Bandcamp

So. I'm still alive and well. I think it goes without saying that I'm out for this challenge, as I needed to take some time to work on mobility and focus on recovery. So, while I'm not continuing the challenge this round, per se, I'm sticking with my workout structure as much as I can. I'm back on Stronglifts after deloading my squat 30% and my OHP around 15%. It feels good to get back in it. Additionally, while weight loss has never been my particular goal, I set a "soft" mark at 220 lbs to reassess my goals and BF%. I'm now at 225, and it's likely due to the increased muscle mass helping me despite being less active than when I was at full capacity. tl;dr: Out of this challenge, but still in it, altogether.

Update: I. can. touch. my. toes! Still not doing anything more than stretching until Monday.

Monday... So, that sucked. Hurt my upper lumbar during my second set of squats. I'm pretty sure I got distracted by the sheer amount of people moving around my rack and I probably slouched. I don't know where this will put me for the rest of my challenge, but I am *clearly* on hiatus for the rest of the week. I might continue tracking Life Goals. If it doesn't drastically heal up in the next week, I'm going to be needing to make an appointment and get some professional timetables.

Hey, followers, new challenge thread is up HERE

Hey! Get your next challenge up, slowpoke!

So, patterning myself off of Kaladin (from The Stormlight Archives), I've taken the first oath and discovered some new, fantastic powers. Now it's time to get to work learning how to use them. I've made progress, but I need to explore my potential and keep myself in line to ensure continued success. Slacking off is a sure way to make sure that all my hard work amounts to nothing. Kaladin only became better when he focused on his discipline and focus, rather than dwelling on the reasons not to move forward. I made it out of my last challenge with a solid win. I started into StrongLifts to give myself some structure and discipline in my lifting schedule. I didn't miss a single allocated workout (thanks to some handy schedule switching for problem days). I also managed to hit all of my cardio, after counting an extra make-up workout in Week 3 to cover Week 2. I also set the same end-of-challenge goals, but I feel that I'm much more likely to meet them this challenge, as I've been making some serious progress. I also don't want to change my goals, just because I haven't hit them yet. I'll knock them off, first, then move on to the next ones. My Life Goal last time was my major failing. I remained entirely too distractable and while I was making some progress, it wasn't substantial enough to really please me by the end. To that end, I'm trading off my meditation goal with a more structured productivity strategy focusing on setting three specific goals for each day. 1. Consistency Lift 3x/week 2. Stamina Get at least 1 cardio in per week. (Zombies, Run!, Swimming, Heavy Bag, etc.) It's hard to progress on the weights if my engine's not running at peak. 3. Results Body Weight Pull-Up155 1-rep-max Overhead Press Life Goal: The Rule of Three Structure my work week around The Rule of Three. Focus on setting small, achievable goals for my work. Bonus: Know Thyself, Part II Get a follow-up BF% reading from the on-campus bod pod. Reward: +1 Wis; +1 Smug satisfaction (Nutritionist cautioned using "resistance training" when I should be focusing on cardio for weight loss... even if weight loss isn't really my goal, per se.) Anyways, welcome to the new friends and old followers! We'll turn this one into another win.

Let's do this.

I especially love that Lee quote.

I trust you just missed that this is the New Annals of Internal Medicine, right? The New York Times isn't the originator, this is a major medical study with a very effective methodology, in one of the biggest medical journals out there. It really doesn't get too much bigger. Large sample, assigned diet studies are very hard to do, and this is one of the best cases of providing a clear argument that the prevailing recommendations and concerns about fats and heart health are fallacious and may actually be hurting our health. I would have linked the journal article, but not everyone has my oh-so-delicious all-you-can-read journal buffet options from going to a major university :-D

All you, buddy. Those are some impressive strength gains throughout the challenge.

