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I've printed off my own copy of the worksheet for the 4-week challenge starting...Now? Next week? The one after Feb 4th..... Do we just say, "Hey, I also am Doing The Thing" and post accordingly? Or is there more to it than that?

I've printed off my own copy of the worksheet for the 4-week challenge starting...Now? Next week? The one after Feb 4th..... Do we just say, "Hey, I also am Doing The Thing" and post accordingly? Or is there more to it than that?

Hiya! I am usually with the Rangers but I'm dropping in to glean some Assassin-y wisdom. This challenge I'm putting myself through boot camp. Oh no, not the kind with yelling and mud. The kind with glitter, love and self-improvement. (And maybe a little mud.) The format will be a little different to typical challenges. Basically I've set aside this month, in which I'm moving back in with my parents, to make the final preparations for my Epic Travel Adventure. This will involve WWOOFing in Australia and Germany for (hopefully) a year. I'm miles ahead of where I used to be (like a couch potato, but more of a couch turnip), but I'm still very overweight and not used to the solid 4-5 hours of physical work per day that is expected in WWOOFing. So now that the holiday hullabaloo has passed, I have two main goals: Goal #1: Create a custom no-equipment travel-proof workout (and do at least some of it daily): Barbells have been my mainstay since I got into fitness so I am a bit bamboozled by the world of bodyweight training! But I've done bits and pieces in exercise classes, and I have a month to put it together. So far I have 3 main areas of interest: 1. basic bodyweight strength exercises 2. mobility/accessory work 3. restorative work - stretching, yoga etc. to deal with the aches from the work I will be doing I'm thinking of a modular workout, with some basic bodyweight exercises (a la Steve's Beginner Body Weight Workout) and a different area of mobility work each time, but if I'm not feeling it that day, just 2 basic exercises and I'm done, to avoid slipping into the 'I'll start tomorrow' mentality. I will be hashing out the details over the first two weeks. Goal #2: Scale up the amount of time I spend being active WWOOFing usually involves a 4-5 hour workday, 5 days a week. I will scale up my active time each week from 2 hours daily to 5 hours daily, with weekends to rest or make up lost hours. This includes exercise, housework and gardening - doesn't have to be too strenuous, as long as I'm on my feet. If I pick up a little casual work while I'm there, it will likely be something active. These 'work blocks' will ideally be mostly in the morning with an early start. Week 0: 2 hour work blocks (I'll probably do more than this) Week 1: 3 hour work blocks Week 2: 3.5 hour work blocks Week 3: 4 hour work blocks Week 4: 4.5 or 5 hour work blocks Let the sparkling begin!

I am essentially a beginner and have been doing the 5x5 Stronglifts program for a couple of months. I've hit a bit of a plateau with my overhead press, I'm close to plateauing with my bench press however, I have more to go with my squats and deadlifts. Because I'm plateauing or close to it on a couple of exercises, I have some questions. I have heard of a few things to improve my strength, do you have a preference for one of these (or another preferred option)? deloading then having a run at increasing again 50 reps (any number of sets, just reach 50) at 80% 5x5 plateau (another number was given in relation to my 1RM but I don't know my 1RM, I do know this other number) supersets pyramids Do I wait for everything to plateau before using any of the above options or do I just start adding volume to an exercise as soon as it plateaus and leave the others until they plateau? Is there anything else I should consider or know about? Thanks

Ok guys, you can read or ask about me in the Introduction topic. First a few thing simportant for this log. - I started SL 5x5 two weeks ago, except for my second day - I had to move a lot of things at school that day - I went to every workout. - I have a handicap. Some form of Spina Bifida. Due to this: my left legmuscles are shorter than normal: so my right muscles are under a lot of stress, Also I have a very sensitive back. This is why I changed the Overhead Press, to SHoulder press, to stress my back less. - From time to time certain weights in my gym go missing (probably some wizard experiment) so this is why I'll add 5k instead of 2.5k. 19/09 SQUAT5x5x20kBENCH PRESS5x5x20kBARBELL ROW5x5x30k 23/09 SQUAT5x5x22.5kSHOULDER PRESS5x5x20kDEADLIFT1x5x40k 26/09 SQUAT5x5x25kBENCH PRESS5x5x25kBARBELL ROW5x5x32.5k 28/09 SQUAT5x5x30kSHOULDER PRESS5x5x25kDEADLIFT1x5x45k 30/09 SQUAT 2x5x20k 1x3x30k 5x5x32.5k BENCH PRESS 5x5x30k BARBELL ROW 5x5x35k

