Kishi

Yeah, but it's only twice a week. The RSG guide BW workouts have push to fail for every set for every exercise.

I see. Well, it's up to you. It's just the first time I've heard of pushing to failure on bodyweight stuff as a good call. Still, it just has to work, and as long as it gets you where you wanna go, you'll probably do just fine. I look forward to you doing well!

+1 to that. Also, CS Lewis quote for the win!

Well, after a day's worth of resting and being peskily encouraging, it's time for another edition of 'Kishi Hurts Himself!' I mean, Never Gymless!

Day 11: Integrated Circuit Training

The goal of these ICT drills is to basically help the athlete in question raise his work capacity higher.

So I decided to play cards.

...

No, really. It's a cool game I like to call "Never Gymless Pick Up." Here's how it works:

Take a deck of cards. Remove the jokers. Shuffle the deck. Place the deck face down. Draw a card.

If that card is red, you do burpees. If the card is black, you do pushups.

Face cards are worth 10, aces are worth 11.

The name of the game is to get through as many cards as you can in half an hour.

Isn't this a fun game.

Anyway, I wish I could say to you guys that I made it through the whole deck. But I didn't. I only got through 18 cards or so in the half hour I had to work with. Final totals: 87 burpees, 48 pushups. Not spectacular. But better than nothing. Also, new life goal: get better at shuffling cards.

Part 2: Pullup Clinic

Did a rep test for this one. Prior rep test had me at 8 reps before burnout. Current test had me at 11. LEVEL UP.

Notes

So, I was originally planning to just stay in the park all afternoon and just burn through the cards. It would have taken a while out there in the heat, but I think I could have done it. I chose to cut off after a half an hour, though, because I'm trying to collect payment for a freelance assignment. I wanted to get back and make sure that the payment was coming, and to get back to work if it was in.

Turns out, no, it wasn't. Means the money goal just got trickier.

The fasting helps, though. I'll be breaking it in an hour and half or so, and it's made stretching the last money I've got easier. Sustainable practices FTW!

But, enough about that. There's some interesting quirks coming up tomorrow, and I can't wait to share them with you guys. See you then!

Team Name: Team Sticky Koalas

Motto: 'Cuz We're Better Than Them! AND WE KNOW IT!

...?

Sounds like a student's life to me. Honestly, it's impressive that you're meeting your goals for the past few days despite the obstacles that being a student could put in front of you, so. Kudos!

Yeah. It sounds almost unhealthy to do that, until you realize that this here's A-mur-ka. Going sub-10% and staying there is actually a challenging thing to do. You ever need to build up again, you just go to McDonald's or something.

Cool, man. Cool.

Aw, dude. I hadn't realized that the IF protocol you're on is an every day thing. That must make the challenge a lot harder, which makes you more awesome for doing it.

Well, if it helps any, I use those powders myself, since my diet tends toward a lower amount of protein. They're quick, filling, and the price isn't too bad if you don't mind settling for a lower amount of protein. Seeing as you're getting a solid amount right now, you could probably make do with the cheaper stuff just fine.

You have leveled up! Perhaps you should find an inn to rest and meditate on what you've learned...

Close enough if you're poor enough, right?

Congee is pretty awesome, or so I've heard. Would you recommend it?

Yup. Consistency is the king. You keep paying the price, and you'll get what you pay for.

Aw, man, seems like this Challenge has a lot more aggressive participants than last time. Though, of course, it's only the beginning. Still has that 'New Challenge' smell about it.

That McMonster sounds like the king of burgers. Can such a thing be ordered?

Well, it sounds like you're on the right track. A lot of strength training that isn't bodybuilding is more about finding practical ways to move and to use the body - hence the whole compound lifts movement. You're doing it with bodyweight, which makes it awesomely functional.

That sounds intense.

Question: are you sure you want to max on your pullups all the time? It almost sounds like you're pushing for failure on each set, and it may be trickier to achieve your goals if you don't make the time to heal.

Ah, I remember seeing that shake before. It looked a little weird before... but gotta admit, it looks pretty awesome now.

Doesn't matter how small the steps are. They only have to be forward.

O.O Aw, dude. I just googled knees to elbows. That's the scary one. You weren't kidding about this beating your fears thing!

Well, yeah, man. I mean, this is the kind of community you get, where we're all trying to look out for each other and help each other meet our goals. It's a good place.

Wow! Great start to your challenge, Kishi! Hope that paycheck comes through, PDQ.

Me too. On the other hand, let's look on the bright side - I get an impromptu day off for every day he doesn't pay me. I'd rather be working, but. No sense in it if the money's not coming in.

Sounds like you did pretty damn well for "making do" I dig it!

Aw, shucks. I try.

