Phayze

+1 for the broom and chairs plan! I've been doing it for a while, and it's aces. ^^

Count me in! The last HP book I read was so long ago, I totally forgot the names of all the houses. I had to take an internet quiz to find out which ones suited me. Epic nerd-cred fail! ^^;

Daaaang! I salute your prodigious attention span - 55 minutes sounds like real slog to me. 0o Circuits are awesome, especially for volume work. Totally worth taking the time to experiment, I'd say.

Hey Charlie! Looking good on the goals there. ^^ simple, straightforward, and figures on practice, not accomplishment. Love that! I don't know much about silks, but I've been doing a combo of fingertip planks and static hangs from a bar to build up my grip and it seems to be pretty effective. Have you heard of Convict Conditioning? Book 2 in the series has a good chapter on BW only grip training, which I used as a foundation for my plan.

I totally locked in on the "Mr Perv" thing the first time I saw your name and was like "whaaat? 0o" Great goals! Too bad about the weights thing, but trusty old bodyweight will always be there for you. ^^ Have you seen startbodyweight.com? It's a pretty good (free) resource for progressions.

Tennis grips: there are no problems they can't solve! Dude, seriously, you are like one super-prepared mofo! These plans look super, so with the hard part our of the way, all you have to do is kick ass and carry on!

Ichiya FTW! I'm on board for any challenge that includes Fairy Tail gifs. ^^ I'm all fired up!

T: I do what I can. ^^ --- Okay, I'm back from my half-ass week, and feeling like I could use another, BUT I won't let that stop me from prototyping this challenge's goal set for Week 0. I've got a couple of days off work, so my Dailies will be modified accordingly, but with some planning I can make sure that I hit all of my challenge goals without letting changes in my regular schedule get to me. I've always let this be a problem in the past, but NO MORE! Week 0 is all about the prep work for my plucky freedom fighting mech company. We'll need to mount those Single Shot Rockets, lock and load the machine guns, polish the optics on the sniper scope - you know, normal stuff. The Beast will be doing the same, so we have to be ready for them. T-6 Days until contact. MOVE IT PEOPLE!!

Main Quest: Become My Own Hero In my last challenge, I assembled a ragtag team of freedom fighters to stand up against their oppressors, who happened to have the support of the galaxy-renowned peacekeeping and security contractor “The Beast of Eschatonâ€. We won the battle, but there is still much to do before we win the war.... In light of its recent defeat and the news that our rebellion has acquired backing and new weapons from a group of fabulously wealthy and equally anonymous donors, the BoE has called in reinforcements from off-world to wipe us out. We’ve managed to hack their database and get some intel - it’s not much, but what we’ve seen isn’t pretty. These guys are good - real good. A straight-up spec-ops team, armed to the teeth and covered in kill-silhouettes. It’s kind of flattering, really, if you think about it... Anyway, it’s going to take tactics, preparation and a whole lot of nerve to pull this one off. Let’s take a closer look at what we know about the enemy, and how to deal with them. tl;dnr Artillery Ape: Prop-free skills training sessions, 2x/week Gatling Raptor: Prep 1+ build/week for Repubrick.com Phantom Mantis: Mindful Coffee 7 days/week. The S.W.A.R.M.: Complete all HabitRPG Dailies 7 days/week. Yeeeeaaah, this is how we roll. Let’s get versatile!

Half-Ass Week!! I haven't had one of these for a while... Most of my fitness activities include 2 sets, so this week I will only be doing 1, and I will most certainly not be killing myself to make it a Max Set. The training portion of Confusion Fu is suspended, so I'll just be doing playtime for 15 min or so. Warmups will not rigidly cling to the usual 5-min standard. 5/24 -Explosives! 3x3 Pop-ups 3x3 Butt kick Jumps -mobility warm-up -Handbalance: Max Hold Crow Pose -Confusion Fu: playtime -Good Behavior B 35s Wall Handstand 9 Horizontal Row 15 Bulgarian Split Squat Rest as needed -10:00 meditation -Garlic Eaten: 0/3 5/25 Rest day. Hurt my shoulder by falling down today, so I'll be going easier than expected this week. 5/26 -Grip Training: 20s finger/wrist circles Max Hold: Incline 1 arm Ft Planks (table) -Explosives! 3x3 Slap Tuck Jumps -mobility warm-up -Good Behavior A 37 Incline Pushups (desk) 20 Knee Tucks 20 Bent Bridges Rest as needed -10:00 meditation 5/27 -Grip Training: 20s finger/wrist circles Max Hold: Vert. Hang -Explosives! 3x3 Catch Tuck Jumps -mobility warm-up -Confusion Fu: playtime -5:00 meditation 5/28 -Grip Training: 20s finger/wrist circles Max Hold: 1 arm incline ft planks -mobility warm-up -Confusion Fu: playtime -Good Behavior B 13 Horizontal Row (knees bent) 15 Bulgarian Split Squat Rest as needed -5:00 meditation 5/29, 5/30: Rest Days.