I need some help planning a work out. It's my second winter in Canada and already I'm... *looks out window* inclined to stay indoors. I do some HIIT and body weight strength stuff - slowly improving. Are there any good cardio workouts I can do indoors? My normal routine isn't really keeping my heart up for a full 20 mins. At the ten min mark I'm bored. Would running in place be good enough?

Hey guys. It has been months since I visited this forum. I haven't really find a concrete routime that works well for a shift worker. I looked through bodybuilding.com and other fitness site most of them has at least 4 weeks progression routines but I find it hard to apply when Im wprking on shift with lots of manual labor too. I'm just losing weight instead of gaining. My cardio and endurance is improving but not size and strength. For now my routine looks like this: First week Sun: wholebody Mon:rest day cardio Tues:rest Weds:wholebody Thurs:rest cardio Friday:legs Sat:rest Sun:rest Second week Mon:rest Tues:push Weds:pull Thurs:rest Fri:legs Sat:cardio Sun:repeat week 1 Well its cnfusing to me too..hahaha. Im gaining strength but not size. Probably need to increase my calories but Im wathing out for my belly fat too.

I've been keeping my own personal log for awhile now, so I figured I would lay it all out here for accountability reasons. I've got a bit of catching up to do so this first post will be fairly long. Note: I always do a stretch warm-up routine and mobility drills to increase flexibility. All numbers are representative of the number of reps in a set. Sets are divided by a vertical bar. For planks and cobras the numbers are representative of seconds. I stretch on Saturday's and rest on Sunday's. Here it goes... 10/31/16 bench dips 20 | 20 | 20 pulse squats 25 | 25 | 25 incline shoulder press 15 | 15 | 15 11/1/16 leg raises 20 | 20 | 20 crunches 20 | 20 | 20 plank 30 | 30 | 35 11/2/16 bench dips 120 pushups 20 11/3/16 bench dips 20 | 20 | 20 pulse squats 25 | 25 | 25 incline shoulder press 15 | 15 | 15 leg raises 15 | 15 | 15 11/4/16 leg raises 15 | 10 | 10 pushups 6 | 6 | 6 short bridge 8 | 8 | 8 cobra 20 | 30 | 35 11/7/16 dips 3 | 3 | 4 | 2 (real dips!!!) straight leg raise 10 | 6 | 7 incline shoulder press 10 | 10 | 10 narrow squat 20 | 20 | 20 plank 60! 11/8/16 pushup 6 | 6 | 6 weighted lunge 23 | 20 | 20 (backpack filled with books on shoulder, oompf) straight bridge 8 | 8 | 8 cobra 20 | 25 | 30 11/9/16 dips 5 | 5 | 4.5 straight leg raise 10 | 10 | 10 narrow leg incline shoulder press 10 | 10 | 10 narrow squat 20 | 20 | 20 plank 65 10/10/16 pushup 8 | 8 | 6 straight bridge 10 | 10 | 10 + isometric hold on last rep of last set weighted lunge 25 | 25 | 25 cobra 35 | 35 | 40 11/11/16 dips 5 | 4 | 5 alternating leg raises 10 | 8 | 6 (alternate left, straight, right, right, straight, left) narrow leg incline shoulder press 10 | 10 | 10 narrow squat 20 | 20 | 20 plank 70 11/14/16 pushup 8 | 8 | 8 angled bridge 10 | 10 | 10 weighted pulse lunge 18 | 18 | 18 cobra 60!! 11/15/16 dips 7 | 7 | 7 | 5 alternating leg raises 15 | 15 | 15 narrow leg incline shoulder press 10 | 10 | 10 narrow squat 20 | 20 | 20 plank 60 11/16/16 pushup 8 | 8 | 8 angled bridge 10 | 10 | 10 cobra 60 note: resting legs today 11/17/16 resting today 11/18/16 dips 5 | 6 | 7 | 3 narrow incline shoulder press 10 | 10 | 10 narrow squat 20 | 20 | 20 plank 60 crow pose - practice between exercises

