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are snacks not the most important food of the day? here are some goals! Food. consume 25g fiber on weekend days. plan out what will be available to make this happen each Thursday eat out or take out less than 5x over challenge. eat SNACKS from home before anything at work (unless they’re providing lunch). SNACK ideas are welcome. currently it's a banana, clementines, and strawberries. Exercise. 5 workouts per week. mix of lifting and cardio sessions pull up bar play 6 min per week. must do on non-work days. yoga on the weekends (65 mins/week total). read/watch a new mobility article/video each week. Other (not as important as snacks) things. plan when drinking – no more than twice per week 2/7: supper club (plan to drink) 2/10: friend adventures (plan to drink) 2/11: pup’s birthday! 2/14: VDAY 2/17: dinner and ZZ Ward (plan to drink) 2/18: brother’s birthday! 2/23 – 2/25: VT trip (plan to drink 2/24) 2/25: apply for officiant license 2/26: dentist 3/3: mail invitations 3/4: boda borg 3/10: pack for bachelorette 3/11: friend’s baby shower (get gift!!)

Damn. 2018 is almost here. I just survived a third Amazon.com holiday peak season at the warehouse. I am not doing another. I plan to be out by June at the latest. To do this, I'm going back to school. With my class schedule, I can kick back to 30 hours of work, and I get an extra day "off." I have classes Mon and Tuesday morning, and Thursday afternoon, and Sunday off with the full days of ten hours of work. THIS MEANS I CAN RUN AN ACTUAL 4 DAY POWERLIFTING PROGRAM AGAIN!!! Goal 1, POWERLIFTING: I had an idea for another overly elaborate and thought out POWERLIFTING program a couple of months ago. I'm gonna do that. I'll explain later. It's very taoist. Goal 2, CARDIO: What? Don't we hates that? Yes we does. But we musts. Yeah. Fuck cardio. But I really do believe that if you can't run, 5k... slowly is fine, you're not in great shape. I'm going to include some HIIT on workout days. Then try for at least one long endurance run each week with the goal of making it to 5k with no breaks. Goal 3, ABZ! Abz every workout. Nuff said. Goal 4, STOP FUCKING SNACKING Granted I recently set a new 4 year weight PR recently, but I'd have done it in September had it not been for the Twix bar I typically have on my second break at work, or the other stupid food choices I make frequently. LUYL_1: LEARN FUCKING SPANISH ALREADY Gonna get a Spanish language course and practice it. Seriously, I'm an American. Why don't I know Spanish yet? LUYL_2: COMPLETE THE FUCKING TFA APPLICATION If I'm a couple months into my machine tool program and not loving it to fucking death, I'm joining up with Teach for America, and I'm gonna teach science in the ghetto or the sticks somewhere.

Wrestling with Saidin 12/24 - Last week of 531 12/31 - Overload volume 1/7 - Low volume high weight 1/14 - Meet 1/21 - PHUL Week 1 1/28 - Whining about PHUL Week 1 Courting the Yellow Ajah Foam rolling - Daily Chiropractic - Weekly Writing - Daily Sleeping - 49 hours weekly

makes you wonder who that woman in white is on the venga bus. 90s mysteries! 'tis the season for parties! i'd like to enjoy myself as much as possible. and also keep up with my routine Exercise. 5 workouts per week I’d like to aim for 3 lifting sessions and 2 cardio sessions. 4 lifting sessions would be better. duh pull up bar play 6 min/week yoga on the weekends (60 mins/week total) gotta keep up that mobility on the weekends where it's currently slacking Food. consume 25g fiber on weekend days i do well during the week but need to focus on more fiber on the weekends plan out what days you’d like to indulge in alcohol just trying to be mindful about this during party times eat out or take out less than 6x over challenge with all the holiday parties I shouldn’t need to order take out or go out to eat much at all! parties/gatherings/events 11/19: brunch, hurling matches (dranked) 11/23: thanksgiving (plan to drink) 11/24: black Friday shopping; movies with dad (not drinking) 11/26: make engagement party centerpieces (not drinking) 12/1: SO’s work holiday party 12/2: powerlifting meet (just watching/cheering!); Christmas market 12/9: engagement party (plan to drink) 12/14: star wars? (not drinking) 12/15: dr appt 12/16: send save-the-dates 12/17: jingle bell 5K (plan to drink) 12/22: friend’s family’s xmas party (plan to drink) 12/23: friend’s housewarming/xmas party (plan to drink)

"Let the Dragon ride again on the winds of time." The sprawling epic of the Wheel of time is my inspiration this month for practicing better habits in my sleep and my writing. While I'll keep my habit of complaining about my deadlift, I'll also be doing a daily check in for the previous days tally of hours of sleep, creative writing word counts, and journal word counts.

