Deveney

I've been working from wall planks to wall stands, getting closer to the wall every time I can, making sure I can hold each stand for 60 seconds before moving closer. My biggest issue was bailing without being afraid of collapsing while trying it. But accomplishing it wasn't complicated; I just needed to give myself enough space to dismount (and having a mat in front of me didn't hurt, either). It was definitely a process of working up to it, and then just doing it without fear.

I've been working steadily on my handstand for the last 5 or so weeks (mostly consecutive days but I missed a few here and there). I'd got to the point where I could hold a 60-second wall stand about 6 inches from the wall, but I pretty much plateaued. I didn't realize it was because I was afraid of falling over. Not until today, when I held a 60-second wall stand THREE inches from the wall, and pirouette bailed perfectly on the landing! Then just to prove to myself it wasn't a fluke, I got up there and did the bail again! (This is why I choose odd hours to go to the gym, so I can do my victory dance in peace. Because yeah, I was victory dancing in there!)

It's been a long time since I posted on the forum. This August I got access to a gym for the first time ever -- and not only that, but I also found someone who was willing to show me my way around. And so my foray into weightlifting began. Today I was going to attempt squatting 155lbs., and I'll admit, I was scared. I felt like I had trouble squatting 150 last time, and I thought I would tank before finishing my sets at 155. That squat rack was intimidating as hell. But I did it! I finished my sets at 155, and I walked away from that squat rack feeling like a champion. 155 ain't got nothing on me!

Hello everyone! Thank you for the encouraging words. I realize that I haven't been updating nearly often enough, so here's a (late) update. (Only the second week, too; way to go, Dev.) Summer is coming. I hate summer. No really; the hot weather just gets me down (I'm an Arctic penguin) and my schedule fairly explodes when the calendar hits April. I've taken on a new job and I'm trying to find a car, and for me, "spring cleaning" means frantically-trying-to-shift-gears-from-winter-to-summer-farm-life-in-a-matter-of-weeks-which-isn't-fun-and-frequently-ends-up-with-me-body-wrestling-a-stubborn-animal-or-two. I have quite terrifying deadlines rapidly approaching (including my Tae Kwon Do belt test!). I'm trying new things and taking on new responsibilities this summer. I feel like I might just have overextended myself a bit, but I'm determined to keep my head above the water. Anyhow, all this is to say that my challenge is suffering. My original plan was to exercise four days a week and get to 10 pullups by the end of the challenge; now, I'd consider myself successful is I even increased by two (or did a perfect chin up, which is still challenging). So, to sum up: New Goals: Make a note every time I eat something processed or sugary and cut back as much as I can. (Unfortunately, my sister is taking a cake decorating course and will be supplying the family with dozens of delicious "test cakes", but I'm doing my best!) Get enough sleep and drink plenty of water Keep up with my real-life commitments Exercise when I can -- short, five-minute workouts and things I can do at a moment's notice (like grabbing and heaving myself up a pullup bar as I walk by) This is turning out to be a Life Quest Challenge for me, I think. My updates will probably include less exercise-focused reports and more general-life reports, featuring exciting tidbits like how I accomplished something awesome, fulfilled an expectation, or did something that's been sitting on my "to-do" list forever. For example, yesterday I surveyed and repaired the fence around one of our goat pastures, which has been suffering for attention since the snow melted. That's one thing down! Just striving! I'm a Midrealmer. Which kingdom are you from?

....to participate in this Quest with Commitment, Faithfullness, and Whole-hearted Enjoyment, and to conduct my Life in a Similar Fashion, so that I may be an Asset to Myself and my Family. This do I Swear in the Sight of my Assassin Brethren, whose Number I Gladly Join. Main Quest: My Quest this challenge is simple: get from 1 measly pullup (thank you, previous challenge!) to 10. Or thereabouts. Quest Goals: Exercise four times a week, with steady progression every week Make note of every time I eat something processed or sugary Get enough sleep and drink plenty of water Life Quest: Keep up with all my commitments. I will divide my day into segments and make note of how much time I waste doing needless things, so I spend more time and energy on things I need to get done. Motivation: Watching The Walking Dead has made me realize that parkour would be a really useful skill in a lot of situations. Gotta watch out for them apocalypses, man. Plus there's that whole Knight-of-the-SCA thing. This is me, doing my best to make that a reality. Armed combat!

