AshPhoenix

I was out for a workout because of wrist numbness from what I do for Ebay work. The reason for that is over and done with now and I'm back in action. Same again... hmmm Ebay: $643.37 of $3500 I'm adding trainer bike time and looking at my options for higher weights at lower reps/sets now that my body is catching up to me. I'll check in at the end unless something major changes. It's all ditto marks for me lately and that doesn't make for a good read.

Same as before. Completed in just over an hour while pressed for time. Ebay: $422.19 of $3500 I'm doing this one kind of late at night because I was getting cooking advice from my mom since I lack the training to make a proper breakfast each morning. I aim to change that.

Lifts: DL-115, BP-90, SQ-35, BC-35, OP-35 reps/set: 12 Sets: 8 (ssame 16 on set 8 for the 100 total) Ebay: $307.21 of $3500 Recovery between sets is a lot faster. Heart rate isn't pegging out as often.

Lifts: DL-115, BP-90, SQ-35, BC-35, OP-35 reps/set: 12 Sets: 8 (set 8 was 16 reps per to round out the 100) Ebay: $228.72 of $3500

I reduced my weights a bit and didn't get 100 reps. I got 4 sets in before I ended up busy for the rest of the night. That's more than my usual workouts, though. Deadlift: Bar + pair of 35s = 115lbs Bench Press: LW bar + pair 25s + pair 10s = 90lbs Squat: 35lbs + body weight Bicep Curls: 35lbs Overhead Press: 35lbs This might be where I build from. Deadlift was really only challenging because I'm not using straps unlike before when I was maxing in the 300s. Bench Press is fine now. I feel myself having to put more effort into later sets to do the full 12 reps, but I don't see myself failing to complete sets. Squat with bodyweight would even be enough for me right now, but the added 35 doesn't hurt. Bicep curls were one where I could never gain ground in the past. I think I was trying to do too much too soon while not being able to do it long enough. My biceps actually ache this time around. Overhead press is one where I knew I'd have to use a lighter weight. It turned out the ceiling does interfere, but only with the use of large plates on my bar. I have a pair of 25s that just barely work. Between those and my other smaller standard plates, I coukd go all the way up to 175 without new equipment. Heart rate: I was holding incredibly high. I saw 180 a lot and held the 160s almost the whole time. I may need to add time on the trainer bike just to get my heart used to this sooner. That seems like more of a bottleneck for me than anything else now. Pain: I'm functional. I actually feel more solid if that makes any sense. Emotional: There are still parts of me wondering if I'm sabotaging other things by doing this. I'm not sure if the results of all this are going to attract the wrong kind of people. Consider the rich man or the large-chested woman; neither is sure if the person they're with is with them only because of what they have. I don't mind being respected for the work I'm putting in. I just don't want my body to be anything more than an icebreaker when it comes to relationships. I wonder if Spezzy had to deal with that very thing, actually.

Hi. The 100 reps is part round number and part me knowing that's what I can apply in my daily life. I'm mostly trying to get a bead on things since going for what I could do at 4 sets of 10 reps was ultimately not cutting it so I'm trying a new approach that hopefully won't leave me useless the next day unlike the last one. Explosive power is cool, but I don't find myself ripping doors off of burning cars. I'd rather be able to help a friend move to a new house without feeling dead for a week after the event. And since it has happened before, being able to do all that while having enough reserve to defend such a friend against a psycho ex would be nice. The rage of seeing someone close to me get physically hurt wasn't enough to drive me. I worry about whether I could do what's physically required of me in such situations so I want practical strength and endurance, not the stamina of a flashtube.

Well something was wrong with me last night. I did lift, but not as much as I had thought I would due to time constraints and being exhausted. Oddly, Three sets of 12 reps is almost my former normal workout of 4 sets of 10, but the weights are a lot lower this trip. I figured this would work: Deadlift: 45lb bar + pair of 45lb plates = 135lb Squat: 15lb bar + pair of 10lb plates = 35lb+bodyweight (I don't have a spotter so I'm super careful) Benchpress: 20lb bar + pair of 45lb plates = 110lb Bicep Curl: Same setup as Squat Overhead Press: Didn't try it yet, but want to add it. The weird attic ceiling in the home gym may prevent doing it. Aussie Pullups: These might be a good substitute for the real deal since I don't have any bar that will hold me. I spent what I believe to be way too much time creating my original post in this thread when I should have been lifting. I don't like distractions. I'm not the real me yet, I see a way to change that, and I can't afford injury. Since I am normally weaker the day after a workout and I do feel DOMS coming on, I'm dropping the weights back to make dead sure I can complete my 100 reps per exercise goal even just as a test with the weights to be raised later. I'll figure that out and post my results here later today.