In a hole in the ground there lived a hobbit. Not a nasty, dirty, wet hole, filled with the ends of worms and an oozy smell, nor yet a dry, bare, sandy hole with nothing in it to sit down on or to eat: it was a hobbit-hole, and that means comfort. My inspiration for the month of October starts with the gentle hobbit folk of the shire, and then makes a gentle tour through the copyright protection of the generic halfling people, before tumbling over the cliff that is Belkar Bitterleaf. This pint-sized, chaotic evil hero has brought more good into the world with his a-moral ways that ten paladins, and this month I'll be copying him the following ways: Murder - Belkar is an expert at taking lives and also, at taking lives. Like him, I'll be trying to murder three things, a 455 squat pr, a 305 bench pr, and a 515 DL pr. Streaking - Pantsless o'clock and being a consistent sumbitch are both Belkar's specialties. Like him, I'll be tracking my streaks of consistency on language, journaling, meditation, mobility, and calories counting. Loot the room - Belkar be getting the loot all day erry day. The mrs and I moved in April and we're still maintaining a mountain of boxes in one room. Like Belkar, I'll be opening treasure chests (or uhaul boxes) this challenge at a rate of four per week.

I decided a challenge where I treat myself like a queen would probably yield great results. be strong for yourself and the people that depend on you lift 4x per week (except week 4) use the resources you already have available I have a pull up bar I never use. pull up bar play, 10 mins per week be graceful and well-rounded run/hike/cardio 2x per week burpees 3x per week: 20 per session yoga 60 mins per week take care of your regal self stay within 13,000 cals per week no more than 800 alcohol calories per week manage your busy schedule 8/12: beach morning and family BBQ in afternoon 8/13: friend’s wedding shower 8/19: beach day 8/20: dad-in-law’s bday 9/1 – 9/4: camping trip 9/8: friend's bday outing 9/9: campfire hangout

During the war between elves and dragons, the matriarch of House Vol sought to make peace between the two races by combining the blood of both. The result was her daughter Erandis Vol, whose father was a green dragon. House Vol achieved its objective of peace though at their own bloodline's expense as the dragons and elves allied with one another under the goal of killing Erandis Vol, the entire Vol bloodline, and the mark of death. Eventually every member of the House of Vol was destroyed along with Erandis, but the other Elven houses that had aligned themselves with House Vol were spared the same fate and were instead cast out of Aerenal. These banished elves kept their faith and spread the religion to Khorvaire. Week 1 of this challenge begins immediately after my push/pull meet and, as is fairly typical when peaking for PL, I'm dying for more volume and conditioning. Once the meet is out of the way, I'll go back to 531, but with the following volume-happy tweaks: Including BBB again - For time's sake and to ensure I keep the weight at a higher 75-85%, I'll be sticking with the 5x5 version, and starting back at 75% this month with DL and squat BBB sets performed on the opposite day so as to work heavy DL and squat twice a week. Bench days just be benchy. Including deload weeks again - My work capacity at +80% suffered without these over the past few months so the four weeks working sets will look like 1) none (just BBB); 2) 3x5 85%; 3) 3x3 90% 4) 1xAMRAP 95% Circuit Conditioning as last priority - between the high volume/light weight bodyweight work and front squats, I like these and my hips like these and my erector spinea like these and my shoulders like these and my heart like these. I'm not dropping them, not for love or money, but I'm moving them to last place in the priority list. They've been supplanting heavier volume work and that's not been good for my <10 rep endurance. A good training session will have time for 2-3 cycles of high rep work, but as the finishing touch, not so much the main focus. I'm not a xfit whoreface like @Br0din. Outside of the gym, I'm going to spend August focusing on puppy training, smoking, meditating, and writing.

I’ve got my first 10K smack dab in the middle of this challenge. I will be attempting to prepare myself for this hell so here's the plan: lift 3x per week run/hike/cardio 3x per week - first two weeks will be running then the last two weeks will be any cardio i want burpees 3x per week: 20 per session yoga 60 mins per week stay within 2000cals per day or 14,000 cals per week life things to keep in mind 7/7 & 7/8: Wedding party duties for SO’s brother’s wedding 7/15: Gansett 10K 7/16: Dad’s bday brunch and Kevin Hearne 7/21 – 7/23: Saco River camping and canoe float 7/30: Garbage and Blondie

Fairly straightforward this time, journal the shit out of the feels while I start an SSRI. No, not subject you people to the journaling, this isn't xanga for christ's sake. But I'll try the fugging check boxes that I've always judged you for, and also whine about my last full training cycle before peaking for a comp. □ Reading □ Journaling □ Meditation □ Puppy Training □ Language □ Physical Therapy