The Question at Hand Same Muscles Everyday or Alternation? As you can probably see in my signature I have started a workout and diet plan, but it is very incomplete. The issue I am having is alternation. I have heard that you are okay to do the same exercises every single day, but other places and/or people say that it is bad for you. They say if you must exercise every single day then you need to alternate what part of your body you are exercising. Other people say that you can work the same spot every day just don't work it so bad that it aches the next day and you will be fine; in contradiction to that I heard that if it doesn't ache then you aren't gaining any muscle. Which one is it? Also, If I DO need to alternate should it be between Upper and Lower body or arms, legs, butt, etc. I need help figuring out what I should do. Should I do Upper one day, Lower the next, then just do Yoga on the third day and go back to Upper on the fourth? Any ideas on a workout plan for my Diet and Exercise Sheet would be much appreciated. I know that if I can just get my facts straight I can come up with a plan and make it happen. The Circumstances: I am twenty-three years old and was inactive from the age of twelve until I was seventeen. At seventeen I still wasn't active but instead of sitting I was standing all the time. At twenty I started walking between eight and sixteen hours a day and did heavy-lifting(my job required it). But once I became pregnant at twenty-one and gave birth at twenty-two my activity went dead. All I did while I was pregnant was sit around the house all day and eat. Vacuuming was my only exercise. Once I had my son I still kept sitting until he started walking but even then I still sit most of the time, only getting up when he runs out of sight or has something in his hands he isn't supposed to have. Put Short: I am very much out of shape. But I want to change that and start exercising EVERY day. Why? Because I want fitness to be my life. I want my son to grow up watching his mom being a healthy person who helps other people be healthy too. The Goal: My goal is to do Pilates, Yoga, and Bodyweight training. I want to have a decent amount of muscle but not look so ripped that nobody wants a hug (I love to hug). I want to loose my muffin top which I have had since I was ten. I WANT to exercise EVERYSINGLE day because exercise helped me to quit smoking and helps with my depression every time I am active; it did this by giving me something else to love, be addicted to, and focus on. And best of all, unlike cigarettes, it's a healthy addiction. I want to bring this joy to other people but if I am not healthy and fit how can I help others to be?

I've always been an 'overeager beaver' who jumps in head first, tries to make huge changes overnight and then (go figure) falls flat on my face and fails miserably. SO I'm definitely into trying small changes and actually succeeding with my goals! Here's my first 4 Week Challenge! Diet - Replace hot chocolate with tea - Eat a veggie at one meal every day Fitness - Complete the beginner bodyweight workout 3x per week Level Up My Life - ALL dishes must be cleaned or loaded into dishwasher before bed every night.

Hello, all! I'm a 19-year-old Weakling from Glasgow, Scotland. I am.. very unhealthy. I live largely on Irn Bru, Monster, cigarettes, and coffee. I have a strange fear of warm food and lately of solid food. I have osteopoenia and anaemia as a result of my dreadful diet. For a while I was on Fortisip/Ensure/misc. protein shakes and working out, and was getting better, then moved house and was too far from my old gym, and my family was so insistent on me "having proper food" that they took away my nutrition drinks. What a bloody nuisance. I'm a transsexual male, and am set on building a little muscle to look a bit more masculine. Skinny would be fine on someone born male, but on me? Nope. :-( My major focus, however, is on plain ordinary strength. I'm so weedy I can't open some food packaging. I'm so sick of being so weak. It frustrates me to no end. I tried to slam dunk a basketball a few days back, as I used to do in high school, and found I could no longer jump so high. I'm schizophrenic (or bipolar I? or schizoaffective? The docs have no clue any more) and currently in hospital for it. The food here is dire, and there's no gym or anything. On the ward I was moved to yesterday, there was the aforementioned basketball hoop plus a tennis net, but here there's just nothing. I try to do press-ups and sit-ups in my room but I'm just too weak and if I make the slightest noise (i.e. fall) the nurses complain. So, here I am, the Weakling. (Should call my next novel that, ahem.) If anybody would like to ask me about hobbies, diet, etc., go right ahead. This is my current chicken body, and this is plain aul' me.

