NukeTheUnicorns

Week 2 Had a really long week. Finals were bringin' me down. Handstands are seeing improvement, though it's kind of unpredictable. Some days are awesome and some are terrible. Dunno if I'm gonna make my squat goal, unless I schedule a max effort week somewhere in the next 4-5 weeks. I think I can probably advance my levers, but the planche is gonna be a pain. I attempted a tuck planche and it was a MF. I'ma have to work on dat shoulder strength. Been getting great sleep 5 out of 7 nights per week, and even when I'm getting terrible sleep it's at least 7+ hours, so that's good! Been pretty good with the budget. This week I had to buy a lot of supplements and other stuff I ran out of, which tends to bump up my bills a little, and yesterday I totally blew my budget. My girl and I just got back together, and her mom had surgery yesterday, so to cheer her up we got hot dogs, ice cream, and Chinese food, as well as seeing a movie and filling up my car. Cost me an arm and a leg, but it was totally worth it. Will tighten up from now on. Overall, I'd say it's been an okay week. If I hadn't been so stressed from school it would have been way better, but what's one to do?

A few things: If you're doing pull-ups, then dumbbell rows are kind of unnecessary. Pull-ups and BW inverted rows work your back and biceps way more efficiently than dumbell rows will. You could substitute inverted rows for better results. However, if you like doing dumbbell rows, then by all means do 'em! I'm just saying there are better ways to get strong. Tricep push ups are to push ups as dumbbell rows are to pull-ups. Fine, but ultimately unnecessary. Consider adding an additional leg exercise. All I see now are squats. Try some lunges in addition to that. Your routine looks pretty decent to me, though. For future reference, a good formula for crafting a routine is: 2 Pushing exercises (1 vertical, 1 horizontal) 2 Pulling exercises (1 vertical, 1 horizontal) 2 Leg exercises (1 push, 1 pull ideally, but there aren't a ton of BW leg exercises that work your pulling muscles, aside from sprinting) You have: Vertical Push: Dumbbell press Horizontal Push: Press-ups Vertical Pull: Pull-Ups Horizontal Pull: Rowing Push Legs: Squat Pull Legs: Nothin', but like I said, that's a hard void to fill.

My take is that there is nothing you can get from P90X/Insanity/whatever other hundred dollar DVD program that you can't get for free from a well structured routine that combines sensible amounts of resistance training with a healthy dosage of HIIT and maybe a bodyweight circuit once per week.

Oh whoops. Missed the "my goals are..." Okay, so you wanna lose fat. That will be mostly related to your diet. What do you want to be able to do in terms of strength? Is there anything concrete toward which you're working?

What are your goals?

Exactly. Decide where you wanna be and be there. If you ever change your mind, we'll be here.

Return it to its mother.

I wish Civil War could happen. Unfortunately, that won't be possible unless Marvel re-acquires the Spider-Man rights from Sony and the X-Men rights from 20th Century Fox. However, now that Marvel is owned by Disney, one of the most profitable companies in existence, that could certainly happen. That being said, I wouldn't want to see a Civil War movie until there were at least a few more Avengers movies that serve to further flesh out the universe the films seek to create.

Flat tummies come from: 1. A reduction in body-fat through proper nutrition 2. Building a strong core with squats, deads, pull-ups, push-ups, and core specific work like planks. Number 1 will be the most crucial.

Bodyweight movements can get you strong, as long as you're willing to be flexible with your definition of strength. A body that can squat 500 pounds is strong. A body that can crank out 50 pull-ups is also strong, as is one that can perform one-arm pull-ups, planches, gymnastic ring dips, and handstand push-ups. There is no one objective standard to what "strength" really is. It fluctuates from person to person, and it depends on skill level, training history, and goals. A few ways one can get strong through bodyweight training: As Phi said, changing leverage. There's a world of difference between a push-up and a push-up with one arm slightly elevated off the floor. Training for muscular endurance. Sounds counter-productive, but it worked for me at least. For a while, I was doing nearly 50 pull-ups and 100 dips in a training session (not all in one set, mind you). I increased my max dips from 18-25 and my max pull-ups from 9-15 in about four weeks. Then, I decided to try finding my 1RM for weighted dips and pull-ups. I found that I was able to perform dips with an additional 75 pounds of resistance, and pull ups with an additional 50. That' not a ton, but after only two months of training those particular exercises with any sense of seriousness (previously, I had been doing mostly push-ups and mostly sucking at pull-ups). That being said, if you have access to a barbell, there's no sense in not integrating bodyweight and barbell training to have a solid body. Decide your goals and do whatever it takes to work toward them. Maybe you want to squat 225, perform a one-arm push-up, deadlift 315, and perform a free standing handstand. You can absolutely create a training program that will accomodate all of these goals, and you will often find that training for one will compliment the training for another. The link to Stephen Low's article is a good place to start, as is his book, Overcoming Gravity.

Tripods count as an attempt, and you get 1 second per attempt

Depends on your goals. What do you want out of training?

Hey guys! Sorry I've been so MIA these last few days. It's finals week so that's kinda pre-occupying everything for me right now. Anyway, how was everyone's first week of the challenge? Mine was okay, but not the best it's ever been. The first half of the week was great, but I've been feeling super groggy and cranky and overall sick these past few days, which has been kind of a bummer. On a positive note, I've been tweaking my handstand form and it's been making things a lot better, and I've been practicing every day. Can't complain about consistent improvement How are y'all?

A man owes a girl three lives. I love this man.

Good afternoon, Assassins! Our guild is in need of a slogan, a motto, a creed, something that will let people know what we're all about. We had a thread with suggestions this week, and we have narrowed the list down to see what everyone thinks. Vote for your favorite, and soon, we will have a kick-ass slogan for our guild! Couldn't fit option ten in the poll, but here it is: Option 10: All mankind is divided into three classes: those that are immovable, those that are movable, and those that move

Haven't gotten my packet info yet, but I'll post it here when I do

I have a pair of Mizuno Hattori's. Minimalist, but pair 'em with a nice sock and you should be okay for the winter!

Happy to put you in Squad A. PM me with the link to your challenge thread and I'll hook you up.

Could not agree more

Squats and deads, son. This is my new favorite thread ever, by the way. Cheers.

Holy shit, I just had the worst workout ever. Last week I was able to DL 4x225. This week, I couldn't even do 1x235. Then, I could barely manage 5 pull-ups with 25 pounds added. And you know what? I'm super stoked about it. The bad workouts make the good ones all that much better. Today taught me exactly what I need to fix and what needs work, so next week I'm gonna come back stronger and better than ever. Look out, deadlifts, I'm coming for you.

Nice job so far. Keep it up. And KimPossible is right. A cat is an assassin's best friend.

Nice signature

My traps are starting to look pretty huge from all this handstanding...can't complain. B-)

Hi Keinan! You'll be in Squad B with me. Welcome aboard.