The struggle is real. The struggle is real, and it continues. But what is life without it? So the theme of this challenge is something @Kyellan said, about emptying the cup of oneself that one approaches an art with. During that time, I could feel a lot of ego trying to come up in me, and that's something that's come up in me before, to my detriment. I need to throw that away and be willing to learn, because I'm beginning to think that good movement is good movement and that really the arts are just ways to bridge the various places where one moves. From strike to clash. From clash to clinch. From clinch to throw, and all the permutations thereof. Here's why. Remember when I said last challenge that I was going to change up my lifts and such like that? Try to make more time for martial arts? Well, it worked! After a fashion. Last night I went and practiced my lifts and did the things that I wanted to do. I even added in some plyometrics at the start to warm up the CNS for this kind of work, and it turned out great. It feels perfect, actually. And I finished with so much time to spare that I actually decided to go off and do Kali last night. (turns out it actually is full blown Kali). And it was fun. No real randori to speak of, but as a movement and flow discipline it's a lot of fun. After discussing some theories of movement and such, he put me to work with a drill where I had a stick and a bolo knife (practice knife, of course, not the real thing) and flowing into cuts and control on a staff held to resemble sugar cane. The clack and shing of metal and wood clashing against each other... it was awesome. I was shit at it. BUT IT WAS AWESOME. But the best part about it, to me, was that he wanted to find ways in which Kali could work with kickboxing (which is basically what I do. Kenkojuku-lineage Shotokan, but it's basically kickboxing) and with judo. One of the judo brownbelts practices with this guy and it's apparently made his judo just... sick broken. I actually got to see them practice it. Essentially, it's a very hyper aggressive form of grip fighting. In judo, you fight for grip on the sleeve and lapel of the judogi. When you mix kali into that, your approach is such that you don't necessarily need the lapel anymore. You make a trade instead for an aggressive sleeve grip - wrist and elbow as opposed to elbow and shoulder. If you apply leverage and footwork in the right ways, the result is apparently a kuzushi - unbalancing - that is so radically different from what orthodox judo does that you can execute a throw before the other guy even knows what's going on. As far as kickboxing is concerned, I think it would ultimately work in terms of training the concept of getting off the opponent's center line and staying a step ahead in your timing. Also, in the clash - being ready to punch and kick and apply leverage as opposed to just trying to go and smother on a clinch. Mind, I don't know how well it would translate. He's about being quick and letting a knife do his cutting as opposed to generating lots of force, and we're kind of the polar opposite of that. But I think there's value in it and it's worth trying to find some bridges. Here is how I will attempt to put myself into positions necessitating an empty cup: GOAL 1: MANAGE MY WEEKEND BEDTIMES I thought that if I got more sleep during the week, this would translate into a need for less sleep during the weekend. This has proven wrong. I stayed up late again and slept through judo again. So, that confirms it. I need to get to bed early enough on Friday nights that I don't have the excuse of staying up late. Truthfully, in a lot of ways this could be challenge enough on its own. It's just one day a week, but making this work is going to require a lot. If I lift on Fridays and then do kali afterward, that's going to mean getting a lot of food in a very short period of time. I honestly don't know what approach is going to work here. Batch cooking won't work because the only day I have to do that is Sunday and all the food will basically have expired by the time I get to Friday. Chipotle could work, but it'd be pretty pricey too. Also, it's a lot of sodium, and I'm kind of growing suspicious of it. I could stick some chicken breasts in the microwave after thawing overnight, I guess, which might wind up being the solution to all this. I dunno. Gotta keep playing with this. GOAL 2: MANAGE MY PAIN I have pain in my left elbow, right shoulder, and my lower back. The good news is that they are responding to treatment. The left elbow is finally, finally starting to relax. My right shoulder stopped hurting this week. The lower back is new, but GB came to the rescue by forcing me to confront myself with the fact that I bit off more than I could chew with the SL progressions. Weighted Russian Twists are just too much for me right now, and the prescribed integrated mobility doesn't work for me. Fortunately, I'm not alone in this. I just tried out one of the forum solutions to the problem and my back pain almost completely resolved. I'm... really happy about this. I was afraid I'd have to indulge my ADD again, or worse, be stubborn and try to soldier through it. But yeah, mostly this goal is about emptying my cup of my training ego and to be mindful and listen to my body. To take my time and build well. If that makes any sense. GOAL 3: PLAN This is in reference to my writing. I'm at the point now where I'm writing scenes out, but I'm pretty arrogant about how this kind of thing works for me. I'm used to planning out chapters in fanfic style where you can build this episodic approach into things. It's not exactly how it's done in novels, though. There's a definite aspect of scene to scene to scene, each of them meant to build toward something. It's a different approach, and I need to be willing to try new ways to get there while at the same time acknowledging that it might take a while and that I might need some help. Beyond that, though, I want to plan out at least one scene a day. More is permissible. Less is inexcusable. GOAL 4: CLEAN Taking my time with the cleaning is making it happen, but that doesn't mean it's done. Keep going. ... And, that should do it. Cool. Let's empty our cups that they may be filled again.