Hello everyone! I'm new here, and I'm going to be turning my life around. I've been doing it off and on for a few years now, not really making progress and even going way too far backwards in progress. When I was approaching 280 lbs, I came to the conclusion that I am a dumb. I stuck to a strict calorie-counting diet and started training for a 5k, but then hit a horrible stint where my back and limbs decided "Nah, this progress thing is the pits." and proceeded to mess up. Constant stiff back and back pain, plus pain around my hips, made the 3x/week 5k training so painful that my motivation died and I stagnated ever since. But, I'm at 215 lbs now, which is nice. Going to finally break out of that stagnation now with this 4-week challenge; or, I suppose, 1 1/2 week challenge. Diet Eat a vegetable with one meal every day Reduce fast food consumption by 50% Fitness Complete the NF bodyweight workout at least 1x a week Level Up Your Life Go to bed 10 minutes earlier each week I put them in my character profile, too!

Team RWBY can only have 4 members (so they kicked me out) and the Overwatch team was way too demanding (so I left). I've been feeling like a teenager with no direction and extreme laziness, so maybe training with a bunch of teenagers will be better for me this month. Beast Boy - Health At dinner, half of the plate consists of veggies. (Weekdays) Bonus Points: Snack on fruit instead of Cheez-itz Link for tracking progress. Robin - Agility Stretch for the splits (both legs) everyday, except Friday and Sunday Raven - Thought Read for at least 30 mins a day. Spend at least 15 mins with the Word. (MWFSu) Starfire - Strength Workout out the first tier of Periodic Table of Bodyweight Exercises (MWSa) Terra - Redemption Get my shit together by auditioning more (at least 3 jobs a week), work harder (have set schedule), and learn balance between YT and VA Cyborg - Gaming Continue to get rings cap in DragonVale. Reach lvl 100 in Overwatch. 100% Rocket League. Keep tabs with on my Twitch or YouTube channels

Hi All, First I would like to mention that I am a senior in high school currently at the age of 17. For all of high school I kept telling myself that I would get in shape and be more active in and out of school. I fell through basically every year and just sat on my ass for way too long. I've finally decided that I am not going to make any more excuses and I will put actual effort and time into working out and getting in shape. I made a first step (in my opinion) by joining the fencing team in my school. It's not too physically straining, but still enough for me to realize that I far too out of shape. I am really loving it so far and I've never felt so good from being active on the flip side. Now that that all of that is out of the way, I can let you know what my goals are and some questions. First off, I want to start making going to the gym a habit and have a workout plan for every day I'm there. The problem is that I don't know where to start and don't want to injure myself before I even get to real intensive exercise. Secondly, In the future I would like to focus more heavily in making upper body gains. As of right now I just need to have a plan for a workout that I can stick to and build off of. I also have basically zero gym experience except for bs P.E. in high school where it's basically a dick measuring contest. Thanks in advance to all who help out!

