arangast

Thanks ShadowLion. Pain is improved but still dealing with it in varying intensities every day. Unfortunately this challenge has become a bit of a failure, I'd blame it on my work deadlines but to be honest I let the knee situation get the better of me mentally. I intend to have one more go with the next challenge and try to start afresh. Cheers to all who posted messages of encouragement, it did help me keep some small positivity over the last few weeks.

Thanks for the nudge, I'll have a look on youtube when I next get a chance. What little time I normally have is being consumed by some big work deadlines at the moment!

I keep meaning to try some meditation but never find the time, maybe next week I'll try and make some time. I saw the Doc again yesterday and he's given me something to hopefully prevent any more swelling when I try and do stuff and referred me to physio. Unfortunately the way the NHS is at the moment that will be a 6 week wait :-(. On the plus side things have calmed down again and I no longer get much pain when moving about. I need to try and get back on track with the posture work and interacting on the forum, I worry I'm falling back into my shell to easily.

Thanks @ShadowLion, it's pretty difficult to keep going particularly as it seems to be deteriorating the past few days. In hindsight I should have gone with total rest the moment it started aching a month ago - lesson learned. I hope that potion is extra strong, patience is possibly my biggest weakness!

Following along, I like the idea of this. Good luck!

Thanks @Jedediah The Wolf! Things have been a bit of a struggle the past few days, it's hard to keep motivation up when you can't really do much. Add to that a lousy cold that developed over the weekend. Swelling has gone from knee but is now painful to do anything (even walk) so I'm waiting to see my Dr again. Given the knee isn't really healing and I still haven't started any running I'm not sure it will be safe for me to get ready for the Rough Runner in time now. I've still got until the end of the year to get a refund, so we'll see how things go. Update on my challenge goals: I managed a full ROM chip-up yesterday! The GTG idea of a few reps spread out over the day is really working for me. In a few days I will start working on proper pull-ups, I tried one for laughs yesterday too and managed about 3/4 ROM - I couldn't move myself at all 6 weeks ago! Diet went out the window over the weekend but back on track today; I've tweaked it slightly to focus more on macros as I don't get nearly enough protein. Still stretching every day and doing some back stretches to help posture. I've tried the foam roller but it doesn't seem as effective as the tennis ball - the leg with the bad knee was covered in sore points but I've worked most of them out now.

Well after a day and a half the swelling and aching finally went away. I did the following last night: 3x5 step-ups. 3x10 hip bridges, focusing on activating glutes and hamstrings rather than quads. 3x5 KB press @ 12KG. Stuck here as 12 doesn't feel very hard but I couldn't even get the 16 out of rack position. 3x partial TGU (to sitting) @ 16KG. I used my other hand to help get the weight up, once my arm was locked it felt fairly stable. Lots of soft-tissue work with a tennis ball. There were a load of really painful points on my bad leg particularly close to the knee, that weren't present on the other leg. A little stretching - muscles had cooled down a lot by the time I finished with the tennis ball. Despite the knee feeling good during and after the workout, and it not being stressed it's slightly swollen again this morning, but I'm undecided if that's because of the workout or because I've only just woken up, it's cold and damp outside and I haven't taken any ibuprofen in 12 hours. I have a knee sleeve and foam roller arriving today as well as high strength supply of Omega 3, let's see if they help.

My wife has all of the books, I "reluctantly" let her try the recipes on me; the things you have to do for your better half! I like the sound of the extra KB work you're doing, I eventually want to work in something similar!

Well done on the first day of your challenge! Sorry to hear about the toe, hope it heals quickly

Thanks @Suzaqu & @ShadowLion! Nine days after my last workout I really couldn't stand sitting around any longer so did some stuff. I'd been completely pain free for 4 days then without reason below my knee started hurting I had a look on t'internet and it feels a lot like Pes Anserine Bursitis. Anti-inflammatories weren't doing anything but keeping the knee moving did sometimes help so yesterday after a gentle warmup I decided to try some easy swings. 10x10 2h swings @ 16KG in 10:30. After over a week of doing nothing I was surprised to find my peak heart rate and recovery significantly improved, not sure what happened there - if I'd wanted I could have completed the 10 sets much faster. 3x5 12KG KB press. I was owning the TGU @ 12KG but can barely get the 16KG over my head so I'm going to work on strengthening my arms a little before bringing the TGU back in. I'm avoiding TGU for at least another week because of the kneeling part. 3x1 NG pullup. I had spent a couple of days doing GTG chinups trying to slowly increase my ROM, but yesterday my biceps seemed to give up on me. Thankfully my neutral grip pulls are feeling stronger and stronger. Lots and lots of stretching. Again after a week of doing nothing my flexibility has improved! The knee felt great during and after the session, but this morning is slightly swollen again No real pain and the bursitis hasn't bothered me at all but still a little disappointing, so I'll be taking it easy for a few more days again. Eating wise I'm sticking to my calorie goals, I could be having less sweet stuff but I'm getting a decent amount of veggies. I'm planning on battling the vending machine with some healthier snacks; peanut butter on apple today A question for you guys - it seems like there's a lot of cross over between the challenge updates and the battle logs, how do you manage them both? Cheers!

