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Time for that new challenge thread. Going to do something "NEW" this time around. I am going to count my macros and drop the remainder of my weight by May 15th. Just a little over a month. Going to go ahead and calculate everything tonight. Probably going to drive my wife crazy with my obsessive measuring but hey I need to drop this to get out of here. Will continue with 5/3/1 Monday through Thursday, do an arm day on Friday, walk/run with the puppy on Saturday and Sunday go for a hike. Each day is going to have a different caloric limit I believe due to the nature of the days exercise. Obviously Monday through Friday will be higher due to lifting. ZERO cheat days! Can't afford any anymore. Also going to be doing body measurements (inches) every Saturday and progress pics, Just got myFat Gripz and looking to see what kind of impact they will have on my biceps/forearms. Initial measurements to come tonight Here are my stats: Height: 6'1" Weight: 230lbs Body fat Measurement (calipers): Waist Size: Bicep Size R/L: Forearm Size R/L: Thigh Size R/L: Calf Size R/L: Here are the steps that I went through to figure out my macros. Please yell at me if they are wrong/you know a better way Step1: Target Calories (Weight X Activity Level) = Target Calories Activity Level = 11~ Sedentary Job & Little Exercise 12~ Active Job OR Sedentary Job & training 2-3 times a week 13~ Active Job & training 2-3 times a week OR sedentary Job and train 4-6 times a week 14~ Active Job & train 4-6 times a week OR athletic training OR training multiple times a day So I put myself at a 12 (I have a sedentary job and do work out 4-6 times a week, HOWEVER I am attempting to cut so I knew that this would put me at a deficit. (Only about 250 less but still it's something)) My numbers (230*12)=2760 Calories Step 2: Protein! 1 gram of protein per pound of body weight My numbers 230lbs=230 grams of protein Step 3: Fat Choose between .3 and .6 .3= lower fat higher carbs .6 = higher fat lower carbs Multiply Fat number by body weight I chose .5 on my fat intake; want to keep the carbs lower My Numbers (.5 * 230)= 115g Step 4 Carbs Okay this one took me a little bit of calculating to get the right number s but I think I got them now Total Calories – ((Daily Protein * 4)+(Fat * 9))=Carbs My numbers (2760-((230 * 4) + (115 * 9)))/4= Carbs (2760-(920+1035))/4=Carbs (2760-1955)/4=Carbs 805/4=Carbs 200=Carbs This seems very high so if I go back and adjust my fat then it should lower the carbs. Will plan out food tonight to see if it really is or not So my end numbers are Total calories: 2760 Protein: 230 Fat: 115 Carbs: 200 Physical Goals: Monday: Military Press 5/3/1 Tuesday: Deadlift 5/3/1 Wednesday: Bench Press 5/3/1 Thursday: Squat 5/3/1 Friday: A mixture of Armageddon and FatGripz Arm workout Saturday: Walk/Run with Dog (depending on work schedule) Sunday: Hike with Dog Hit every day A+ Hit 38 days B Hit less than 38 days F UPDATE EVERY DAY! Even if it is a quick YEP I WORKED OUT update. Work on story/book atleast 15 minutes every day (anyone interested in seeing what the book is about PM me and I'll send you the prolouge) Tell me what you think

Clearly the machines are preparing to rise against us. They've invaded our civilization. They're in our homes. The are even forming parasitic attachments to our heads that cause us to behave in bizarre ways. Before we all get sucked into the matrix, we must take down the robots and live free of there wires and false realities. Main Goal: Learn to Survive in a post-Robocalyptic wasteland. Unfortunately, the battle has already begun as the robots are well poised to destroy us and the damages they will pose to civilization are already happening. Food is becoming scarce. But the fight against metal and circuitry must continue or we are doomed. I must learn to survive on little food, maintain or gain strength while doing so. Perhaps, even, I may be able to find and exploit weaknesses in their circuits to gain the upper hand. Edit: read: I'm starting on a long cut that is likely to last the rest of the year. Goal 1: Lift Heavy Metal: Robots are made of metal. So the more I can lift the more control I potentially have over the bots. Everyone knows that if you can flip a robot onto its back its at your mercy. Get a big three total of 1000 lbs. I've already moved 1000 lbs. in one day. I just need to get the technique strong and correct. I couldn't claim it right out because my technique was bad. This is partially due to some weaknesses I'll need to annihilate by lifting. I'll be using a compressed cube program until I hit 1k. Some strength priorites: Squat: bring up quad strength, squat with better form, do more front squats Bench: get stronger off the chest, do paused reps Deadlift: Just get stronger and pull more. Maintain a tight lower back arch. Edit: I'm currently running a compressed version of the cube. I may go back to 5/3/1 when I'm done with that. Goal 2: Relearn to lift with good technique: The robots have already corrupted my brain and motor reflexes with poor motor patterns causing faulty form that prevents me from utilizing my maximum strength. Especially on squats and bench press, at the moment. Meet "Bro-bot." Reset form errors by doing a total of 4000 low bar pvc squats, and 4000 pushups and/or bench presses over the course of the challenge. This goes hand in hand with Goal 1. I need to fix form by practicing more. They say 3000-5000 reps. I figure 100 reps/day should get me there. I practice my squat with a pvc pipe on my back. Pushups should sub for the bench. I mainly need to add more volume to work those chest and arm muscles. Goal 3: Survive on oil: The robots have already destroyed most of the world's human food supply. There are a few leftover human food stores, but mostly what's left is oil. Follow a ketogenic diet with IF, and occasional Carb meals. I'll be on a ketogenic diet and doing IF daily by skipping breakfast or at least eating no calories (tea and/or broth) until the afternoon. But, pre-1000 lbs., I'm going to allow a carb meal on workout days. Post 1000 lbs., I'll reboot my keto diet and switch to carb nite -- carb meals every 4-5 days. Life Goal 1: Learn to break the robot's circuits and software. Robots with defunct circuits and programs cannot annihilate the human race. So if I learn to interfere with their circuits and break the programs that control them I can take them down. Or just find a way to make them hornier so they stay distracted. Finish one book about embedded real-time systems. (I have about 200 pp. left) Start reading my main text about software QA testing. (at least 100 pp.) As I finish my masters I need to prepare for my future intended career in QA testing. A friend of mine likely has a job for me at his company doing testing for embedded wireless systems. I'm also looking into getting certified for QA and whatnot. So, I need to start boning up on the fields. Life Goal 2: Be mindful during times of peace. The robots may in fact destroy us or absorb us into a vegetative state while the supplant our natural reality with their own virtual reality while they exploit our brain circuitry for bio-quantum computing. So I must learn to take respite when I can and enjoy what's left of reality as I currently know it. Do one mindful activity everyday. Be it meditation, eating mindfully. Just make at least one deliberate attempt to spend a few moments in mindfulness. I've also installed a mindfulness bell on my phone. It makes a meditation bell like ringing sound randomly, about an hour between rings. When it goes off, I stop and take a few breaths and re-center myself and try to take in the moment.

