musasabi

Kishi love is a sustaining force I'm glad to have. ;D And yeah man; I knew I was in it for the long haul when I really looked at how much computer literature I'm trying to consume. As multi-disciplinary as I am, there's nothing that'd let me plow through a textbook in six weeks. That and generally, weight programs are months in length, not one and a half.

New challenge thread, even though it's the same material. http://rebellion.nerdfitness.com/index.php?/topic/44453-second-half-of-the-first-challenge-finish-the-long-haul/

Weeks 6 - 12 These are a few things that motivate me. None of them are goals in specific and my skills with image editing are embarrassing. However, each picture represents something I can identify with and appreciate about the physical act of living. This makes them perfectly suited for display here. I am... very excited for this. This is the continuation of my first NF challenge ever, and will be the summation of much new effort as well as lessons already learned from the last six weeks. In light of continued goals, I will use much of the same formatting from my original thread. Strength The title of my first challenge (Just Finish A Program) was unfortunately unrealized in its timeframe, both six and 12 weeks. This was due to minor injury setbacks and a lack of consistent motivation. However, now, I've invested in a secret weapon. My friend Dyamond is the gentleman with incredible lats above. He is young, passionate, compassionate, and a bright star in my life as well as in the gym he works out at. I've got weights in my basement, but Dyamond's gym is only $12/month, so yesterday I took the plunge and signed up. It's not contractual and it's a price well worth the time I'll spend with him. He lifts five times a week, and I'm going to match him for at least three. Any others we fit in will be bonus XP. Previous Program Goal: 97/200 XP STR Weights with Dyamond (55/180 XP STR) 2/18:10 | 2/20:10 | 2/21:10| 2/22:10 2/25:15 | 2/27: 0 | 2/28: 0 3/4: 0 | 3/6: 0 | 3/7: 0 3/11: 0 | 3/13: 0 | 3/14: 0 3/18: 0 | 3/20: 0 | 3/21: 0 3/25: 0 | 3/27: 0 | 3/28: 0 Knowledge Here I will be continuing to read my book, Foundations of GTK+. Though I am already behind (and have been for every chapter thus far save the first) I am not worried. I feel amazing having done what I have already because I've been programming for more than 10 years and this is only the second time in that history where I've sat down and made regular progress at the self-guided acquisition of a new skill. This is huge. Foundations of GTK+ (157/427 XP INT) Chapter 1 - Getting Started - 14 pages - Completed before first Challenge Chapter 2 - Your First GTK+ Applications - 27 pages - Completed before first Challenge Chapter 3 - Container Widgets - 31 pages - Goal: 1/12 - Completed! Chapter 4 - Basic Widgets - 35 pages - Goal: 1/19 - Completed 1/23, -4XP Chapter 5 - Dialogs - 47 pages - Goal: 1/26 - Completed 2/2, -7XP Chapter 6 - Using GLib - 59 pages - Goal: 2/10 - Completed 2/14, -4XP Chapter 7 - The Text View Widget - 41 pages - Goal: 2/16 Chapter 8 - The Tree View Widget - 53 pages - Goal: 2/23 Chapter 9 - Menus and Toolbars - 39 pages - Goal: 3/2 Chapter 10 - Dynamic User Interfaces - 25 pages - Goal: 3/9 Chapter 11 - Creating Custom Widgets - 49 pages - Goal: 3/16 Chapter 12 - Additional GTK+ Widgets - 39 pages - Goal: 3/23 Chapter 13 - Putting It All Together - 9 pages - Goal: 3/30 Financial This is a zero-XP gimmie. Really, it's a tracking tool. If I just pay my bills, the number will go up. However, if I pay my bills somewhat aggressively and put fancy things like my tax refund where they're supposed to go... the number will go up faster. I'm already quite proud of an 11.3% increase of liquid assets to debt in just one month and we're on the cusp of the second measurement in a couple of weeks here. Onward with the growing self-awareness! Liquid Assets to Debt Ratio 1/1 - 0.1327 - 0.00% change - 0.00% overall 2/1 - 0.1477 - 11.3% change - 11.3% overall 3/1 - 0.1802 - 22.0% change - 35.8% overall 4/1 - 0.2158 - 19.6% change - 62.6% overall Behavioral Just a week and a half into January, I was spending way too much time on NF. Even before that, though, I was spending too much time on Wikipedia, Facebook, my budget spreadsheet, and the lot of it during work hours. So, I devised the following scheme: 8:30-9am, 11:30-noon, and 4:30-5pm are the only time periods during the day where I may do non-work related tasks. Paying the bills, researching, catching up on NF posts, the lot of it. Every day I complete that, I earn 5XP. I must email myself three tasks for the following day before I leave each night. This will earn me 3XP. I must commit at least one change to source control each day. This is how I know I've done meaningful work and not just wasted time in meetings, tending to other people's troubleshooting, and so forth. However, sometimes the aforementioned distractions are unavoidable. So, 2XP per day for that. Weekday Work Tasks (205/473 XP WIS) Wk 2 - | | 1/15: 3 | 1/16: 9 | 1/17: 5 Wk 3 - 1/20: 5 | 1/21: 2 | 1/22: 5 | 1/23: 5 | 1/24: 0 Wk 4 - 1/27:10 | 1/28:10 | 1/29: 8 | 1/30: 8 | 1/31: 8 Wk 5 - 2/03: 0 | 2/04: 5 | 2/05: 3 | 2/06:10 | 2/07:10 Wk 6 - 2/10:10 | 2/11:10 | 2/12: 8 | 2/13: 8 | 2/14: 8 Wk 7 - 2/17: 0 | 2/18:10 | 2/19:10 | 2/20: 5 | 2/21:10 Wk 8 - 2/24: 5 | 2/25: 0 | 2/26: 5 | 2/27:10 | 2/28: 0 Wk 9 - 3/03: 0 | 3/04: 0 | 3/05: 0 | 3/06: 0 | 3/07: 0 Wk10 - 3/10: 0 | 3/11: 0 | 3/12: 0 | 3/13: 0 | 3/14: 0 Wk11 - 3/17: 0 | 3/18: 0 | 3/19: 0 | 3/20: 0 | 3/21: 0 Wk12 - 3/24: 0 | 3/25: 0 | 3/26: 0 | 3/27: 0 | 3/28: 0 Bonus This time around, I'll also permit myself to gather bonus XP in the form of stretching, foam rolling, and diet. They're critical to my success and I've already begun trending toward implementing them. Plus, they'll let me address my two languishing stats before I start with a fresh set of challenge goals in a few weeks. If I spend at least an hour stretching and rolling, I'll afford myself +3XP DEX. If I eat a day's worth of generally paleo-compliant food, I'll rack up +3XP CON. Simple as that. Bonus Points (15XP DEX / 0XP CON) 2/18: +3 DEX; 2/19: +3 DEX; 2/20: +3 DEX; 2/25: +3 DEX; 2/26: +3 DEX; And there we have it. Lots to do. Lots left off the list. I want to get back into archery. I want to get back into skydiving. I want... to lead a life of meaning and fulfillment. =) And that's exactly what this is for. Now for a little motivational music:

Rock and roll sir. My gut inclination is that even with hard mechanical work with muscle, the on-site stores still won't be depleted significantly enough to merit topping off with intention. But that, I haven't read studies for, so I'm just guessing. =D Looking forward to that next thread.

Kishi - It definitely helps me fix my shit. I'm going to stick with sets of 225 for now to see if I can't safely strengthen everything and get my muscles firing correctly. I'm sure my glutes are still not doing enough work, but I know that if I train up at a weight I can rep safely, I'll be fine. =) Quirky - It's been a long~~~~ time coming! Haha. The first time I tried to deadlift was 2007! So much complexity in that freakin' movement.

It's great to hear that the unexpected didn't dampen your spirits all told. Life is supremely unpredictable, but that only enhances the learning capacity if one takes the right mindset into a situation. And clearly, you did just that for this entire challenge. Way to go. <3

Indeedy~. I second this query. =)

Subbed like nobody's business. =P

Lifted with Dyamond tonight. Oh man! We did "back", but my arms are smoked right now more than anything. Ridiculous. The workout went something like: Barbell Rows Pullups Machine Rows Pullups Seated Cable Rows Pullups Deadlift ...Pullups Lat Pull downs Rear Delt Cable Rows And some other shit. We were there for three hours again, hahaha. And sooooo many assisted pullups, zomg. But! Deadlift PR. 275. I bought a belt and holy shit it helps a ton. So, in addition to the PR, I had a great working set of five at 225 with form I'm pretty proud of. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VC9W6uEC0fU And so forth. Definitely earned that 10XP STR tonight. Whew. Oh, and recovery meal? 2,000 calories, 100g protein, 100g fat. A pizza. =P

What a wrapup. =) Huge congratulations are in order! Haha. And especially well done on that front handspring - rarely does one land a first trick cleanly! The first time is just to know you can do it again, every other time is for cleanliness. =D Also, way to go on the general feeling of it. Seriously. That's not only really motivating to read, but also really gratifying to hear. =) *high five!*

Very well done sir. You trained your ass off and were rewarded with high marks at least, but I imagine much more. =)

Sooooo jelly that lumbar flexibility. My lumbar vertebrae are stacked wrong, so I can't even aspire to that sexy posture. <3 You did quite well on this challenge, I'd say. No question. You trained your ass off, rolled with the punches, and made wise decisions. You've got the upcoming meet handled easily if you keep up like you've been. =D

Way to go man. =) Self-exploration through challenging undertakings is readily the most gratifying use of energy I know of, so I hope you feel similarly. =) Looking forward to the next one!

