drsloomis

Thanks! I've been pretty thrilled with the upper body definition I've gotten from the splits--+1" biceps, +2.5" chest, -2" waist. As for the running, right now I'm doing most of it in the morning. I also warm up and cool down with a 5-10 minute light jog each pm. Yeah, wasn't sure about signing up for the Beast, but I figured go big or go home!!! That's the plan for some of them. My brother and I are building a variety of things in my mother's back yard (she doesn't care and my yard is too small), including a peg board, rope climb, and rock wall. There's also a military base in town with a pretty wicked parcourse that we have access to, so part of my next challenge will be hitting the fitness trail at least twice a week. Tracking Goal: Blew day one for a variety of reasons, but tracked everything today. 1:00 1 bowl Chili Mac (see recipe below) 4:00 Quest Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough Protein Bar (Best. Protein. Bars. EVER!) 7:30 Post-workout Protein Shake (Chocolate Almond Milk / USPLabs Whey Protein Blend / 1 tbsp Flax Seeds) 8:00 Bunless Bacon Burger w/ Extra Lean Ground Beef Drinks: 20 oz Coke Zero; 96 oz water; 16 oz water w/ 10g BCAAs Recipe--Chili Mac 1 lb Extra Lean Ground Turkey 3 10oz cans of diced tomatos with green chiles 1 15oz can of low-fat pinto beans 1 cup elbow pasta (I use Ancient Harvest Quinoa Gluten Free Elbows) Workout Goal: Day one was a rest & recovery day, so took it easy. Day two was the following: AM Fit Test for time PM Focus on Chest and Triceps (explanations after deets) Warm Up: 5 min light jog Single Circuit: DB Chest Press 15r@30#; 12r@45#; 8r@60# - 8r@30# Super Circuit: Incline DB Fly / Incline DB Press 15r@22.5# / 15r@30#; 12r@27.5# / 12r@45#; 8r@35# / 8r@60# - 8r@30# Giant Circuit: Close Grip Press / Partial Fly / Decline PU 15r@30# / 15r@22.5# / 20 12r@45# / 12r@27.5 / 20 8r@60# / 8r@35 / 12 Single Circuit: Tricep Extensions 15r@25#; 12r@27.5#; 8r@30# - 8r@20# Super Circuit: Single Arm Kickback / Tricep Pushup 15r@20# / 10 12r@25# / 10 8r@30# - 8r@15# / 10 Circuit for Time (60s): Chair Dips / In & Outs: 50 / 48 Cool Down: 5 min light jog ** circuits are one (single), two (super), or three (giant) moves one right after the other with no break until the end of the circuit ** each circuit is repeated 2-3 times with a 30s rest between repetitions ** circuits are done as pyramid (drop) sets: 15 reps each move @ low weight 30s rest 12 reps each move @ med weight 30s rest 8 reps each move @ high weight (8 reps of last move @ half to two-thirds high weight) ** 60-90 second break between each circuit

I've put my Vibrams through hell and back, and they've always come out just fine. Highly recommended. This challenge I'm doing AM HIIT cardio / runs and PM weight lifting splits with regular rest & recovery days. Yesterday was a rest day, but today I did the following: AM Fit Test for time PM See below...the explanation is after the numbers for anyone interested. Single Circuit: DB Chest Press (pyramid drop set) 15r@30#; 12r@45#; 8r@60# - 8r@30# Super Circuit: Incline DB Fly / Incline DB Press 15r@22.5# / 15r@30#; 12r@27.5# / 12r@45#; 8r@35# / 8r@60# - 8r@30# Giant Circuit: Close Grip Press / Partial Fly / Decline PU 15r@30# / 15r@22.5# / 20 12r@45# / 12r@27.5 / 20 8r@60# / 8r@35 / 12 Single Circuit: Tricep Extensions 15r@25#; 12r@27.5#; 8r@30# - 8r@20# Super Circuit: Single Arm Kickback / Tricep Pushup 15r@20# / 10 12r@25# / 10 8r@30# - 8r@15# / 10 Circuit for Time (60s): Chair Dips / In & Outs: 50 / 48 ** circuits are one (single), two (super), or three (giant) moves one right after the other with no break until the end of the circuit ** each circuit is repeated 2-3 times with a 30s rest between repetitions ** circuits are done as pyramid (drop) sets: 15 reps each move @ low weight 30s rest 12 reps each move @ med weight 30s rest 8 reps each move @ high weight (8 reps of last move @ half to two-thirds high weight) ** 60-90 second break between each circuit

