Juni0r83

Sounds like a “we aren’t getting along with Robert Wilks anymore, so we can’t admit that he may have been right in the past either” i may may be a little jaded, and I was kind of neutral about the IPF v Robert Wilks thing, until the IPF started telling the USAPL to do less drug testing. I know it’s more nuanced than that, but I’m just struggling to find things about the IPF board of directors to actually get behind these days. Further separating yourselves from the rest of the powerlifting community by making your records harder and harder to compare (starting with a change in weight classes, increasingly differing equipment standards, and now a change in comparative strength formula) does little to improve inter-organizational cooperation. And the powerlifting community being as small as it is, we can’t really afford to be as disparate as we’ve become.

Can support vicious. Great book. She’s actually just released a follow up that I’ve been meaning to grab. also, check out her shades of magic trilogy. The first was clearly the best, and apart from the obvious finale setup, number 2 was great too. But the third I probably could have lived without except for the great end and closing of the loop she gave the series. hank green’s debut novel: an absolutely remarkable thing, is great. also, although it’s a slow read, the Farseer chronicles by robin hobb, but you can stop there, you’ll also have to read the live ship traders and the tawny man series. They are all a single connected story, well worth the read. I haven’t read the other series she’s tacked on since I read tawny man series, but not for lack of desire, only a lack of time.

I can't do one, but it's not for lacking in training my back. It's generally from being a big fat guy...

So it occurred to me that I started filling out my lifts while I was in the gym yesterday, and then when the wheels fell off I failed to finish filling in the spreadsheet. To anyone who’s checked it and seen half of my attempts, I apologize, it is all now fully updated. On to the virtual comp. weigh in went about as I expected, but better than it’s been previously. At 135kg, I’m officially lighter than when I actually competed a couple of years ago, which is new. the lifts weren’t so good. Squat. Warm ups felt great, and first attempt was 207.5kg. Easy weight. Second attempt was 220kg and felt like a tonne of bricks. Third attempt was 230kg and I was really happy when I bounced out of the hole and cruised through my usual sticking point. previous max was 240kg, so even though i still feel like I’m rebuilding, I’m at least most of the way there now. Bench. Everything felt smooth and easy during the warmups. First attempt was 145kg, and it came off the chest and came to a near complete stop but eventually I locked it out. It was at this point that I realized I’d planned my attempts going for a PR at 160kg. Caught myself and made the jump to my actual third attempt goal of 155kg. Didn’t go up. Moving on, nothing to see here. Previous max was 157.5kg. I might have had 150 if I’d planned my attempts better. Silly me. Deadlift. warmups felt good, I didn’t use my belt or chalk until later than I normally do, and everything was moving easier than expected. first attempt at 207.5kg came off the floor nice and smooth. Second attempt at 220kg was a true max out, legs wobbling, back shaking, the whole bit. I really wanted to give it away about half way up but i stuck with it and managed to get my hips through in the end. There was no third attempt. Previous max was 235kg so I’ve lost more here than in the other two, and I’m going to have to start working on some imbalances that are becoming quite obvious as time goes by if I want to keep getting stronger. Final total of 595kg, wilks of 334. Let the rebuild continue.

I tend to eat dinner when I get to work (I start at 1830), have lunch around 0100 or 0200. Then I generally just go to sleep at around 0800. But I'm into intermittent fasting anyway, so this tends to work well for me.

I’m in, but I’m not expecting big thing, still coming back from the months I took off around the baby’s birth. Damn the kid is 8 months in 3 days, I’m not sure I can keep using that excuse for too much longer...

