caolan

Awesome work!

Thanks, Aces. Finish strong! Week 10 was not so bad - at least there were no burpeees!

Status from Week 1: I am on track with all 4 of my goals. Exercise for at least 45 minutes every day. I averaged 52 minutes of exercise each day. Track all of my meals in MFP every day and finish under my net calorie goal each week. I tracked every day and finished about 200 calories under plan for the week. Complete at least 5 weeks of the YAYOG PVP challenge. I finished week 10's exercises this week. That is the end of the formal 10-week PVP challenge I was doing, but I will be continuing with the YAYOG program. Take an online continuing education course. I signed up for an online business ethics course, and completed the first week of video lectures.

I finished the 10 week program today. Wow! This feels like a great accomplishment of perseverance, and I can really see and feel the impact it has had on me physically. I need a few days rest from strength training, but I definitely want to keep using the YAYOG approach in my future challenges. I like that the app will allow me to create an almost unlimited variety of workouts. Today I finished 12 sets of all the exercises - the same as last week. I might have been able to do a 13th set if I had another minute on the timer, but I am still happy with 12 sets. Thank you to my YAYOG colleagues for the challenge, the competition, and the inspiration to continue, even when I really just wanted to take a few days off. I could not have done it without you.

Week 10, Day 4 -- Almost finished! Crunches - 70 (subbed crunches with a 1-second pause at the top for the crunch it ups) Hyperextensions - 55 (added a 2-second pause at the top to these) Leg Lifts - 55 (did these very slow to avoid using momentum) Hip Raises - 73 (subbed for the second set of hyperextensions)

Week 10 Day 3 LMI 12x8 Bam Bams were interesting and tough. I did 8 or more each set. Towel curls 11x8

Week 10 Day 2 was today. I did 12 of each. I had a bit of a break-through with the one legged Romanian deadlifts. I think I figured out the right way to manage my core so they work my hamstrings hard but don't mess with my back. I am definitely happy about that.

What are people planning to do after finishing the first 10 weeks? I am not sure I am ready for the "first class" program, so I might repeat the basic program, but use the more difficult variations of the exercises to make sure it is still challenging me to progress, even back at week 1. I am also thinking that my body would appreciate a week off from strength training to avoid over-training. What do you guys think?

Week 10 Day 1 today I did 5/12 on all sets. The military press on the floor was he hardest. I did the dips with legs straight for one of the sets to increase the difficulty.

I finished Week 9 today. Week 9, Day 5 - Stappers I did 12 full sets today, up from 11 last week. I did my push-ups as close-grip hip-height to add a little more difficulty there. I also added an extra 10 push-ups to the end after set 12, because I had 20 seconds left. The hard part of Stappers for me is the ridiculous number of lunges, not the other two rounds. I think tomorrow is a rest day, then on to he finish line!

Adamant - These sounds like good goals. Tracking has been a really powerful tool for me. I never really wanted to do it, but once I gave it a try it really helped me. 13% body fat sounds like an incredible target to achieve, but close enough that it is probably achievable in 6 weeks if you push yourself.

I am back for my third 6-week challenge on NF. My first two were very successful - helping me get started on my path to fitness, including a lot of strength training, cardio, and more than 30 pounds of weight loss. Now I need to make sure I don't fall off the wagon, because it would be so easy to relax with the holidays approaching. My four goals for the challenge are: Exercise for at least 45 minutes every day. I am continuing this goal from the last challenge, but upping the goal to 45 minutes. I will do several different types of exercise during the week to keep my muscles guessing -- YAYOG workout, swim laps, ride my bike, hike, karate, etc. +2 DEX, +2 STATrack all of my meals in MFP every day and finish under my net calorie goal each week. This is a continuation of a goal from my last challenge. Once again, I have configured MFP for a 750 calorie deficit. +2 CON, +2 CHAComplete at least 5 weeks of the YAYOG PVP challenge. This is also a continuation of a prior goal. The initial 10-week program will be done by next weekend, but I need to continue to do the work during this challenge. +4 STR Take an online continuing education course. I have to get a certain number of continuing education credits every year to maintain some of my certifications, and I am behind schedule with at least one of the programs. My goal is to take an online course. If it lasts longer than 6 weeks, that is fine, but I need to complete the expected amount of work for the duration of this challenge. +3 WIS The exercise goal will earn points like this: 45+ minutes = 3 points 35-44 minutes = 2 points 30-34 minutes = 1 point The MFP, YAYOG, and education goals will earn points like this: 5+ weeks = 3 points 4 weeks = 2 points 3 weeks = 1 point There are 12 possible points for the challenge. Here is my grading scale: "A" for 10+ points "B" for 9 points "C" for 7-8 points Challenge Status as of the end of week 6: Goal 1: Exercise Minutes 100%100% Goal 2: MFP Tracking 66.67%66.67% Goal 3: YAYOG 100%100% Goal 4: Training 100%100%