Life is calming down into a more manageable tilt as we get settled into the new place and a stable routine. I'm back to tracking calories and macros, and there should be language and meditation metrics reported here, let's just see how thorough this durn contraption is.

Last challenge I kinda abandoned for reasons. I kept coming up with some funny, witty and self trolling summaries to post... but I never got around to actually doing them. I guess I was paralyzed by my expectations of posts that prevented me from actually posting. So, I'm going to repeat because my standards on myself are high and I'm not going to accept the stagnation that happened. So, lets repeat. 1: Continue to get my workout back in order. 2 challenges ago, I changed to order of my work out order and I like it. I'm doing a modified 5-3-1 with emphasis on Bench and front squats. I've changed the order of my workout so I do squats/legs on day 2 and DL/back on day 3. This has reduced my back fatigue/pain in the week I've done it. Last Challenge I separated out the OHP from bench day and now truly doing a 4 day 531 cycle with the exception of pushing DLs. I still don't feel comfortable programming heavy DL's so I do some volume and call it good. Plan: A. Continue to lift and maybe think (this went well last challenge, I'm at my strongest again) about taking a 2nd rest day during the week. What are rest days? seriously, Ahh, fuck it. I'll take a rest day when I'm dead. No seriously. If I feel decent, I'll gym, if life comes up... I'll gym then do the life thingies. And If I'm really tired... I'll sleep. B. More abs. Do 15 min abs workout 4-5 times a week. Abs help carrying load barring equipment into battle. This is routine now. C. Conditioning. I need to improve my conditioning a bit. So, I'll do some type of sprints, rows or horizontal cardio 3 times a week or go snowboarding for the day. Everyone knows you can't kill frost giants all day long... if you can't last all day long. Ski resorts will be open to july, golf weather is getting great, go do stuff outside, or torture the fuck out of myself with the rowing machine. C1. Also, Since I got my promotion last summer and was moved to a first floor building, I realized that I'm missing the stairs in my life. Therefore, all bathroom/water breaks will be done on the 3rd floor (highest floor of my building.) Cause stairs are good. (this started to fall off, need to focus on this again) 2: I got fat(ter). I hit over 240lbs a couple of times (I was 212 in OCT) and I'm measured the highest I have ever measured on the waist. This is unacceptable. a. Track all the foods. This fell off last challenge, time to get my shit together. b. Be less fat. Using the Marine body fat test, I'm 21% BF with 50lbs of fat and a LBM of 186lbs. So, losing the 25lbs I gained will quickly fix the problem that I don't fit inside my armor. I hit 226 and under 36" around the waist, 4 weeks ago... now I'm 233 and 37". Stop being a fat fuck! Make better decisions, I know what I have to do, have some goddamn discipline. 3. Ragnarok will require proper defensive positions and weapons. So, I need to build proper defensive positions. Then I will train with my new Sword (in the Romeo and Juliet sense (no, the Leo/Clare one!)) I did finish the shed and cleared out most of my garage and I did get to the gun range once. Things I want to do this month to improve my defensive positions: A: Sell my Army uniforms. I found a surplus guy, we coordinated to meet, but he had to cancel, I need to follow up and sell it. I think I can get about $2000 for them. Uniforms have been sold B: Clean out my garage fully. Move the rest of the stuff out of my garage into the shed, then sweep and clean out the garage. Complete C: Clean out computer room and move stuff to the garage, shed or good will. Build racks in the Garage to mount my snowboards. Not started D: Touch up paint a couple of spots around the house, and WD40 the door hinges and garage door. 4. Lastly, I've not been around the forum like I should be, so (Doing better, but can always do better.) I disappeared for 2 weeks last challenge, be that troll I know I am again.

that is how i prefer to enjoy a spartan sprint OCR. with naked friends. i took about 5 days off everything and am ready to jump headfirst into zero week in order to start preparing for the spartan on june 17th. 24 days. totally enough time to prep. GOAL 1: need to maintain (or perchance lose some?!) weight to be able to handle the BW work. stay within 2000cals per day or 14,000 cals per week GOAL 2: i love lifting. lifting is the best. lift 2x per week GOAL 3: going to be doing spartan workouts 5x per week from the couch to spartan sprint program GOAL 4: get that conditioning burning. burpees 3x per week: start at 15 per session for the first 2 weeks. 20 per session last two weeks GOAL 5: don't get twisted. yoga 60m per week similar stuff as before. i think my summer challenges get repetitive because i have so many short vacas that throw a wrench into things like calorie counting. so i keep needing to have the same goals, which is fine! just repetitive. don't give up on me yet, folks! life things to keep in mind 5/28 & 5/29 – Boston Calling and Memorial Day 6/4 – Mom’s bday 6/10 – Vag Mons performance 6/17 – Spartan 6/24 thru 6/26 – Provincetown vaca

So, the last challenge was a wash. Between some mental health hurdles and some complicated family dynamics, a few more ambitious daily goals turned into pure nope. I spent week two balancing overtime at work and staging our current place for sale, then week three had me in Florida for a week of vacation. Lifting still happened, but consistency for just about everything else got put on hold. This month, getting schwifty is all about rebuilding consistency in B-list activities (languages, writing, and tracking) while not budging an inch on A-list fundamentals (sleep, meditation, and lifting).