I am a villain. It took me a little while to realize this. I have been on this site since october, and everyone else is talking about their hero's journey, and such and it hit me. I am the antagonist, someone for the hero to fight against and become better. So, here is my battle log of my epic battle against Mattyboy7one8. **Backstory** TL;DR, I really want to be strong. Where I am now. 6'6" 212 1rm from 2v2l Squat: 335 Bench: 235 Dead: 350 (boo!) Realized that is 920. Where I am going. Shooting for 1000 before Mattyboy. Also, 5/2 is the Beast of Bloomsburg strongman competition in Bloombsurg PA, for which I am training. Events: Log clean and press for max: 12" log starting at 170 - current max 180, apparently, with an 8" log. Car Deadlift: I honestly have no clue how this is going to go. Farmer's walk: 205/hand for 80'. More than I currently deadlift. Need to get cracking on this one. Circus DB: 90lbs for Reps in 60s. - Have tried with 80. We shall train hard for this one. Truck pull: Pickup truck with harness and rope. Huh. That will be fun. More specific updates to follow soon, with my current programming and progress. The gauntlet is thrown, @mattyboy7one8

HERMIT TRAINING Well, I'm back where I was years ago; need to start all over again. I should not let that stop me like it did last time and just turn into a lazy slob. Ryu never let not having training partners prevent him from being the best. In the meantime, I'll do what I can with what I have. THE QUEST Rise (+4 CON): Get up from the bed before 0730 every day. Visualize (+1 DEX +2 CON): Perform at least 15 minutes of meditation / visualization practice 6 days a week. Small Person Jiu-Jitsu (+4 WIS): Watch instructional videos by smaller individuals. Week 1 - How To Defeat Bigger, Stronger Opponents with Stephan Kesting and Emily Kwok Week 2 - Back Attacks with Ryan Hall Week 3 - Mastering the Rubber Guard with Eddie Bravo Week 4 - Marcelo Garcia Series 1 Week 5 - Marcelo Garcia Series 2 Week 6 - Marcelo Garcia Series 3 SIDE QUEST 5/3/1 (+4 STR): Perform the 4 main lifts every week. Can't be neglecting those biceps. THE MOTIVATION

I love the holidays, I really do. But my go-get-em attitude, 6 days/week workout schedule, and planned eating that was working great for me... and my fitness goals... well... BUT MACAULAY CULKIN! YOUR FAMILY IS IN FLORIDA? WHAT ARE YOU GOING TO DO?! NO ONE CAN STOP YOU BUT YOURSELFFFF~!!! So hey, we're back, it's cool. I'm stepping in to be the adult in this situation and protect my house from intruders... er, I mean, my body from my own winter slothfulness. We're settling in for a nice phase of winter habit-building that doesn't involve hiding from the cold and playing Dragon Age: Inquisition during all my waking hours. This challenge's goals are all about compliance. These goals are familiar, but even if we've seen them before, doesn't mean I've aced them before and they are definitely not habit yet. I want some habits, yo. Habit me like a nun. This challenge presumes 3x/week gymnastics practice and continuing my slightly modified 5/3/1 plan, which I've rebooted to repeat last cycle. Goal 1: HIGH KNEES, HIGH KNEES, HIGH KNEES *HIIT cardio session 3x a week *Must do 4 full floor routines or dance-throughs ever week Why? Gotta build the cardio stamina to handle my gymnastics floor routines without wanting to die at the end and manage to keep up enough stamina so I don't fall on my damn final tumbling pass anymore. HIIT is most similar to a floor routine in terms of varying levels of intensity Goal 2: FROLICKING *Practice leaps and jumps on beam and floor each gymnastics practice, 3x a week *Bonus points: film progression video Why? These are big weak points for me in my routines -- they look sloppy and uncontrolled. A TON of potential bonus value can be found in leaps and jumps to bump up my routine difficulty, so it only benefits me in the long run. I avoid them because they make me feel silly and I am not always sure what I am doing. Goal 3: SHUT UP, DONNA. I DON'T NEED TO TREAT MYSELF *Comply within ~200 of calorie goals for the day *Comply within ~600 of calorie goals for the week Why? I did not maintain as well as I meant to after my previous cut, so I have a higher starting weight for this cut phase than I initially wanted. First competition is Feb. 21 and I want to feel good in our brand new competition leos. Plus, I'm doing a lot more bars work these days and boy golly, is that easier when you have less dead weight. Goal 4: WARDROBE REBIRTH *By end of Week 1: Throw away garbage clothes (holes, elastic tearing, irreversibly stained) *By end of Week 3: Donate or store clothes I don't wear *By end of Week 5: Second round of clothes I don't wear, plus store summer/warm clothes *By end of Week 6: Make list of holes I need to fill, can start buying new nice clothes when all previous Goal 4 steps are met. Why? Cause I NEED to. HEY, NEW YEAR. LET'S BE FRIENDS.

I have a problem. I always have difficulty staying focused on any one thing more than a couple of months. I got started with a couple of challenges and then went back into lurker mode. I've been here, just haven't been posting really. I have also been putting the in the work all this year. But the lack of focus is manifesting in program hopping. It is really hurting my progress. My lifts are just nowhere near where I think they should be after a year of lifting. Starting Strength, Madcow, 5/31/, Candito's linear program. And these are all great programs. But I need to stick with one for an extended period of time. Say, a year. That leads into the first (and only immutable) Rule of this log. Rule 1: Do not switch programs. That's it. I am going with 5/3/1. It was my favorite and the flexibility should help combat the program ADD problem. Switching templates, accessory work and such is acceptable as long as I give it an honest shot for at least a couple of cycles. (I am using 7 week cycles) Lesser rules like Always show up, Don't just go through the motions, and No Ego are also in effect. But these just boil down to good sense. Now that that is out of the way, let's get started... 12/28/14 Workout - OHP Day OHP 75x5, 87.5x5, 97.5x7, 75x8, 75x8, 75x8 Spoto Press 115x8, 115x8, 115x8 Neutral grip Pull-ups 10, 10, 10, 10, 10 I thought going into today that the Spoto press was going to be overly light. After all the overhead pressing, it needed to be a bit light for the volume done. I'll be honest, OHP day is and always will be my least favorite day. At least I get to do pull ups.