Way to go dude. =) You really killed it. I say this because letter grades are an extra rigorous scale to judge oneself by! Plus, ya know, life and shit, and you _still_ got a high B. Gotta say, mirin. Back to the dietary shenanigans, I don't know much about insulin's cycling throughout the day, but I'd argue this: if you've depleted your on-site fat stores, you're a monster and a half, haha. I can't imagine that they'd need topping off in any circumstance not on the level of real endurance athletics, ya know? Even less likely given that you're moderately interested in lowering your bf%. =) Even for active people, keto-insanity (because I've never tried that, but jeebus it seems hard) provides ample energy for the day's activities in my experience. It's all about that experiment of one, though. =)

Excellently done, Tearose. =) Those are admirable numbers, even if your grading scale is a little harsh. I think the Challenge grading gives me a new appreciation how strict academia is, haha!

Also I love how repetitive I get when I don't post regularly. XD

Ok, so... Holy wow work can really muck up your ability to form new habits. As you all know, I've been to and fro like a madman lately with work, and it turns out that my challenge is now half done, as everyone else's is wrapping up. Wow. Doublelengthchallenge is something else. SO. Unfortunately, at this point, I can safely say I'll not have "just finished a program" as was my original intent. I am, however, making progress on my book (though always a week behind, even after I adjusted and gave myself an extra week, roar) and I've decided lifting solo isn't quite good enough of a motivator, even knowing you all are waiting on me to tell you I did what I said I was going to do. That said, I'll be lifting with my buddy Dyamond. He's always been strong, aesthetic, and positive. He's a great motivator and his perspectives on training are perfect for my self-doubt and discouragement. So, even though I've got weights in my basement, I'll be forking out the measly $12/month his gym charges (non contractually, no less) in order to train with him three times a week. He does bodybuilding stuff, so I won't be focusing on strength as much, but I'm still noob enough that it won't matter; I'll still make gains. But yeah. Stuff. Life. Woosh! So here's to the second half of this challenge. I'm switching programs in the middle, so I won't have met the title of this challenge by the time it's done with... but I'm trading up the convenience of my basement for the loving support of my jacked friend who lifts five times a week anyway, haha. If this doesn't "solve" it, I'll be surprised.

Good choice. Solid logic. And I feel you on the internal temper tantrum, hahaha. But you've made progress all this while and now your injury needs to be recovered from. It won't stop your training and you'll be ready for the next one at 150% capacity. =)

I just laid down for a minute last night while doing some rolling on my PVC pipe... Passee out with the pipe under my back laying on the floor and wound up 30 minutes late for my workout, haha.

I love these extra points you keep racking up. Seems like the knee is dealing well, which is lovely news. =) And have fun wifh the young one! Haha.

Mmmm, core. =D!

Oh my god, we spent like three hours in the gym tonight. Hahaha. His girlfriend showed up and we just laughed and made faces under load. Let me see if I can even recall the weights. Barbell Row: 2x12@115, 2x10@135, then a jacked up "set" of eight that was probably really ten and took me three tries because form. Lat Pulldown: 12, 12, 10, 10, 8 again, and with increasing weight and intentional negative holds on the last two reps of every set Seated Cable Row: Same scheme as the lat pulldowns Seated Shoulder Press: 2x12@65, 2x10@85, 8@95 (with some help on the last reps of the last two sets) Dumbbell Front Raise/Lateral Raise: I really just did one set of each of these to failures with the longest pause I could muster at the top of each rep and holding through the negative Rear Delt Fly: 3x10 w/ 10lb dumbbells - So awkward. Tried for lots of squeeze and pause at the top, but zomg Pullup: 3x5 with a little assistance and maxmimum tension all the way through the negatives of the last reps of each set Front Squat: 10@135 - This was just for fun. I wanted him to check out front squat's various grips and I just enjoy this exercise I haven't written any code tonight, so I'm going to be two days behind when I finish it tomorrow. But no worries. I got shit done at work today and now I'm waiting on my laundry so I can pack and fly to Florida tomorrow morning. I think Dyamond (my swole friend) and I are going to start lifting at his gym regularly. It'll feel awfully silly going somewhere else to lift when I've got shit in my basement, but I push hard when I'm with him, and that'll really get me where I want to be more than what I've been doing downstairs. Oh~ life. Nuanced, thou art.

mgage - Yeah, that may yet be the case. I've hurt my lower back plenty of times in the past, though, so I'm trying to be cautious. Ahhhhh that. That that that. I bet this is going to be uncomfortable as shit when I try it next, but I'm going to try it just like that. Standing up with weight, not pulling the weight into an upright position. You stand up by pushing the floor away.

Well, knee-out splits are totally valid in that they're martial arts style splits instead of gymnastics or dance style; they just stretch different areas! There are various examples around about what a proper knee-out split looks like. If you're wondering why this particular form is chosen, you need only look at a high side, round, or hook kick and you'll notice the anatomical similarities between the two. =) So, my bias is to train both, since one looks good and one lends itself to badass kicks. ;D

Just made me think of The Dancing Dead.