Week 9, Day 3 LMU 63 LMI 75 LMU 48 - my arms were too tired to continue these, so after 10 reps I switched these to "knees bent" reverse LMU's. LMI 81 Week 9, Day 4 I subbed planks for the v-ups and bicycles, which would have caused back issues. I did one plank each time, and counted 1 rep for each 10 seconds of the plank. So, for example, a 60 second plank is listed as 6 reps. I don't know whether everyone will agree with this approach, but a 60 second plank is very hard for me to do, so it seemed reasonable to me. Plank/crunch 6/12 x2 Superman/swimmer 6/12 x2 Plank/leg lift 5/12 x2

I'm in. Anybody still looking for a partner?

So I ran my first ever 5k this mornng with my daughter. I set myself a goal of under 36 minutes and succeeded, finishing around 35:50. Being the glutton for punishment that I have become lately, I decided to do week 9 day 2 as soon as I got home from the race. I did at least 8 of each in every round, though I did 9 lunges and 9 good mornings on most of the sets. I didn't do great on the beat your boots, because I had a tough time getting as low as he does in the video. Nevertheless, I did 8 in each round and felt the burn in my legs. It's going to be tight, but I will finish all 10 weeks by next Sunday.

Week 9, Day 1 I finished 12x3 on all exercises for W9D1 today. The dips were definitely the toughest for me today. I don't really like assisted bodyweight exercises, because it is hard to know how much I am really "assisting" myself. Nevertheless, I felt like my arms were going all out on the dips and all 3 sets were tough to finish, so I guess I assisted myself as much as I needed.

Week 8 finished this morning! Yesterday -- Week 8, Day 4 I did 3 sets of 12 on all. I subbed Hello Darlings for the Russian Twists, but did sets of 15 of these because they are a bit easier. Overall, this was a pretty easy workout for me. That must be because the next workout is stappers... Today -- Week 8, Day 5 Stappers are so brutal. I actually kind of like them. I did 11 full sets of all 3 exercises (up from 10 last week). I did close-grip push-ups to add some difficulty to those, and I accidentally did 10 reps on the LMI's for about half of the rounds, instead of 8. I guess I was too pumped/tired/delirious over the 220 lunges that I didn't pay attention to the counts of LMI's very well. Oh, well. A few extra LMI's won't hurt me.

This morning was week 8 day 3. I finished 5/12 on all of the exercises. The LMU's were so much easier this week. For the first time, I really felt like I had the strength to do them all with good form, whether it was the fast, explosive sets, or the slow, deliberate sets. It's always nice to see progress like that. I also bought some weight lifting gloves last week, and I find they help me with the LMU's and the pull ups, which I do from a tree limb. Both are a lot gentler on the hands wih gloves. Thanks RxLady for the suggestion a few weeks ago!

Good job sticking with it and finishing. Pushing through and finishing only a couple of reps is much better than giving up and saying "I can't do it." I think a lot of us struggled with that workout.

Week 8, Day 2 Back Lunges - 45 per leg Single-leg Calf Raises - 45 per leg (subbed for the Bulgarians) Squats - 76 Good Mornings - 58 (I gota bit aggressive with these at the start, and felt a twinge in my back about 25 reps in. I slowed down for the rest of the reps, and will b e taking it easy for a day or so).

I did week 8 day 1 today. This one was really tough. I am not good at burpees. At all. My best was 3.5 in a single set, but I was closer to 2.5 for most of the mini sets. I did the full eight rounds of the exercises like this: Push-ups - thigh high - 11 Rocking chairs - 9 Burpees - 2 On the positive side, I lost 2.4 pounds last week, which puts me at 29.4 pounds since I joined NF in late July.

Aces - thanks for showing up for us. Seeing that 5 or 6 other people are keeping the pace is really helping to motivate me not to fall behind.

I like the idea - thanks, Daniel. I am struggling to come up with good goals. The only one I have for right now is goal 2. I am running my first ever 5k race with my daughter next weekend. Finishing my training for that sounds like as good of a fitness goal as any. It might a.so count as something new.

So I was wrong. Yesterday was tapatas. Today I finished week 7 with the actual Stappers. Wow. Wow. Wow. Back lunges - 10x10 = 100 (the last set of these was a real struggle to finish) LMI - 10x8 = 80 Push-ups - 9x6 = 54 (I did most of these as close grip, hip height push-ups to increase the effort for my arms)

I did week 7 day 4 today. Stappers are Soo fun. I wasn't sure how to handle using both legs for the beach scissors, so I did the full 8 sets for each leg. That made for quite a burn! I also subbed Hello Darlings for the Russian Twists for back health reasons. Hello Darlings 15x8 Beach Scissors Left 16x8 Beach Scissors Right 16x8 Knee Raises Both Legs 12x8