I've got a workout program pretty well set in stone right now: gymnastics 2-3x per week and my 5/3/1 lifting program 3x per week. I'm comfortable with this workout schedule and it will only become more important to stick with it over the coming months as gymnastics competition season starts to amp up in the beginning of next year. Last challenge, I dedicated myself to working on known weak spots for me: my lazy hips, my hatred of the C2 rower, my nasty eating habits, and my bad attitude. This format worked really well for me and I saw a lot of progress over the course of six weeks without stressing myself about incorporating these additional goals into my already busy schedule. I am going to stick with what works, but take a new approach on dealing with my weaknesses: Target #1: Lungs High intensity interval training 3x per week Low intensity cardio has never really been my thing. Trying to get myself to jog last challenge was a huge chore and instead of addressing that head on, I am going to force myself to take the even suckier route -- intervals. My interval training can take the form of plyometrics, jump rope, sprints, hill sprints, NP stadium stairs, burpees, etc. HIIT has been linked with pretty significant improvements in V02 max and endurance, so if I stick it out for at least the next 6 weeks, I should see some rewards when I start working on floor routine run-throughs. A floor routine is only 90 seconds long, but they are punishing and exhausting -- much like sprints. These HIIT sessions will be post lifting workouts (or Wednesday morning, as needed). Target #2: Mobility and Maintenance Foam roll and lax ball 3x per week -- MUST foam roll IT band, quads, and adductors before AND after squatting on SundaysYoga 1x per weekSome creaky spots have crept up on me over the past few weeks. While I preach the gospel of mobility work and foam rolling constantly, I have not been taking care of my own body. I stretch, yes, but I have not been foam rolling or doing nearly as much aggressive pre-treatment for tight areas -- which unsurprisingly includes my hips. Target #3: Fuel Gradually increase calories toward maintenance + hit within ~200 calories of goal each day per weekStay within 500 calories of target cals every weekNot a deviation from last challenge, but reporting back every day and every week really helped keep me honest here. While I'm not aiming to cut weight this challenge, honesty is still good and I do want to taper up gradually rather than just hurling myself up at what I think should be maintenance and hoping it turns out okay. Target #4: Style Begin the 10 Step Wardrobe Revamp:Be done with my wardrobe detox by Week 2Finish creating my list for my capsule wardrobe by the end of Week 6I cannot for the life of me remember whose challenge I saw this on originally, but I've had it bookmarked for months and months, waiting for a change of season. I am going to focus mostly on my fall - winter wardrobe and leave my spring - summer wardrobe to be dealt with when it is seasonally appropriate. Let's gooooo~

A bit delayed in posting this because I am still on vacation in Florida, but I'm here! I'm creating this challenge with the expectation that I will continue practicing gymnastics 2-3x/week and following the next two cycles of my 5/3/1 plan 3x/week. I'll still post updates from my gymnastics/lifting workouts, but my goal is not to be accountable for those things but instead for the goals below. I have a few weak spots that will continue to be weak because I perpetually avoid working on them. These include my hip flexors and my cardio endurance/capacity. I am also including my attempts at cutting down to a lower weight to make life easier on my joints in gymnastics as a weak point because it has been a focus/concern of mine for too long and I feel like I keep having these "just fuckin' do it" moments that putter out into nothingness. That is a weakness. Let's fix it. To help myself along the way, I am going to try to be mindful of how I am framing my thoughts. I want to focus on the process, the journey toward improvement rather than any concrete mile markers this time around, especially with regards to the recomp/weight loss and my cardio improvements. Weak Spot #1: Hips *At least 3 hip conditioning exercises after EVERY workout Weak Spot #2: Lungs *Row at least 500m before and after every gym session (3x week) *Run at least 1 mile once a week Weak Spot #3: Gut *Comply with calorie goal within 200 calories each day *Comply with weekly calorie goal within 500 calories *Post measurements/updates at 2 weeks, 4 weeks, and 6 weeks Weak Spot #4: Mindset *Focus on the process rather than specific goals and reflect on a moment each day that has improved my life *Focus on the process during at least one gymnastics practice a week, going through full repertoire of skills I'll try not to be too boring. <3

"The time has come" the walrus said, "to talk of food and things; of peppercorn and mustard seed and other seasonings!" - Lewis Carrol I want to start this off by saying I have no experince deliberately bulking. To me that's the best reason to do this. I've been dropping weight consistently and steadily for 10 months. A couple of weeks ago I finally looked at myself in the mirror and didn't have to convince myself I'm not fat anymore. Instead I said: Jesus I'm small. This isn't the goal. I didn't want to be a waif or street urchin. I wanted to be He-Man. I could feel my abs through my skin even though I couldn't see them.. I could also play matchbox cars on my ribs with my nephew. In the world of underpants gnomes I made a plan: Step 1: Cut this excess body fat off Step 2: Step 3: He-Man Well having collected all the underpants I'm left with choices. Why did I want to become He-man in the first place? I was too weak to mow my lawn without getting winded. I was too weak to bath my 160lb great dane without assistance (For the record while I can do this now I still prefer not to... He is not a fan of the bathtub). Superficially that is my ideal body image though in my head so that will alwyas be my driving goal. However I've learned here at Nerd Fitness just how empty that shallow goal is. Sure it's always the end game, but strength is going to get me there. I need to pay attention to that and stop focusing on the painfully slow process of my body reconstituting itself. So that brings my babble to this challenge. Goal 1: Start bulking. Starting Saturday I'm setting my calories to 3250 and leaving them there until my waist hits 33inches again or I see Santa Claus whichever comes first. If I get to New year's I'll re asses if I should keep going or go back to a cut. I currently have a 30.5 inch waist so I think I'll be fine with this goal. Hit my calories with 100 every day. Simple Straight forward. Sta - 2 Con - 3 Goal 2: Expand my workout routine. I want to learn how to do more than SL 5x5. It's served me well, but there's a lot of world out there and I'm hungry to see some of it. I've started experimenting with bodyweight exercises. I want to keep up working on single leg squats (I use them to warm up for back squats right now). I've also switched to several dumbel exercises instead of the barbell for this challenge to try them out. Same exercise, slightly different execution. I'm also starting to do pullups and more pushups and am looking at installing rings in my gym. SL 5x5 routine with dumbells takes alot longer, but I want to see if this helps build my muscles a little when I go back to the barbell after the challenge. Dex- 3 Str - 2 Goal 3: Face my Fears: My biggest fears for right now are lifting to full failure and getting fat again. I need to conquer these two goals if I'm going to progress. So jumping right in the pool with a bulk and forcing myself to failure more frequently seem like the best way to get it over with! Wis - 3 Life Goal: Finish 1 Crochet project. I am working on a baby blanket for a freind. I need to get that shit done. I have a ton of crochet and cross stitch projects I keep backing up on doing. Well lets make it a goal and finish it! Wis - 2

