Ulfgard

Hi, This is a placeholder. I am back again. I feel much better now, Muscles hurt less, life is much more fun again.I have managed to keep my weight around 95-96kg while doing my training and I got some more muscles. I handed in my phd thesis, got my new position and I am now looking forward to my vacation. I plan to go from 95.x to 92.x kg during this challenge, but I haven't thought about other goals yet. Probably something something with living more healthy and leveling up my life. Who knows? Oh yeah this is what I looked like three weeks ago after boulder training. Maybe I am going to do a new picture in a few weeks?

I am not dead. Just.. I don't know. I overdid it and went into the valley of overtraining, where life is hell and tiring. Seriously, I woke up, was not able to get myself going until 12, then biked to work, worked until 2-3pm (it helps not being payed to pull that off, i tell you!) and was so tired that I went back home. Of course this did not stop me from exercising and parkour did not help at all. I was sore the next four(!) days, felt like shit and had to cancel my weekly bouldering session. This made me realize that hitting the breaks might be a wise decision and I canceled the next parkour session, took 2 more days off and decided to do parkour only once a week. This boss is just too hard on me. And literally everyone i knew was saying that this was a wise decision *sigh*. I am still not feeling completely restored, but I am trying to do parkour today. I will just take it slow and not push myself beyond my capabilities, just because everyone else in that course is awesome. On the upside: when I bouldered, someone invited me to rope climbing. We went climbing on Sunday and now I have a rope climbing partner weight is constantly swinging between 95.5 and 96.5kg I am happy about that. I managed to get back to work, but I did not manage to find out which of the mail that bounced where actually important, becaue they would not give me the logs. Apparently this board here was among it and it seems not to send me any e-mails any more. I think I will take the rest of the challenge off. I will not completely forget about it, but I need some time to deal with myself.

Just giving a small heads-up: My squats are getting better. I really manage to get a lot further down with the pole assisted squats and even the full squat (Even though I have to put my arms forward and arch my back slightly to ensure balance). So this is going better. When I am doing the normal squats afterwards, I again go down a lot further, so this is good, I am getting a bit better. However, deep squats are _really_ exhausting. When I go up from the pole assisted quatsms (After roughly a minute), I also feel a bit weak for a second, as if all my blood where in my lower body and now has to rush up. Not very pleasant, But I do not worry about that. Regarding the hamstring stretches: I am getting better at isolating the hamstrings during the stretches. I am trying to prevent myself cheating by two things 1. I bend my knees, grab my toes and then stretch my legs. This prevents me of arching my back as I feel the pain long before my legs are fully straight. Another variation, which works, is laying on my back and doing something like this: http://www.yogaartandscience.com/poses/corep/uppfull/files/page136_1.jpg. I go simply in that position and concentrate on pulling my toes down, which stretches my legs to the point of shaking. While not the hardest stretch, it tells me a bit about how it should feel like with a completely flat back. Aside of that, I feel like I am on a longer way tog et better with my hamstring mobility. I also think i need a bit more lower abs strength aside from more mobility to get into a nice cat leap position

It sounded so easy. He only had to be talking about himself and be a good company to Brian. But now he was starring into the small fire they made and did not know what to say. His gaze followed the flickering shapes of the fire and he sank into a near meditative state, like he often does in the evening. His ears focussed on the crackling sound while his lips remained sealed. "Well...", Brian ended the silence. "I have heard that snow leopards are not talkative. But I didn't imagine that it would be so hard to get to know you". Ulfgard looked up. "So tell me, where does your people live?". Ulfgard turned around and his eyes stared into the darkness of the night. "Over there", he replied slowly. "Behind the forrests, in the high mountains." "How comes, we never see you or your villages? There are traders who buy fur and other products from you, but I have never heard someone talking about actually seeing your villages", Brian asked. "We are not living in villages like the people in the planes. Winters are rough and deadly and food is scarce", Ulfgard replied. "We follow the goats over the year. Most of the year, we live in tents and during the winter, there are some more...secured places where we gather over the winter time. But these placed are sacred to our kind and I would advise you not to search for them if you care for your life." With these words, the cat fell silent again and his gaze returned to the fire. "So, why are you down here in the planes?", Brian leant forwards to get a better view of the cats facial expression, but Ulfgard moved his head a bit back and his face wandered completely into the darkenss of the night. "This is a story, I am not going to tell you today". ................... I just returned from bouldering. Not much news, aside of that I think i will manage 2 of three goals this week. I feel tired and a bit lonely right now. I hope I feel better tomorrow. I got a mail from one of the secretaries that they will try to restore my priviliges tomorrow. I hope it does not take too long.

