Munqi

Man, I am really crummy at posting... last post being a week ago... Monday: Woke up on time (6:15) Work out went as planned after work Tuesday: Woke at 6:20 Performed my stretching and my rumble rolling Wednesday: Rain deterred my workout woke at 6:30 (falling behind) Thursday: Stretching/Rumble rolling went as planned Woke at 6:45 Friday: Woke at 7.... For the advance bodyweight workout I performed 2 of the 3 rounds (the humidity from the wednesday/thursday rain made it feel much harder...) I have to try and post more often...its kinda difficult to do that as I try to avoid the computer after work. I am getting into reading and sped more time with my family and outside. This addicition of net surfing is something I have been trying to break..however,by breaking this addicition...I make it indirectly more difficult to post. Perhaps next challenge I should make it a goal just to post and break my social networking funk...(believe it or not, I post and talk on this way more than any other social media) Anyway I'll try to post a bit more next week.

Hey Guys, Last update was Thursday so here we go. Success on the Thursday stretching session and woke on time for Friday. Two major highlights for this week were the Friday workout and Saturday event. Friday's work out was the Advance Body Weight Workout... For the first time over two challenged I completed the entire thing! It may not be much but I finished in about 40-45 mins. ...But I don't care...I went through the whole thing The workout was exhausting and I dreaded moving my legs afterward but its done...Now I just have to do it again next week. Saturday was a very nerdy Day. I went to the Lego Expo in Schaumburg (http://www.brickworld.us/chicago/ ) Everything there was amazing. The sets were so detailed and there were plenty of figures bring back memories and make me want to jump back into making some serious Lego creations. (Pictures to come ) For tonight, I make my meals for the week. For this week I am going to give the Shepard's Pie recently posted on Nerd Fitness a shot. Looks good and i should be dining well during the week.

Update: Tuesday I performed the stretching session and most of the mini challenge stretches (forgot one). Afterwords I tenderized myself with a rumble roller and felt good after. (I swear I think of Major Payne when I work with that thing. "you think that hurts....here...give me your hand...") Wednesday: Woke up 30 mins early...? after work I went home and munched then performed Day 2 of the batman workout. I am still recovering from the break.. I was only able to do 3-4 reps for the holds and struggled on the holds. Thursday (so far): woke up on time. Family members were confused "You up early..." Later today I am going to do another stretch session. (outside if its still nice) and work on updating my resume for my professors.

nice goals looking forward to seeing the updates on the skill work (your close to a mirror to my stats) so I need to try my hand at these moves. (like I must find out monkey hangs...less I disgrace the name...) Nice work on the meal goals today. They look varied and healthy, sure to keep you sane and on target.

Nice You're going to have to show pictures of the tail (hell, even in its current state ) It sounds really cool and interesting. Are you using any designs for inspiration? Schoolwise ...I am mostly looking in the Midwest to stay near family and make things less complicated. Reach schools at the moment include University of Illinois (Urbana-Champaign), Georgia Tech, Michigan (Ann Arbor), Purdue, and Northwestern. I also have an equally long list for "non-reach" including my undergrad school of IIT. ---- Update: Strength: Went on a workout with Workcait. As did her laps around a pond, I did a weakened version of the Batman workout Day1. (3 sets of 6 for each exercise) The side-to-side push ups still know me out and performing the workout out allowed me to correct my form on the ice cream makers (correcting them made it harder...) Sleep: Past today I woke up at 7:15... slept past the alarm set for 6:30 for quite a bit... Flexibility will be later tonight.

Those print look awesome . I wish you the best of luck on goals. Nice and simple. (not saying easy...I'm three challenges in and yet to go all the way) best of luck on the bodyweight challenges and I'll be watching over your thread keeping an eye for some good simple recipes.