Sheet updated! Let the games begin.

Yeah...I actually started a doubles rotation a couple of months back and really had great success with it. With summer coming up (I'm a teacher), and my spartan beast in November, I've got a great opportunity and short window to really capitalize! Thanks! Good to be back! Doing doubles, but have stripped down my weight workouts significanlty. Focus is on a few moves targeting specific muscle group using pyramid drop sets in one, two, or three move circuits. The result has been a bit of unintended but welcome bulking (see photos). The plan is to cut soon, especially as I move to "functional" training as I get closer to the run. So, my current schedule is still AM cardio / PM weights, though I have 1-2 rest days each staggered throughout the week (oddly enough, tomorrow is a total rest day, so no workouts at all--giving you the head start!). Mar 12 June 1

Holy...crap...!

Sweet...I'm in! I'm currently doing doubles to train, I.e., cardio work (usually jogs / power walks around the quite hilly neighborhood with a weighted vest) in the AM and strength training in the PM. The plan is to combine them next challenge into something that resembles the Spartan WoDs.

Just started House of Leaves by Mark Z. Danielewski. As a high school English teacher, it's tough to find time during the school year to read for fun / me, but with summer starting next week, I'm both attacking the backlog and looking for new recommendations of stuff to read!

On the pull up front, negatives are a great way to make quick progres. Also, if you can get a hold of a pull-up assist or have a gym with an assisted pull-up machine, those are both great ways to build towards an unassisted pull-up. Definition in the stomach area is largely the result of tweaking your diet. Maybe developing a diet / eating goal for number four would give you something measurable that, while not specifically about defining your stomach, is at teh very least extremely closely correlated.

Fortunately, I have a fat kitten laying around here somewhere... Recently joined a gym with a pretty solid collection of kettlebells, and have been talking to a couple of members there about their routines. Definitely following to get more tips as I start in that direction. Food porn's also a good thing!

We're Mudder Buddies! I'm running the Spartan Beast on Nov. 9th, the weekend after you: http://www.spartanrace.com/carolinas-obstacle-racing-the-beast-2013.html We need to come up with some ways to help motivate each other / keep each other honest!

There went my evening!

Right there with you on the maintenance challenge. Maybe we can help keep each other motivated.

Thanks! Good to be back. You know what they say? The more things change... Aw, hellz yeah! Start Monday? The Roku's pretty awesome. The only adjustment so far has been not catching the news, but in the past, it was mostly just background noise anyway (i.e., Today playing in the background while getting ready for work). I do need to figure out a workaround for my Sunday morning Meet The Press / Face The Nation addiction.

Is the group cross-guild? I'm an assassin training for the Carolina's Spartan Beast in Nov!

Serious congrats! Your accomplishments are as impressive as your threads are infromative...looking forward to another eduational challenge!!!

Goal 2 is brutal! As for the Tough Mudder prep, I'm doing a Spartan Beast in November, so I'm prepping like crazy. Looking forwad to following your progress. Which one are you doing and where? I'm running the Carolina Spartan Beast on Nov. 9th!

Still trying to decide which side of the data-driven fence I fall on: my science background compels me to track stuff, but there is a certain reckless appeal to "The Heresy." Definitely going to keep an eye on things to help me decide (as well as steal some of your training to prep for my Spartan Beast in November).

