zahana

Man's suit from Goodwill, the uglier the better.

Made it to the gym on Saturday, but my knee is still bothering me so all I got done was weight training and maybe 5 minutes of cardio to warm up. Not really how I wanted to end the challange as I spent Sunday celebrating the holiday and didn't make it to the gym. Weekly #'s Quest 1: 2/3 (67% D) Quest 2: 1/1 (A) Quest 3: 380/2k (19% F) Final Grades Quest 1: 14/15 (93% A) Quest 2: 5/5 (100% A) Quest 3: 7479/10k (75% C)

So my car decided to break yesterday. What does this mean for my training? Well for starters I didn't go to the gym yesterday with dealing with all the getting the car there, waiting to hear an update, realizing I left my badge for work so heading back to the repair place to pick it up because there was no way I'd be able to have my car today. In addition since I wouldn't have my car today, I went to bed early as my 30-45 minute commute by car is something like a 3 hour commute by bus and I wanted to make sure I'd get to bed at a reasonalble hour so I would wake up with plenty of time to catch the bus. (despite this I missed the first bus, had to change my route, and got the please of paying another $1.25 because the express was the only way to make it to work on time) won't have my car til maybe Monday if I can manage to find a way to pick it up and pay for it ($500+, <$300 in my checking account), especially since with the mandatory overtime at work means I probably wont' be able to pick it up til Thursday morning which translates into roughly 3 more days of 6 hour round trip bus rides will give me very little time to actually get any work done on my quest.

I'm not sure I would use the term love but I did enjoy it. The classes that I took were all Birkram and at the time it just didn't really work with my busy schedule of World of Warcraft. I've been looking around at different types of yoga schools in my area and have found that it really isn't all that much more expensive than some other types of yoga around, maybe a $1 or $2 more. As far as it being too easy, it's all relative. It definately isn't if you compare it to a yoga class at a big box gym for example.

So weight training tonight had some mixed results. A did a fit test, weighed in at 176 1/2 which may be the lightest I've been in over a decade and my body fat is down to 24%. Chest press I couldn't match were I was at last month missing it by 5 lbs, but I set a personal best with 20 push ups. Switched machines for legs, as I maxed out the machine at 20 reps last month so instead of seated leg press I did linear leg press and got up to 5 reps at 500. May have over done it though, as I went to do cardio afterwards my knee said "wtf do you think you are doing?"so I decided to call it a night after burning only 37 calories.

Do you have a way of measuring body fat? You may not be losing much if any weight doing what you are doing, but I've had a similar routine for the past 6 months or so and I'm down maybe 5 or 6 pounds, but I've done a pretty good job of dropping body fat. It's not something I've really noticed but I compared a picture of me taken at a pool in Vegas last year with one taken this year and I've seen a definate reduction on what's going on in my midsection.

Update for the week, yoga Sunday, 328 calories burned this morning, plan is for weight training tonight, thursday night, and saturday morning. Quest 1 0/3 Quest 2 1/1 Quest 3 328/2k For the next challange I'm thinking of modifying the 1st 2 quest in some way (maybe bring it up to 4 days of weight training and 2 days of yoga or 1 different type of yoga class a week) The 3rd might be something more general along the lines of being active x number of minutes for a defined number of days. If I can get around to getting the tire on my bike fixed that goal will be a little easier and I can go back to being a 30 something riding around on a tween bmx bike.

Keep up the good work!

Spartan Sprint course at least in Arizona is 4.7 miles, so it would be longer than Warrior Dash. It's also scheduled for February which sounds a little too chilly for my taste.

Thanks for the support! I intentionally designed the 3rd quest with a measurable result. I suppose looking back I could have done it as a time thing (basically every 10 minutes = approximately 100 calories burned) In future challenge I may change it up to 3 1/2 hours of physical activity (30 minutes a day) so I can do more stuff outside of the gym.

So in 2014 Tough Mudder is going to be in the Phoenix area April 4th & 5th, on April 12th (aka the next weekend) is the Warrior Dash. Both will be my last chance to do one of these types of races before my birthday. Any recommendations for someone who has done an "adventure" race as to which one might be a better choice for a beginner?

