ajames

I'd be interested in talking to you about SE asia - My wife and I are planning on spending some time in thailand and cambodia early next year.

Thanks for all the support guys

This challenge ended up a bit of a failure. My toe injury held me back a lot, and once it was fairly healed I ended up spraining my wrist. I'm back training now with more focus and determination than before. Injuries suck!

It's not perfect, but I'm happy anyway!

I'm almost back fully training - toe has healed pretty well but not 100% yet. I think it will be another week or so until I am sprinting again. I started working on L sits instead of handstands and I've made a bunch of progress there. Sleep and drawing have been great! Overall, things are going pretty well considering the injury.

I've been hitting the pullups and one leg pushups since I got off crutches on Monday. Last night I hit 11,10,9 pullups for the first time which felt great. New max I have drawn every day, although I have not started that blog yet. Sleep has also been good, usually in bed before 10 and up around 6 which is about right for me. Understandably(I hope), I have not been sprinting or upside down since I injured myself.

First week of workouts went great. Made myself go sprinting in the pouring rain and really enjoyed it Unfortunately, I broke my toe on sunday morning (don't kick the ground) I'm on crutches and off exercise(doctor's orders) so I'll be pulling out of this challenge.

This is awesome news!

Thanks for the information. GtG is something I have looked into a bit and I may try it for the pushups. I'm working on developing my courage to not care about being weird at work. At the moment I'm keeping my reps in the 5-8 range, doing three sets of each exercise (Pullups, Diamond Pushups and Pistols to a stool) three times a week after a warm up. I can do pistols all the way but I'm just doing them to a stool (about 25cm high) and focusing on keeping my lower leg as vertical as possible and pushing through my heel. Any and all advice is appreciated.

My overall goal is to get faster and stronger. Continue with these things: Handstands: Every day for 5 minutes. I want to get to 15seconds freestanding. Maybe I'll get there this challenge. Strength Training 3 times a week: Mon Wed and Fri I do a fairly simple bodyweight workout. Push, Pull, Legs, Core I really want to get to 3x8 Diamond Pushups with my feet on a chair. I'm at 887 with feet on a stool about 25cm high. I also plan to increase max pullups to 15. (Currently 10) again not sure if I'll get there this challenge. Legs: Currently working towards good form pistol squats. After reading "the Naked Warrior" I have learned a bunch about this great exercise. Add these: Sprints: Once per week. Start off with 5x100m in five minutes, add one interval per week. I love having done these but never seem to make myself. I'm telling you guys so I can get Sleep: Get enough of it. Record Bed and Waking times. Drawing: One page every day. Start that blog I've been talking about. I got back into drawing earlier this year and love it.

My best throughout the challenge was 11, up from 8 at the start.

The worst journey in the world - Apsley Cherry-Garrard. Our lives are very easy compared to what these Antarctic explorers went through. Thinking fast and slow - Daniel Kahneman How we think is not how we think. A very good description of various cognitive biases.

Well that was a disappointment. My final pullup test was a bit of a failure. I managed 10 reps (felt like I could do a few more) before I got a weird tingling feeling near my right elbow so I stopped. After a 5 minute rest I tried again and could only manage 10. On the plus side I have never done 10 back to back before, but I was really hoping for at least 12 or 13. Oh well.

Habit formed and lots of progress made. I can hold a freestanding handstand for a few seconds. At the start of the challenge I was still against the wall. I'll give myself a pass mark here. 11:15 was my best time at the start. Last night I did my final test and came out with a PB time of 8:52. I missed a couple of workouts throughout but never two in a row. I'm really happy with my results here. My initial max was 8. I've broken that but not tested myself recently. Tonight is the final test with a goal of 15. Not sure if I'll get that but I did form the habit and follow the program (mostly) and that is what is important. Looking forward, I want to continue to work on handstands, increase my pushup max. N on day n was a fun program to work on and I think I'll be doing that with diamond pushups - I can only do about 8 of those at the moment. Pistol squats are another exercise I want to master. I can do a few of them but my form is much less than ideal. I enjoy sprinting, but going into winter here in New Zealand it is really hard to make myself go outside. I've enjoyed this first challenge and look forward to joining the assassins for the next one.

Skipping: last night was 9:16 and did not feel like I was really pushing that hard. Sunday is the final skipping workout during the challenge this is my last chance to beat 9 minutes. I've knocked off a good chunk from my time already and feel pretty good about this goal. Pullups are still going well. Day 39 (777666) was tough but I feel like I had a few more in the tank at the end. My final test will be at the start of my strength training on Wednesday evening after two mornings without pullups. I hope that I can make 15 then. Handstands: I am not going to be at 15 seconds freestanding by Tuesday. I have maintained handstands as a daily habit, learned to bail and moved away from the wall so there is significant success here. Reading: Changed books partway through and finished a monster. Didn't finish GEB but I don't feel like this was a failure.