I put together a program I am going to try for four weeks starting this Sunday. It is based on Wendler's 5/3/1 for Crossfit (see "5/3/1" 2nd Ed. by Jim Wendler) with assistance work based on Paul "Coach" Wade's "Convict Conditioning" and Pavel's "Enter the Kettlebell!" So in other words, this is nothing original nor is it something I created. I just used Wendler's template. Any where you see "???" is where I have a blank to fill, such as a fullbody movement on bench day. Wendler says no Oly lifts on upper body days and I will be benching at work where I have fuck all for GPP equipment. So, suggestions? I guess I ought to cowboy up and buy a medicine ball and leave it in my locker at work. I want to use my farmer's walk bars too. I'd likely add them to squat or deadlift/OHP day but not sure if it is assistance, conditioning, or full body. The circuit stuff I might change every cycle (4 weeks) or every session. Thoughts? In accordance with Chairbrokey's forum rules, here is my background info (below in the "spoiler")

Preemptive TL;DR: Where/how do I program snatches into 5/3/1?Do I add it to the regular 4 lifts or replace one of the lifts with it?Are snatch grip deads, snatch high pulls AND snatches redundantWhat generally effects OHP more: push press or incline press?What has been your experience with floor presses? Ok so when I'm excited about being in the gym, I tend to look forward at future programming. I'm currently on my 2nd cycle of 5/3/1 with my current workouts looking like this: Workout A Press 5/3/1 Pull/Chin Ups between Press sets - pulls to balance the pressing and bicep/back work CGBP (3 sets) - work the triceps, help bench lockout (if I remember correctly) Core work (curls & tricep work if I have the time) - cause...core Workout B Deadlift 5/3/1 Reverse Hypers between DL sets (perfect world) - For the lower back and hamstrings Front Squat (3 sets) - helping with quad strength and keeping a solid upper back Core work Workout C Bench 5/3/1 Pull/Chin Ups between Bench Incline Bench (3 sets) - shoulder work with heavier weight Kroc rows - stronger upper back carries over to my deads and my grip strength has gotten better Workout D Squat 5/3/1 Good Mornings (3 sets) - kills the hammies and teaches me on not rounding my upper back during squats Core work As the title says, I'm interested in playing with the snatch and snatch grip related lifts, but don't exactly know how to program it in. After I finish my current cycle and my training to be a mini triathlete, I will be taking on the 10,000 Kettlebell Swing Challenge, then into my third cycle so I have more than enough time to iron this plan out. Workout A Press 5/3/1 Pull/Chin Ups between Press sets Floor Presses Snatch High Pulls Workout B Deadlift 5/3/1 Reverse Hypers between DL sets (perfect world) Squat 3x5 or 5x5 (my squat needs more volume than 5/3/1 offers) Core work Workout C Bench 5/3/1 Pull/Chin Ups between Bench Incline Bench or Push Press (???do push presses carry over to strict press???) Kroc rows Workout D Squat 5/3/1 Snatch Grip Core work

So I'm back again kiddies! I wasn't going to do this challenge at all, but a Belgian nerd told me that my plan makes for any easy challenge. So here I am. My warrior brethren will quickly see that there isn't much warrior activity going on here BUT check the side goal! And I love the iron and chalk too much to change sides, even for 6 weeks. I promise I'll be back making the iron a priority again! Main Goal: Don't drown! Don't pass out! AKA cross the finish line at the Chicago SuperSprint Triathlon on Saturday August 23rd. 375m (1/4 mile) swim | 10K (6.2 mile) bike | 2.5K (1.5 mile) run | 12.9K (8 miles) total 1st - Turn into Aquaman! a.k.a. swim goddammit! I will swim 3 days a week; MWF I have 12 swim workouts between now and the race. I plan on focusing on actually getting in the pool on a regular basis. I've been a pussy as of late and have skipped these swim sessions because I'm not great at them. That needs to end now. Grading: >10 = A; 8-10 = B; 5-7 = C; <5 = fuck me. 2nd - Premium Rush! a.k.a. ride till the wheels fall off! I will bike 2 days a week; T&Th. I have 8 bike sessions until the race. I did my first session and absolutely loved it. My ass was killing me and I my legs were getting tight, but I loved it. The plan is for Tuesday's to be an Interval sprint day. 1 mile on, 1 mile off. 5 miles up, then 5 miles back down. Should be a major challenge, but I need it. Grading: >6 = A; 4-6 = B; <4 = fuck me. 3rd - Run! Run! Run! I will run...almost every day? I HATE running. Running sucks. I get shin splints. I get bored. I get angry. I'm going to do it anyway. The plan is for me to continue doing suicides after my lifting/swimming sessions on MWF. These have been an awesome finisher and leave me on my ass. I also plan on doing some "brick" runs. Hoping off the bike and running .5 mile up then .5 mile back down to the bike. It'll suck, but it'll be worth it! Grading: >12 = A; 8-12 = B; 5-7 = C; <5 = FUCK ME! Side Goal: I need to keep lifting. I love lifting and can't stop, won't stop. Am I doing too much? Obviously, but its only for a month and I'll survive. I'm continuing 5/3/1 and will be switching to the 4 week cycle instead of the 7 week cycle I had programmed. The timing, if all things go perfectly, make this line up perfectly with the triathlon. I agree that there is no maintaining, you either progress or regress. So I'm just hoping to reduce the amount I regress. After the triathlon, I plan on taking on the 10,000 Swing Kettlebell Workout. I should be up to 4,000 swings by the end of this challenge if I don't take a week break following the race. Life Goal: Enjoy an amazing 6 pack after the race! I've been off of beer up until the race and will happily change that that Saturday night! Grading: >3 beers = happy Matty