Following for S&S fun! My wife is a GBBO super-fan, I can't watch it because I just want to eat everything they make

Thanks guys! I've decided to try the old RPG system as the new character page thing seems like it still needs some work. So I'll gain Level 1 if I stick out the first 2 weeks and then gain one additional attribute for each goal completed at the end. My knee is still a little swollen but not too bad over the past few days so I'm hopeful I'll be able to pick up S&S some time next week. On the positive side I finally managed a full neutral grip pull up last night which I'm pretty chuffed about :-)

Nice plan, I have a similar struggle with food and not de-stressing, this week in particular has been tough. I like your system for major/minor rewards depending on how your goals go, I might have to borrow that! Good luck!

It takes me the first set usually to get into the groove with timing the hinge on the swings. I try to move as soon as I feel my forearms beginning to touch my shorts - to quote the book "At the very last instant, hinge your hips and get out of the way. Play chicken with the kettlebell". Mentally I see it as teasing the KB, like doing a high-five and pulling your hand away at the last moment. Don't try and slow it down with your arms, only use them to guide it to the right place, you'll only hurt yourself if you try and fight where the weight wants to go! Looking forward to seeing what your challenge is, good luck!

@Elastigirl, also funny you should bring up Tumeric as the BBC have just done a piece on it too: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/magazine-37408293 Whilst they were looking at other changes and not inflammation specifically the interesting thing about their study was Tumeric definitely had an effect on the body but only when consumed in it's raw form - the pills didn't do much. The speculation is that the body can't absorb it very well by itself and it needs to be bound to fats/oils and other stuff used in cooking. I like Tumeric but not sure I could stomach it every day, might try and incorporate it into our meals a bit more though!

Well I haven't done much since the weekend apart from GTG pull-ups, and last night I finally managed a full neutral grip pullup! From a dead hang with arms straight, up to chest touching the bar and back down again! Now to start working on a chin-up - the plan is to do the ng pullups one day and work on chin-up ROM the next. Proper pull-ups will come after I've managed a full chin. Losing some more weight would help make them easier but having a bit of a shaky time with the diet at the moment, trying not to let my old knee problems get to me too much mentally.

I have a stationary bike gathering dust, but tend to get a very numb bum after 15 minutes or so which no amount of padding helps (lol). I'll give it another go though! I will look into Tumeric too, thanks! I've posted my Challenge here:

Sleepily, his eyes opened. The cold of the cave had penetrated beyond bone to the very centre of his soul. How he missed the time Before, when fire coursed through his veins. Slowly he sat up, his joints creaking and muscles wasted from The Long Sleep. How many years had it been? As he dragged himself to his feet the frailty of this human form became all too apparent. "Time has not been kind", he thought, "but not all my youth is lost, there is still time to prepare for what comes". Tenderly putting one foot in front of the other he stumbled out of the damp, dark hole and shielded his eyes as the warm evening sun splashed across his face. His leg buckled, the damage to his knee from The Great Chase had not fully healed even after all this time. "I must take care, this body is my last chance and must not be squandered like the last". Bracing himself he stood once again. Below, across the sprawling forest smoke could be seen lazily drifting from a chimney poking out from among the tree tops. Perhaps some help could be found there? Slowly he began his decent. It was deep into the night when he pushed the door open, a wave of heat from the crackling fire washing over him. The inn was full of people congregating around tables and deep in conversation. The inn keep, catching sight of the disheveled figure beckoned him over - "Enter, stranger". He made his way through the throng of people. "What can I do for you?". He opened his mouth, but it had been so long he struggled to get out his words. "I, I need help, I must prepare for The First Trial" he said hoarsely. "You've come to the right place friend, any of those here could help you, you need but ask". Looking around his gaze finally settled on a group sat in the corner, partially covered in shadow. Rangers, strong and athletic, they looked ready to take on any challenge. "They look like they have what it takes to succeed in the Trial". He moved towards them... -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Greetings Rangers! This is my first challenge, and unfortunately has not got off to the best of starts; an old knee injury has returned to haunt me and on the advice of the Dr I've got to take it easy for the next two weeks. Long term I want to be able to handle anything life may throw at me and keep up with my growing children, medium term prepare for "The First Trial", the Rough Runner 10KM Obstacle Course next April, and short term just make exercise a habit as it once was many years ago. I'm working on S&S (Simple & Sinister) and was about to start introducing some gentle running, but my knee has had other ideas so it will be mid way through the challenge before I can pick it up again. I want to work on some basic fundamental changes to my body for the first challenge and try to stick to the fairly successful eating plan my wife and I are following which involves MFP to keep our eating in check. Inspired by many of the other threads I've read on NerdFitness I've decided to try and turn the challenges into a narrative. Only the opening and closing posts for now as it doesn't come too easily and I've no idea where it's going to go but I hope it's not too boring a read and I can keep it going :-) I have a battle log here and a character here. I'm also considering doing the old leveling/stats system or grading too - any advice on that? Thanks for reading, good luck everyone! -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Arangast's First Challenge: Recover From The Long Sleep 1. Undo the years of being hunched up the cave, learn to stand tall once again [Improve my posture] To start just focus on sitting straight at the dinner table where my posture is the worst. 2. Begin to rebuild and loosen his wasted muscles [Strength training and stretching] While knee recovering, upper body workout 3x per week - KB press, push-ups and inverted rows with stationary cycling on off days. Once knee is happy, S&S 5-6x per week GTG pull-up training (almost at 1 strict neutral grip pullup) Daily stretching to improve flexibility and help with knee rehab. 3. Resist the urge to gorge on food after so many years [Stay out of the red zone] No more than two red days (going more than 100 over daily calorie limit) for the whole challenge period. Level Up Your Life: Learn to use his voice again [Engage with the community] Stop being a serial lurker and try to respond to someone else's post almost every day.