We're still here for you. It's important to realize that that part of you that makes you hide when you fail is the thing that holds you back the most. It's not how you do on any one challenge, per se, it's how you keep stacking them ;-) Just because you had a little bit of a dark spot doesn't cancel out all the work you did. Tell us what you've accomplished and what you're proud of. It hasn't gone away

Congrats! Excellent job of sticking with it.

Holy cow! Great results! Congratulations on a successful challenge.

Hey hey hey. Just finished up the first challenge in great shape. Now I'll be joining ya'll for the next one. I'm mixing 3x/week stronglifts with a cardio (swimming, Zombies, Run!, or heavy bag). As I have yet to stall out at all in Stronglifts, I'm going to continue on. Largely, I started working out because I realized how much I let my health slip in college, as engineering school took up more and more of my time. I found myself winded when I shouldn't be and I decided to stop that. I'm focusing on increasing physical performance, not so much weight loss (though that can be quite incidental). I eat pretty well, especially when I'm at home, but I'm an inveterate foodie and can easily have a couple of bad days. I'm not sure whether I want to set new goals or not for this next challenge, as the previous goals have served me well and I'm not quite done yet with the programming I started into. My wife, S@kur4-Ch4n!, will probably be joining the warriors. We've been married for 5 years, now, with no kids but hope to add them sometime in the middle future. I'm PhD student in human factors engineering, from Texas. My fandoms are pretty wide, as I dig into pretty much everything and help out with our local general-purpose nerd club, complete with convention! I collect comics (Saga, Rat Queens, Fairest) and books (Brandon Sanderson, George R.R. Martin, John Scalzi, Charles Stross, and quite a few classics). I'm also heavily into punk, blues, and various alternative music genres, with favorites such as Fugazi (Ian MacKaye is a bit of a hero to me), White Stripes, Black Keys, Close Your Eyes, Dropkick Murphy's, etc., and I'm a mediocre guitarist. Gamewise, I'm a huge Bioware fan, particularly with the Dragon Age, Mass Effect, and Baldur's Gate series, but am also a fan of series such as Grandia, Disgaea, Uncharted, and Assassin's Creed. Anime I'm a fan of are: Ouran High School Host Club, Fullmetal Alchemist, Blue Exorcist, FLCL, and ToraDora, just to name a few. Board game wise, I own very little but Catan and Munchkin, but have deeply enjoyed quite a few, with Betrayal at House on Haunted Hill as a recent positive experience. I also helped found and captain a local homebrew club with a penchant for experimental brews.

Challenge Summary: The high-storm fades away, easing into a light rain. Kaladin remains, weary, but now something more. Goal 1: Consistency Weight Training 3x/week: Status: PWN3d. A: +3 Strength. Cardio 1x/week: Status: Missed one, but made it back up A: +3 Dex Results: Goal: Bodweight Pull-Up & 155 OHP. Pull-Up Status: Cut assistance on Pull-Up from 70 lbs. to 34. Goal not met, but effective progress. Will likely be to my goal in the next 3 weeks OHP status: Not sure of my max, but it's not 155 yet. I'd put it in the 140 - 145 range. Might max out tomorrow if I get a chance to lift. B: +2 Strength Life Goal: Focus Goal: Start first 10 minutes of morning with prayer, meditation, and goal-setting Result: Ehh.. managed about half the time. Improved productivity a little. Still needs substantial work. C: +1 Wis Bonus Goal Achieved: Got BF% reading in. Started at 30% at the beginning of challenge, but I've dropped nearly 10 pounds (Currently at 127 from 135.) Pants are fitting looser as I seem to have lost some volume in my hips. +1 Wis (already counted) Bonus Goal Missed: No maxes recorded for squats and bench. Not a main goal, so no partial credit. Making good progress in this range, though. Graduation: I plan to continue pursuing a mixture of endurance and strength, with a heavier emphasis on strength. With that, I will be joining the rangers and pursuing further cross training. Still not sure what my next challenge goals and theme will be. Thanks to all of you who followed me all challenge! Stay tuned for more!