Kishi - you rock! Love the determination to get it done regardless of circumstances! a couple things:

the ab wheel - i tried that for awhile, but like you mentioned, it killed my back - got a pinching feeling whenever i used it. i thought maybe it had to do with my lack of strength, but kind of gave up b/c it didn't seem beneficial. i'm interested to see how that progresses for you!

the savings account goal - i can totally relate. my savings is basically just the place i put the money i can't spend b/c it goes toward rent each month. i may try to follow your example and make that a focus as well!

STRENGTH SQUAD FTW!

I definitely hear you there, Mama T. I wouldn't really worry about the ab wheel as such, except that core exercises are part of my challenge. The wheel represents another area of challenge for me. Even if it didn't, good fighting technique relies on the core and hips for power, and the wheel is a time-tested way of developing it.

And the savings account would be good. $500 put away could have paid my rent this month. As it is, I'm having to lean more on my roommates to take care of it, and that's not cool. So. We'll find a way to make that happen somehow - just might not start as soon as we could have.

Awesome making due. I would be lost without my precious barbells, so go you for making the best with what's available. I'll have to get into some body weight stuff myself, and challenging sets like Power Overs get me excited to do that.

Hey, nothing wrong with barbells, man. They're awesome. If you're looking to get into explosive pushing strength, a good thing to do is to get up to doing 40 pushups. It was never clarified to me as to whether you do them in one set or spread them out, so I assumed it was one set. Once I did that, I was good to go. Are you on a particular barbell program at the moment?

All right! First official day of the challenge. Did we rock today? Did we blow it up like we thought we would?

Yes. Yes we did.

Day 9/50 - Explosive Strength

Plyometric Pushups: 4x16

Lateral Jumps: 4x16

Dips: 1x8; Bench Dips: 3x20

Knee Tucks: 4x14

Power Overs: 4x2

Explosive Step-Ups: 2x14

Ankle Hops: 2x14

Part 2: Abs

Ab Wheel: 3x2

Pullthrough: 3x15

Rotational Chop: 3x10

1-Leg Plank: 3x30s

Notes

So, today has been interesting, not just in terms of the fitness goals, but also in terms of life in general. I'm not the complaining kind, but it may get in the way of my goals.

I got ready to head off to the park where I work out at most of the time, and found a wall of clouds waiting for me. 'Pshaw!' I thought. 'Just a bunch of clouds.' Until the thunder sounded off. I ran back inside to find that there was a wall of storms coming our way.

It was a real opportunity to live a rage comic, so to speak. And I honestly considered delaying, but I'm 'Never Gymless' this challenge. So I decided to make the most of it with what I had back home.

Home ended up posing some obstacles. To begin with, one of my roommates is a student, and he needs it quiet for his studying. Actually, he probably doesn't give a rip how much noise I make, but I try to be quiet for him. Except that explosives work isn't very quiet. Not even a little bit.

On top of that, I don't have a bar to do my dips on back home. The best I can do is a bench dip off one of the chairs.

So I made do. First couple exercises go off without a hitch. Second set of exercises are way too easy because I'm using the bench versus an actual bar. So I decided to up the ante and bust out 20 dips from the bench as opposed to the eight. That was awesome.

Power Overs are a new movement that I've picked up since last challenge. And it's pretty much what it sounds like: you lay out a brick or a block or a medicine ball. One hand on it, one hand off, pushup position. One repetition has you exploding up and switching the positions of your hands. You start off on one side of the prop, and at the end of the rep you're on the other side. Rinse and repeat.

The ankle hops came in because I freaked out when my roommate got out of his room and I didn't know if he was coming down the stairs or not. So I just bounced for 14 reps on the last one and that was that.

So, that was that.

The Ab Wheel is still busting my chops pretty bad. I've decided I'm going to go ahead and start using a wall to gauge my progress out, because I can't tell right now whether or not I'm getting anywhere. I think I may have a slight form problem too - my back's bugging me like crazy, and that shouldn't be happening.

...

Let's see. Ah, yeah. Life goal. My paycheck's behind by about a week or so. The idea was to start putting away from that paycheck, but if that paycheck isn't here, it can't be done. If the delay continues, I might have to postpone starting it by a week or so.

Also, everything that's happened today happened while fasting. Fast is over in an hour.

...

Yeah. It was a big day today.

Any mud get into the shoe? Just curious.

You know, I don't really remember. Hard to conceive of it not, what with the mud getting everywhere else. My priorities were to get them off and then hop in the shower after a three-hour drive, so. Being observant didn't really occur to me.

If it helps any, I picked up a pair of vibrams specifically for the race. They run anywhere from $85-$100. They suited me just fine, and I threw them in the wash afterward with no ill effect on the shoes whatsoever. They suited me just fine through the water, the trail, and the mud at the end, probably due to minimalist design and close adherence to your feet.

It would mean a huge change in your running style, but it may be worth looking into.

The body's generally a pretty good indicator of what it needs, if you pay attention to it. Here's to the challenge!