1: Continue to get my workout back in order. Last challenge I changed to order of my work out order and I like it. I'm doing a modified 5-3-1 with emphasis on Bench and front squats. I've changed the order of my workout so I do squats/legs on day 2 and DL/back on day 3. This has reduced my back fatigue/pain in the week I've done it. And for those who know 5-3-1, I'm doing OHP on bench day. Not trying to get super strong in OHP, just build strong looking shoulders. I'm going to attempt a back squat cycle to see how my back handles it. Plan: A. Continue to lift and maybe think (this went well last challenge, I'm at my strongest again) about taking a 2nd rest day during the week. What are rest days? seriously, B. More abs. Do 15 min abs workout 4-5 times a week. Abs help carrying load barring equipment into battle. This is routine now. C. Conditioning. I need to improve my conditioning a bit. So, I'll do some type of sprints, rows or horizontal cardio 3 times a week or go snowboarding for the day. Everyone knows you can't kill frost giants all day long... if you can't last all day long. Ski resorts will be open to july, golf weather is getting great, go do stuff outside, or torture the fuck out of myself with the rowing machine. C1. Also, Since I got my promotion last summer and was moved to a first floor building, I realized that I'm missing the stairs in my life. Therefore, all bathroom/water breaks will be done on the 3rd floor (highest floor of my building.) Cause stairs are good. (this started to fall off, need to focus on this again) D. (New) start doing Yoga. I have a reduced pass for a week at 2 places. I need to check them out and strech out my Glutes and Traps/Rhoms. Yoga days don't need to be double up with a heavy lifting day. I can step away from the gym to stretch... (this did go well.) Time to pay up to keep this going. 2: I got fat(ter). I hit over 240lbs a couple of times (I was 212 in OCT) and I'm measured the highest I have ever measured on the waist. This is unacceptable. a. Track all the foods. Better at tracking, but lots of room to improve b. Be less fat. Using the Marine body fat test, I'm 21% BF with 50lbs of fat and a LBM of 186lbs. So, losing the 25lbs I gained will quickly fix the problem that I don't fit inside my armor. I hit 226 and under 36" around the waist, keep building on this. c. (new) reduce sugar intake. My wife did the whole 30 for a month last year and she really liked it and I really liked the foods, even though I didn't want to fully participate. Mainly, I didn't want to give up my whey. This year, I'm interested in trying the whole 30, but the wife isn't, (food is really expensive.) So, I'm not going to do the whole 30, but I'm going to read the book and incorporate as many principles into my nutrition as I can. This will be hard to track. Going to cancel this one, not feasible right now. 3. Ragnarok will require proper defensive positions and weapons. So, I need to build proper defensive positions (I.e that shed Mrs. B wants me to finish.) Then I will train with my new Sword (in the Romeo and Juliet sense (no, the Leo/Clare one!)) I did finish the shed and cleared out most of my garage and I did get to the gun range once. Things I want to do this month to improve my defensive positions: A: Sell my Army uniforms. I found a surplus guy, we coordinated to meet, but he had to cancel, I need to follow up and sell it. I think I can get about $2000 for them. Uniforms have been sold B: Clean out my garage fully. Move the rest of the stuff out of my garage into the shed, then sweep and clean out the garage. Complete C: Clean out computer room and move stuff to the garage, shed or good will. Build racks in the Garage to mount my snowboards. Not started D: Buy a carry case for my 1903 Springfield and then take it to a gun smith to ensure that its serviceable (pending the money from my uniforms.) weapons at gunsmith. 4. Lastly, I've not been around the forum like I should be, so (Doing better, but can always do better.)

despite the name of the challenge, things are actually going fairly well this year, fitness-wise. and now i kind of want to play basketball... overarching goals? i'd like to reduce body fat, get stronger, and compete in a powerlifting competition this year. Goal 1. Nutrition carry over Make at least one fun recipe each weekend I’m home (that’s 3 this challenge) Pack enough snacks for work For the weekend I’m away, 30 burpees new stuff No work goodies 3 out of 5 work days per week (12 goodie-free days) No alcohol March 21st through April 13th… this is a spur of the moment new flexible goal. we’ll see. If anything else it’ll make me count my drinks consumed during this time frame. Goal 2. Cardio 10 cardio sessions. 2-3/week. Goal 3. Weights 12 weight-lifting sessions, 3/week. currently working through 5/3/1 Goal 4. Yoga At least 60 minutes/week, 3 days/week (240 mins; 12 days) let's get after it