As of tomorrow, July 8, 2014, I will have been on NF for One Year. One year ago, I weighed over 260 lbs. I now weigh 249 lbs. Not super impressive, but... at the time I could barely do 10 pushups. Now I don't do pushups, I just lift heavy shit. Sometime, a little longer than one year ago, I saw the scale inching toward 270 and I was feeling week and tired all the time. As a busy grad student I spent a lot of my time in front of a computer, eating crappy food, and when I had downtime, I'd be drinking beer and stuffing my face with even crappier food. Enough was enough. I already had a gym membership thanks to that year's New Year's resolution that I hadn't used in at least three months. I decided to use it. But... what would I do once I got there. The last time I had been was either to spend an hour or two on an elliptical. Another time I had been to a yoga class, but was so week and inflexible that I could barely hold a downward dog. Cardio machines are boring, and I clearly needed strength. I thought I'd try lifting weights and calisthenics, and I'd heard circuit training was good for weight loss... So I googled "circuit training and weight loss" and guess which site came up... Yep. That's right... bodybuilding.com... But, then I scrolled down to the next few hits and there was a video link to Steve's Beginner Bodyweight Circuit... and it was from a website with an intriguing name. A few links, and Links (Zelda references) later I was reading about Joe and Staci, and other success stories about people who were struggling with fitness the same way I was. These were not people who played sports all their lives, and devoted all their time to the gym, they were busy people, with jobs, who had similar nerdy interests and they were all helping each other get in shape. I wanted in. So I started doing the Beginner Bodyweight Workout at home. Then I'd go to the gym, lift a dumbell and walk on a machine or two. I cleaned up my diet a bit. Then after learning more and coming back to the site, I signed up and did my first challenge. I went from BBWW and dicking around at the gym, to barbell training with stronglifts 5x5 and tracking macros. Lost 12 lbs. during that first challenge. Later during the fall, I really got into trying to do body recomp, maintaining weight while building muscle, so I tracked macros and lifted like a beast. Unfortunately, I got derailed a few times, but I persevered, and still managed to hang around 248 lbs, while I got stronger. The holidays came and went, and I managed to maintain, and was gearing up to make more progress. In January I set my first 1 RMs on the big three, Squat: 315, Bench 210, Deadlift 330. Six months before this I didn't squat or deadlift at all, and I couldn't have benched 150 to save my life. Then, in February and March the storm came. A vitamin D deficiency, Wisconsin winter, a bit of overtraining, working hard with lack of productivity in the lab, social isolation, and anxiety about my future career and such, all combined to level down my life with a bout of depression. I was waking up, then lying in bed till noon, skipping days at work, not going to the gym, but still eating like a body builider. I gained most of my weight back. It got bad enough that I decided to get help. Got back on NF, and to the gym. And after a couple of months, I'm approaching a two year personal best for weight (getting below last year's 248). Also, I'm way, way stronger than a year ago. And I can wear pants that I couldn't, even when I was at 248 a year ago. I'm also back to being productive at work, and I've even given talks about my research in front of prominent researchers in my field and recently at an international conference, and it was well received. To acknowledge how crazy this year has been, both up and down,to get a fresh start, and to re-affirm my commitment to getting healthier and FUCKING SHREDDED LIKE A DEMON, I'm starting this new battle log. As of yesterday, I started my first cycle of 5/3/1... follow this link to see Darwin's 5/3/1 Cycles I'm following a ketogenic diet and cutting. And I'm trying to finish a PhD within this next year. That's the gist of it. edit 1/19/15 -- after several months on, off, and back on again, my masterplan changed to strongman training. The Journey to Strongman begins here. edit 10/30/15 -- Around here I switched to the Standard Keto diet and did mostly barbell complexes and (hopefully I lost a bunch of weight)

Hey All, Figured I'd throw my hat into this challenge just cause...why not. Still not sure if any of these goals are too real, but (f)uck it, we'll see. Main Goal: Move North of Vag 1st - Add weight to my 1RM totals, currently at 855lbs (990lbs w/ press). I'll be using the 5/3/1 - The Triumvirate 4 day/week programming. Monday - Press/CGBP; Tuesday - Deadlift/Front Squat; Thursday - Bench/Incline Bench; Friday - Squat/Good Mornings. I'm currently in Week 4 of 7 on my first cycle with 5/3/1. I would like to hit 900lbs, which I will test the last week of this challenge (which will be week 2 of my 2nd cycle and I'm stealing the 1RM during week 2 from OR & mgage). Current numbers: Squat - 315lbs Deadlift - 315lbs Bench - 225lbs Press - 135lbs 2nd - Clean up my diet. I've started slipping back into a very unhealthy version of myself again. I've had 40 McNuggets in the past two weeks. I usually don't stress diet too much, but what the fuck? I went over 6 months without visiting the Holy Golden Arches. Also, I went over 8 months without inhaling cookies, until recently. I need to start eating better again. 3rd - Focus on core work. I need to get a stronger core. Core work is always at the end of a workout and as of late I've been cutting out core exercises to get out of the gym sooner. Side Goal: I'm participating in the Chicago (SuperSprint) Triathlon this August. I need to start training for this. I hate running so I need to stop being a vag, put on running shoes and just do it. I also need to buy a road bicycle and get my membership to the local Y so I can start swimming. Life Goal: Get a tattoo. I've wanted to get a tattoo for the last 4 or 5 years. Whenever I would get up the urge, I always spend the money on other foolish things...like bills and bills and food. But money is slightly better and I just need to travel north of vag and do it. (It's not a big tattoo just in case I happen to be a vag lol)

Well, 6 months in to my training now I've decided to move officially off of SL5x5 and over to 5/3/1. This current challenge (and my dailyish battle log) reflects this. For this rotation, I am focusing on a few specifics. MAIN CHALLENGE: Improve slight pelvic tilt! How? By strengthening my stomach, glutes and hamstrings. Most of my accessory work is focusing pretty heavily on these. While I understand that it won't be 100% fixed in only one rotation of 5/3/1, it should be much better after some intense focusing on those muscles. I'll determine after rotation 1 what if anything I need to continue to do to keep fixing it. Damned desk jobs.... Continue working on main lifts! Don't want to neglect the big ones during this, eh? SIDE QUEST: 210lbs or lower, drink less! When I started in late December, I was 233. I weighed in today at 216.6. I should be able to do this easily. To do this, I am reducing the booze intake. I drink on average 2k calories a week in whiskey/beer/etc (in that order). You see, it never dawned on me just how much I was drinking until my wife made a comment about it. I'd come home from work, have 3 fingers of whiskey on the rocks to relax, eat dinner and then go to the gym. I reached a point by doing this nearly every day that I wouldn't even feel 3 fingers of whiskey in a glass anymore. I commented on that once recently and my wife tells me "I'm not surprised, you are a big guy and drink a lot!". I never get drunk, I rarely get buzzed - but I need to stop this habit before it gets bad. I love the taste of a good whiskey and good craft beers. I'm going to restrict my drinking to weekends only and non training days. LIFE QUEST: Sleep better! How? By reading 1-2 chapters in a book when I curl up in bed for the night instead of turning on the TV and falling asleep to artificial light and noise. Bonus: I miss reading good books and am making time to read more for the fun of it.