In regard to a calendar system: It works, if you tend to book a lot of things into fixed time blocks. I don't. I'm hoping this improves as I get better at scheduling my time from day to day. In regard to a morning routine: Getting out of bed is hard in the winter time You really do need to be looking forward to something every morning to help get you moving in a timely fashion. As I lost interest in the podcast I was listening to, I lost interest in getting moving early It doesn't work if you don't have an evening routine designed to set you up for an easy access morning routine In regard to an evening routine: This is more important to improving personal organisation than I thought I need to have an alarm that tells me: now, do it now, and go to bed. Without that, it only tends to happen sometime In regard to writing a schedule the night before: It helps if it's somewhere I can see it and refer to it constantly It helps if my wife is equally committed to the schedule. Halfway through my two weeks off we got into an argument because she wasn't happy with the way it was being done. So I got her to write the schedule. It didn't change all that much from the way I planned it, but suddenly she understood why it was the way it was and worked along side me to help us both be more organised and get more stuff done. Additionally, the days I tried to operate without a schedule were by far the worst in my personal performance. The schedule is important In regard to scheduling 2 hours for project work each day: I've found while it is important to schedule these time blocks to ensure I have time to complete tasks, if you aren't really focused on what it is you want to achieve by a certain deadline, the time tends to be wasted. I have to get better at knowing what it is I need to work on so that I can focus myself properly, and actually select a project each day so that I don't sit down and waste half my time thinking "what do I want to work on today?" In regard to getting my shit together: Set up a Google calendar to manage my appointments and fixed time bookings Check out fantastical to manage my Google calendar effectively from my iPhone and iPad I did these two too late to have any real impact on my life just yet, so, verdict pending Start keeping a running to-do list with due dates Check out todoist as an option for managing your to-do list I've been good with the to-do list, but no so good with the due dates Ultimately I need to get better at checking this when deciding what it is I need to be do when writing my schedule for the next day Start keeping notes better organised to capture ideas and projects you want to work on Check out Evernote as an option for managing your ideas capture This has completely changed the way I write notes Needless to say I've been using this pretty consistently, and the addition of notebooks allows me to sort, organise and find what it is I'm looking for quickly and easily. This was a good decision. Clear my inboxes so that they can become incoming traffic only instead of store houses of years and years of messages and information that is no longer relevant to my life Nothing has felt better to my peace of mind than this step. Absolutely awesome. Reset Habitica and become familiar with the web based system instead of just the app I've done this, but I'm not so sure it's helping, maybe more just allowed me start tracking goals consistently. It doesn't help that things that should be dailies have become habits because I don't have time to do them when I'm working. Would probably be better for someone who didn't work 12 hour shifts. Setup a workspace so when I want to work on a project I have a place to do it This is the goal I've failed at. I'm working on it, but it's slow going. Some decisions have been made however, and hopefully progress will improve rapidly from here. Pick a bed time and wake up time Check out Math alarm as an option to help me wake up Math alarm has worked on all but 2 days so far. Even when I've rolled back over and decided I didn't want to get up, by brain has become active, and I end up getting up within 15 minutes anyway. Getting to bed on time has been the biggest part of the struggle here. If I'm not to bed on time, I probably wont get up on time. Final thoughts on getting my shit together: The most amazing part of this process is that it seemed to snowball. As I got myself more organised to utilise my free time more effectively, my wife started to do the same. And once the two of us were moving, we more often than not got additional things done each day. I've also become more motivated to work on projects rather than just stop and watch tv, which was probably the best side affect of this process. But I still need to get better at some things, and I'm thinking there is more stuff that needs to go on that to-do list in order to continue to improve my life.