Remember Romney? That champion of feminism with his sensitive remarks about how much he values hardworking women? One day, I'll be that on point with my phrasing. Until then, I'll be reporting on my daily progress this month with the help of a pantheon of female comedic greats. Warrior lyfe 531 programming 4x a week Chiropractic weekly MFP daily Assassin nonsense Modified PLP (handstand practice in lieu of push-ups) Ranger nonsense Running and accessory circuits 4x a week Druid nonsense Daily meditation, yoga, and journaling Adventurer Nonsense Daily language practice Read a trashy German novel Mess with pencils and sketch pad at least weekly

This challenge is focused on destroying @Br0din in the PVP challenge ending March 1st. For inspiration, I’ll be looking to Goliath and the mighty Manhattan Clan in their struggle against Odin and his evil schemes. Odin also hated cardio and loved all things that go pew-pew, basically the same as our fearless moderator - whom I will kill. With death. Cardio hating Br0din ^ Pew-pew loving Br0din ^ Br0din slaying machine ^ Non crazy version: This challenge is going to be a simple one: drop 4-6lbs, run my modified 531 program and don’t get greedy. Yoga on rest days, self-care ramblings as they happen. Daily numbers for the program and diet will show up on the metrics battlelog (link in sig) and the program is below. 4 week cycle of 60%, 75%, 85%, and 95% of max; one main lift a day, 4 days a week; sets of 0, 5, 3, 5-3-1 on the ascending intensity weeks; big but boring (BBB) sets of 3x10@60% following the main work; accessories in supersets with good morning/front squat and dumbbell incline press/dumbbell row days, and barbell lunges/hanging leg raises and chin-up/dip days alternating. Cardio alternating between incline and flat dreadmill. Intervals for the first week or two, steady effort thereafter; yoga afterwards. We're not reinventing the wheel here, but we are squatting 3x a week and keeping the total number of trained movements to 16, and daily time in the gym at or under 90 minutes. I'm open to input.

Last challenge I tried to do some different things with my weekly calorie goals. Tbh, I haven’t taken those end of challenge measurements yet so I guess I don’t realllllly know if it worked but it doesn’t feel like it did. I swear I will be taking those asap*. In any case, I’m finally going to give in to doing different calorie numbers per day depending on my level of activity. Oh, I’m still trying to drop body fat % for anyone who is new to my threads. I am also trying to be okay with my body as it is. things like walking around the house in just a sports bra and shorts and catching myself if I’m getting down on body image. I have fluff and will probably always have fluff. I am 70# lighter than I was 6 years ago. It’s a two way street and I’d like my mind to meet my body in the middle, please. Maybe lose just a little of the fluff but still love the fluff that’s left? That works right? Well, here are the goals! Quest 1 *calorie goals: between 1400 and 1500 on days I don’t lift or cardio between 1600 and 1700 on days I lift or cardio on days I’m on vaca (june 30-july 4; july 8&9) I can have 2000 cals/day if I lift or cardio *cook 7 weekend/day off breakfasts and 7 lunch/dinner meals throughout the challenges *take measurements and progress photos for challenge end Quest 2 *complete 5 lifting sessions per week lifting 5x/week, on the 5/3/1 program Quest 3 *complete 30 minutes of foam rolling or mobility per week *complete one yoga session per week *complete 4 (at least 20 min) cardio/HIIT sessions throughout the challenge did i mention i love food? *edited to add measurements weight / BF% 2/6/16 – 164.4lbs 3/4/16 – 163.3lbs 4/2/16 – 162.4lbs / 30.05% 5/2/16 – 162.0lbs 6/9/16 – 161.0lbs / 29.75%

I'm back! that was quick. four week challenges and a shorter break will take some getting used to. for anyone just tuning in, i'm CM. i work full-time as an environmental insurance consultant, i get up early to get my lift on, and enjoy good food. i'm trying to bring my bodyfat % down by first cutting calories and losing some pounds which has proven to be difficult for me as i typically negate weekly progress by letting loose on the weekends. i'm am trying to change that. Quest 1 *complete 4 lifting sessions per week I’ll be sticking with 531 this challenge while I get into the habit of going to the gym 4x/week instead of my previously instilled 3x. This is in prep of doing something similar to gainsdalf for the March challenge where I’ll lift 5x/week and three of those times will be squats. Quest 2 *complete 25 minutes of foam rolling or mobility per week *complete four yoga sessions throughout the challenge *complete 2 cardio sessions throughout the challenge Quest 3 *keep carbs below 100g (+- 10g) for 20 days out of the 26 day challenge. *keep weekly calorie intake within 500 calories of 12,200 for the first three weeks, then 8,700 for the last five days. last challenge i ate an average of 1842 calories per day. this was above my last challenge's goal of 1800/day. but the difference isn't too bad and i didn't see the loss results I wanted so i'm going a bit lower this challenge. ~1742/day. not much since i'm also increasing my workout frequency. *take measurements and progress photos for challenge end since I have mine from this last challenge’s end that I can use for challenge beginning