Woo! I am sooo late to this party, but congrats on taking down your Boss Battle! Great work on your challenge goals, too! Here's hoping that health meter gets topped off soon!. ^^

Excellent! Holiday weekend not withstanding, looks like some serious butt has been kicked! I should try out this positivity thing - it sounds like a pretty useful practice. I think you've got the right idea with the posture thing. Six weeks is barely enough to get an idea of what feels useful for you, but once you've got that figured out its just a matter of practice and consistency. Interesting side note to that, I've been doing the bridge moves from Convict Conditioning (dynamic bridges, not holds), and I think the glute activation is really helping me in this area.

â€Um, I think you got him...†Sit-Rep #6: No one Leaves the battlefield unscathed.* Front-liner: 26/28 93% A (STR+3, STA+2) Explosive drills 5x/week Fire Support: 11/12 92% A (CON+2) Foam rolling 2x/week Assault: 16/17 94% A (DEX+3) Rope Dart Target Practice 3x/week Scout: 10/11 91% A (DEX+1, CHA+2) Sleight of hand tricks Work on swordfight choreography 2x/week Rifleman: 39/42 93% A (WIS+2) HabitRPG goals met 7x/week Generalist: 6/6 100% A (All stats +1, bonus STA+1 because assassins are beastly beasts, and check out my awesome title! ^^) Mini Challenge *Okay, almost no one... DING! Phayze has gained a level! Level 13 Esper Assassin Red Mage STR: 35 STA: 33 DEX: 36 CON: 32 WIS: 32 CHA: 32 Battle Report: Oh man, I am seriously ready for this challenge to end! I spent most of Week 6 in the "negotiating" phase and setup my spreadsheet to show me the moment I passed 90% on each mission because I couldn’t stop myself from thinking "okay, exactly how much more work do I have to do before I get to check out and take a nap?" I got the idea from Ryu to make a custom HabitRPG reward to buy off a daily (check it without really doing it), and blew through half of my in-game bankroll to get out of my usual routine on Wednesday. Easy come, easy go, right? Of course, that’s not to say that this was a bad challenge - far from it! I’m really glad to have a working, sustainable system for integrating explosive exercises without having to sacrifice normal strength training; my aim with the rope dart has gotten pretty solid (even with more complex moves like elbow shots); I’m actually having trouble finding more trigger points to attack with my tennis ball now (that’s a good problem!), and I’ve got a good start on the choreography for a sword fight that will hopefully someday make it to YouTube. And the best part is that even with all of that I stayed strong on my HabitRPG Dailies (I’ll admit, that was my weakest link this time around) AND still made time for playing with LDD - I completed several new mecha designs, made a new diorama each week to show some of them off, and completed the design phase for Mrs. Phayze’s custom LEGO hummingbirds! Now, I’m not one to toot my own horn, as it were, but let’s face it people: I’m a friggin’ beast! A tired beast, actually... All of this productivity has worn me out. x.x I’m ready enjoy a nice, relaxing Half-Ass Week and regroup a little before the next sortie.

