Sawen

Good that you are staying strong and noticing that you are feeling better. Now you have lost all the inital water weight it will be harder to shift as much in a short space of time. I like to see that your fella is helping you and also gone primal, it makes it so much easier with the support of the people around you

Hey, sorry I have been quiet for a few days, I have been insanely busy with work and doing the christmas family rounds which has left little time for anything else. Challenge is going OK but with everything on at the moment I am finding it hard to find time to go to the gym on top of all the usual fitness classes. I am still on target for one lifting session a week but my aims of fitting in a few more are slowly going out the window. Caffine goal is going well (despite my grandparents trying to force feed me tea) but as yet I am afraid to say there has been no improvement on either the running or lifting ones. Did really well at bootcamp last week however and came in 3rd on the boot run (essentially 1k muddy run around the gym grounds carrying a log) and 1st out of all the girls which I was pleased with. I am rapidly realising that my main goal of fat reduction is not going to happen without a change in diet. It would be silly to implement this side of christmass however so I will save that for the next challenge. Anyway back to work and I will try to catch up with all of my threads as soon as I can.

You would need to step it up a lot to reach that level as its the Italian sabre team who won bronze at the last Olympics Its still cool to watch and fun to try though. If you have been fencing for 8 years you know as well as I do that footwork is the key. I dont have a set routine I just make it up for 10 mins while making sure I throw in a bit of everything and changes in tempo. It sounds like you have a good plan for the holidays, I only hope I can stay as focused as you I'm quite excited to find another fencer as well. I'm focusing more on general fitness at the moment but it is good to have someone who knows the sport, and sound ideas off of.

Yay another fencer! It seems we also follow similar ways of training (although I don't hit the practice dummy for quite so long). Keep up the good work with the foam rolling and the gym workouts. I see you are doing lots of box jumps and squat jumps which are really good for developing the fast twitch muscles you need for speedy footwork. Outside of normal fenicng training I always try to do about 10 minutes of footwork after every gym session before I streach, I know its not long but every little helps. Doing 20 squat lunges in a row however burns! Something to aim for perhaps...... Good luck with the training over the hollidays

PS. Finally figured ot how to work the signature thing

Keep up the good work, you are doing so well!

Right it has been 2 weeks since I started this challenge so I thought I would give an update: My overall goal was to loose body fat but I think that will take more than one challenge to get it to the levels I want and will require some dietry changes (and a pair of calipers to measure my actual body fat). In the mean time my individual goals are going well, I am only a minute shy of my running goal and due to the discovery of pepermint tea have already cut my caffene down to one cup of coffee a day (although it was hard to begin with). I have so far done a total of 3 lifting sessions added into my new gym workouts. I have learnt squats, deadlifts, bent over rows, bicep curls and bench press. I have yet to graduate to the proper racks which would allow me to lift heavier but I gain a bit more confidence every time I go. I aim to be squating (at the least) on the racks by the end of the challenge. By changing my usual gym routine to include the running and lifting elements has given my workouts the lift they needed and I find I can get the same level of workout I used to in much less time. The change has also stopped it from getting boring and I am trying to make sure I never do the same workout 2 sessions in a row. My life quest took a bit of a hit but some rebudgeting means I can still enjoy the holidays and have pretty much all of it paied off by the end of January. All in all a successfull start to the challenge but it is going to be difficult to stay focused over the festive season. I think also my goals were a little bit lite considering my already established level of fitness. Perhaps the next one I will challenge myself a bit more and have some slightly more focused goals.

That was the plan to just switch between the two depending on if I wanted to focus on more general fitness or my fencing for a challenge. You should so give it a go if only to say you have. It is quite technical however and can be tricky to pick up. Sorry I have been fairly quiet of late, I have been really busy with work and everything and havent been able to do much exercise either Oh well it is a new week and have made up for the lack of exercise and too much food by a good gym session. Lifting a little heavier than last time and actually plucked up the courage to speak to someone in the weights area. Still not on the rack yet but I am getting there. Also threw in somr rowing intervals and planks for good measure. Tomorrow is circuits and dancing, which is allways a good day Hopefully I will have time then to catch up on a couple of other threads on this forum.

Hmm I guess I am of a human race (neither tall and skinny enough to be an elf or short and overweight like an orc.... I am distinctly average) and after much thinking i will become Ranger/monk (of the European duelling kind).. Ranger reflects the Jack of all trades style of workouts that I like to do and the Monks way of training sounds similar to what I would do for fencing. Fencing as a sport is just a martial art developed in the european middle ages rather than the more conventional style of marital arts derived from asia. Either way I think a combination of both guilds will cover all grounds of my training depending on what I want to acheive in each challenge. I didnt start the challenge till a week after everyone else so I am still a week off of level one. I will update everything later.