I figured it's about time I actually made a thread here. I didn't really know what to do regarding themes or whatever so I'm just going to basically recreate my daily log here but as it pertains to the mini-challenge and whatever personal goals I have for myself. When I have my charger, I'll come back and update this with actual dates because those are important. MINI-CHALLENGE Kingdom Hearts: Deliverance I completed Masyaf a few weeks ago. Began Wonderland: AMSAP free tripod headstand: 86s Required tripod headstand: 14m 20s Time remaining: 10m 28s PERSONAL CHALLENGES Making the Bed Current official streak is 19 days. ....I think. I'll have to go back and check to make sure that none of those days were in that hotel, because I definitely did not make the bed those days. o_o Also what to do with those days -- freeze streak? (not required to make the hotel beds since that's what room service is paid to do) or reset streak? (because of the habitual nature of and meticulousness I exhibit in bed-making) Being Proactive with Homework I'm a terrible procrastinator, so I'm using a couple of different methods to try to stay on top of it. I have a zip-up thing with a notepad in it where I write down things I need to do, highlight them if they're urgent, and check or cross them off as they're done. This includes homework, emails I need to send but couldn't right at the second I wrote it down, steps to completing essays, etc etc. I'm taking 19 credit hours right now (four 4-credit classes, three 1-credit ensembles, and a 0-credit class). All of the 4-credit classes require major papers at some point, so I NEED DEADLINES FOR THE PARTS. And the readings. Hopefully my housemate will help keep me accountable for all of this. GEN: Add dates from all syllabi to phone calendar. PDE | M 2:30pm | opt : section 1 in book; look at first five problems on homework set USO | M 4pm : pick up Wagner from orchestra library EPI | T 10am : ch 1 in textbook; readings on Blackboard; SYLLABUS WBL | T 1pm : ch 1 in Fennell CLA | W 6pm : outline/bullet point list of strengths & weaknesses and goals essay (this usually ends up more as a stream of consciousness) IMP | F 11am : buy the book, read pp ii-ix, practice p iii EPI : Read Ghost Map ch 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 conc epi; take notes, cite, and quote. --> major class paper CLA : Research the mechanical history and development of the clarinet. Take notes. Cite and quote. Put in outline form on MS Word. --> major class paper CLA : Research concerto piece. Take notes. Cite and quote. --> Program notes. Practice the Clarinet I'm putting on a senior recital next semester and it has to have at least 50m of music. I know most of the pieces I'm going to play; I just have to learn and master them. And write program notes. Also Concerto Competition in less than a month. Very important that I do my best for that because I WANT TO WIN AND BEAT COLE DAMMIT. Unless he wins too; I could handle both of us winning. The goal is 1h a day outside of ensemble rehearsals and IMP. Once I get this set I'll amp it up to 90m a day - scales, books, rep. I'm off-campus this year, so as long as my housemate isn't asleep I can practice at 3am all I want. XD This also might change on days where I'm in both band and orchestra rehearsals. Today I played for an hour, working mostly on woodshedding a few scalar runs in my concerto piece. I can play my scales, but not sixteenth notes at quarter note = 160. I got up to quarter = 132 using alternate rhythms though. I also played through three scales before blowing my chops at pep band rehearsal. Get enough sleep!!! Obviously. The point of this is to limit my downtime to actually do the homework so that I can sleep easier at the end of the semester. Right now it's 00:42 because I am a lazy bum and I've been listening to the song from yesterday's new Steven Universe episode. Actually that might be a worthy theme for my challenges. Hmmmm.

Hello everyone! I'm looking to get abs, and I found 2 videos that seem to contradict each other - may I have your opinions please? Which should I follow? Should I be doing these exercises to get abs? https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hxjKZcOT17E or Should I be working out the rest of my body? https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5WQNuWwWQX4 It's really confusing! Thank you! xx Stef

So I haven't exercised in....years, before I met my wife. Not including intermittent swimming that I'm considering taking up again too if I can change my hours at work. Anyway. I want to lift, I think it's the one thing I will enjoy other than swimming once I get into a routine. I need a routine but I have an extra problem. In March I fractured my ankle - a chip fracture on the outside of my right ankle. It's been months now I still haven't healed fully. I get pain where the fracture is but mostly on the other side where the ligaments are. It's hard to be on my feet for long stretches of time right now or walk long distances and I limp towards the end of a busy day at work. Plus my stamina is down again because I am doing more sitting - otherwise I'm really active at work. I saw a physio for a bit but it went no where and I'm due to see my GP Monday to chase up my last appointment and get somewhere with this. Is it even worth starting a routine? What are the dangers? Can I even lift or do anything? How do I put together a workout plan? I have no equipment but space to work at least. Thoughts?