This week is hell. I think, I will not pass the story goal this time, because I do not find much peace right now. Lets summarize, what happened this week: 1. My contract to the university has ended, which means i am cu wrrently unpaid until my new position at the university starts in October. 2. My university account got disabled immediately afterwards, even though access to my e-mail, the buildings, reimbursement system and in general my data on the network is kind of vital to me right now. Especially as I am handing in my thesis soon and have a lot of discussions with my collegues going on over said e-mail account as well as some bureaucratic nightmares. I really do not believe how they can do that without prior warning. 3. My hard disk died and i had to spend a large part of yesterday with saving my data on the smaller SSD. I need to buy a new hard drisk soon. Today I got in my forth mobility exercise and extended it to a proper mobility and balance training. I went to a small area close by with a few rails and a few logs which were positioned such that you can balance and jump between them. That was fun. I am getting annoyed by all the protein I am eating right now. On the other hand, I am not really hungry anymore, so this is maybe a plus.

Neat! I haven't read a book in quite a while. You are really productive! I am seriously impressed by the "rail to tic tac" line you put somewhere in the middle of the text! *scratches you behind the ears*

I am so sorry team, copenhagen is bike city and i do not really feel inclined to do an additional walking/running session after ~20km of biking. So my numbers will be kind of low. Still love all of you <3

I wished, I was hardcore. There is a fine line between genious and insanity, the same holds for hardcore and stupidity But thanks! I will try to be less stupid and more hardcore in the future! @Nymeria I basically suck at everything at parkour. This is okay, I have just started and I know that this is hard for me. Right now, it feels a bit overwhelming at how many aspects I am failing. The worst part right now is everything that has to do with balance (Read: everything). I am searching a nice bar to balance and then I will try to just do a few steps on it every day. or just stand on it. And the other thing is that I am really afraid of hurting myself. But I know that It was the same with bouldering at the start, it is just something completely new and I did not jump in the last 10 years. I have to re-learn how to jump properly and learn what my body can do and what it can't.

Nice to see, that you are starting strong! Keep it p, man! Seriously, one legged push-ups are awesome! very time I read this word, i have to read it again out of pure awe! I still struggle at normal ones!

Wednesday morning. no story update, because I am lazy. Probably tomorrow. So, how is it going? First of all, my scale has greeted me with a smile and 96.0kg which is a new all-time low. I am now probably the lightest I was in 15 years. I am still a fat cat, though. Btw, I haven't decided yet, whether the cat in the story is going to be fat. I think, not. Maybe chubby or something like that. What is the proper word for a person who is slightly overweight, when you do not want to write "slightly overweight"? Yesterday was sports day. I feel so epic, because I left home, saw that its going to rain and did not care about it for a single second and grabbed the bike. It ended with me being SO soaked, that I had a small sea in my shoes. The only pair I had with me. So I did a nice barefoot parkour lesson. Oh the pain. And of course, it was precision day. And of course it was also "we run a small parkour so be prepared to do jumps"-day. Did I say that I suck at precisions, proper landings and am overweight? I also got one of the bar scaffolds in my heels when we moved them. Twice. Ouch! Otherwise, it was nice. I started with doing some mobility, but in the end we did a very extensive leg stretch, so I call it a full mobility day. Our trainers make fun of choosing the stretches that cause most pain. "spread your legs as far as you can. now put your hands behind your backs and scoop your ass slightly forward. Does it hurt? great! now we can start stretching". It hurt so much, it was almost comical. Conditioning was a circle training: 3 sets of push-ups, hanging leg raises, frog jumps, bar jumps and wall jumps. For some reason, I feel sore in the upper back, must be the hanging. Protein input was okay, pass for Monday/Tuesday alas i rely too heavily on protein shakes. But 40g protein a meal is hard! Today I am making Porree-Cheese Soup with soy instead of minced-meat that should easily have 40g.