Hey guys, My first two attempts went progressively better, but I have taken a break and it is now time for a restart. Ultimately I still want "to be a better monkey" meaning improve my overall health and develop good habits. This challenge will have more specific goals to help make it more track-able. Main Goal: Become a lean mean Munqi Qing. The main goal for this challenge will be to lose 2+% body-fat over the course of the challenge. I don't want to limit myself by saying gaining weight or losing fat so seems to be the easiest way to measure. my other goals will also have a significant influence on this result so it should be a good measure of progress. I read online that 1% is a safe amount to lose in a month until I get better advice I am pushing a little further than that for my main goal.These will be tracked weekly using a single measurement method and at the beginning middle and end with a 7 point method. Height: 5'9" Weight: 156 lbs Age: 25 yrs BF% (1-point):11.6% Suprailiac - 10 mm BF% (7-point):12.3% Pectoral - 10 mm Abdominal - 14 mm Thigh - 20 mm Triceps - 12 mm Subscapular - 12 mm Suprailiac -10 mm Axilla -11 mm Strength Goal: I had a lot of fun doing the Batman workout and the Advance Body-weight Workout last challenge so I will continue to build up on that progress. At the beginning of the challenge I will test each progression I am capable of and I will measure progress by upgrading progressions. Ultimate goal would be to do a full back and lever, planche, and flag. (I don't think those are reasonable goals for only 6 weeks) Batman workout: http://www.nerdfitness.com/blog/2012/08/23/batman-bodyweight-workout/ Advanced Body-weight Workout: http://www.nerdfitness.com/blog/2009/12/17/advanced-body-weight-workout-warning-this-will-kick-your-ass/ At the end of this challenge perform half front/back levers, a floating frog, a handstand, and a tucked flag. Flexibility Goal: I need to increase my flexibility. It is literally a joke. Days between strength sessions will be dedicated to flexibility. I will perform stretching routines: (http://www.nerdfitness.com/blog/2012/01/16/how-to-stretch/) and Myofascial release: On the weekend, I will perform a yoga session to stretch and relax. Sleep Goal: I want to get sleep, but even more I want to become a morning person. I waste so much time between 6:30am when my alarm goes off and 7:40 when I actually get out of bed. I will go to bed earlier but the progressions will not be going to be earlier, but rather waking up earlier. Starting at 6:30am I am going to wake 10 minutes earlier each week. So by the end of my challenge I should be starting to wake by 5:00am. Life Goal: I recently graduated from college and I wish to continue to graduate school for mechanical engineering. (Focus on thermodynamics/heat transfer). I need to start putting out applications and stop procrastinating. This is a pass/fail goal. It either happens or it doesn't. All goals have a very basic grading system. Each workout/success is worth +1. At the end of the challenge I will grade myself with respect to the maximum available for the whole challenge. Goals like my Main and strength goals will have pass/fail results.

Main Quest:Build Strength, Endurance, Agility, ...Become a Better Monkey. Current Stats Age: 24 (will be 25 by the end of the challenge) Gender: male Height: 5’9†Weight: 160lbs 1: Do 3 Workouts per week Day1 and 3 Batman Workout Day 5 Advanced Bodyweight Workout I chose these as I am somehow naturally built and I am a bit masochistic when it comes to working out. Workout session (+5%) Bonuses:If I have any energy left over, do a Zuzana Workout. (+1% extra credit)I love her varied workouts and the fact that they can run you to the ground. (Pre-Nerd Fitness experience) 57% - I did well for the first 3 weeks, then 1 workout for week4 and 5, no workouts week 6 2: Dedicated Stretching /YogaIf yoga: either Ekhart Yoga, Zuzana, or a P90X yoga I need this to help increase my range of motion and reduce the amount of pain I have in my muscles after workouts. Stretching after a workout (+2%)Yoga Session (+11%)Stretching in the morning (+1%) 56% - I did well for the first 2 weeks doing both stretching and yoga, then the following 2 fell to about 1 yoga session a week, the last 2 weeks had no stretching sessions. 3: Drink Water! Because I drink so little I have many issues ranging from skin dryness to the extended muscle soreness and possible blackouts from over exertion. (This is not an issue of drinking water vs something else...I only drink water or...almond milk... but I don't drink enough...like a camel) Drink 1L (+1%) 37% - I did quite well the first 2 weeks, then average-poor the next 2, then very poorly the last 2... Basically I started out great and then slowly but surely went back to doing poorly. In a positive light, the chain of good workouts lasted half a week longer than the last challenge. Maybe next time I can go weeks without reverting to old ways. Grades: 57%, 56%, and 37%...all F'sall parts of the challenge not met. Next Time: I need more refined/tangible goals. I approached this challenge with holistic ones of wanting to help my heart and build some strength and flexibility, but I guess that wasn't influential enough. (I was warned by Targilnar and Erick the Red)I need to try and find tangible goals which I would enjoy getting to and can say it has done at the end, while still helping my holistic goals.