Hey all, I've been a fan of the site for a while now, but this is my first post, so bear with me if I commit some sort of faux-pas. I am currently working through my second cycle of 5/3/1 and just read the Beyond 5/3/1 e-book. After getting overwhelmed by the immense possibilities he presents, I'm wondering when/where it is appropriate to go for those joker sets he talks about. Really feeling like I have the energy to push hard, but don't want to burn out. I'm trying to stay in PW for the long run and be smart. Does anyone have an idea of whether I need to hit a certain number on the rep PR set? Or is it more of a "feel" thing? Or should I stay away? Here's a little (actually, kind of a lot) about me: Fitness Goals: Some day, I would love to enter a powerlifting meet. For now, I'm focusing on putting my work in and trying to get better everyday. My three dream lifts for now would be the following: Bench: 225 paused Squat: 315 Dead Lift: 405 Exercise Preference: Mostly powerlifting, but I should probably learn a power clean too... Current Physical Stats Gender: M Age: 25 Height: 5'7" Weight: 150-155 (depending on time of day) Previous Training History In terms of lifting, I was doing Starting Strength for around 8 months or so. Started stalling out and wanting a change of pace. Nothing against Rip or those still rocking SS or one of its variants. I consider that program the beginning of me changing from weak and scrawny to...less weak and scrawny lol Current Training Second cycle of 5/3/1. I did the three weeks, then de-loaded, but plantar fascitis decided to flare up in my left foot bad so I had to take an extra week off (sigh). Will probably go through the three-week cycle, deload, then ramp up to the six-week variation. Here's a look at my current schedule: Current PRs: Squat: 235 Bench: 175 Dead Lift: 290 OH press: 5x100 (never bothered testing my 1RM) Day A: Squat Deficit SLDL Bulgarian Split Squat Box Jumps Day B: Bench DB Incl Bench Dips Weighted planks Day C: Dead lift Pause Squats Barbell Glute Bridges Pendlay Rows Day D OH Press CGBP Landmine Oblique Twist (just learned this the other day) Hanging Leg Raise Current Diet: I try to limit junk food, but really don't track macros/calories. Any thoughts/suggestions on what would be good for gaining strength would be welcome. Current Resources/Limitations Lucky enough to have a gym at work. They have bumper plates/squat racks/some benches. Pretty much no issues. I usually work out for 1.5-2 hours during the evening FWIW. Hope to hear back from you guys.

When this challenge starts I will be on my 2nd week of my first cycle of 5/3/1. This comes after a switch of 14 weeks on the Starting Strength program where I stalled multiple times on all my lifts. My last challenge documented this and also showed a need to work on squat form (keeping the knees out at the bottom). I plugged in some modest 1 RM estimates into the 5/3/1 spreadsheet, and so my major lifts are on autopilot for a while. Goal 1 Stick to the 5/3/1 plan and figure out my accessory lifting I am away over the Easter weekend, so will have to make it a few 3 day splits for a few weeks, but other than that there is no issue of me missing a workout. I don't miss workouts. Since the weight of each major lift is moderate for me, I can really concentrate on my technique and form. Accessory lifts are somewhat alien to me, and I am going to use this challenge to explore my options and try and find my sweet spot for sets and reps for each one and try to establish a consistent routine. In my first week so far I've tried using: Front squats Chin ups DB Rows (Kroc rows?!!) Leg curl Sit ups Goal 2 Master the Pull up I have made good gains with overall strength, but can only do 2 pull ups max. To me, the pull up is a symbol of overall and functional strength and it's cool as hell. I want to be able to at least 6 reps by the end of this challenge. To do this, I will concentrate on this on upper body days, throw in pull ups in between odd sets and get a pull up bar for home use. Looking into other pull up programs or setting a daily target of reps to achieve. Goal 3 Start measuring muscle Once a fortnight I will try to measure my body to see what is growing and what is bulging. From past challenges, I now monitor everything else (lifts, calories, bodyweight). I am at a crossroads whether to bulk, cut or maintain my eating. I've been 'bulking' since new year, although with not much actual weight gain. I might initiate a 2 week cut at some point in this challenge to shock the system and my habits.

Okay. Been in Afghanistan since December. Started working out with a buddy, who recommended Starting Strength before I hop on 5/3/1 with him. Started about two months ago with these maxes. Squat: 225•1 Deadlift: 275•2 Bench: 185•1 Overhead Press: 125•1 Then I started each exercise with just the bar. Adding 15-20 lbs on deadlift, 10-15 on squat, 5-10 on bench and 5 on overhead press. As of last week my new maxes are Squat: 275•5 Deadlift: 315•2 Bench: 185•3 Overhead Press: 135•1 Which brings me to my next point. What else can I do to increase my upper body strength? I've been doing assistance workouts every time. Focusing on upper body since I squat every workout. My last two workouts were Monday Squat: 240 5•5 Bench: 140 5•5 Deadlift: 270 1•5 Wednesday Squat: 245 5•5 Overhead: 95 5•5 Except for the squats, none of these were too difficult. It's just that when I get up there on bench and overhead, I simply can't push myself like I can with squat and deadlift. I'll keep updating, but any advice would be great. I'll be sure to keep track of assistance workouts as well. I'm also running on Tuesdays and Saturdays. Trying to get down to a 6:00 minute mile. At this elevation, once I get back to Bragg, I'll be kicking ass on runs.