Stumbled across this story and found it interesting enough to pass along - particularly for those of you contemplating learning pull-ups. The program is called "Zero to Twenty-plus" and is designed for everyone, from absolute novice to more advanced users. The blurb from the article: (http://www.marines.mil/News/NewsDisplay/tabid/3258/Article/673308/zero-to-twenty-plus-marine-develops-program-to-improve-pull-ups.aspx) I've included a series of links found in the article, as well as a website that seems to be re-posting the same information. http://www.marines.mil/Portals/59/Docs/SecretToPullupsHowToGoFrom0To20.pdf http://www.marines.mil/Portals/59/Docs/PullupTrainingProgramNovice.pdf http://www.marines.mil/Portals/59/Docs/PullupTrainingGuide.pdf http://www.noexceptions2016.com/documents/ Disclaimers: I am not now, nor have I ever been a Marine. I am not currently following the program, but I am incorporating some aspects into my training routine; I will likely be including more as time progresses, as the absolute novice program seems pretty straight-forward.

I've recently started making The Five Tibetans a part of my daily routine, and my lower back is loving me for it. This looks pretty easy, and the first exercise looks silly, but don't let it fool you. The twirling in the first Tibetan works your balance, ankle muscles and recovery from dizziness. Good stuff. Also, If you haven't read any of Hugh Howey's stuff I highly recommend the Wool series and Beacon 23, which are available on that giant bookseller website that rhymes with Shazamathon. Anyone know how to embed youtube vids? The Five Tibetan Rites: https://youtu.be/Qq-5v9NbhNM

So I'm 5'1", 109 pounds and have polyarthralgia. Though the doctor suspects it may be rheumatoid arthritis or fibro. Typically my weight fluctuates +/- 3 pounds but I'm not looking to lose any weight. My main concern is preserving and then improving on my joint health and mobility. Then, hopefully improve my muscle tone. I'm not a strong swimmer so water aerobics might be out as part of a potential workout plan. (Though I plan on correcting that.) So... any ideas? Equipment I have 1 pair of 5-lb weights A Roku 1 My own bodyweight

Rebel's Name: Djinn Gender: F Height: 6’2†Weight: 185 lbs Race: Night Elf Profession: Scout? Level: 0 The specific, motivating, overarching goals I’ve set for myself: A back sexy enough to sport a large, impressive Beardsley-Ricketts style tattoo of my design. (Pull ups! Yes!) The ability to run as far and as long as I would ever want or need. I’m thinking ten miles is about as far or as long as I would ever want or need to run. A methodical headspace, which I’m so much closer to having (for now) than ever before. Improvement will look like calm, composed academic and creative output (school and the aforementioned tattoo). A kitchen-centered diet made of wholesome goodness. Steady improvement with bodyweight routines, both beginner and advanced. The ability to bike the terrible and steep hill that stands between me and school. Become a commuter cyclist. Mastery over whatever magic will translate these accomplishments into a happier life. I will probably be figuring this out on here, so that like-minded people may perchance benefit from my overthinking. Such goals must of course be broken down into tiny bite-sized pieces. I know the next challenge is a bit off, but I’m going to start directing myself towards that end now. I have a very long warm up time. Goals for Challenge 1: 1. A methodical headspace comes from tea and not coffee for me. So I shall be decreasing my coffee intake, ending up at “enjoying an occasional cup,†while upping my intake of green, white, black, red and mate. 2. Endeavor to bike to work once a week, even if it’s on a day I don’t need to be there, just to start getting my head around it. 3. Complete beginning bodyweight workouts three times a week, working up to completing two sets of everything except lunges. 4. Brief fun runs three times a week. Talking 20 minutes here. 5. Complete a solid draft of an article I need to write for school. (I’m not in a position where I can comfortably modify my diet right now, and it isn’t that terrible anyway. I’ll do that for the next challenge.) Hope this isn’t too much! My thinking here is that 1 isn’t that hard because tea is awesome, and helps me think more clearly which will help with number 5, which HAS to happen. I can complete 2 any morning of the week, which gives me ample opportunity to start conditioning myself to that change without excessive mental suffering. I ordered a pair of Vibrams this morning, so I’m all excited for 4, which won’t take that long but will get me used to going out in the morning, and I’ve already been doing bodyweight workouts twice a week, so I’m just going to be making it a bit tougher for myself. Any thoughts or insights anyone has are welcome! Pre-challenge prep day 1 I sanded and spackled my living room – arm workout? Ordered new running shoes! Drank only one cup of coffee, then switched to Oolong in the afternoon. Got into a crummy mood, wrote and meditated until I felt better.