Thanks @Elastigirl and @Suzaqu! The Dr didn't see any major problems, he just thinks the old injury has been agitated and the knee has become stuck in a cycle of inflammation. I was advised to take ibuprofen and avoid any impact or load bearing exercise for two weeks to let it settle down fully, so that means holding off on S&S for a little bit which is a shame. He suggested cycling and swimming to keep the knee active and I'll try and come up with some KB & bodyweight exercises for the upper body - I'm so close to getting that neutral grip pull-up! Maybe KB press, push-ups, inverted rows and pull ups? I'll set up my challenge later on. Cheers :-)

Sorry wasn't very clear there - I meant to say my back was a bit stiff the next morning, just a sign of a good workout :-) I'm going to record myself doing all the moves this week though and will post them here and maybe the StrongFirst forums too. I've had my wife watching me with the S&S form checklist to make sure I'm not doing anything too stupid. That's cool that you're going back to S&S, I'll make sure to follow you! I'll be getting my challenge up tomorrow; I'm seeing the doctor in the morning so don't want to decide on goals until he's looked over my knee, knowing my luck he'll be ordering complete rest so I may need to come up with an upper-body routine to tide me over.

Session 10 & 11: Gradually brought full TGU's back and increased 1h Swings Session 12: 4x2h + 6x1h Swings @ 16KG in 11:18. Form still needs some work on the 1h swings and I can definitely feel them in my back the next morning. 5x TGU @ 12KG in 9:40. 12KG feeling fairly comfortable already but I can barely get the 16KG over-head so I will stick with it for a couple more weeks. Palms facing pull-up, at 90% of full range, hopefully will do a proper strict rep within the next week! I've been doing GTG style and attempting 2-3 through the day (my bar is on the kitchen door). Knee still not perfect but at least the workout doesn't seem to be agitating it now. Will try and get some goals together for the next Challenge.

After 4 days of rest I'd seen no real improvement with my knee, will be seeing the Dr next week. However, despite only doing the program for less than 3 weeks I'm completely hooked and really missed not doing it. I get a buzz that I haven't had from being active in many years and aside from the knee have felt real improvement in the rest of my body, so I decided to do some gentle practice to see what happens. Session 9: 10x10 2h Swings @ 16KG in 11:20 Big improvement in peak HR (142) and recovery from last time, wasn't expecting that! Partial TGU (to sitting so no pressure on knee) @ 8, 12, 12, 12, 12 3x5 KB press @ 8KG to make up for the partial TGU 4x 3/4 palm facing pull ups 2x5 inverted row Lots of stretching, despite doing some for 4 weeks my legs are still very tight particularly the hamstrings so I'll be doing this daily going forward. Really needed to expend some energy so did more than usual, but on the plus side my knee is feeling the best it has in a week so far today (fingers crossed).

Session 8: 8x10 2h + 2x10 1h Swings @ 16KG in 16:24 TGU @ 8, 12, 12, 12, 8 KG in 12:00 Continuing to have knee problems, not sure what's aggravating it so taking a few days off to rest and start the laborious process of trying to see an NHS Doctor. Really bummed as this is the most motivated I felt in many years :-(

Session 7: 10x10 2h Swings @ 16KG in 13:25. I tried some 1h swings at the end and wasn't too bad, so now I need to decide on getting my 2h total time down or introducing some 1h sets. TGU @ 8, 12, 12, 8, 8 KG in 9:45. 4x 3/4 pull ups with palms facing each other. First time trying these since starting S&S, couldn't do them at all before then! Knee is no longer hurting after the other night but is popping and cracking a lot, hopefully will settle down again soon so I can start doing a little bit of running.

Session 6: Having more knee problems so have replaced Goblet Squats with some old exercises from my physio for a while. 10x10 2h Swings @ 16KG. Feeling comfortable with these now but my recovery between sets is slower than I'd like. HR peaks at about 150 (start of zone 4) and takes a while to get back down to 125 (which allows the next set to peak at 150 again). TGU @ 8, 12, 12, 8, 8 KG. Total time: 34 minutes. Introduced more stretches and some Myofascial release with a Tennis ball - that really hurts!