Last July marked the beginning of my NF journey. I was like Luke Skywalker when he first discovers that The Force is real: Excited! Motivated! Unstoppable! Bring on the Empire! But then after plateauing with newbie gains, I became frustrated and impatient. I couldn't get my X-wing out of the swamp no matter how hard I tried. Now I am listening to Yoda. I will move forward with patience and continue to make gains with the slow but steady 5/3/1 program. What I will DO in 6 weeks: I will carry Yoda (Squat 165x5) I will lift rocks (Bench 110x5) I will raise R2D2 (OHP 77.5x5) I will move the X-wing (Deadlift 200x5) I will climb the vine (1 unassisted pullup)

The Human Experiment Continues Last year I completed my first two challenges ever and made some substantial newbie gains doing the 5x5 program. After hitting some plateaus, I have moved to the slow but steady method of Wendler's 5/3/1 program. My goals are to continue making gains with 5/3/1. Currently lifting (lbs): Squat - 145 Bench - 92.5 OHP - 62.5 DL - 165 6-Week Goals (lbs): Squat - 165 Bench - 110 OHP - 70 DL - 200 Side quests will include accessory work to build up pushups & pullups and cleaning up the diet to detox from holiday madness. Simple. Sustainable. Full details with weight and body measurements to be continued on my battle log. Cheers January 7, 2014 - Update After contemplating my current challenge, reading the last NF article, and scrolling through some fellow nerd posts, I've decided that I'm with Bacon. So I'm updating my post with some life goals: #1 DON'T SIT DOWN Much like the last NF article, I have been struggling with finding my "passion" in life. Two Bachelors degrees, working on a Masters, and I still don't know what I want to be when I grow up. But stagnation gets us nowhere. Once upon a time on deployment, I worked with a friend and Cardiologist who told me "If you don't want your patients to die - don't let them sit down. No one has ever been declared dead while standing up." So I'm not letting my career sit down. I'm opening myself up for new opportunities within different areas of the hospital where I work and slowly aligning myself with staff education and training in order to "get a feel" for whether I would like to pursue it as an optional career change from the ED. With the downsizing of the military and the closing of several Navy Emergency Rooms, it only makes sense to work on a backup plan. I'm not letting my personal education sit down. I have enrolled in my next class and will begin Advanced Toxicology in a few weeks. I'm not letting my goal of parenthood sit down. We just celebrated 9 years of marriage but unfortunately have not been successful at progeny. This year, we hope to bring home a child from China who needs a forever family. Fingers crossed for this Aug/Sep if all goes well! I'm not letting my soul sit down. I have been incredibly negligent of my spiritual life for many years. If anything in my life requires accountability, it is this. Because if Christianity means anything - it means everything - and if not - it means nothing. My mantra: James 1:2-8. Finally, I WILL let my FEAR sit down. Much of my life has been treading on a sea of unspoken anxieties. Fear of letting myself down, fear of letting others down, fear of looking stupid, fear of failure, etc. 2014 will be the Year of the Beast. Thank you Steve for the article on going into Beast Mode. After all, "Life's not worth living if you can't feel alive." (What movie?) Cheers

2014 Challenge #1 Welcome to the first challenge of 2014. This is going to be a bit...different compared to my previous challenges. But that's a good thing! Theme: discipline through consistency Goal #1: show up and lift. Lifestyle focus: do the 5/3/1 program 3x a week. Minus the prep for TTTT (several days off before and after), I will complete 16 workouts. I’m not going to worry about sets, reps, or anything else. I’ve hired my coach to program accessory work and anything else he deems necessary. My only mission is to show up and do what’s planned for the day. 5/3/1 accessory as planned by my coach: Goal #2: eat real, tasty food. I’ve learned over the course of 2013 that my diet….has issues. I wouldn’t even call it a diet. I’d call it a road to hell in an early grave via mass consumption of baconators. It’s time to change...something. I’m fucking sick and tired of the bloat and feeling like crap. But it’s hard to eat well if all you have is crap. So. Bring on the menu planning! It’s time to cook! Lifestyle focus: Batch cook 1-2x a week to provide good, tasty food. Goal #3: Clear the distractions I’ve been meditating for a while. I’ve seen great benefits from it. And I’ve decide on an experiment. When I’m frackin’ stressed or want to emotionally eat a giant bag of skittles, I need to meditate before I do something stupid. Lifestyle focus: meditate 3-5 minutes when ready to stress / emotionally eat. Reward: completion of a successful challenge will be rewarded with three sessions in a float tank. Special thanks to catspaw, lorenwade, cline and childofscorn for helping with goal creation. Progress Pics Left one taken November 11, 2013. Right one taken January 9, 2014.

Hello all. This will be my first challenge but I have been posting a daily battle log here for a little while now. A little about me: Short Version: Over the past year I've lost almost 100lbs. Feel free to skip to my goals. Long Version. I'm a 26 year old supervisor in a call center. My nerdy interests lie in tabletop gaming, xbox, comics, and Star Wars. On Oct 5th 2012 I weighed in at 500.5lbs during a doctor appointment. Over the course of the fall I cut back on soda and fast food and dropped down to 483lbs. It was at this weight that I found NF, bought the fitness guide, and started doing the first workout in my living room with a 20lb box of kitty litter as a dumbbell. I didn't stick with the fitness part long but the guide really opened my eyes diet-wise. It was the first time I felt like I had a basic understanding about how to lose. I switched things up often in both my exercise and diet over the course of the year. Diet-wise I rotated between very low cal, very low carb, and paleo. It would seem like I would see good results for about a month or so and then would plateau so I'd switch it up. A couple weeks ago, a fellow NFer helped me figure out my macros. It was a big change at first as I was eating so much more food but I've still lost. It's been awesome. This past Friday I weighed in at 404.8 On the exercise front I started with the NF fitness guide for a while but fell off the wagon when my wife and I moved in March. After moving, I started running. In fact, I ran my first 5k the week after July 4th. I tried to see about doing further endurance runs but whenever I get up over the 3 mi mark, I experience ankle pain (Even after spending beaucoup bucks on fancy running shoes) I got a gym membership in May and started doing Starting Strength. I fell off the wagon hard around my birthday (Late Aug) on both diet and exercise. I started back up late septemberish. A few weeks ago I switched over to following my macros and I recently discovered Jim Wendler's 5/3/1 so I switched to that yesterday. So that's where I'm at right now, 404.8lbs, starting a new lifting program, and a few weeks into following my macros. Now for the good stuff. Goals: Main Goal: Gain strength while losing body fat. Fitness goals: Lift 4x per week. MTThF Go for a long walk once per week. I was doing this for awhile but have failed to do so for a few weeks. Will usually be doing so on Weds which is my day off during the week. Hit my macros within +/-10g every day. This usually isn't a problem unless the wife and I decide to go out to dinner or someone is hosting us.Life Goal: No tardys at work. This is my only struggle professionally and I've struggled with it for a long time. Needs to change.So there you have it. Wish me luck! If I get my nerve up enough I'll try to post some pictures and such. Grading scales: Lift 4x per week (STR): 4x - A 3x - B 2x - C 1x - D 0x - F Walk (STA): 5 miles - A 4 miles - B 3 miles - C 2 miles - D 1/0 miles - F Hit within +10/-10 of my macros (CON): At least 6 days in a week - A 5 days - B 4 days - C 3 days - D 2 days or less - F Days without a tardy in a week (WIS): 5 days - A 4 days - B 3 days - C 2 days - D 1 day - F I will only be awarding myself a stat point if I get an A or B on that goal. C or below is a failure in my eyes.