Absolutely! I was midway through the second one when it finally hit me, "I'm actually doing this, aren't I?"

Hurray! I just accomplished my first ever two pullups yesterday, so I know how awesome that feels. Great job!

Alert, alert, alert -- Deveney's 1st Quest Goal has been reached.

Big news, guys. Big, big news. I did it. I repeat, I successfully completed 1 pullup, unassisted, this morning. My goal has been reached. *busts into a jig* A few more details on what happened: Every morning I walk past my pullup bar (actually installed a few years ago for my brother, waaaay above my head level, so a bit of an effort for me to reach). Every morning I jump up, grab it, and attempt to haul myself up, no matter what my workout for that day will be. I can normally get no higher than 3/4 of the way up before my arms give out and I drop like a cooked potato. Not today. Today I jumped, grabbed, pulled...and made it up past my chin. Then I dropped down and did it again. By the third pullup (which I only did 3/4 of the way, my cooked potato arms giving out again), I was so full of elation and total shock that I could hardly realize what just happened. Not just one pullup, but two. Not just two, but nearly three. And it's only the beginning of week six! Holy smoke, I think I might just go cry in a corner now.

Hi guys! This is how I've been doing so far -- not so well as I would like, but not so bad that progress isn't being made.

Time for another semi-weekly update: Week 4 went well, with my increased bodyweight routine of 4 circuits. I also increased the amount of weight I'm doing dumbbell rows with from 25lbs to 35. Week 5 so far has been off to a good start. On Monday I increased my 4-circuit bodyweight routine from 20 reps each to 25 -- 25 squats, 20 pushups (still all I can manage), 26 lunges (13 each leg), 30-second plank, and 25 jumping jacks. I began doing assisted pullups in addition to inverted rows and dumbbell rows. On the pullup bar (which I walk past at least twice a day and subsequently try to pull myself up on it) I can get about halfway up before my arms give out. Slow and steady!

I know I've been terrible about updating on my progress, but if you guys want to check out my battle log, it's right here. Thanks for the support I've received so far! You guys are the best. I've begun to consider the truth of this, Nuala. They're a lot harder than I thought they would be. My goal is still 10 pullups by the end of the challenge, but I won't consider myself a failure if I only get 1 done. Ha! We'll see where that goes.

Well, I regret to say that week 3 was a fail. I worked out a total of one time (to be fair, I was really busy for that week and often couldn't find time for a workout, but I feel like I should have been able to make time if I'd set my mind to it). Week 2 went a lot better. For the bodyweight routine I'm doing on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays, I increased total reps of everything from 20 to 30. 30 squats, 30 lunges, 30-second planks, 30 jumping jacks. The only thing I still had trouble with were the pushups, which I increased from 10 to 15. On Tuesdays, Thursdays and Saturdays, I'm slowly working my way up to a pullup. My original goal was 10 pullups at the end of six weeks, but I'm beginning to see that that might be a little unrealistic. I'm still shooting for ten (aim high, right?), but I'll be happy to do any number from 1 to 5 if that's all I end up accomplishing. I'm still doing dumbbell rows with 25lbs., and working my way up to completing 3 sets of 8 reps of inverted rows without my arms shaking. Week 4 is so far getting off to a good start, after the flop of week 3. (Jason Bourne is hanging his head in shame.) So far I've increased my bodyweight routine from 3 circuits of 30 reps of each exercise to 4 circuits of 20 -- 20 squats, 20 lunges, and 20 jumping jacks, although I'm still doing 30 second planks for each circuit (win!). In other exciting news, I'm now doing 20 pushups each circuit -- a bit shallow, but solid form, and that's twice as many as I used to be able to do just two weeks ago!

