Photobrandon

Greetings all! SpecialSundae is coming from Scotland and is going to be competing at the Commonwealth Powerlifting Championship in Richmond BC on 12/2/15. If you are free please go cheer her on! http://www.commonwealthpowerlifting.com/ After she sets all the records she will be in Seattle to see our city and meet some of the wonderful NF community here on Tuesday December 8th. Seems like a good excuse for another overdue meetup! So I'm posting this early to see if we can herd some cats and make this thing happen Date: Tuesday December 8th Time: TBD (Probably 5-8PMish) Location: TBD (In/near Seattle) The tentative plan is to do a meet and greet dinner/potluck at her rental apartment &...unsure from there. Will update as we get things fleshed out more and a better idea of how many people plan to attend. Hope to see you all there!

We are moving and getting rid of almost everything we own (anyone collect comics by chance, btw?) over the next few weeks, so really not sure we have time to squeeze this in, but I'm going to try to get ahead on things and at least make an appearance. Also I wouldn't worry too much about bringing games, they have quite the library there to borrow for free. Grecoair: I might toss some PM's to people who expressed interest in this thread but haven't responded. It should give an alert to their e-mail so there is a better chance of them seeing this event and making it. Like you said, its cheaper with more people. And more fun! Also kudos for taking the lead on this, like I said earlier I'll get something planned down the line as well when life calms down a bit.

Good to see all of the new Nerds in the area! I'm the new father that was mentioned earlier in the thread. It'll be a while before we have a social life again, but I do look forward to meeting you all down the line =) Just wanted to throw out that based on past experience the best way to actually make a meetup happen, is for someone to take the initiative to pick a date/time, make a reservation for it, and get the word out. If you guys wanted to do cafe mox someone should probably call and find out the first Sunday they have an open room, make the reservation, and report back. Gasworks park or the Ballard Locks are also nearby if you guys wanted to do an in a park workout before the board games, but this time of year that is likely to be a very wet experience =) Third place books in Lake Forest Park is another potential option for a meetup. The group may divide over a couple of tables if too many people show up, but it is free, has an ok food court, and is a neat book store. People would have to bring their own games, but with this crowd I highly doubt that'll be a problem. Crazymags can always pick things up from our library to bring as well. When life settles down I'll see about getting something setup for maybe April or so as well. We are also planning on a lot of hiking this summer, wouldn't mind some company on those =)

Stumbled across a browser based 4X game recently and thought it might be a fun game to play with some other nerds. Found a few people in chat interested in checking it out, and thought I'd link it here too. I like it because things span out over the course of weeks and it shouldn't require super frequent logins to keep up. 1-2 times a day for like 10 minutes seems to be more than sufficient. So unlike other 4X games that consume my life at the expense of everything else this one should be pretty manageable =) Will likely be starting a new game later this week, but you are allowed to do 2 games at once as a free player so if you are interested sign up and try out a game to learn the ropes =) http://triton.ironhelmet.com/game If interested let me know here so I know how big of a game to create and when to start it

I was just curious if there were any Deadman's Cross (ios/androind game) players here, or anyone interested in the game. I would much rather trade with people here than randoms in game, and have handful of 4-star cards I could trade to anyone who is new/struggling for cheap. Also, word of advice for newer players: Save your better Boosts (+30/+100) for your first 5-star card or to trade to get 4/5 star cards. I wasted a ton on my first 4-star and am very close to not even having it in my deck anymore. And after a certain point in the game you kind of stop getting these at any decent pace outside of trades. Invite code for anyone who doesn't play but wants to check it out: ZNS3V69 Hope to find a few other players out there =) ~Brandon

For anyone making this that hasn't contacted me the room is reserved under my name (Brandon) and i'll be checking this periodically as the afternoon rolls on

Wow how time flies! How is this already less than a week away? Anyways, this is still on, but it seems like we've had a reduction in number of people coming. Part of me wants to cancel the venue and just host this at my place, but going to keep it for now. If anyone has any updates on whether they are still coming or not that'd be helpful. No need to stay the whole time either. Would really love to meet some of the nerds in the area I've not met yet, even if its brief =) Also, not sure what weather will be like, extended forecast looks ok, who'd be up for frisbee in the park or something beforehand? I took some time off of work this coming weekend for this and some other stuff (first hike of the Season with the wife on Sunday), so I've got all day. If anyone needs any more information on anything please ask here, or PM me. Feel free to PM me for my number as well, if you'd like it for day of reasons or whatnot. Look forward to seeing you all soon! Brandon