"Hey, wake up." Ulfgard awoke with the nice feeling of a shoe poking in his back. "I am leaving now, either you hop on, or you can run behind me, it is your choice". Being presented with such options, the sleepy cat stretched his body and uncurled, before standing up. "Uhh...I feel i have slept for ages", he said, while massaging life back in his neck. "He, Brian, do we have breakf-", he stopped mid sentence, being interrupted by the sound of the moving horses and the cart. "Oh Sh...". He grabbed his blanket and sprinted behind the cart, grabbed it in the last moment and pulled himself in. "Good morning", he was greated by a much too happy Brian. "Sit down and have breakfast, we have eggs" Today it is the day. Yes, THE day, not a random day like any other. Today, the challenge starts!

Sounds like you want to continue with the same awesomeness you had at the end of your first challenge

Hej, Great to see that you are still trying to do this while having so much on your hands. I will watch your progress! Cat approves!

Ear scratches <3

I am going to lurk in this topic every now and then

The sun set and the wagon came slowly to a halt. Sitting in front of it was in no way more comfortable than sitting in between the soft wool bags and all of Ulfgards bones hurt from the rocking movements of the cart. He considered asking for a second but figured that Brians knife had a clear opinion on where blind passengers should be sitting. So he gave in and tried to come to terms with the pain in his behind. "We are going to rest here for the night", Brian said. "I hope, you know how to get a fire going", his hands pointed in the direction of a near group of trees and so the snow leopard quickly grabbed some fire wood and shortly after a fire warmed their cold limbs. "So as my...guest", Brian said, " you are going to do three things for me until we arrive in the city. It is rare to see one of your kind so far down the mountains, and even rarer to see one of you speaking our language and heading towards the city. I am sure you have some good stories to tell." "But I am not good with this language, I am not sure I can...". "You will" Brian interrupted. "I don't care how hard it is for you, I can understand you. So please, tell me your story. Otherwise, I assume you can survive on your own out here." Quest Nr.1: Tell your Story. English is hard and I am not very good at it. I get by, but I never really use it creatively and I am constantly searching for words. This has to change and so I want to tell Ulfgards story. Not every day, but two parts a week. I don't care whether it sounds good or is grammatically correct, this is mostly about getting the hang of the language. Goal: Write 12-18 parts over the challenge "Now, there is the second thing, you are going to do. And this more for yourself than for me. You want to be an assassin? You would not survive a single day of their novice training. Heck, I would be surprised if they accepted you within their ranks, let alone that you survive the selection process. I am sure you would be the only assassin, who was beat by a trader and I worry that you are no help, when we are attacked on our trip. So do yourself a favour and get your body in shape." Quest Nr.2: Get into shape. My current workout plan is parkour every tuesday and thursday, bouldering on Sundays. I can shift the Sunday training to Saturday, but the rest is fixed. I want to add a daily mobility exercise as i noticed, that my leg work needs a lot of improvement. A week counts as passed if: 4+ times mobility training 3 times training Challenge grade is A: 6 weeks, B: 5 Weeks C: 4 Weeks Fail: <4 Weeks passed "I agree", Ulfgard said with a low snarling undertone. Does he have another option? He opened his bag and fetched some bread and a bit of cheese out of it and began to eat. "Is this all you brought for this trip? You should know better.", Brian said. "It is cold outside and you will need to take care of your body if you want to improve. No, we are going to eat meat. And you are going to hunt it. I have heart that your kind are excellent hunters and always wanted to see it with my own eyes.". "He looked at the snow leopard and gave him a dark grin, "And i assure you, after a few weeks without fresh meat, I could kill for its taste". Was this guy serious? Ulfgard did not want to try it out, still remembering the feeling of the sharp knife at his throat. Challenge grade is A: 6 weeks, B: 5 Weeks C: 4 Weeks Fail: <4 Weeks passed Quest Nr.3: Proteins for the cat Unlike Ulfgard, I do not eat meet. And I do not hunt either. But I still need proteins and came to the conclusion that I am not eating enough and I am therefore a bit too hungry. My first challenge was on loosing weight. This is about not feeling hungry an giving the body enough protein. My goal are 120g a day, which 1.2g/kg body weight. Goal: eat 5+ days a week at least 100g Protein with at least 3 days >120g. Challenge grade is A: 6 weeks, B: 5 Weeks C: 4 Weeks Fail: <4 Weeks passed "I agree", Ulfgard repeated dimly. "No, this is not enough", Brian insisted. "This is a dangerous journey and I can not worry about turning my back to you. Give me your word as a member of your kind that you are following my orders and are loyal to me what ever might happen, until we reach our destination.". Ulfgard sighed, this is going to be harder than he thought. "I am giving you my word". Brian nodded. And this is, how their journey started.

