JLFergus

Oh, also: I integrated pistol squats into my workout, and finished all three sets of ALL exercises, including pull-ups and chin-ups. w00t!

Okay, so I didn't get a chance to visit the forums at all last week, which SUCKS. No gold star for me Oh, well. So here's a two-week recap: The last two weeks have been super busy. I started really getting into my new job, and social commitments kept me out late often. I ended up skipping a few of my scheduled workouts (I typically work out Wed, Fri, and Sun), but I managed to stay up late and make up workouts on other days, so I kept to my three/week schedule (but just BARELY - I actually just finished my "Friday" workout this morning). Parkour was another story: I haven't made time for a dedicated parkour outing at all these last two weeks. However, I've embraced the "workout anywhere" philosophy (thanks, Steve!), and have been practicing vaults, underbars, and tacs while on my way to and from places. I only nailed one new maneuver in that time (instead of my goal of two), but it's a pretty cool one: A reverse underbar on a corner at a 45-degree angle. Hard to explain, I might try to diagram it out later. Follow-through sucked these last two weeks: No forum update last week, no encouragement, either. Sorry, guys. I'll get back on the wagon this week I did, however, build the Excel tracker like I wanted. I'd attach it, but it won't let me. Also, I finally found a scale, so was able to weigh myself just now: 168 lbs. Haven't been able to calculate BMI, but I'll work on that this week. Here's to me getting back on the wagon!

That's a good idea, I'll give it a shot, thanks!

Okay, first things first, here's me: Okay, now that that's out of the way: WORKOUT My Thrice-weekly workout is basically Steve's advanced body weight circuit training. Here it is (forgive me if I get the names wrong, I'm going from memory here): 20 pistol squats (10 each leg) 20 squats 20 walking lunges (10 each leg) 20 step-ups 10 pull-ups 10 dips 10 chin-ups 10 push-ups 30 second plank 30 jumping jacks one right after the other, 3 sets. I should clarify: this is the workout I'm working up to. I'm not there yet. By the end of last week, here's what I was up to: exercise: set 1/ set 2 pistol squats: 0/0 squats: 20/20 lunges: 20/20 step-ups: 20/20 pull-ups: 10/5 dips: 10/10 chin-ups: 10/5 push-ups: 10/10 planks: 30/30 jumping jacks: 30/30 That's right, I'm only doing 2 sets right now, and those two are kicking my ass. I haven't even attempted the pistol squats yet. So this week I'm going to add a third set, doing as many of each exercise as I can the third time around. My end goal for the challenge is to add in the pistol squats, and fill it out so I'm actually completing all three sets. I only managed this Monday and Wednesday due to some life intervention, which falls short of my goal of three workouts per week, but I'm going to count it anyway (I'll explain below). PARKOUR My other fitness/life related goal was to practice parkour - and execute a maneuver I've never successfully executed before - once per week. Last week it was Saturday. I met up with my friend Dave, who is ten years younger than I am (he just turned 20; I'll be 30 in December), and has over twice the experience (4 years of steady parkour training to my 4 years of once-in-a-while training). On top of that, he's a gymnast and a professional stuntman, so I knew I was in for a hard workout, and boy was I right. We started at a local playground and warmed up with balance exercises and some basic vaults and other maneuvers. Mostly, he wanted to get a feel for my abilities, since we'd only trained together once before. After an hour or two there, we went to a park with some really neat structures, met up with another friend, and spent another 2-3 hours practicing there. We did a lot of cool stuff, including wall runs, various vaults, and precisions, and I finally nailed a Dash Vault, which made me very happy We finished up with about an hour and a half at Keller Fountain, which takes up an entire city block, and features a lot of really cool pillars and platforms, which are fantastic to practice precisions on. Some of these are over 30 feet high, so we ended up attracting a sizable audience while we were there. There was a certain leap I was unable to make (not high and not dangerous), but it gives me a goal for next time. This was, by far, the longest and most intense session of Parkour I've had in over a year, and it kicked my ass. I was sore for four days afterwards, so by god I'm counting it as my third workout for the week. My other life goals involved financial stability and planning, and fitness tracking, and I'll be honest, I haven't made any headway in either of those cases. I just started at a new job and haven't gotten paid yet, so I'm completely broke and can't buy a scale or other measurement equipment. I don't work out in a gym where they would have a scale on hand, but I'm going to look around this week and try to find one I can use. I also need to find a fabric tape measure so I can track BMI (I know it's not the most accurate way, but I don't know where to get the calipers, and it's a hell of a lot better than nothing). Follow-through: I did make a post last week, and I did encourage three other rebels. w00t! This week I plan to add reps to my workout, and put together a fitness tracker in Excel that will allow me to record each workout, along with weight and BMI. I also want my next post to be more detailed than this one.

Wow, Manda 58 seconds?! That's awesome!! You'll definitely hit your goal of 60 seconds tomorrow

I can sympathize with schedule conflicts, it's really tough for me to stick to a schedule sometimes, especially with all the stuff that crops up throughout the week. Keep it up Nigel, you can do it

Thanks Gem!

Okay, here's me weighing in for the 6-week challenge. Here were my original goals: Fitness: Work out three times per week.Complete Steve's Advanced Body Weight Circuit training.Life: Create a 1-month and 6-month financial plan.Make arrangements for a new living arrangement (new dwelling, roommate, etc..)Hybrid Life/Fitness: Practice parkour at least once per week.-Successfully execute at least one maneuver or combo for the first time each week.Follow-Through: Create a progress tracker (probably in Excel).Make at least one post sharing my progress each week.Encourage three other rebels each week.So there are my general goals. I haven't taken any pictures yet, but I'll get that done in the next day or so, and post them up, along with a more detailed workout plan and schedules. I've actually already started (Monday), so the next post will probably be recap.

Hello all, My name is Jesse, and I need to get in better shape ("Hello, Jesse..."). I'm a software developer from Portland, OR. Physically, I'm in okay shape already: I still have a little muscle left over from High School (which surprises me after 11 years), and I'm a decent runner, but there's always room for improvement, and there are definitely other areas where I'm lacking. My wife of 7 years (and two children) and I are beginning the process of divorce, and I just got laid off at work. I'm now jobless, loveless, and homeless (staying with a friend currently), and, if we're being honest, keeping depression in check. I need to take back control of my life, and I need to feel good about myself again. I'm hard at work on the job hunt, so fingers crossed that will be resolved soon. Other than that, I'm determined to make at least one of my life changes this year be a positive one, so I've resolved to get into better physical shape. To use Steve's race/class metaphors, I'm a half-elf, and my target class is assassin/monk. I'm the type of nerd who gets skinny when he stops trying, so It's more difficult to keep on muscle than it is to lose fat. That said, I have no idea what my BMI is, but I'm pretty sure it's higher than I'd like it to be. I weigh around 165 right now, and I'd like to add about 15 pounds of muscle. I'd also like to be able to keep up with the young kids when I go out and run parkour, and get injured less often I've started the workout portion already, and once I'm in a position to buy my own food, I'd like to go about 90/10 paleo for my diet. Once I get a job (and move to wherever it is), I'll also probably have to tweak my workout, since it's location-based right now. Here we go!