I'm a dysfunctional human android ranger in desperate need of crisis mitigation maintenance overdue for years. I'll list my lifts later. I'm 5'10, 208lbs in skivvies. Goals: Complete 45 minutes of either lifting or trainer bike cardio per day, every day - If the lifting doesn't raise my heart rate into the 140s, it doesn't count Make a solid $3500 net on Ebay without missing a workout. 7 hours of sleep per night, minimum. - And no leaving all the house lights on before crashing out. Level up: Push through all the bummed out feelings that have gotten in my way in the past. - This has been the biggest roadblock. Old habits die hard. Oh yeah, and screw distractions. Workout first, other stuff later. I've got a home gym. Freeweights and a trainer bike. I've got a heart rate monitor. I'd rather be doing my workout right now because I hate typing while watching my heart rate drop and I need to be up at 3AM to prep for work. Rangers should be able to function the next day after a workout and should be able to at least shower off instead of collapsing on the living room carpet, covered in sweat only to wake up with a truckload of new zits. I'm wanting to do 100 reps each of deadlift, squat, benchpress, and bicep curls. 12 reps per set (I know that's 96 after eight sets) for now. I don't know what weights I'll be able to do for that many yet. I need to go lift before I run out of time.

Race: Human Cyborg, Technomage subtype - I utilize technology very heavily, hence, I have not been weight-optimized or performance tuned and, while potential for versatility exists, hardmounts and option sockets are saddled with dead weight to the extent that distinct problems can't even be identified. This first six-week challenge round is meant to be a catch-up phase where I make an attempt, in only three weeks, to get back up to my former performance levels during the point in time where all I had any amount of control over was my physical fitness level. The first half of this round of the challenge was spent taking care of the Wall-E environment I find myself in, i.e. surrounded by garbage and transient emotional baggage. I was building the runway, if you will. The second half is where I make this ridiculous mad dash. My ramp-up goals: 1. Regain my former strength levels. I haven't even tested myself yet to see where I stand on that front, but when I was last deep into training, I could bench 150lb for ten reps with a 210lb 1RM, deadlift 255lbs for ten reps with a 335lb 1RM, and squat 110lbs for ten reps. That's a low weight for squat and that's because I was being safe since I don't have a spotter or a power cage. Getting the weight up and over my head was often the limiting factor. 2. By the end of this challenge: get 8 hours of sleep per night and no snooze button in the morning. This is crucial. I have to wake up at 3AM in order to be at work on time under every scenario. This means I have to be asleep by 7PM. Making gradual adjustments is the only way this can be sustainable. My litmus test for this is whether the house lights are still on when I wake up. For two years now, I've been running myself ragged. 3. In these remaining two weeks, do $5000 worth of Ebay item prep and listing work. My original goal was to clear $3000 in sales for the six weeks, but that's likely to be blown out of the water and offers no challenge anymore. Level-up Goal: House absolutely clean. I call this benchmark "Girlfriend-Ready". I moved in three months ago and coming home from work each day to such chaos was overwhelming and has taken a huge toll on my social life. I took two weeks off from work in order to get most of this handled and that was successful, but there's still a week of spare time work left to do. At the moment, I'm restricted by an overfilled trash can, but trash day is tomorrow. Having an environment devoid of clutter is a new thing for me. As something of a mad scientist, I am often at the eye of the storm, but my life doesn't work very well like that anymore. It's a chessgame crossed with a jigsaw puzzle. The biggest problem I have is my ideas and thoughts are derailed the moment I enter the house and see the work remaining to be done. This is brute force work now. The next round is the crucial one for me. It was February 25, 2011 that my now ex-wife left after the better part of a decade together. After that long of being regarded as little more than a prime mover and power source, rediscovering my sense of self was awkward and traumatic. Still is. I don't know what I'm getting into here. Like any other troubleshoot and repair job, I mostly have to figure out what's not the problem before I can go in-depth with anything. I'm not the real me until I've fixed this damage. To "be yourself" is impossible when you don't know who you are.

Thank you, everyone. I'm sure I'll be sticking around. After ramping up my deadlift weight to see where I reach a challenge, I found that 180lbs is a true challenge for me. Oddly enough, it's not so much because of the weight, but because of what the bar is doing to my palms. I need calluses. My bench weight is still 100lbs for now. I didn't have to rest as long between sets versus last time, though. I haven't done squats again yet. I need to, though. Actually, I think I'll take care of that right after I post this.