5/17 -Grip Training: 20s finger/wrist circles Max Hold: Fingertip Planks 20s Rest Repeat -Explosives! 6x3 Pop-ups 6x3 Catch Tuck Jumps -mobility warm-up -Handbalance: Max Hold Crow Pose, 30s rest, Repeat -Confusion Fu: Hide Head, Show Face (again) -Good Behavior A 30/20 Incline Pushups (chair) 30/18 Knee Tucks 30/17 Bent Bridges Rest as needed-10:00 meditation -Garlic Eaten: 0/3 All PRs! 0o 5/18 -Grip Training: 20s finger/wrist circles Max Hold: Vert. Hang 20s Rest Repeat -Explosives! 6x3 Pop-ups 6x3 Catch Tuck Jumps -Handbalance: Max Hold Crow Pose, 30s rest, Repeat -mobility warm-up -Confusion Fu: "Binding all over the body" -Garlic Eaten: 0/3 5/19 -Grip Training: 20s finger/wrist circles Max Hold: 1-Arm Incline Fingertip Planks (table) 20s Rest Repeat -Explosives! 6x3 Pop-ups 6x3 Catch Tuck Jumps -mobility warm-up -Handbalance: Max Hold Crow Pose, 30s rest, Repeat -Confusion Fu: Python Turns Over (CW) -Good Behavior B 55s/40s Wall Handstand 8/5 Horizontal Row 20/15 Bulgarian Split Squat Rest as needed -10:00 meditation -Garlic Eaten: 0/3 -2/-2 on rows, but 5/20 -Grip Training: 20s finger/wrist circles Max Hold: Vert. Hang 20s Rest Repeat -Explosives! 6x3 Pop-ups 6x3 Catch Tuck Jumps -mobility warm-up -Handbalance: Max Hold Crow Pose, 30s rest, Repeat -mobility warm-up -Confusion Fu: -10:00 meditation -Garlic Eaten: 0/3 5/21 -Grip Training: 20s finger/wrist circles Max Hold: Fingertip Planks 20s Rest Repeat -Explosives! 6x3 Pop-ups 6x3 Catch Tuck Jumps -mobility warm-up -Confusion Fu: Learn Tai Chi -Good Behavior A 30/21 Incline Pushups (chair) 30/21 Knee Tucks 30/19 Bent Bridges Rest as needed -10:00 meditation -Garlic Eaten: 0/3 More PRs!? The progression standard for most of my current CC movements is 2x40, but I'm capping set 1 at 30 to get set 2 caught up. Once I hit 2x30, I'll go for PRs on set 1 again. 5/22, 5/23: Rest Days.

Well, toddler hoisting is great for core stability, so it's probably doing wonders for your planking muscles. ^^

â€Catch me if you can, sucker.†Sit-Rep #5: Nothing to Report Front-liner: 22/23 Fire Support: 10/10 Assault: 14/14 Scout: 9/9 Rifleman: 32/35 Generalist: 5/5 +1 CON Battle Report: I’m at that awkward, almost-end-of-challenge stage where I just don’t have much to say about my missions this week... It’s all been going pretty well, and as long as I don’t do anything exceptionally stupid over these next few days, I’m on track for (another) set of Straight A’s. I think I’m really getting the hang of these SMART goal things! Judging myself on my ability to just show up and try has been much more productive for me than making specific end-point goals. It’s like with the explosive pushups - if my goal had been to hit Step 6 by the end of the challenge, I probably would have wrecked my shoulders trying to get there too fast and then given up and failed the mission. Not cool. By saying “practice explosive pushups everyday†I don’t have to care what step I’m on, I can just focus on what I’m doing. Seriously, I wish I’d been smart enough to realize this crap ages ago... Anyway, I hope that rumor about a two week break after this challenge was true - I’m designing new LEGO mechs to use as set-pieces for my next challenge theme, but I don’t think I’ll have them ready in time if it starts too soon! I’m also starting to think about my maintenance plans for these missions - I like the target practice and the tennis ball massage, but I’m not sure how often or how long I want to work them going forward.

Much excellence here, as I expected! I vote capoiera for all those reasons that you just said about boxing. Taking repeated blows to the face is simply not so smart, and I recommend avoiding them whatever possible. That was a major reason I did aikido instead of karate, actually. Besides, capoiera is super cool and will make it easier to convince people that you are a ninja. What more could anyone ask!? ^^

Darryl: Good one! I didn't think about building a feeder as the base... a hanging display is a really cool idea! I'll have to investigate this. I'm glad you like the bird. ^^ I've only recently gotten into building again (I put my bricks away when I discovered girls many years ago), so I feel like there are a lot of techniques and parts that I'm unfamiliar with. Surprisingly, lots of the mech design tricks I've picked up were very useful for these guys. Funny thing about those socks... I actually made them for myself to experiment with poi spinning, but he's officially claimed them now, so I guess I'll have to make another set. ^^

Yay! Thanks, Boss. ^^

To arms, Targaryens! Let slip the dogs of war, and Wake the Dragon one last time FOR FIRE AND BLOOD! >D Also, dramatic shouting aside, do reps/seconds performed on Monday count?