Hello and welcome Carlee! Congrats on what you've accomplished so far, even with a setback. Which you didn't let stop you or get you down, so that's pretty awesome. There are lots of exercises you can do with dumbbells. Bench press, overhead press (I recommend standing though), squats, goblet squats, lunges, split squats, & rows are all great exercises. There are plenty of others as well, if there was a barbell exercise you wanted to do I'm sure someone here could find a pretty effective variant that you can do. As far as machines, I'd stay away from the smith machine for much aside from inverted rows, but anything that uses cables which requires you to stabilize can be safe/effective. The biggest issue with most machines is they move on only one plane, which is not how your body is meant to move, so it tends to lead to imbalances that can become injuries as time goes on. Even then, they can still have their place, but best avoided as a general rule. As far as lifting heavy and rep range, there are probably lots of people that will tell you different things. Do keep in mind that you can do as much damage lifting moderately heavy for high reps as you can lifting heavy for low reps, form is everything, and listen to your body. That said, I'm usually a fan of lifting a bit heavier for lower reps (I love 5x5 programs) but if you aren't comfortable with that (which is completely understandable given previous injuries) what you are doing is actually just fine. Or 4 sets of 8 if you wanted to go a bit heavier. Regardless, your goal should be to get stronger and get heavier as time goes. Hope any of the above is helpful. I make no claim to being an expert, so I'm sure someone out there has better advice, but hopefully thats enough to get you started.

Ok, looks like Saturday, February 22nd is the day. It appears someone has both rooms reserved from 7pm on, so for now I'll reserve from 1pm-6: whatever time they kick us out for the next group. I will update the first post with this info as well. So far in attendance we will have: Photobrandon + wife Crazymags + husband MeaganMaria Clawed_Bear Jonesy With at least 3 other maybes that responded in this thread. I'll reserve the Red room for now (up to 12 people) but if we get much more interest I'll grab the other room as well. If anyone above is bringing any additional peoples let me know as well. Also if anyone coming is under 21 please let me know, since that will determine the alcohol policies with the rental

Oh they have shelves of games free for any customer to use. We'll be all set on that front =) Also a good place to visit if you just wanted to check out a new game. Sit down, order a hard cider, and pick a game off the shelves to play!

Figured I might spam this here, to ping the people in the current thread. Figure new year approaching so a new thread might be in order =) http://rebellion.nerdfitness.com/index.php?/topic/41003-seattle-meetup-2014/#entry811501

Alright, the next Seattle Meetup will be on Saturday, February 22 at Cafe Mox (http://www.cafemox.com/) from 1pm - 6pm(ish) for board games, drinks and nerdy fun! We will have the Red Room reserved (and possibly both rooms if we get more interest). Any and all are welcome, our list of confirmed people is as follows: Confirmed: Photobrandon Crazymags + husband MeaganMaria Maybe: Jonesy TheKingofLame Bear/Brometheus List will be updated as any other people confirm they are coming. After 4 more I'll reserve the second room, so we have space in case of any surprise attendees or last minute peoples wanting to come. I'd rather have too much room than have to turn someone away. We still have time to get the room(s) for earlier as well if we wanted more time, but another group has both rooms from 7pm onwards. If anyone has any game requests let me know. Not many games support quite as many people as are already coming, so we will likely have a few different ones running at the same time. I'll post rule PDF's for some of the likely contenders as we get closer to the event, for those who like to read up on things like that ahead of time. Let me know if anyone has any questions. Or if anyone wants to pitch in and help organize. Original Message: Well, the last meetup we had here was back in August, I think it might be time for another one. I was thinking either the last weekend of February or the first weekend of March, to be in between the big Dallas Meetup in January and Emerald City Comicon at the end of March. I've attached a poll as to which day works best for people, and it should be possible to pick multiple days if more than one option will work for you. As for the event, I was thinking of renting a room (or two, depending on interest) at Cafe Mox and nerding it up with some board games! http://www.cafemox.com/rooms/ Pretty low key I know, but I like low key =) Open to other ideas if anyone has something better. If we do go with Cafe Mox we'll likely need to have a date picked out by the beginning of January, since they tend to book up pretty far out. I look forward to seeing what everyone thinks!

If you are open to dairy, a gallon of whole milk is 2400 calories. So half a gallon a day + dinner would make up your deficit. I had the same problem as you do, and that has really been the only way I've been able to consistently get my calories in on my bulk (up about 22lbs so far this year). Also, a tbsp of olive oil is 120 calories, pretty easy to add it to your veggies or just down a spoonful here and there. And as mentioned, nuts are a good high calorie snack. Lots of ways you can sneak in extra calories.

I have a bioimpedance scale, and although it seemed pretty internally consistent when I was dropping a bit of weight last year, since I started my bulk this year it seems the scale has gone a little wonky. I feel like it assumes that above a certain weight (somewhere around 195lbs) for the height I programmed in (6'2") that everything extra is fat. I actually tested this by weighing myself normally, then weighing myself holding objects of various weight and the bodyfat % went up accordingly. I just realized now that 195lbs is where a BMI chart would move me from the normal to overweight category, so it could have something to do with that.