5'10" tall 198lbs 22.8% BFP (via electrical, not caliper) Targeting May 28 *sizing you up like a Spartan hoplite*

My name is Derek. I'm a 31 year old, divorced, single dad, gamer, hacker, general tinkerer and I currently live in North Logan, Utah. I'm quite the active person by nature and it would seem I went astray 2003 when I got married to a woman who isn't active in the least and views all exercise as a chore. That, however, has changed since she left in February and our divorce was finalized in April. She was around 170 when we were dating and ballooned up to 210 rather quickly after we were married. During pregnancy with our only child, she peaked at 270 and held around 250 for the next four years, dropping weight to about 220 with amphetamine diet pills before she left. The heaviest I've ever been is 225lbs in January of 2010. My pattern was one of losing weight during the standard New Years Resolution phase and into springtime, hovering at whatever I dropped down to until the weather turned cold again, at which point I’d pack weight on starting around Halloween. I was trying to stave off an early death that claims the men in my family with a heart attack around 55 to 60 when they’re fat (I almost didn’t get to meet my grandpa and he was the one who got me started with Electronics). It didn’t help that I’d get browbeaten by the spouse because my progress made her feel bad about her body, though I’m sure part of it was due to the amount of time it took for my workouts... workouts of the length I needed to burn off the meals I ate (she was a great chef of all the wrong foods). The most fit I’ve ever been is after a summer just riding my bike when I was 15. This was in 1995. I ended the summer realizing I had a sixpack and massive shoulders (I was accused of wearing shoulder pads) at 115lbs and 5’10†tall, same height I am now. I’ve wanted to get back to that ever since, but with more muscle. I was fast and powerful, but I was wiry. Well, with my life having completely changed, this year is already different. While I would normally be around 215 this time of year, based on six prior years of data, I'm 197 at the moment and completely disregarding the scale for a while since I started lifting and jumped into the Paleo nutrition approach (flour tortillas (I pack them so full I need a paper towel as structural reinforcement) and freshgrind peanut butter are my only exceptions for now (I’m a big fan of almond butter, but it’s expensive so I don’t buy it as much)). I already no longer snack like I used to. I have a recumbent exercise bike that I used to put two hour sessions into. I’m considering switching to interval training on that, but lifting is more appealing for now. For weights, I have a Smith rack with row, butterfly and pulldown cable rig and 250lb of plates. I only use the Smith portion of the machine for benchpress because of the safety spotters. I also have an Olympic bar and dumbbells with 37.5lb worth of plates each. Right now, I can do: 5 pull-ups or 5 chin-ups a set 100lb benchpress (80lb of plates on the 20lb Smith bar) for 4 sets of ten reps 150lb deadlift (I could do more, but I’m being cautious) for 4 sets of 10 reps 55lb(ttl) Squats (Just starting out with that. Cautious with my knees) It’s cold here in Utah right now. I’m pretty much stuck indoors for the next few months so I’m making the most of my cocoon phase with bodybuilding and just getting my life in order. I’m sick and tired of being sick and tired, basically. I need to be a role model for my child, not a roll model. And I’d like to find a special someone eventually so I need to make sure it’s me a potential mate sees, not the weakling I turned into. My goal is to be at least as strong as the girls in Sucker Punch had to be. The idea of Jena Malone (she played Rocket in Sucker Punch), my celeb crush, being able to deadlift 300lbs is just amazing. I _have_ to measure up to that standard. I want that by my daughter’s birthday at the end of June. By the way, is there a way to have my username changed to RocketPhoenix?

http-~~-//www.youtube.com/watch?v=dbjYLNxCwZ4 lyric blocks and how I interpret them Feels like your life is over Feels like all hope is gone You kiss it all away Maybe, maybe This is a second coming This is a call to arms Your finest hour won't be Wasted, wasted 2011 has been a shitstorm for me. Divorce, my mom's cancer coming back with a vengeance, etc. I could have thrown in the towel, but I toughed it out. I've yet to have my finest hour. When that time comes, I'll be ready and I'll survive it. Hey, Hey Hell is what you Make, make Rise against your Fate, fate Nothing's gonna keep you down Even if it's killing you Because you know it's true Nobody but me is to blame for my current state. It's up to me to fix it. Listen up, Listen up There's a devil in the church Got a bullet in the chamber And this is gonna hurt The body is a temple. The "devil in the church" is all the stuff that holds us back. The bullet in my chamber is a combo of nutrition and exercise. And, yes, it's going to hurt to make the change. You got your hell together You know it could be worse A self-inflicted murder Maybe, Maybe You say it's all a crisis You say it's all a blur There comes a time you gotta Face it, face it In my family, being fat is a death sentence. You are either strong and lean or your heart gives out in your 50s. There's no use running from the facts. I'm doomed to repeat history if I don't take heed.