Hello! I’m CM. I’ve been around the warrior guild for a few years now but still have newbie numbers due to lots of restarts and attempts to get form where it needs to be. Specifically, The Squat. As a recent trainer at my gym so helpfully pointed out: “Were you just doing front squats?†Sighs, “I was†“You should keep your back more vertical.†“Yeah, I know. It’s something I’m working on and front squats are better in that regard than back squats†“Oh, well, [proceeded to give me 10 minutes of advice and ‘exercises’ that will ‘help’ me]†So, I am working on it. Based on a lot of trial and error, it’s mostly due to my lack of ankle mobility. I stretch my ankles out twice a day for a couple minutes each time and generally get in at least one hour-long yoga session per week. I do goblet squats, front squats, and bulgarian split squats in substitution for back squats. I’ve been following the 531 program, 3x/week. However, the significant other (SO) and I agreed to do a month long Self (the magazine) challenge with my mother and sister so I will be chilling in the Rebels camp this challenge! Oh also, I'm terrible with challenge themes but welcome all the gif love! Quest 1 I’d like to work off the holiday pounds a bit quicker than I did last year (read: it took me approximately 7-9 months of lax goals to lose the pounds I put on during the holiday season). That means, enter the cardio. *complete the five Self workouts each week throughout the challenge. They’re all pretty much cardio but they call some of them “toning†workouts. Which is why, I will also be *keeping up with 531, 1x/week Quest 2 I fell off the foam rolling and mobility band wagon. Time to get back on. *complete 25 minutes of foam rolling or mobility per week (outside of my daily ankle stretches and yoga) *complete four yoga sessions throughout the challenge Quest 3 *No alcoholic beverages for the whole challenge *Keep carbs below 100g (+- 10g) for 20 days out of this 26 day challenge. *Keep weekly calorie intake within 500 calories of 12,600 for the first three weeks, then 9,000 for the last five days. *take measurements and progress photos for challenge start and end. and here we go!

The basic blueprint remains the same; however, there are some structural changes/repairs that need to be made throughout the journey. Sometimes it works! sometimes it doesn’t... Long Term Goal – reduce calculated body fat to 25% July 21, 2015 – 28.8% Challenge goals! Eating Continued rules that I have down: 1) track on myfitnesspal 2) log food before or immediately after it goes in my mouth. Continued rule that I’m not 100% on: No restaurants or take out through the rest of July. Afterward, can only eat out during vacations and life events (see below). New rules: 1) Eat by Mark’s Daily Apple (MDA) rules. I am going to see how I do on less than 100g carbs/day (700g/week) so I’ll be tracking that macro and trying to stay below 100g starting 8/3 for at least two weeks, until 8/17. Then I’ll assess how I feel on it and see if it’s wise to continue or not. Before my whole 30 last challenge I had been doing at least a year of keeping fat below about 25-30% of intake. Although, I did not gain, I also didn’t progress towards my body fat goal much. Would like to see how this pans out for me and how it makes me feel. 2) during those two weeks I would like to eat at 12,000 calories (about 1700/day). After the two weeks I will go back up to 2000/day for a week, then reassess. Maybe back down to 1900/day for the last weeks of the challenge. Training Lifting: continue 5/3/1 program at least 3x per week. Low level aerobic activity: 2 hours accumulated per week. This will be good for me annnd the dog. I already walk her after work every week day, I will just have to up the ante a bit and add in some more dedicated time. Been reading some stuff lately about the benefits of walking over running. We shall see. Planning on 15 mins each day after work, one morning of 30 minutes, and at least another 15 minutes on the weekend. Mobility: 1 hr yoga per week and half hour strict mobility session per week. I’m also going to keep the rule that if I want to continue eating past being done with dinner, I must complete at least 5 minutes of mobility/foam rolling since I did pretty terrible with this one last challenge. Life Continuing my 1 adulting task per day: Do 1 thing to make my apartment more clean every day. i.e. take out trash or recycle, load or unload dishes, do laundry, sweep, scrub toilet, vacuum, wipe down counters, clean sink, etc. Events 7/30-8/2 – Saco float trip 8/8 – Friend’s pool party 8/15 – Family BBQ 8/28 – Friend’s dinner party 9/4-9/7 – Mini Woodstock I'll be updating in my battle log until challenge officially starts but I figured I'd get this up and running