Week 4: Monday Track calories: 2438. I'm surprised, It was my wife's birthday, and much cake was eaten... 19/36 points earned. Do cardio: No 12/16 Get My shit together: I did setup a Google calendar and have a look at a few calendar management apps. Found one I'm happy with, started using it. Now I just have to link my calendar with my wifes, and then as life gets more complicated, we'll continue to add layers. 10/11 Do My Morning Routine: 12/19 Do My Evening Routine: 12/19 Schedule 2 hours for project work: 13/19 Tuesday Track calories: 1942 20/36 Do cardio: Yes 14/16 Get My shit together 10/11 Do My Morning Routine: 13/19 Do My Evening Routine: 12/19 Schedule 2 hours for project work: 14/19 Wednesday Track calories 2375 21/36 Do cardio: No 14/16 Get My shit together 10/11 Do Morning Routine: 13/19 Do My Evening Routine: 13/19 Schedule 2 hours for project work: 15/19 Thursday Track calories: 3104 21/36 Do cardio No 14/16 Get My shit together 10/11 Do Morning Routine: 13/19 Do My Evening Routine: 14/19 Schedule 2 hours for project work: 16/19 Friday Track calories: 2482 22/36 Do cardio Yes 16/16 Get My shit together 10/11 Do Morning Routine: 14/19 Do My Evening Routine: 15/19 Schedule 2 hours for project work: 17/19 Saturday Track calories: 1883 23/36 Do cardio Yes 16/16 Get My shit together 10/11 Do Morning Routine: 15/19 Do My Evening Routine: 16/19 Schedule 2 hours for project work: 18/19 Sunday Track calories: 3572 Weekly average 2542 25/36 Do cardio No 16/16 Get My shit together 10/11 Do Morning Routine: 16/19 Do My Evening Routine: 16/19 Schedule 2 hours for project work: 18/19 Total Points for the challenge: 101/120, 84%. Solid B. Considering how big a life change this challenge was for me, and how big of a shift in focus, I'm happy with that. A bit work still to go to get myself into a position where I would call myself organised, but there has been definite improvement in how I run my life. Some thoughts to follow...

Was going to write an update, but given that we're just a day away from the end of the challenge, decided against it. I'll just update the entire last week at the end. Still ticking along though.

I’ll crush two out of three of the things on my list. The last one, creating a workspace for myself, that’s a rather significant job. So, work to be done...

So, personally, I haven't actually used GreySkull LP. But I can't say as many people who've used it have much bad to say about it. If it fits what you're looking for, give it a go, and see how things pan out. If it turns out you're not getting what you need from it, then give something else a go. That being said, progress is not linear. Each kilo you add to your lifts will take longer and longer to achieve. So if you feel like a program just isn't increasing your strength fast enough for you, it might be your expectations that need an adjustment, not your program. Additionally, I remember at the end of my time on SL, I was taking around 2.5 hours per workout to get through all my sets. 5 sets of 5 at close to maximal effort will do that to you though.

Week 3 Day 5 Track Calories: 2214 calories. 14/36 Do Cardio: I did it, no points 12/16 Get My Shit Together: Set up a Google calendar to manage my appointments and fixed time bookings Check out fantastical to manage my Google calendar effectively from my iPhone and iPad Start keeping a running to-do list with due dates Check out todoist as an option for managing your to-do list Start keeping notes better organised to capture ideas and projects you want to work on Check out Evernote as an option for managing your ideas capture Clear my inboxes so that they can become incoming traffic only instead of store houses of years and years of messages and information that is no longer relevant to my life Reset Habitica and become familiar with the web based system instead of just the app Setup a workspace so when I want to work on a project I have a place to do it Pick a bed time and wake up time Check out Math alarm as an option to help me wake up Clearing my inboxes wasn't nearly as easy a process as I was expecting. Several hours of just selecting and moving page after page of emails that contain information I still need but don't require action later, and I have nothing but clean inboxes. And I must admit, it was worth it. Having an empty inbox has got to be one of the most cathartic things in my world right now. It honestly feels like a little knot of stress that I didn't even realise I was carrying around has suddenly untangled in my brain. 8/11 Morning Routine: 10/19 Evening Routine: 10/19 Schedule 2 hours for project work: 10/19 I've been keeping up with my morning stuff, and getting work done every day which is always comforting 64/120 points earned for this challenge so far. Week 3 Day 6 Track Calories: 2107. Another point down 15/36 Do Cardio: Went for another walk. Another day without points... 12/16 Get My Shit Together: Nothing to add for today. 8/11 Do My Morning Routine: 11/19 Do My Evening Routine: 11/19 Schedule 2 hours for project work: 11/19 68/120 points earned so far Week 3 Day 7 Track Calories: 2483 calories. Another point down. Weekly average calories were 2481, so another 2 bonus points earned. 18/36 points earned. Do Cardio: No. Sunday was crazy enough without me trying to fit a walk into the mix as well... 12/16 Get My Shit Together: No, I did nothing on this day, because from 8:30 till 16:30 I was on my feet running first aid competitions for St John Cadets from two cities to decide who goes to state competitions in a couple of months time. This has been the focus of my project work for the last 2 weeks probably. And it's finally done, and I can relax and maybe start doing other stuff for a change. 8/11 Do My Morning Routine: 11/19 Do My Evening Routine: 12/19 Schedule 2 hours for project work: 12/19 I'm counting the project work because I spent all day working. But not my morning routine because I kind of just got up and got to work. 73/120 points earned so far this challenge. I just want to say thankyou as well to @Taddea Zhaan, @JustCallMeAmber And @CourtnieMarie for your encouragement and gentle reminders that I still have this challenge happening. It has been really appreciated.

