MtnThg

Baseline Squat 185 (5x5) Bar Row 105 (5x5) Bench 105 (5x5) Tire Flip 30

Hey folks. So I've done a lot in the past to get strong and fit, but nearly everything I've tried seems to be temporary, or not work at all. So this time, in true scientifically exploratory fashion, I'm trying something new. This time, I'm going to try an idea a trainer at my gym had. Keep eating. Every 3 to 4 hours. Good, solid foods like meats and veg along with my lifting regimen. So far so good, even though I've only been at it a few days. Two days of three down at the gym. Today is day 1 of my current eating challenge and, even though the challenge doesn't specifically have to be about diet, in a sense it does. Anyway, I'm a car salesman. My hours at work are terribly difficult to plan around. I could work 7.5 hours (if I leave early) or I could work 13 or even 14+ hours a shift. So eating every three to four hours, with 300+ calories of good, solid food is forseeably difficult. But from what I understand, my metabolism will be assisted by eating like a horse throughout the day. The problem is that the only readily available food sources at work are vending machines, delivery, take-out or worse yet.. fast food. This becomes expensive and increasingly unhealthy as time goes on. I've decided to attempt to plan meals a week in advance. This mainly includes pre-prepped chicken and vegetables that I warm in the microwave. But seeing as tthis new endeavor will require me to eat a LOT, it isn't feasible to take 2 to 5 meals in to work. I guess I could do it but we only have a small fridge, and I don't want to be that asshole that takes up all the space in the fridge. So. I'm looking for advice. I'm not sure how to go about doing this. High calorie snacks that will make a good substitute for legitimate meals are a must. Recipes would help, too. Something I could munch on during negotiation would help GREATLY. Help me, Nerd Fitness. You're my only hope! TL;DR: I spend the majority of my life at work. I need help planning meals and finding quick, portable meal replacements.

This challenge is all about coming to terms with life and thriving where I've been planted. Because fuck the naysaying and the negativity, it's time to get strong, get positive and be the fucker that all the other fuckers want to be. Because, deep down, that's who the fuck I am. So that's my main quest. QUEST ACQUIRED: Be The Fucking Man Return to your roots of awesome. Travel the roads of Texas, far from your heart's home, and learn to thrive wherever the hell you wind up. Live up to your potential, sell a lot of cars, make money and be the bad-ass family man you vowed to be over three years ago. Get stronger. Build your stamina. Make money. Sleep more. THRIVE. Take back that swagger you had in your early 20's. Smirk like you'll take someone's head off and know that, push to shove, you not only wound, but could. Endure the long hours like t'weren't shit, and find time to head to the gym before or after even those 13 or 14 hour shifts. And smile about it because you're just that fucking awesome. You were an alpha once. Time to do again, only better. Sub-Goal One: Mirror Image It's been too ong since you've looked in the mirror and thought someone would want to fuck you. Don't you think it's about that time, again? Who cares what the scale says? Like you've always said, weight lies. Muscle weighs more. If you look good, and you're strong.. then weight means nothing. Your first and primary goal is to get strong and lose weight but, specifically, you need to be able to look in the mirror and like what you see. Shed the pounds, get stronger. Own it. Sub-Goal Two: If They Stand Behind You, Protect Them. If they Stand Before You, Defeat Them. First and foremost, your family deserves your protection. Weak as you are right at this moment, what would you do if someone came through your door? Yeah, you've got the bravery to buy them the time to get out, but would you survive? Would you win? Probably not. So here's the deal. You're going to get stronger. It doesn't matter by how much, or by doing what. You flipped a tire once? Good. Next time, flip it twice. Three times. Hell, go for five. You squatted 185 yesterday, right? Next week you'll do 190 or you'll die trying. This is what a warrior is made of. You say you're a viking? Well, vikings are strong. SO GET STRONG. Sub-Goal Three: Find The Time So you work 12 hours a day. Most of the time you're on a six day a week schedule. So what? The vikings didn't complain when they woke up every day to till their fields, did they? No one is going to get you to where you want to be, except you. Sleep is already a thing of the past until your kids are all out of diapers anyway, so suck it up and find a way to get into the gym. Three days a week. Minimum. 3 hours. MINIMUM. No exceptions. No excuses. It's been too long.. Life Quest Acquired: Show Them How It's Done Work is tiring. Working out is exhausting. Lack of sleep is a killer. So what? You're better than that. They want you at fifteen cars a month, so show them what you're made of. Show the new guys why the managers brought you in. Show the managers why they want you promoted. Bring in the money your family deserves. Find a way to make it work. $4,500 this month. End of story.