Hello there, I’m Kitsune. This is my first time facing a challenge so here’s to fighting! I’m a 5’4” underweight weak little thing with severe asthma and chronic laziness. I got into NF in the hopes of finding motivation and finally hitting the healthy line. I also think doing this will help with my depression and social anxiety bit by bit. I love to write, so I’ll probably be showcasing my journeys as fantasy through my fox beastwoman, Kitsune Lokiversali. My favorite is fantasy, and I want to be a published author one day. I also want to be a teacher and an assassin. Far away dreams but I’m working my butt off to achieve those dreams. Since I’m a nerd, as I hope all of you are, I have below a drawing of my character (based off my before picture) and a quick opening. The din of music from the next room over assaulted my ears, making me roll over and curl my pillow around the back of my head in a brief attempt to escape it. The next second I just rolled up out of bed and pulled the first pair of pants I found on. I hesitated with my shirt when I heard a knock at my door and looked at the window. Yeah, like I thought. It was way to freaking early in the morning for anyone normal to be up. Much less knocking at my door. I snarled at the wall separating the noisy musician and me but walked over to answer the door anyway. Narrowly avoiding the mess of clothes on my floor, I made it safely to the door and cracked it open. Standing there as if he belonged there at 5 in the godawful morning was a man I never met before. He was about my height, if not taller, and definitely more cut than me. His stance was loose but balanced, and I could probably try my very best and still fail to knock him over. Lack of strength not-withstanding. He must have the wrong room. “Uh…” I cleared my throat, “Wrong person.” Before I could close the door he pushed it open with one hand. “What the hell?” “Kitsune Lokiversali?” I nodded. Not any point in fighting him off. He looked like he could definitely take me on. There was no way I was surviving if he was a creepy serial killer. “I’m Havoc,” Havoc pushed down his hood and I could finally see his face. A long scar ran down one cheek, but otherwise he was pretty normal looking. The tips on his ears meant he was either an elf or halfling of some race. He was too pale to be any of the other races I knew of. “I’m here on behalf of Mudraya Sila Academy. You expressed an interest in joining us.” I sat back on my futon, kind of shocked. I didn’t expect Mudraya Sila to send a representative. At most I expected a letter. “Yeah, I applied to MSA. Did you really have to come all the way here just to talk to me though? I’m sure it wasn’t a short journey.” The guy just stared at me until I began petting my tail for comfort. It was bad enough he was in my room, it’s just embarrassing when people see how messy my room is. “O-kay. What brings you out here to the middle of nowhere.” And that’s where I live. The middle of nowhere. It’s really why I applied to MSA. If I could go there I could learn enough to just travel around the world as far away from the desert my little town decided to waste away in. Havoc, of course, did exactly what I was dreading and looked around my room with a critical eye. “Getting into Mudraya Sila is the easy part. The journey there is arduous and you need to be in better shape if you plan on getting there alive. I will be your mentor from this moment on. We begin now.” What? “What? Now? It’s only five! In the MORNING.” “I am aware what time it is. You have a long way to go.” The condescending look in his eyes made me want to sock him in the face. Gently, of course. He might kill me if I actually tried. Or I might just break my fist. Whichever happened first. “I read your application. We start with getting you used to actually moving. Get dressed. You’re doing laps around the park.” At five in the morning. “Yes.” “Did I say that out loud?” Havoc left without answering. “Well… Not what I expected.” I took off my pajama shirt and wrapped my chest tightly for the ensuing jog outside. “But I guess this is what I wanted.” Grinning, I slipped the cloth buttons home on my shirt. As horrible as mornings were, it made more sense to jog in the morning. The daylight hours were too hot here. Hopefully I have what it takes to get to MSA. Main Quest Get fit enough to make the journey to Mudraya Sila Academy! 1)Walk every day 2)Do bodyweight 1 2-3 times every week Side Quests Learn what it takes to survive the journey! 1)Brush/Floss teeth every day 2)Drink at least one water every day 3)Eat some fruits and vegetables every day Life Quests: My most immediate concern is actually to get a job. Money is seriously starting to get tight. Other than that, my next goal is to graduate college! I will split up that one into smaller goals as the semester starts. A bigger goal for me is to get published. 1)Spend at least 1 hour writing every week 2)Spend at least 1 hour on cross stitching every week