5/10 -Grip Training: 20s finger/wrist circles Max Hold: Vert. Hang 20s Rest Repeat -Explosives! 6x3 Pop-ups 6x3 Catch Tuck Jumps -mobility warm-up -Handbalance: Max Hold Crow Pose, 30s rest, Repeat -Confusion Fu: I forgot. o0? -Good Behavior B 14/10 Bulgarian Split Squat 8/6 Horizontal Row 50s Wall Handstand Rest as needed -10:00 meditation -Garlic Eaten: 0/3 Next time, I'm going to do two sets of Wall Handstands. The progression standard is a single 2min hold, but I'll get there faster with more practice. Using Bulgarian Split Squats instead of CC's "uneven squats" mostly because I don't have anything similar to a basketball for use in that fashion. Sure, the position is more akin to a shrimp squat, but It'll get the job done. 5/11 -Grip Training: 20s finger/wrist circles Max Hold: Fingertip Planks 20s Rest Repeat -Explosives! 6x3 Pop-ups 6x3 Catch Tuck Jumps -Handbalance: Max Hold Crow Pose, 30s rest, Repeat -mobility warm-up -Confusion Fu: hands-free elbow and neck spins/shoots -Garlic Eaten: 0/3 5/12 -Grip Training: 20s finger/wrist circles Max Hold: Vert. Hang 20s Rest Repeat -Explosives! 6x3 Pop-ups 6x3 Catch Tuck Jumps -mobility warm-up -Handbalance: Max Hold Crow Pose, 30s rest, Repeat -Confusion Fu: Left-handed Chainwhip leg turns -Good Behavior A 31/18 Incline Pushups (chair) 31/14 Knee Tucks 26/13 Bent Bridges Rest as needed -10:00 meditation -Garlic Eaten: 0/3 Truncated my skills practice by skipping the usual playtime. I didn't want to, but I got caught up with other stuff and was already running late for dinner. 5/13 -Grip Training: 20s finger/wrist circles Max Hold: Fingertip Planks 20s Rest Repeat -Explosives! 6x3 Pop-ups 6x3 Catch Tuck Jumps -mobility warm-up -Handbalance: Max Hold Crow Pose, 30s rest, Repeat -mobility warm-up -Confusion Fu: One Poi over the head. -10:00 meditation -Garlic Eaten: 0/3 Made 2 sets of 45s with the FT plank! One more of those, and I'll level up. Wound up doing all of my explosives in one session while waiting for a chemical tank to fill at work. I'm having trouble finding new RD tutorials, so I'm going to start stealing poi moves to practice even though I have to apply them directly with my dart, seeing as how my poi were claimed by The Boy. 5/14 -Grip Training: 20s finger/wrist circles Max Hold: Vert. Hang 20s Rest Repeat -Explosives! 6x3 Pop-ups 6x3 Catch Tuck Jumps -mobility warm-up -Confusion Fu: Hide the Head, Show the Face (CW) -Good Behavior B 50s/35s Wall Handstand 10/7 Horizontal Row 17/13 Bulgarian Split Squat Rest as needed -10:00 meditation -Garlic Eaten: 0/3 Stealing again for Confusion Fu, this time from Chainwhip. Chainwhip moves are awesome.This one is an underarm wrap with a duck-out and stall. pretty sweet when it works. painful when it doesn't >< 5/15, 5/16: Rest Days.

After The End, all ninja warriors, their chickens, and guitars will all be welcomed in the Democratic Republic of Phayze... if you can pass the test that is. Muahahahha! But I digress... Here's something much more important for everyone to think about: Mrs. Phayze's birthday is coming up and I've got kind of a weird idea for a gift for her. All winter she was looking forward to the return of the hummingbirds so she could stalk them with her camera, and while she's not really a "LEGO person" she did express an interest in this set, which includes a hummingbird. That's just too impersonal, though, so I had this idea to design a custom LEGO set just for her of some hummers and flowers that could be arranged into a little display/diorama kind of thing. Here's v2 of my hummingbird WIP: Thoughts? My Flickr followers seem to be exclusively interested in mecha design and have remained silent on this subject (except for one guy who made some suggestions on v1). I need to finalize the design and come up with a parts list by the end of May if I'm going to make this work. Assuming that I make this happen, the real challenge is going to be keeping The Boy off of them... maybe I'll get enough parts for him to build his own bird, too.

Just my luck that this hits on the same day as my Bulgarian split squats... my legs already hate me, but I'm sure they'll get over it. ^^;

Steam powered Shadowlion? Yeah, that works. ^^