Some of y'all know me. Most don't. It's cool. I started on a health kick a while back. Got down from 180 to 165 after being 155 for, like.. ever. Kids, stress, work, exhaustion and/or overall laziness contributed to me gaining 35lbs. I kicked off to 165 and was back to fighting weight, but then shit happened (again) and I let slip. Back to 1-fucking-90 lbs. Time to respawn: 3 Seconds.. 2 Seconds.. I opted for a gym membership at 24 hour fitness. Got a fair deal, I think, to boot. My free day I did legs. I might as well, I figured. Go hard or go home. So I did squats. Found out I was quite weak after not having done anything remotely active in quite some time. They offered me a personal trainer and I gave it some serious thought, but then I figured, "Oh wait. I'm still in the NF community. What do I need a personal trainer for?" So here's where I'm at. 190lbs. Body fat percentage? We'll go with.. a lot. I haven't bothered to take a reading and I likely won't. I will likely not even look at the scale again, even though since I gave up drinking cokes, I dropped to 188. That was a little boost; the boost I needed to get serious again. So. High body fat? Yes. Weak? Yes. I plan to be able to look in the mirror during my friend's wedding (May 2016) and be good with how I look. That is the goal. I want to have to pay more for a refit on my tux. That's the plan. So I figure I'll start off with the big three. Squats, deadlifts and bench. I'll do swimming to keep up my cardio. Yesterday I got one lap in and I was winded. Nowhere to go but up. I'm looking for a place to keep my progress so I'll hopefully get a response here about that, too. Any advice will work. I have very little intention of going paleo. I like my breads and my crappy foods a little too much for it. But I figure with enough work, I'll get to looking good and being strong again in no time. Suggestions, comments etc are all welcome.

Thank you. Seriously. I think I'm about as ready as I'll ever be without actually having gone and done it. It's time to make gains! So where to start, then?

I actually read that recently, Raev.

I've BEEN doing body-weight workouts. I'm not gaining the muscle that I want from it. And, if I wait for myself to be mentally ready, I'll never go. Thanks for the encouragement, though. Raev: Definitely. I know if and when I go, I'll eventually get comfortable enough to get a spot and talk to people. It's just daunting sitting here thinking about it! Thanks, Draken

I just lost a huge post and I'm having to rewrite this. Oh, well. So here's the deal. I'm 30 years old and trying to bulk out, and then cut down for Halloween to 8% - 10%.. ish. So I figure if I want to bulk, I have to start hitting the free-weights at the gym, so I've decided to play butterfly and check out the free trial memberships at the local gyms so that I can find one that I like. One that I feel comfortable with. The reason for this may be obvious, but overshadowing the obvious is the fact that I have no idea what I'm doing, let alone what I'm looking for in a gym. The feeling in my gut is strong enough to make me hesitate but then I realize that I'm just nervous and that I need to grab my balls and just do it. That doesn't mean it's not difficult. So I guess the whole point of this post is to try to find a bit of encouragement as well as the tiniest sliver of know-how. First off, I'll be solo. I won't have a spotter, and the thought of asking a stranger to spot me compounds the already-daunting task of actually showing up in the first place. It is not strong enough to stop me, but the nervousness and hesitation is nearly equivalent to the need to gain muscle and get truly strong. So I'll probably not want to do anything or lift anything that'll require a spotter. Is this even possible? Anyway, this being the second go around of this post, I'd like to go scope out the gym websites and amp myself up to go to one of them. If anyone has any tips or hints for a shy first timer, I'd love to read them. It's time.

So bulking.. that's just a matter of working muscle to failure and allowing them to recover, right?

Exorcisto, whereas i value your opinion I think I am going to go for build. The reason for this is tht when I cut that 8% body fat I was able to do so very quickly. It wasn't easy but it was a lot faster. I know I built a bit of muscle in the time I was shredding down, too. I figure as long as I can gain muscle, I'll start getting lean gain in August and as long a I stay 20% or below I hould e able to cut to 12% by October 31 if I start in August. About 4% loss per month. Doable! I'll be getting a gym membership in march but I plan to get the sandbag and work with that. I already work until muscle failure so I feel like I am probably off to a good start now. Any suggestions for building kreigs physique?

I like the sandbag idea. I suppse I need to choose then. Cut or build.

So I've done a few challenges here and gotten a whole lot more in-shape than I was in August 2013. I started at 180 24% body fat. Two months on paleo and I dropped down to 165(ish) and was at 16% body fat. Now It's January. I'm back at 180lb, but I'm at 18% body fat with significant muscle gains. Not sure exactly how much, mostly because screw math. My goal right now seems diametrically opposed, and I've got the issue of money killing my ability to grab weights until at least my birthday in March. My goal is to cut down the body fat percentage, but also make strength gains. Are these really opposing goals? So. I want to gain muscle mass and strength, but I also want to cut some of the body fat. I have no weights for this challenge except a single 25lb dumbell. I generally do squats and lunges while holding a 2.5 gallon water jug (filled, obvious) in both hands. Any suggestions as to the workout plan to help meet my goals? I'd like to make this my 6 week challenge. P.S. I'm attaching a photo of my goal physique. Yes, I know it's fictional. Yes, I know it's not a realistic body range. Yes, I know anything close to what it would be like in real life will take years. Screw that noise, I'm still going for it! The reason why is that on Halloween 2014, I want to wear the Kreig costume, but I'm nowhere near built for it, yet.

Point Spread: 15/15 -Pull ups from 3 to 11. Allocating 5 points to strength; 2pt Stamina -Better paying job: Nearly there; 5pt. Wisdom; 3pt. Charisma

73%. Managed a C grade. Not great, but considering where I started and where I am now? I'm a total freakin' rockstar, from Mars.