Long Term Goal – reduce calculated body fat to 25% April 25, 2014 – 29.2% April 6, 2015 – 28.3% ... slow. too slow. If you're new to my challenges, lifting weights turn out to be my favorite exercise routine. That’s why I’m in the warriors! However, I haven’t had specific lift x amount goals because my main focus is to drop that body fat %. I don’t want to muddy the waters. I also have some serious ankle/calf mobility issues which hinder my squat. I’ve been subbing in goblet and front squats for back squats while following a 5/3/1 routine. The goals! Eating Continued rules that I have down: 1) track on myfitnesspal 2) Log less than 13,300 calories per week. 3) log food before or immediately after it goes in my mouth. Continued rule that I’m not 100% on: No restaurants or take out except during vacations and life events (see below). New rules: Eat by Whole 30 rules for the first 30 days of this challenge. Training Lifting: continue 5/3/1 program at least 3x per week. Switch RDLs out for good mornings. Do research to make sure my form is good. There is really no good reason for changing this other than I’ve never done good mornings and they seem like something I’d like to have in my inventory. Running: at least once per week Mobility: 1 hr yoga per week and half hour calf/ankle mobility per week. Also, if I want to continue eating past being done with dinner, I must complete at least 5 minutes of mobility/foam rolling. Life Do 1 thing to make my apartment more clean every day. i.e. take out trash, load or unload dishes, do laundry, sweep, scrub toilets, vacuum, wipe down counters, clean sink, etc.* Make the one thing on 6/14 be checking the dryer duct to make sure we’re not going to start a fire. I was totally supposed to do that last challenge and never did. *copyright for this challenge goal belongs to @miss_marissa Events 6/13 Yoga at the winery; friend is visiting from TX 6/16 high school music teacher’s memorial 6/25 – 6/28 Niagara Falls trip 6/29 Doctor appt 7/3 – 7/4 Fourth festivities 7/10 Other doctor’s appt 7/11 – 7/12 Friend’s bachelorette/bachelor field day festivities in NH 7/18 – 7/19 Camping in Maine or Upstate NY and an obligatory non-themed gif to get this party started.

Doo-doo-doo-doo-doo doo doo doo doo Dooo- doo -doo-doo doo doo doo dooo doooooo Doo-dee-dee-dee-dee-dee-doo-dooo-doo ALRIGHT Competition season is no longer nigh, folks. It's HERE. My first meet of the season is this weekend, followed by another meet on 3/1, a third on 3/14 and finally Nationals on 4/10-4/11. That's a short season, I know, of just four meets, but chill out, I am a damned adult playing around with a sport for 4'11 girls that weigh 80 lbs. Last year, my first year back with the sport, I only competed in two meets, so already this is double the competition time from just last year. Ohhhhhh, boy. How prepared am I for this weekend? Well, let's just say... hahahah, I'm so not. Now, this is the feeling I do not want to have coming up on April, so here's what we're going to do to fight that. First, we're gonna do a bunch of body waves to get the wiggles out. Then, we're gonna get down to business. Goal 1: I just wanna make you sweat *Huff and puff: HIIT workouts 2x per week *Flex Zone: Give proper attention to accessory lifts and exercises post-workout 3x per week -> 30 total points possible I'm holding on to the HIIT workouts from last challenge and trying to stick with that plan through this cut and through competition season. Largely because of these HIIT sessions that I've been squeezing in after my lifting workouts, I've been cutting my accessory work short or neglecting it completely. I am stating it now as a priority to force myself to do BOTH the HIIT and the accessories at full effort because it's not like they're in the program for no reason. Fix those weak spots! Goal 2: When I dip, you dip, we dip *Pull: Put in 5 days/week of work on pulls and chins. *Push: Put in 3 days/week of work on push-ups *Dip: Put in 3 days/week of work on dips -> 66 total points possible This upper body work should help my bars immensely and bars has been a weak spot for who knows how long. I may adjust the programming as necessary to make it work better in my life and it's somewhat up in the air right now. Goal 3: First we gonna work on the stomach (No one wants a lil tight ass) *A good cut: Hit within ~600 calories of the weekly goal +5 points for each week goal hit *Measurable success: Progress photos for Challenge Start, Week 3 end, and Challenge End Take measurements at Challenge Start, Week 3 end, and Challenge End +2 points for each measurement/photo combination -> 36 total points possible Let's get fighting fit and trim. Girl, your leo is tiny. While we don't want a lil tight ass, we definitely don't want our ass hanging out either. Goal 4: Back, back, back it up *Post daily reflections: These can be nebulous thoughts about something during the day, a response to a particular situation, a self-evaluation of a new skill, a victory I didn't think I would achieve, really anything that makes me stop and think meaningfully about what I got out of my day, workout or otherwise -> 42 total points possible This is a goal that worked really well for me previously and I believe really helped me stay on point and focus on the right things.