Howdy folks! Starting Monday I am beginning my 5/3/1 program. I made a little of a hybrid BBB, I won't be hurt or disappointed if it changes. I completed some GoRuck events and was extremely disappointed in my inability to lift someone my own weight, let alone carry them for miles. I decided to quit crossfit for the time being (expensive, inconvenient, anytime fitness' are everywhere) and build up my core strength. I went hybrid because I felt that incorporating the exercises would continue to help me build for another GoRuck Heavy (24 hour @$$kicking). If anyone has anything to contribute or comment to my plan, please let me know. Learning these programs is not my strength, so I am hoping for the public wisdom. Thanks! Bakeek Preston.531Workout.StartOCT072013.pdf

Hey All, Wanted to get some feedback on people's experiences/thoughts on returning to a linear progression program (a la Starting Strength or StrongLifts) after being off of one. When I started, I used a linear progression (think SS with rows instead of cleans) and made good progress, even while cutting. Eventually (after about 4 months consistent use), I maxed out...then kept grinding away for 3-4 more months but had no improvements to show for it (generally still in a caloric deficit, although not as consistently as the previous 4 months). Technique started to suffer, I was demotivated...all was not well in the world I switched to 5/3/1 and have been using it for the last 4 months or so (still cutting), and I have been pleased. I haven't progressed on any of the big lifts at all (to be expected given the cut - 3500 cal/week deficit), but I really enjoy the program. However, I'm looking at go into calorie surplus in about a month (1750 cal/week surplus), with the goal of working towards a 1000 lbs total (squat/bench/dead). Currently I'm at about 825 lbs (275 squat, 225 bench, 325 deadlift - all estimated 1RMs based on current 3-5RMs). My biggest issue (I think) looking back at my logs and the timing of my stalls on SS, was my recovery. I wasn't eating enough or sleeping enough (had a newborn, at the time). Additionally, I was bike commuting to/from work a couple of times per week (46km/28 miles round trip), and those rides really took a lot out of me. The situation has now changed - will be eating at a slight surplus, sleep is better, and bike commute is significantly smaller (24 km/14 mile round-trip), although frequency will go up from 2x week to 4-5x week. So my question is, is it likely that I still have gains to be made from following a linear progression model? I had planned on continuing 5/3/1, but after some discussions on these boards re: pros and cons of 5/3/1, I'm wondering if using it would be sub-optimal for my upcoming situation and goals. Has anyone been in a similar situation? Can some of the strength-oriented folks chime in (well, anyone's welcome to chime in, really ) and let me know your thoughts? I'm 34, male, 6'5", and will be approx. 215 lbs with 15% bf when I start. Thanks!

Eth's Challenge #7 Eth Stands the Heat and Stays in the Kitchen Hello again, fellow Rangers! I'm back for my seventh (wow, really, seventh?) six-week challenge. For those of you who don't know me, I'm Eth, a 26-year-old male software developer based in (or very near) Atlanta. With the beginning of summer (here in the Northern Hemisphere, anyway) taking place during this challenge, the theme of these goals will have a little something to do with that. Goal #1: These Plates are Hot (+3 STR) This is all about continuing to hit my targets on the 5/3/1 plan. I think it'll go a bit better this challenge than it did last time (especially if, y'know, I don't get hurt again) because I'm not trying to cram two four-week cycles into five weeks. Like last time, I'll be grading each of the big 4 lifts separately and taking the average to get the overall goal grade. A: Hit all cycle 5 targets during weeks 1 and 2 of the challenge. Hit all cycle 6 targets during weeks 4, 5, and 6, and go beyond the minimum number of reps for the final work set at least once during the cycle. B: Hit all cycle 5 targets during weeks 1 and 2 of the challenge. Hit all cycle 6 targets during weeks 4, 5, and 6. C: Hit all cycle 5 targets during weeks 1 and 2 of the challenge, but miss at least one cycle 6 target. D: Fail to hit all cycle 5 targets. Repeat cycle 5 during weeks 4, 5, and 6, and successfully hit targets then. F: Fail to hit all cycle 5 targets after repeating the cycle. The targets are: CYCLE 5 SQUAT BENCH DEAD OHPWeek 1 185x3 110x3 205x3 90x3Week 2 195x1 115x1 215x1 95x1CYCLE 6Week 4 185x5 110x5 200x5 85x5Week 5 195x3 115x3 215x3 90x3Week 6 205x1 120x1 225x1 95x1(All weights in pounds. Because of the way the math works, the OHP targets are the same for both cycles. Week 3 is a deload week.) Goal #2: Burning Up the Pavement (+4 STA) I have two races scheduled during this challenge. The first, a 4-mile race on June 15, will not be measured by this goal. It's really more of a warmup for the main event: the Atlanta tradition that is the Peachtree Road Race, a 10k that takes place on the morning of the 4th of July featuring me and 60,000 of my closest friends. I ran this race for the first time last year and finished in 1:13:20. This time, I want to break an hour. A: Finish in under 1:00 B: Finish in under 1:04 C: Finish in under 1:08 D: Finish in under 1:12 F: Finish with a time of 1:12 or greater I know I'm faster than I was last year, so I should have no excuse for not managing at least a C here, barring another injury. Goal #3: Heating Up the Kitchen (+4 CON) I'm stuck in a rut with my cooking. I keep making the same two or three things over and over, and I think I'm growing weary of it. Lately this has led to me eating out more (not necessarily always bad) and eating more fast food (definitely bad). Time to rein this in. This will be a two-pronged goal: - Cook 5 new recipes this challenge. - Limit myself to no more than 5 fast-food meals for the entire six-week challenge. For each one that I fall short by, I lose a letter grade, and I take the lower of the two grades. Thus, if I limit myself to only three fast-food meals, but I only cook three new recipes, I get a C. If I cook six new recipes, but I get fast food eight times, that's a D. Goal #4: I Gotta Cool Off (+1 STA, +1 DEX, +1 WIS, +1 CHA) The time has come to do something I've needed to do my entire life: learn to swim. I'm not talking competitively or anything here, just "be able to go out into the lake without drowning" swim. This one is pretty much a pass-or-fail goal: can I successfully stay afloat in a body of water more than five feet deep?