Current Stats: Pull-Ups: 11 Push-Ups: 30 [|||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||| ] 73% To Goal

Funny, how these things work. I was just online looking up the "best" way to gain muscle. The typical argument between low-rep/heavy weight and high-rep/low weight. It made me think about carrying my daughter around the mall today. Really, I don't think it matters so much weight you are lifting, or even how many times you lift it. The protip here is muscle failure. i've heard folks call it muscle fatigue but that is a misnomer. Muscle fatigue happens when you, like me, get too bored or lack the energy (ATP?) to continue to lift. Muscle failure is when you have the energy and the focus to drive that weight up, but you can't. There was an instance where, after having not eaten in a while, having worked out earlier and carried my 29lb daughter around for hours on end that we were waiting on food at the food court where I was holding a leaning daughter and my muscles just didn't want to hold anymore. I had to keep adjusting because the arm was lowering. I was experiencing muscle failure. In that, I figured out one of my weaknesses. Boredom. Too many reps for too long without moving my routine around and I get bored. Doing hundreds of push-ups a day gets boring. Same with too many reps of my 25lb weight. So what's the fix? Push-ups with a vest or weight. Matter of fact, 25lbs? Why limit myself? I'm going to pick up a 40 pounder tomorrow. I once saw an ad for a supplement which listed an MMA fighter's total weight moved and lifted over the course of a training period. Seems about correct because in a day, our bodies will only lift to a limit before failing. So as I sit here, sipping on my whey protein, I'm laughing a bit because the physiology speaks for itself. When your muscles are so damaged and full of lactic acid that they literally can't lift another thing, that's when you've done enough damage to the muscles to cause a growth in size and power. So whatever path you take to muscle failure, you'll eventually get there. Just make sure it hurts. My Stats: Pull-Ups: 8 Push-Ups: 30 [|||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||| ] 53% To Goal

I'm always late for these things. Good luck everyone. I'll be sitting out again.

Some setbacks. One physical, others quite mental. Physical setback being my daughter got sick which caused me to be unable to get in my normal workouts, then I got sick which knocked out any chance of working out for three days. Yesterday I was feeling slightly better, so I went at it hard. Did a ton of shoulder work. I'm actually sore from yesterday's work, which is impressive. I haven't felt sore in a while. I'm up from 25 to 30 push-ups consecutively. Although I'm not at my goal for pull-ups, I'm still able to do 8 consecutive, which is a massive increase from my starting 3. I've begun to do sets of 5 reps with chin-ups now. Yesterday I was able to do 3 sets of 5 chin-ups, 2 sets of 30 push ups and a bit of cardio. Not bad for having been sick for days on end. Wasn't easy to breath yesterday, but I toughed through it. As for the mental setbacks, the main one is coming from not hearing back about my interview. I called back last Monday and the boss wasn't there so I had to leave a message. Every day that goes by feels like I'm further from my goal. So I've been hitting Indeed, Monster, careerbuilder for jobs. Working under a manager 11 years younger than me has become a fairly humiliating experience on the day-to-day. We also recently found out we (she) are pregnant again, which fuels my need to become more financially stable. Regardless, this is my toughest challenge yet and the end-goal seems very far away. Just keep telling myself "don't stop now."

How do you get to be most wanted, anyway?

I've been taking part in this mini-challenge. What I do is a modification of a normal Burpee. So that's a burpee. When I'm "down", I add two mountain climber push-ups. one for each leg. After I do the mountain climber push-ups, I hop back up into a normal burpee jump. It's absolutely brutal.

I have been working hard on this. Here is an update.. Chin-Ups: 7 Consecutive. Gripwork: Increasing in strength; building callouses on my palms. Sidequests Life Goal: Had an interview for a management position making 40k - 60k a year. I think it went well. Will know more Friday, 29th. Fitness Sidequest: Slightly lacking; 100 push ups a day.

Knowing the enemy is the key to its defeat. Good luck!

Good luck in your quest! Running has never been a strong suit of mine.

Main Quest Effortless Power: I want to be able to, at the end of this challenge, do 15 pull-ups or chin-ups. (Bonus) Making It Look Easy: Not only that, I want to make it appear to an outside viewer like I am barely putting in the effort at all to get the task done. Main Goals 1. Chin-Ups and/or Pull Ups, at least one, every single day. One Rest day allowed. 2. Increase required number of chin-up/pull-up reps at one time every week by two. Current Max: 3 (11-11-13); +2 weekly = 3/5/7/9/11/13/15 3. Gripwork, gripwork, gripwork. Carry more groceries from the car at once, hang from stuff like the jungle gym at the daughter's playground, et cetera. Minimum Requirement: Hang from pull-up bar as long as possible, minimum: 30 seconds each hand or 1-Minute with both. Side-Quests Life Goal: Get into a better-paying position or find a better-paying job. Fitness Side-Quest: Capability of doing1,000 push-ups a week by the end of this challenge.

An assassin goes it alone when he has to.