If there is still room I'm very interested in joining. My D&D experience is with 2nd edition exclusively, still have all of my books, and have been wanting to join a play by post game for a couple of months now. I can easily do the 2 posts per week minimum, have hours and hours of downtime a night at work so will likely be playing from here. As far as class I'm pretty open to just about anything the group needs. I tend towards caster classes but happy just playing. PMing my e-mail to you Gainsdalf =)

I usually recommend real food before supplements, so my first suggestion would be to look into incorporating more eggs into your diet. They are cheap, tasty, filling, ~8g protein each and not terribly high in calories (80-90 calories an egg). As far as veggies, most green veggies are decent in protein content, a bunch of Spinach on average has about 8-10g of protein as an example, and its an easy veggie to sneak into most recipes. Sprouted beans are also a decent option, albeit not paleo. If you are including dairy, cottage cheese is an amazing option as well (25g of protein per cup). In regards to choosing a protein powder, I do recommend sticking with non-flavored ones that are just protein. As I take mine post workout I prefer something fast acting like Whey Protein Isolate. http://www.amazon.com/Foods-Whey-Protein-Isolate-Pounds/dp/B0013OWAB4 is what I'm using currently. Its 25g of protein per 28g scoop, so not perfect but good enough for the price. Caesin is an alternative to Whey if you wanted something more slowly absorbed (good before bed). As far as non-dairy protein powders, I'd avoid soy personally (I don't trust non-fermented soy products), but hemp is ok I suppose. It will usually be only about half protein by volume (30g scoop = 15g protein) with the rest being mostly fiber. Similar to Caesin it will be slower absorbing. Upfront it looks a bit cheaper, but per gram of protein you do end up spending a bit more due to the fiber content. That said, if you have lactose intolerance or bloat issues with Whey this is probably your next best bet. Edited to fix link

Well, today after doing a very through warmup and some good stretching, I did some range of motion and movement pattern testing to figure out what I can work normally, what I can work deloaded and what I need to avoid for a while. This proved to be pretty enlightening, and I'm pretty sure I figured out how I injured my shoulders. First the results (only including exercises that actually involve the shoulders to some degree): No pain: Horizontal pulling, Romanian deadlifts Minor pain: Vertical pressing, vertical pulling, standard deadlifts, front plate raises, upright rows Moderate pain: Pullovers Severe pain: Horizontal pressing, curls, cleans The cleans surprised me, but I knew from the last time this injury surfaced that horizontal pressing would be a no go for a bit. I do heavy cleans very frequently (no squat rack at home so I clean the weight into place), pretty much doing 4 x 1RM on leg day, and looking at my log this injury did resurface right after leg day. And I distinctly remember having bad form in returning the weight to the ground on my last set that day. So my conclusion from all of this is: it is time to pony up the dough for a squat rack and find a spot for it at home. This is still a cheaper option long term than joining a gym, and I love the convenience of working out at home. After my testing I did a fairly decent workout given my limitations. It'll likely take me the rest of the challenge if not longer to recover from this, but by then I should hopefully have my squat rack. In the meantime I focus on recovery and rehab!

And I've missed you in chat. But glad you are getting to bed at a decent hour. Sleep is important! How was Phoenix?

It seems I'm overdue for an update! Goal 1: Eat more! This is going well, right about in line with my goal. I've started adding creatine to my recovery drinks again, so it is possible that some of my gain is in fact just extra water retention, but as long as I'm moving the scale in the right direction and getting stronger, I'm happy. Goal 2: Avoid Injury! Umm...failure! I've somehow reinjured my right shoulder/rotator cuff. This was a problem spot for about a month prior to this challenge, had been going well, then one morning it felt as bad as it did at its worst last month. I have been pretty dang diligent about my warmups, stretching and cool downs, and don't feel I hurt it during a lift, but am back into rehab mode. I actually ended up not lifting today (leg day) because I didn't want to clean the weight up for squats. Instead I ended up throwing on an old P90X dvd and did the plyometric workout, focusing on depth of movement for all of the squat and lunge portions of the work out. Not the type of training I normally do, so it kicked my butt in its own way, and was a nice rest for the shoulder. Goal 3: Stay focused! I missed one workout last week and changed my workout today to rest my shoulder, but otherwise have been following the program well 3x a week. Been making good progress on my lower body lifts, which actually seems to have more to do with improving my lower back strength than my leg strength. Probably would have hit another squat PR today (would be +20lbs on my 8 rep working sets since the start of the challenge), but I'll let that wait for the next leg day. I'm not making anywhere near the same progress on my upper body lifts, and with this injury I don't think I'm going to. But thats not to say I won't make any progress, and the shoulder is already feeling better so who knows. Goal 4: Do it now! Utter and complete failure! I've gotten some very productive things done (nearly an entire room of clutter was donated or sold), and have been better about applying this philosophy to every day tasks, but the things I wanted to actually take care of when writing this goal have been forgotten, neglected or outright ignored. Still time to turn this around to some extent, but more or less a month wasted. Bleh

I'm another who will wait out a price drop. I have a huge backlog of pc, ps3, ps2 and psp games (note: this includes games I want to play but haven't purchased yet) that could likely keep me busy for this entire coming console generation. Leaning towards the PS4 though, partially out of a mistrust on how Microsoft will handle their console, but mostly because I've been happy with the PS+ service and expect it to be comparable on the PS4. Realistically I might make the purchase around when the PS4 $300 and the games I want to play on it (at least 3-4 need to exist) are $20-30 or already obtained via PS+. So that means probably a minimum of 2 years after launch, possibly longer.