Definitely following. Looking forward to hearing more about Tacfit / Prasara Yoga.

I thought for sure Wolverine would be expecting photos of colorful graphs, being the data hound that he is! Regardless, enjoy the geocahing!

To say that a lot has happened since last I sullied the challenge boards would be an understatement: I've changed jobs (went from Director of Technology at a small private school to English teacher at a huge high school), MSI has released a new album ("...I'm gonna break the english language with my four letter flow..."), and I have officially registered for the Carolinas Spartan Beast, a 12+ mile / 25+ obstacle mud run on Novemeber 9th (anybody want to join me? I've started a team...). That gives me three ("...not one, not two, four's definitely out...") challenges to get ready. As I thought about all the changes that have occurred, I realized that spartan was not only the name of my upcoming run, it was also the perfect theme for this challenge. "Rigorously self-disciplined or self-restrained; Simple, frugal, or austere" With that in mind, my goals are geared towards simplifying / developing self-discipline while building over the next two challenges to get to culminate in my run Nov 9th. Diet - Track everything (WIS +2) Initially, I'm not going to worry about WHAT I'm eating as much as making myself aware of what I'm eating. I'll stil be using moderation and trying to make good choices, I'm just not going to obsess over any specific aspect of my diet. Using the data I collect this challenge, I'll tweak my diet goals next challenge to hit specific targets. Grading will be based on days tracked each week with the weekly grades averaged at the end of the challenge. A = 6-7 days B = 5 days C = 4 days D = 3 days F = 2 or fewer Workouts - 5 per week (STR +3, CON +2) While the focus of the workouts will change dynamically throughout (various combinations of raw strength and functional workouts), as a minimum I'll be shooting for five per week. With two different vacations scheduled for mid-June and early July, this could get tricky. As with the diet tracking, I'll be giving myself a weekly grade then averaging them at the end. A = 5 B = 4 C = 3 D = 2 F = 1 Cardio - 5 per week (STA +3, CHA +2) To count, must consist of 30 min of HIIT or cover a distance of 2 miles. The plan is to vary this a bit to try to get accustomed to unusual terrain / conditions, including off-road, obstacle courses, . Grading will be same as Workouts above. Finances - Begin rebuilding savings by setting aside $300 in a separate account It sounds like a small amount, but the job change was challenging financially for a number of reasons (change in payday, extended time lapse between receiving last check at old job and first check at new job), and really made me painfully aware of how important having a significant cushion can be. There are a number of ways to accomplish this (for example, ditching cable TV...we actually bought a Roku last week and will be returning our cable boxes next week--that alone will save us nearly $200 a month in our budget), but grading the end result seems both easier and more efficient. No weekly grade, just an end grade based on total amount in the account at the end of the challenge. A = $250-300 B = $200-250 C = $150-200 D = $100-150 F = <$100 General goals, but easily quantifiable, and oes designed to get me to where I need to be for the next challenge, then the next, then my run. Looking forward to spending more time in the community after being AWOL for over two months!

Team name is actually "Average Joes"--look for it if you sign up. Also, you can use the code Beast35 to get $35 off registration through the 29th.

Booking a Spartan Beast run for Nov 8 (Carolinas). Would love some company! I'm going to create a Nerd Fitness team, so anybody who can make it, be sure to select join team during registration and find it in the list.

No defection, but no thread either...just lurking. New job is keeping me pretty busy initially (not to mention the school filter won't let me on the forums), so I decided to sit this one out and come up with some kick ass goals for the summer challenge--especially now that I have summers completely off!

That's if the **parent** drinks, and it doesn't so much cure them as help you get through them with some small semblance of sanity left.

Loving the chaossian (sp) movement and activity! Sorry I'm not participating!!! As for "get it done" workouts, I'm a big fan of them in the sense that they're better than nothing. Keep at them and they quickly turn into a habit that then becomes "kicking ass and taking names" workouts.