Thank you Kalaq for the positivty, motivation and advice. I really do love this forum. I will keep on watching the videos and when I feel confident maybe video my form and show it to the warriors like you suggested. As for the leveling up thing, I wan't to but I don't really understand it, what it means or how I level up.

Seems like you have cracked it with regards to forming a workout you cant wait to get to the gym for. Much better than boring yourself sensless on the elyptical. Also sounds like you are being sensible and lifting lighter so you can nail the move and even out any unbalence in muscles. Using the GTOH and OHTW seems like a good idea as well but one I won't be borrowing till I can nail the basic lifts. Its a shame about the cinema, finals are important but I found that sometimes going to do something like the cinema can stop you burning out during exam times. Don't let the fact she invited her friend along put you off in the future either. Once your finals are out the way, try again As always keep up the good work. I love your attitude to this challenge!

Feeling full of win today. After a very long day at work I dragged myself to the gym to make up for missing bootcamp last night. Decided to mix up my usual gym routine today and I really enjoyed it. It was weird I did less than I usually do at the gym but because of that I could push harder. After a short warm up I went to the free wieghts area. Still on the set bars and no doubt some people were cringing about a lack of form but I did 5x5 deadlifts with 30kg, bench press, bicep curls and standing rows all at 12.5 and squats with 20kg. I feel a little silly lifting such light weights next to everyone else (one guy squatted a very inpressive 270 kg!!!!, thats 4.5xme!) and I was a little frustrated that the weight on my squats is limeted by my lack of ability to lift something heavy from the floor to my shoulders. Hopefully I will be able to get to a rack on sunday which will mean I can squat heavier I then went for a run on a treadmill. My main aim for this run was to maintain it for 30 minutes without slowing down like usual. I did it and finished the 5k in 30 minutes and 54 seconds! That is a personal best for me. Getting ever closer to my goal. Finished off my workout with some planks, skipping to loosen the legs, fencing footwork practice and streaching. Followed this up with a protein packed bacon omlette with cabbage and stewed apple with honey and almonds for desert. Currently feeling extremely tired but awesome. Got a feeling my hamstrings are going to hurt tomorrow. Caffene goal keeps on going in ups and downs. Todays count = 2 cups. *goes to watch videos on lifting form*

Hey, Cheers for the advice about changing my grading for the first goal. As for the second goal I don't think I have worded it right. I mean 6 lifting sessions total over the 6 weeks not 6 in one week. The aim for that goal is more about learning and getting over my fear of 'the shiney people'. I have no real aims about building muscle mass at the moment and so just adding in the one lifting session during my normal gym session is enough for now. Maybe in a future chalenge I will up the number of sessions but at the moment I am struggling to fit in more than one around everything. Thats not because I am making excuses but due to the amount of other things that i do an average week for me is: Monday: yoga and core, Teusday: Circuits and 3 hours of dancing, Wednesday: Bootcamp, Thursday: Gym, Friday: Fencing, Saurday: Day off Sunday: Gym/swimming if i am not at a fencing competition. Hopefully in the new year I can rejig everything about a bit to make it a more sensible routine and fit in some more gym/lifting without breaking me.

Fencing is fun to learn but I am afraid I wouldn't know where to start in Alabama either.

Good work on your day 9. I really do think mixing it up is the best way. You clearly wasnt enjoying the purely areobic stance. Walking too and from the gym and then lifting while you are ther seems like a good mix of cardio and streangth and you seem to enjoy it. Forcing yourself to exercise in ways you don't enjoy is a sure way to ensure you fail. The way to build new habits is to enjoy them so they don't feel so much like a chore.

Really good work on meeting all your goals! There are all kind of tutorials on yoga online. I ended up getting an app for my mac which has loads of routines of varing levels. You can even design your own workouts. It will definaetly be a lot more gentle on you than the angry birds or the basic body weight yet still help build up your strength at the same time. Keep up the good work and make your you keep us all posted

The free weights in my gym is always busy and more often than not filled with premiership rugby players. I just found a small corner with mirrors so I couls check my form and praciced with some of the preset bars. I will keep on doing that till I get a bit more confident and know I can start lifting over 50 kg (110 lbs) when the preset ones run out, then I will go join the big people. I know 35 minutes is not to be sneered at but my goal was to get it under 30 minutes. But it has given me an idea for a gradeing system. Goal 1: A <30 minutes, B<31 minutes, C<32 minutes, D<33 minutes, E<34 minutes, F no improvement and <35 minutes Goal 2: A = 6 lifting sessions, B= 5, C=4 and so on. (reminder that this challenge is about learning not how much I can lift) Goal 3: In the final week.... A=7 cups total or less, B = 8 cups, C=9 and so on. I am already comming up with future challenges. Its only been a week and I am already hooked. On a different note, had a fencing competition today and I fenced well and did better than last year so I am a reletively happy bunny today.