Ich folge dir auch! You can do it!

There he was, standing on top of the hill. It was icy cold outside. "Winter came early", he said out loud, while his breath formed small steamy clouds in front of his face. He tightened his cloak around his shoulders so that only the the fur on his chest and face was visible. His ears were pointing straight ahead, focussing on some sound in the distance. Even though the blanket of snow muffled the sound of the nature, life in the surrounding villages had yet to die down. The last traders were packing their waggons to leave in the direction of the city, he knew that this was the last chance to leave this place before the passes were closed. He followed an old trail to the largest village in the area and the only sound that could be heard was the crackling snow under his bare paws. Around noon, he reached the village and the smell of animals and goods surrounded him. Most traders have already left and there was only a single large waggon left. He sneaked to it and hid himself inside under a plane in between sacks of wool, the main export product of this area. "At least, I won't be freezing" he thought and shortly thereafter fell asleep, only awoken by the feeling of the moving waggon before he drifted back into sleep again. "Falling asleep is not always a good thing" was his second thought. His first thought was: "This is a very sharp knife at my throat". "What are you doing here?" the trader shouted, with a voice that is not really expecting an answer. "Where do you think, you are going?". Not really sure about the answer, he replied "The city". "And why should I carry you all the way over there? For free? I could just throw you out in the cold!". "Well...", he thought about it as much as the knife allowed it, "This is a long lonely trip...and I have my own food". The old man seemed to think about the answer, before he replied: "Yes, the trip is long. And I think I can not blame you for leaving this godforsaken place. I agree. But do not even think about stealing my stuff" and with these words, the knife vanished in between his clothes. "I am Brian, what do you want in the city?" "I am Ulfgard. I don't really know, I think i will join the assassins guild". "The assassins?", Brian burst out in laughter and his arm touched him, not too gently, at his belly. "Then travelling to the city is only the smallest part of your journey". to be continued