Four weeks down, 100% on 2 of my 3 goals. Quest 1 - A Quest 2 - A Quest 3 - B+ (7099/8000 or 88.7375%)

Thanks! In the past I've attempted a whole bunch of different cardio machines, bikes hurt my tailbone, trendmill gives me shin splints, and the stair climber is just awkward. I stick to olyptical and cross ramp, but it's hard to get motivated to walk to the gym, or get on a boring machine after a long day and finishing a good work out. Also my knees aren't in the best shape That being said... Got weight training and 368 burned on the crossramp last night. Quest 1: 2/3 Quest 2: 0/1 Quest 3: 1358/2000 (67.9%) Looking at what I have left in the week, I'm planning on do yoga on Saturday and might get an early am work out in the morning. Today probably won't happen (work til 5, get home at 6, kickball 7-10) so getting A's in all three is probably out and if that happens, cardio is least likely to succed.

Work has been horribly busy thanks to the combination of the the Government Shutdown and Debt Ceiling shenanigans so I haven't been able to post. Here's a quick recap of my week. Sun - Vegas, did no work out Mon - Recover from Vegas, did no work out Tues - AM Cardio 337, PM Weights and Cardio 340 Wed - Mandatory OT, no gym, played Kickball Thurs - AM Cardio 313 Totals for the week. Quest 1: 1/3 Quest 2: 0/1 Quest 3: 990/2k

Mid-Term Report Card! Quest 1, Weight train at leas3x a week. - A Quest 2, Attend yoga at least once a week - A Quest 3, Burn 2k calories doing cardio a week - A- (90.316%)

I dislike Cardio. Ok, maybe that's an unfair assesment. I dislike the amount of cardio I've set up for this challenge. Time wise, I'm looking at around 1 1/2 to 2 hours a week for my weight training goal, between 60-90 minutes a week for my yoga goal, and over 3 hours for cardio goal. Of the 3 it's the only one that at times feels like a chore.

365 this morning

Thanks! Updating since I haven't done so since Monday morning. 2 weight training nights, 3 cardio (2 nights 1 morning) for 369, 307, & 336 puts my weekly total up to 1638. Planning on going tomorrow morning, need 362 to hit my weekly goal. Quest 1: 3/3 Quest 2: 1/1 Quest 3: 1638/2k (81.9)

Grading after 2 weeks Quest 1: A Quest 2: A Quest 3: 85.4 B

Weekend Update Saturday, 9:45 Yoga, followed by weight training, followed by 703 calories burned worth of cardio (football is such a good distraction when you don't care about the games. Week 2 results Quest 1: 3/3 Quest 2: 1/1 Quest 3: 2043/2k Sunday, Since this week is going to be short due to an early morning flight to Vegas on Thursday, I'm counting Sunday as the start of the new week. Made the morning Yoga class and did some more weight traning, but the combo of the Patriots inability to score and general fatigue I only got 302 burned on cardio. Went this morning for another 324. Week 3 results Quest 1: 1/3 Quest 2: 1/1 Quest 3: 626/2k

I have bad knees (mostly the right one) and wrap it in an ace bandage when ever I do something even remotely athletic for support. I don't know if it actually does anything but it doesn't seem to bother me as much when I do so. When it acts up I do what I can to still work out, but do exercises that limit the need to use my knees so that I don't fall out of the habit of going to the gym. Maybe see if you can remove just squats from your work out so you can still get the rest of your work out done for a day or two to see how your knee feels.

Some more strength training last night, and around 362 calories (wrote it down, but it's at home). I may have done something to my right shoulder (not sure what the correct term for the exercise tricep extention maybe) hoping didn't do anything too damageing. No gym tonight for kickball, plan is Yoga, Cardio, and lifting (leg day if my shoulder still hurts) on Saturday and repeat on Sunday to start a new week. Week 2 progression Quest 1: 1/2 Quest 2: 0/1 Quest 3: 1340/2k

Apparently it's a rarity to find a class that is co-ed.

Thanks for the support. Last night I did some strength training and knocked out 649 calories and I got up early today for another 329 more. I think if I can get into getting up early to do cardio it will make things a lot easier, especially I'm going to Vegas next Thrusday through Sunday. Week 2 progression Quest 1: 1/3 Quest 2: 0/1 (planning on Saturday) Quest 3: 978/2k

I don't run regulary for distance because I get shin splints. Typically I use a cross ramp machince cause of the fluid motion and change difficulties without ever really changing pace. I don't get out of breath at all but do fatigue out a bit on longer sessions. I figure if I'm sweating I'm at least doing something right.