Main Quest:Build Strength, Endurance, Agility, ...Become a Better Monkey. Current Stats Age: 24 (will be 25 by the end of the challenge) Gender: male Height: 5’9†Weight: 160lbs 1: Do 3 Workouts per week Day1 and 3 Batman Workout Day 5 Advanced Bodyweight Workout I chose these as I am somehow naturally built and I am a bit masochistic when it comes to working out. Workout session (+5%) Bonuses:If I have any energy left over, do a Zuzana Workout. (+1% extra credit)I love her varied workouts and the fact that they can run you to the ground. (Pre-Nerd Fitness experience) 57% - I did well for the first 3 weeks, then 1 workout for week 4 and 5, no workouts week 6 2: Dedicated Stretching /YogaIf yoga: either Ekhart Yoga, Zuzana, or a P90X yoga I need this to help increase my range of motion and reduce the amount of pain I have in my muscles after workouts. Stretching after a workout (+2%)Yoga Session (+11%)Stretching in the morning (+1%) 56% - I did well for the first 2 weeks doing both stretching and yoga, then the following 2 fell to about 1 yoga session a week, the last 2 weeks had no stretching sessions. 3: Drink Water! Because I drink so little I have many issues ranging from skin dryness to the extended muscle soreness and possible blackouts from over exertion. (This is not an issue of drinking water vs something else...I only drink water or...almond milk... but I don't drink enough...like a camel) Drink 1L (+1%) 37% - I did quite well the first 2 weeks, then average-poor the next 2, then very poorly the last 2... Basically I started out great and then slowly but surely went back to doing poorly. In a positive light, the chain of good workouts lasted half a week longer than the last challenge. Maybe next time I can go weeks without reverting to old ways. Grades: 57%, 56%, and 37%...all F's all parts of the challenge not met. Next Time: I need more refined/tangible goals. I approached this challenge with holistic ones of wanting to help my heart and build some strength and flexibility, but I guess that wasn't influential enough. (I was warned by Targilnar and Erick the Red)I need to try and find tangible goals which I would enjoy getting to and can say it has done at the end, while still helping my holistic goals. I want to thank Erick The Red, Librarian of Doom, Elinox, Fultonator, Targilnar, and Nuala for their kind words throughout the challenge. Next time I'll do better.

my gf and I can meet up at Izzy and Moe's (unsure of when) and can meet up at 5 at Woodfield.

Sweet on the training team request. I don't think anyone really likes test prep...or tests for that matter. ...btw "you're married to that one now."...Whats that suppose to mean?

Nice On meeting the protein goal. There's that much in Tofu and beef and peanuts? Anyway I hope you feel better by then, it sounds like you just need a breather.

This sounds very familiar. I think is definetly good that you getting "a little crazy". To me that means you have successfully ingrains some habitual exercise into your lifestyle (that can only be good). That being said at least you broke the dry spell of the exercise. Give yourself a + for not letting a GPS or fancy doodads get in the way, i know plenty of people who would let something simple like that get in the way of their progress, glad you hear your not one of them. (I know the GPS is for just tracking, but still...I've got some weird friends)

O_o Apparently Izzy and Moe's is about a mile from my place....I have no excuse. By the way, I am free at any of the times on either day. Looking forward to meeting you Nerds.

Report: Monday Day 1 Batman workout Noticing increases in strength as I am able to perform harder body weight progressions Wednesday: Day 2 Batman workout The jump twist wasn't doing much for me aside from a loss of balance. I made it a endurance trial by doing 3 sets of Dots using 1 foot at a time. I am able to perform tucked levers for 8-10 seconds now for 3 sets. I can perform all German hang reps within the same attempt I can now hold low frog planches for 4-5 seconds For an additional workout I performed 3 sets of the following: 20 second side planks. (I probably should go longer) 15 second Dragonfly holds (I'll try reps next time) full ab-rollouts (nose almost to the ground arms fully extended) on my knees.