DING Challenge is officially over. So, how did it go? Weight goal: Todays weight 96.2 (last 2 days: 97.3,97.3, 97.9,97.0,96.6,97.0,97.5,96.2). Just taking the difference between today's weight and when i started, I lost 3.5kg in 4 weeks, which is quite okay. Overall since my start on 20th July, I got down from 103kg, so 6.5kg lost. There is surely some water and lean-mass in this, but I guess, I also lost some fat . Giving myself an A here Side Quests: - Get rid of sweets outside of main courses I think, I reduced the amount by 70%. There is the occasional piece of chocolate, but I did not have a single cookie in the last 6 weeks. Bam! B - Carry every day at least 1 banana with your for "oh my god i need something sweet" emergencies managed to do that around 50% of times. The banana did never last long. Have to find a different solution C - Keep your habit of climbing 2-3 times a week(passed with >12 workouts in 6 weeks) I said climbing there because I did not see the possibility of starting parkour. I think, I can exchange climbing sessions freely with parkour though, as it is the same spirit. Never missed a single workout! I did not have a single day where no part of my body was sore in some way. A - At least once a week add additional body workout for pull-up training (inverted rows, assisted pull-ups, passed with >6 workouts in 6 weeks) Did it. A I feel good! Saw myself in the mirror yesterday and had this weird feeling that on the one hand, one can see the progress i have made and how much muscles I got, especially in the shoulder and leg area. On the other hand, I also saw all the loose skin that is hanging around. meh, still progress! My next challenge will be a bit more about healthy living and mobility and less about fat-loss. I will think about that. For now, I have to finish my PhD thesis, which should be roughly before the next challenge starts.

Who is awesome? You are! 9 Pounds and one legged push-ups. I do not know enough english words to describe how awesome exactly this is. Feel like a winner! I hope, you can somehow enjoy your stay at your mother-in-law. I totally understand the guitar tactics, it helped me over some weird family gatherings as well! Also congrats to your "maybe one two day job", I hope it is payed on a consulting level

scales are from hell. really. My thighs burn the exact same way, as when doing the forward fold(thanks for the name...). It is clear, I am not going to be horizontal any time soon...or doing more than 5 with each leg. Ouch.

meow! I just saw that you are also interested in guitar playing. That's awesome! Justin i really good for the start, but I would suggest that you later on try to find more different approaches an see what you like best. At some point a teacher might be a good idea as well - that is my experience after a few years of guitar playing!

I like that approach a lot! I agree, that just doing something because "you might need to use it at some point" prevents you from the progressing in "what you need right now". The problem is, that it is not always easy to figure out, what prevents one from doing something and how to fix it. And sometimes it is not obvious that a lack of mobility prevents one from doing something the right way as the body finds other ways around the mobility issue. I did the exercise you suggested yesterday and then today after my climbing session as part of my work-out. It felt quite good doing it and I have the feeling, that I can already get a little bit easier down than yesterday, even though this could be my psyche playing games with me. However, at least in the third set, I had the impression that i could get down a lot further when doing the squats. I also noticed that the 3x 15 deep-down squats are actually a pretty good workout for certain muscles on the inside of my thighs. Apparently i never really used them before. The only thing I added to the mobility training was the "touch your toes while standing on your straight legs" thingy, but that mostly because I remember we did that during parkour training and I sucked at it. So I guess it is important, otherwise they would not do it. I am not sure though, which exercise I should do afterwards to teach my nervous system about the new ROM.

Thank you for the clear words. I just tried it with assistance and i really got a lot further down (and heels staied on the ground). You are right, that is maybe 5 Minutes top, so I should be able to squeeze it in daily. Should I warm up somehow before doing it? If yes, would it be enough to do it after I am done biking, or would I need something more special? I am asking, because I am trying to find a good anchor point for my daily routine.

"full squat"= "third world squat"? no. I either need quite a wide knee angle or some heel-support because i can not get with the heel to the ground. The situation becomes worse when I can not use my body weight to extend ROM by pushing down. I am fairly new to the parkour thingy and I am still more on the "you are too fat" side of things(97kg@176cm). I think, I lost a lot of mobility/ROM during the past few months of climbing as this developed my muscles a lot while I nearly never go full ROM with my legs during climbing and I NEVER stretched. I remember being able to pull my calves high enough so that my heels touch my buttocks, but I do not seem to be able to do this any more. //edit Otherwise my trainer said that the form was okay, I just need to get my legs higher.