I don't tend to forget them so much as I just start to neglect them (kind of like my to-do list) and then become so overwhelmed with guilt that I stop updating here, and things just tend to start falling into a dark hole and I never get anywhere... You at least keep doing stuff, even if it wasn't what you originally planned. Side note, I did a thing yesterday, so I have actual stuff to update when I get around to it later today.

Week 2 Day 7 Track Calories: 2213 calories. 1 Point earned Weekly Average: 2288 calories. 2 Bonus points earned. Woohoo. 11/36 Do Cardio: Last Shift. This will start happening tomorrow 8/16 Get My Shit Together: Can't wait to not be working for a few weeks. 7/11 Morning Routine: 5/19 Evening Routine: 5/19 Schedule 2 hours for project work: 5/19 41/120 points earned so far. Week 3 Day 1 Track Calories: 2984 calories. What the hell. I remember missing my target on Monday, I don't remember it being that damn high. 11/36 Do Cardio: First Day off, no cardio. 8/16 Get My Shit Together: No new tasks completed 7/11 Morning Routine: 6/19 Evening Routine: 6/19 Schedule 2 hours for project work: 6/19 44/120 points earned so far. Week 3 Day 2 Track Calories: 2387 calories. Another solid day. 12/36 Do Cardio: 30 minutes of walking successfully completed 10/16 Get My Shit Together: I still haven't managed to get anything done here. 7/11 Morning Routine: 7/19 Evening Routine: 7/19 Schedule 2 hours for project work: 7/19 50/120 pointes earned so far. Week 3 Day 3 Track Calories: 2451 calories. Another point earned. 13/36 Do Cardio: Another good day of walking listening to podcasts. This is the last time I can claim points for this one this week... 12/16 Get My Shit Together: I really have no more excuses. But seriously, no progress... 7/11 Morning Routine: 8/19 Evening Routine: 8/19 Schedule 2 hours for project work: 8/19 - I'm actually wondering if I should start tracking how many times I actually do the work instead of just scheduling for it... 56/120 pointes earned so far. Week 3 Day 4 Track Calories: 2739 calories. It was takeaway day, what do you want me to say? 13/36 Do Cardio: I did it, but, no points none the less. 12/16 Get My Shit Together: Set up a Google calendar to manage my appointments and fixed time bookings Check out fantastical to manage my Google calendar effectively from my iPhone and iPad Start keeping a running to-do list with due dates Check out todoist as an option for managing your to-do list Start keeping notes better organised to capture ideas and projects you want to work on Check out Evernote as an option for managing your ideas capture Clear my inboxes so that they can become incoming traffic only instead of store houses of years and years of messages and information that is no longer relevant to my life Reset Habitica and become familiar with the web based system instead of just the app Setup a workspace so when I want to work on a project I have a place to do it Pick a bed time and wake up time Check out Math alarm as an option to help me wake up There are a couple of easy ones I should probably try and check off this week. We'll see... 7/11 Morning Routine: 9/19 Evening Routine: 9/19 Schedule 2 hours for project work: 9/19 - This day did not go to plan, I slept in because I didn't get to bed until late. Although I got through everything, I had to completed rearrange everything. I wasn't overly happy about it, but I then went and made the same mistake again. Stupid late nights ruining my morning routine... 59/120 points earned for this challenge so far. So close to the half way mark. 50% is a pass right? Really trying to push for at least a pass mark here.

Sorry, overslept, for nearly a week.... Update Pending....