Yes, I wish I was Jason Bourne. Minus all the near-death experiences and the fact that his loved ones all die, of course. My very first 6-week challenge started on February 24th. My quest thread is here -- it lists my main quest, the goals I'm taking to get there, my life quest, and my motivation. Suffice it to say that I intend to improve to the point where I could plausibly play the role of a female Jason Bourne should the occasion ever arise. I'll update my progress weekly; details of every day to follow! Monday, Feb. 24: Beginner's Bodyweight workout -- slightly augmented. I discovered I can do way more jumping jacks (2-count!) then were recommended, but the pushups about killed me. I'm slowly increasing the reps with the squats and lunges, as well as how long I'm holding the plank. Soon I hope to add another complete circuit instead of more reps. I can finish the whole thing in about half an hour, including the warmup and stretching. Tuesday, Feb. 25: Today is a workout of my own invention, following the NF article about how to do a pull up. It looks sort of like this: - Dumbbell rows (3 sets of 8 reps with 25lbs. in a library bookbag, because that's how I roll) - 10 pushups (again, murder) - Bodyweight rows (3 sets of 8, though I start giving out at around 5 reps so it's more like 4 sets of 5-8, so I can focus on form) - 10 more pushups When I can do 3 sets of 8 inverted rows without my arms turning into noodles halfway through, I'll move up to assisted pullups. Again, the whole thing took about half an hour. My Tae Kwon Do class was tonight and we practiced tumbles (or rolls), which sadly I need to improve. I'll never be Jason Bourne if I break my neck failing a tumble after landing. Life Quest: I tried to play my violin but the A peg is too loose. It needs sanding, but I've never done that before ad I don't want to break the poor instrument. I played piano instead. (I say played. I mean "stared at the keys for 30 minutes in rising frustration at my inability to grasp the left-hand part of the piece, while endlessly playing the right-hand part with a zombie-like air." All in a day's practice.) Other: Supernatural was on tonight! Hurray! Wednesday, Feb. 26: Bodyweight workout, same as Monday. I got to it early today, which left a good amount of time for other things, like the dusting that needed to be done a week ago. Whoops. Other: Unfortunately, my goal to eat less sweets is being slowly crippled by my discovery of mug cakes. Mug cakes! I love them! Mostly it's the novelty of eating things out of mugs, particularly things that can be whipped up and eaten in under 5 minutes. It's like magic. Sadly, most of the recipes online are ones for sweet mug confections rather than savory (or even breakfast-y), so my sweet tooth is clamoring for attention. Maybe I can come up with a recipe for a decent mug-thing that doesn't include tons of sugar that I can eat at lunch. Thursday, Feb. 27: Pull up practice, same as Tuesday. I find that this is my favorite workout, even though my arms feel like limp noodles afterward. Friday, Feb. 28: Bodyweight workout. Mug cakes are seriously going to be my downfall. Saturday, March 1: Today was a bit of a fail since I never got around to my workout. There's that "motivation vs. discipline" thing -- if I'm gonna be Jason Bourne, not getting around to something isn't an option. Sunday, March 2: Luckily I made up for yesterday's missed workout today. The snow was coming down too hard to drive to church, which was good thing since there were other things I needed to do today besides my pull up practice (same as Tuesday's and Thursday's). In celebration of the weekend, I'm going to binge-watch old seasons of TV shows I'm catching up on. All in all, I think I did fairly well for my first week. I definitely need to be careful around my sweet tooth, and I didn't get to my music nearly as much as I wanted to, but I kept up with all my workouts (and didn't injure myself either!). Sticking to my new daily schedule I feel I'm accomplishing a lot more during the day, being a lot more productive and less of a bump on a log. I can't wait to see where the next part of my 6-week challenge takes me.

Psh, if everyone thought their goals weren't "hardcore" enough, we'd never get anywhere! Hardcore is totally relative. Your goals sound awesome!