Fenwolfe

I frequent pinterest in search of new workouts or movements and nutrition. Something I have been having fun doing is the superhuman (marvel, DC, etc.) Workouts by Niela Rey. I'm attaching a couple cool ones but they are as endless as the heros (and villains) they're named after!

This isn't my first challenge, it's actually my second, but there was a long gap in between so I decided to post here. There was a lot going on the last few months, but thankfully I've stuck to my fitness goals and am ready to start questing once more! A brief intro: I'm 23 years old, Licensed Massage Therapist and Chiropractic Assistant. 5'9, 139lbs, Not a very big dude Last year I was diagnosed with Ankolosing Spodylitis which is an immune disorder that starts as inflammation of SI joints and progresses to fuse the vertebrae together. The best prescribed treatment for this is a diet low in inflammatory foods and movement. That was when I decided to start Crossfit and it has improved my health by leaps and bounds. I still throw up constantly and crap out on the WoD from time to time, but I go and I push myself to the limit every time! The Big Deal: I'm planning to do battle frog in the middle of the year. I'm going to do the challenge where you do as many rounds of the course as possible. My training begins today! Quest Log Diet: I'm still pretty underweight so my diet goal is to bulk up. I got a Fitbit Surge for Christmas and I've been using that with MyFitnessPal to measure my caloric intake vs output. I have it set at a 2,800 cal goal but I may up that to 3,000 because of how much I burn on a given day. 2,800 is the bare minimum on average. I even ended the new year by consuming 4,000 calories and burning 3,300 with 103 minutes of activity including Crossfit & weight training. I will post links to all of my accounts so others can follow if they wish. I want to end each day with about +500 cal than I expend. Exercise: For this 4 weeks challenge, I decided to go with a minimum of 3 days a week at Crossfit (which I will allow to be supplemented by a 1 hour Barracks workout for 1 day a week, because my schedule is ever fluctuating and I need to stay fluid). I am also going to do 2 hours of yoga a week to keep my muscles healthy and flexible. Financial: My lease is up in June this year and I won't be able to renew. I have 60k in student loan debt with 2 different companies. This is not ideal haha! The goal here is to save up $500 a month until June to be able to afford the move. I need to be able to do this while paying my current bills, including the loans and credit card. I have a good start though! I prepayed all of January's bills last year so I can start saving early. My level up Life Goal: My employer just got us all a great healthcare plan that I plan to use to the fullest. I'm going to get my physical and see a nutritionist to develop a plan to help me bulk up properly and train my body to be the body of an athlete and a ranger! This also includes staying regular with my rheumatologist to control my AS. Sorry for the basic layout of my Challenge but the new year rings in much work and I'm pressed for time. I will not be able to post here much but I will keep my twitter page updated. I will try to link my twitter, myfitpal, and fitbit here when I figure that out!

Congrats on a great challenge. cant wait to see your next theme!

Comgrats on the mian goal! Sounds like you chipped away at those other goals too. Looks like a successful challenge to me

Whelp, I have officially finished my goals for the 6 weeks. The one I saved for last was the 10-1 because it was so daunting. The first time I attempted this I couldn't even make it past the sets of 8. Last night I was able to do it with 6:10 to spare (out of 15min). Thanks to everyone for helping support me through my first challenge. I'm not sure what I will decide to work on the next challenge, but I will probably stay on the path of the Ranger so I will welcome any ideas to fit the role.

MAJOR SUCCESS STORY! First, to catch yo up. The last couple of weeks have been really rough. Getting to the gym was getting really difficult (working 13 hours a day 5 days a week with only one time slot available can burn you out quick). Also, I haven't been getting very good sleep either which has made me lethargic. So i ended up missing 4 straight days (two weeks worth) of the gym, which lead to less stretching and yoga because I hadn't worked my muscles out enough to feel it (plus the lethargy). This lead to alot of aches and more lethargy, which lead to me forgetting to take my vitamins for almost a week now, which has put me in a very poor state indeed. All of this changed today! I had the day off from work because I needed to get blood work done (+2 CON! lol). So I decided to hit the gym early since I had the time. After todays WODs, I walked into the coaches office with a series note in my voice. "Steve, is there any way I can come on Saturdays? trying to do this during the week is really killing me and I'm missing more days than not" I said to him. He looked at me like i was crazy and said "yeah dude, you can come whenever you want. You're cleared with all the foundational movements, the rest is just adding intensity. See you Saturday." I beat my main quest alot earlier than I expected! AS far as I'm concerned this is a conqured challenge. The only set back I suffered was that I didn't grind my calouses down enough and at 21 kipping pull ups the one under my right pinky ripped off, along with an inch of palmar skin. Lesson learned lol.

I know this is almost a year old but knowledge is never too late is it? There are several things you can do, if you haven't already, to increase the ROM and stability of the shoulder joint. First and foremost: potassium, the lubricant the keeps our muscles from seizing up and cramping. A good way to get potash into your system quick is vitacocoa, or some other coconut drink if your prefer. Coconuts have a very high potash content, right before bananas. Next thing I would add (for my patients at least) is therapeutic exercises to help strengthen the joint. Starting with empty handed arm raises and bar hangs (like a dead hang I guess). You can gradually add weight to the reps as your shoulder allows (resistance bands are another great way to do this). Finally, adding fish oil to your supplements can work wonders on joint health. I have sacroiliitis and fish oil helps keep any flare ups from halting my mobility. Hope this helps!

That building to the far left has some bad feng shui. The two to the right look like they're attacking it lol. Random observation The mountains look beautiful though!

I did it! Completed my push up goal (+5 more!) just in time for the 3 week milestone. I've had to overcome a lot of obstacles in the last few days so this is the pick-me-up I need Now I get to level up and give myself some stats. It's like street cred for nerds >

There really are. I have to calculate when I'm going to need yoga, or an extra work out, or tai chi/qi gong, how i'm going to eat, and when I'm going to need ibuprofen. It does make life a little less quetioning though. I don't have to wonder what to do next or if I'm doing enough because I'm constantly having to keep tabs on myself. And yes, now that you mention it, week 2 was especially good because over the weekend I achieved another goal. I did my 50 kb squats in a row without even planning to. I was going to do 50 altogether and found myself just going and going. It got tricky when I got to 35 but with only 15 more to go I couldn't let myself stop. For weekend 3 I'm going to tackle the push ups!

Thanks! I couldn't resist lol. And the whole time I was making it, the Garrison "level up" song was playing in my head lol.

Thanks! I'll live just a minor set back. But I'm back to 4 days without it though!

I have cut most of the inflamming food out of my diet (no more chili )': ) The source of my pain is autoimmune so there's not to much that can be done. The only thing that's helped is working out, which I suppose releases some of the fluid in the area. I have developed a cure for the acute problem. I usually take ib to get rid of the acute pain so that I can move. I use the freedom of movement to exercise and free up that space. A couple days of that usually puts me right. I was just so sure that if I kept up the physical activity it would stay ok.

Sad news everyone, I failed my optional quest. I was in so much pain this weekend that it was draining all of my energy so I broke down and took a couple of Ibuprofen. However, it is not a total loss. With the inflammation down (and my energy subsequently back up) I have been able to move more often and more freely, leading to more exercise and good choices. Yin and Yang, the world is at harmony once more