down, so I'm going to spend some time gathering underpants and doing pointless, fun and/or creative things for a while. I'll be back in the action soon, I just need to recover some motivation and make some decisions about how much action I really want to get into.

Sadly, I don't get paid time and a half for sleeping. u_u

6 hours of sleep, out of bed 2 hours early, 13 hours of work... x_x

No more super heroics to report, but I figure I can manage to at least post a week 5 report in a timely manner! â€They’ve overrun my position!†Turns #5: Pest Control Artillery Ape: 10/10 (Prop-free skills training sessions) Gatling Raptor: 0/6 (Prep 1+ build for Repubrick.com) Phantom Mantis: 34/35 (Mindful Coffee) The S.W.A.R.M.: 34/35 (Complete all HabitRPG Dailies) Sit-Rep: Still pretty quiet in Phayzetown. Everything going according to plan, but I still need to put a few finishing touches on a couple of packages for Repubrick so I'll be ready once the render-fairy finishes with my cover images - Nothing major, mostly just flavor text and descriptions. I figure that if I’ve got everything done that I need to do and I’m just waiting on the renders to come in at the end of the challenge, I’ll still give myself most of the points for Gatling Raptor. Since this challenge started, I’ve based my strength workouts on the same four moves for the sake of the mini, and I’m so seriously ready for that to end!!! I’ve got some new plans for using the same basic schedule that I’m on now, but with modifications to accommodate 6 moves instead of 4, and I’ll finally let myself progress to new variations for the ones that have AMRAPs above some as-yet-undetermined number (20? 30? 100!?). I’ve been going heavy on the skills training for a while, using strength training as a supplement, and I think I’m feeling the urge to flip that for a while. I still really love my rope dart, and the acro practice this challenge has been quite enlightening, but it’s hard to progress with that kind of stuff when you’re training on your own with nothing but YouTube to guide you, so I’ve decided to just explore this plateau rather try to blast through it. I’ll probably still work on learning new moves and stuff, it’ll just be less structured.

So, I did some reflecting over the weekend, and considering how ragged I was feeling all through last week (and how ragged I am still feeling at the beginning of this week...) I've decided to experiment a little with my protocols. 1) Grip training is on hold for at least another week. My hands feel much better now, and my message therapist/Dad tells me that I didn't do anything serious to them, but we agree that I need to take it easy on them. 2) I've added a new stretching mini-session every day that hits a few of my particularly tense areas. The goal is to practice each the day's poses for 1 minutes each, focusing on relaxing into the stretch. 3) I have opted not to retest my AMRAPS this week because I still feel run down and struggling for maxes sounds counter-productive, to say the least. 4) I'm going to try 4x30% AMRAP just to see how it feels. I don't really want more sets, because that will probably mean more time, but then again smaller sets means less fatigue, and hopefully faster recovery so it should even out. 5) Explosives are also on hold for this week in the interests of focusing on strength training. I'm just not feeling very explody, so I think it's best to let that horse rest. 7/5 -mobility warm-up -Confusion Fu: Rope Dart Playtime + Blindfold practice Nerdwarts Cram School: 4x30% AMRAP 10 Pushups 15 LyingKnee Tucks 8 Horizontal Row (bent legs) 12 Bulgarian Split Squat Repeat 4x. Done as a circuit, rest as needed. -Stretch: Plow, Camel, Frog - 1min each -10:00 meditation 4x30% feels pretty good. It took a little closer to 20 minutes than I would have liked, but I know I shouldn't be greedy. I made it a point to rest 90s-120s between sets, which felt pretty nice. 7/6 -mobility warm-up -Confusion Fu: Qi Gong "7 minutes of Magic" Nerdwarts Cram School: 4x30% AMRAP 10 Pushups 15 LyingKnee Tucks 8 Horizontal Row (bent legs) 12 Bulgarian Split Squat Repeat 4x. Done as a circuit, rest as needed. -5:00 Myofacial Release (tennis ball, mobility peanut, roller, etc.) -Stretch: Pigeon L, Pigeon R, Child's - 1min each -10:00 meditation Tried out a short Qi Gong video I found on youtube and really enjoyed it! It's very refreshing. Kind of short of confusion fu, but I was running low on time and had to improv. 7/7 -mobility warm-up -Confusion Fu: Nerdwarts Cram School: 4x30% AMRAP 15 LyingKnee Tucks 8 Horizontal Row (bent legs) 12 Bulgarian Split Squat Repeat 2x. Done as a circuit, rest as needed. -Stretch: Pigeon L, Pigeon R, Child's - 1min each -10:00 meditation cancelled pushups due to weird pains in my wrist, and cut t 7/8 -mobility warm-up -Confusion Fu: Qi Gong Nerdwarts Cram School: 4x30% AMRAP 10 Pushups 15 LyingKnee Tucks 8 Horizontal Row (bent legs) 12 Bulgarian Split Squat Repeat 4x. Done as a circuit, rest as needed. -5:00 Myofacial Release (tennis ball, mobility peanut, roller, etc.) -Stretch: Pigeon L, Pigeon R, Child's - 1min each -10:00 meditation 7/9 -mobility warm-up -Confusion Fu: Playtime Nerdwarts Cram School: 4x30% AMRAP 10 Pushups 15 LyingKnee Tucks 8 Horizontal Row (bent legs) 12 Bulgarian Split Squat Repeat 4x. Done as a circuit, rest as needed. -Stretch: Plow, Camel, Frog - 1min each 7/10 , 7/11: Rest Days.

Also (sort of) relevant.

His name is Sanjuro, and he prefers Darjeeling. ^^ Well, it's duck season here at the Phayze County Municipal Drinking Water Plant, and that can only mean one thing: stranded ducklings. I was doing my regular rounds of the plant and heard a disconcerting chorus of pathetic chirping from one of our settling basins (it's about the size of the Clampet's cement pond). My investigation revealed about a half a dozen painfully adorable baby ducks swimming in circles, unable to jump the concrete walls of the basin to escape, and a very confused and nervous looking lady duck. Never fear, Phayze is here! I found a wooden pallet by the dumpster and borrowed some tools from the maintenance garage to break off some planks. A little jiggery-pokery later, and I had a lovely little ramp for the noisy puff balls to climb up and out on. Two of them had drifted off into another part of the basin, so I had to chase them down with a pool skimmer and scoop them out. Harder than it sounds!