Yup! Being able to get back into the routine after off-roading (planned or otherwise) is a great skill to have! I'll third that. You have a great attitude and are quite ambitious.

Report: last week flopped pretty hard, I got one workout in on Wednesday (day 1 Batman) and a 30 minute yoga session in on Sunday and I have been averaging about 1L a day (.75-1) With regards to progress, strength is improving and variations are getting easier. I can now do full side-to-side push-ups (no more knees), I can perform about 4 pull-ups and German hangs. I can hold a tucked lever for about 4 seconds (improved from 0) and I can do 3-4 ice cream makers tucked (2 full extension). 4 weeks in the advanced body-weight workout hasn't been performed in entirety yet. I hope to change that Thursday or Saturday. Unfortunate, I am not seeing any improvements to flexibility which has been making a light variation of handstand push-up extremely difficult. Positive Side note: As a future motivator, I have managed to convince 2 of my nerdy friends to do a Zombie run (about 5 said no as "it involves physical activity").

Sweet, any movie listings?

The workout from last Thursday (moved to Friday...Then Saturday...Then Sunday) never happened. My Monday workout...moved to today (due to a case of slight food poisoning/sickness) never happened as I couldn't get myself to do it. Just sat there on the exercise mat all dress up, depressed, and overall feeling a lack of energy. So 5 days without working out. My water goal has also been failing as I have been drinking at most 0.5L each day. (5 days of that too...) The only silver lining is that I did get a nice stretching session in on Sunday. I also managed to work up to asking my friends to do a Zombie run, hopefully they remember past the drunken haze of St. Patrick's Day...

Ay. Careful with that pink-eye. Make sure C doesn't rub it and watch her other eye. When I was young, I had pink-eye go from left eye, to right, and then back to the left to the point I was missing quite a bit of school.

Yeah,time it flies Proven Guilty done, up next White Night.

I think the brownie may be just fine. I mean if your daughter made it for you, it would be rude to not have one. ....Plus you can't very well chase her out the room yelling "Enabler!" ...that would be rude as well, fun, but rude.

I have got to get into the habit of updating more... Wednesday Day 2 of the Batman workout The 180 jumps are still going fine until I throw a bit too much momentum into the swing. I was actually able to do the front lever tuck for about 3 seconds (less than the 10, but still better than week 1) I can somewhat flip over easier for the german hangs and I can breathe and do about 4 full hangs a set. For the low frog planche I was able to actually get off the ground and hold it for about 3 seconds... Each of these are not much but compared to week 1 are much improved. I did some stretching afterwards (the assassin week one) and stretches targeting the muscles I worked...Apparently my arms are inflexible as well... My arms can't get more than 3 in away from my hip on this bicep/shoulder stretch... Thursday was a big flop. I stressed myself out the whole day as I was trying to figure out if It would be possible to make the Chicago Nerd Fitness meetup @ 6. I got out of work at 5:30,which would me I would get there at about 7:30 with my knowledge of rush hour traffic... So I went home to get my workout in for the challenge. For some reason, I passed out at 6pm...and woke up at 10:30. I missed dinner and had 30 mins left before my bedtime and couldn't push my water goal less I would have issues sleeping the rest of the night. So over the course of the day, I missed an opportunity to meet Steve and the Chicago nerds, Missed my workout, only had one meal, and <0.5L of water for the day. I am okay with Thursday...apparently I needed the rest as I didn't have much of a problem sleeping, even after the 4 hour nap. I just need to find a way to cram my last workout in today when my friends are getting together to have a Card against Humanity get together starting at 4:30 (before I am even out of work) =/

:/ You ever want to go back and edit a post, but it has already been seen.... I still think pushing out archer pushups are impressive none-the-less...hell I'm having trouble with "Side-To-Side" push ups from the batman workout...

Second. Just leave it in the past and its done. You have been doing well and it looks like your making progress so don't let that bad day deter you. ...deadlift 185x5... very good...you could easily pick me up and throw me around with the kinda weight...(please don't)