Well gym was a mixed bag today. Weight - 60.9 Kg (134 lbs) warm up - 5k run on a treadmill with a 1.5% incline = 35 minutes 48 seconds. A little worried. It was more difficult than I expected and am not sure if I will be able to get it under 30 minutes in a month. Plank - 1 minute 34 seconds (this will hopefully build up over time as well) Rowing intervals - 2 minutes on, 2 minutes rest for 12 minutes. Weights - I didn't use the weights in the racks as they were all in use for various reasons. I did however overcome my fear of the freeweights section by going into it and practiced the form of squats, deadlifts and bench press with the 5x5 routine and the bars of a preset weight. Only lifting 20 Kg (45 lbs) at the moment but i didnt want to overload myself before I had learnt the basic technique. Overall it was good and fun. I look forward to a couple of different lifts next time and maybe go heavier with the squats and deadlift (I really like those ones). Streaching to cool down. Life goal has taken a bit of a hit today however due to some very expensive car repair. The phrases 'bone dry' and lucky it didnt explode' may have been used by the mechanic :S Its going to take me ages to pay it off at this rate

I may have been told that by several people. In my view, if you can motivate yourself to go when the wether is rubbish then you know you managed to push through and it will never be that hard again. You feel a great sense of accomplishment after but then again that could be a lack of oxygen. Besideds it beats staying in and doing nothing all evening. Unfortunately they are due to cancel the evening sessions soon untill march due to the low temperature insurance risks for the sports centre. Will have to see if I can get down to the occasional saturday day one instead which goes on through the winter. Will let everyone know how the lifting session goes and next week post a full weekly update

Keep up the good work and if your fever is preventing you from working out then just focus on the other two goals untill its gone down. Also I think you are forgiven for not going out for a walk if there is a tornado outside. You tried yoga? It might be a bit easier on your aching bones than strength training and it will still improve your streangth. I love your down but not out attitude! Also well done on the life quest progress, that is really great

Thats what we are here for I started my first challenge a few days ago and super excited about my first ever lifting session tomorrow. I'm aching to see what my lift stats are. MMMM massages are painfull but in a good way because you know your muscles are going to feel 'stoned' and extra supple afterward (if you ignore the feeling of being run over by a steam roller the next day). Last but not least I like my marshmallows set on fire, Blow out the flames, eat the crunchy outer bit then repeat.

Hey, Fantastic goal and some great sub goals. Just remeber that if you slip one day it doesnt mean you have failed, just brush it off and tomorrow is a new day. Good work with loosing 40 lbs. It doesnt matter how long it took you to get it off as the steadier the weight loss the easier it is to maintain, especiall if you do acheive ou quest and develop new healthy habits. Good Luck!

There is a Zombie run app?! must go buy now Keep up the good work. I always throw in some rowing into my gym workouts for my cardio as it works a bit of everything and the resistance means if its done properly it a little bit like a repetative horizontal deadlift. If you only have 30 minutes to work out then how about some intervals to make it a little less monotonous? 5 minutes on elyptical, followed by 2 minute of a body weight exercise (i.e pushups or leg raises) next to the machine, and repeat 4 times. You change the body weight exercise each time as well to keep your body guessing.

I am really looking forward to my first lifting session tomorrow. Going at a time where the gym should be nice and quiet so I wont feel as self concious. Body weight stuff and running/rowing is what my previous workouts have been based on and like you said they can get boring. Also you begin to question if it actually doing anything when you pass the 75 rep mark as i did the other day with a core bag squat. More weight, fewer reps. Boot camp was cold and I discovered it is very hard to breathe (and hence run in mud) when it is 2C outside. Felt like my lungs were burning but I pushed through and felt the buzz and a sense of satisfaction that I actually went and didnt give up Mind over matter.

Slacking off and quitting wasn't an issue as I caught the exercise bug quite a while ago and now have a healthy sense of guilt whenever I have a day when I don't workout. My workout routine was getting stale however and was just exercising for the sake of it without any improvements. I wanted a way to focus and improve, set myself proper goals and learn some new things on the way, You are right about this giving you some sort of accountablity. If you say you are going to do something on here, there is more motivation to do iit so you don't let everyone else who is working hard down. Fencing wise I am a bit of a Jack of all trades, I am a competative epeeist (on the UK circuit), but do quite a bit of sabre as well for fun and then if i am needed to fill a team (or to prove a point) I have been known to pick uo a foil from time to time. Who know maybe the jack of all trades fencing will help make me some sort of Ranger assasin once I join a guild.