I'm pretty new to cycling, but this is not my first attempt to get into the sport. I was thinking it'd be nice to have a thread going here with a collection of our best cycling advice for the newbies! I'll start it off: Fit matters. Attempt 2.0 to get into cycling didn't start well. I was sold a horrendously undersized frame from a slick-talking salesman at a local bike shop. I adjusted the hell out of everything that could have been adjusted on that bike and no matter what it just felt wrong. Went back into the shop, they righted the wrong, and I can honestly say the difference is night and day. A bike is not necessarily comfortable, but it shouldn't be actively painful. That being said, it does feel weird at first. Especially if you're moving between bike styles (like...say, from a big steel beach cruiser to a road bike!) But don't be afraid to just ride. You might fall down. Get back up. There are jerks out there on the road. (Typically in cars, but pedestrians, dogs, and other cyclists can all apply.) Don't take it personally and do your best to ignore it. It probably wasn't about you anyways. Everyone said I had to get clipless shoes and pedals. I didn't want to. I'm riding with cages and toe straps, and you can call me a dork, and behind the times, whatever, all you want, but that works for me. If it ever stops working I'll be happy to try something else. I think that really sums it up. Cycling can be intimidating, but it doesn't have to be. Go with what feels right to you. And the only way you find out what feels right is by getting out there and riding your bike.

First off, if this is somewhere else and I missed it, sorry. Links to other discussions are also welcome. I have tried meditation in the past, both as a way of calming myself, and as a method to get me to fall asleep. But even though I go through all of the steps in any how to: or guide on meditating, I really do not feel any different, and I am not even sure if I even did it right. I think this is the main thing that has stopped me from consistently doing daily meditation, and in the end dropping it all together. If anyone has had similar experiences, or suggestions that would be appreciated. Thanks!

So..., joined the Academy last Friday. I've spent the past five days reading, plotting, planning, and doing the work on my Level 1 Nutrition Quest. I read ahead to the workouts and for some reason, started to panic. LOL. I'm really doing this. I'm really about to make some major, positive, health and life changes. After a LIFETIME so far of false starts, quitting before I got ahead, and watching time pass by, it feels a little scary to just think that this could be what gets me the confidence and self-esteem I've longed for. Oh well, enough of the poetic prose. Time to get cracking eh. I jumped into the Nerd Fitness Challenges with "The Force Awakens" - you can check it out in the Druid section. Not only was I overly optimistic with what I believed I'd be willing to accomplish, but I jumped ahead in the movies too. Sigh. Story of my life, leap before I look or better yet, doing things bass-ackwards. But after reading through the Academy stuff, I'm realizing I need to start a little slower, with fewer, yet more realistic goals. Enter "A New Hope". That's what I have as I begin to believe this just might work. Starting stats: Neck: 13.5" Chest: 41.75" Biceps: L - 15.5" R - 15" Waist: 40" (ACK!!) Hips: 47" (WTF?!!) Thigh: L - 27.5" R - 27" Calf: L - 16.25" R - 16.75" Weight: 207.3 lbs Body Fat: 36.7% (per the not so reliable Weight Watchers scale I bought a year or so ago) Age: almost 49 (Bday is in a week and some days) I won't post daily but instead will be back with weekly updates on Sundays. I've got a WordPress blog and a couple of novels I'm working on so adding yet one more thing to write is a bit of a stretch, but accountability is one of the keys to making this work, so I've got to report somewhere. I'm still learning how to use the forums so forgive me if I'm long in responding and or commenting. I'm sure as things go along, I'll get better. So, that's it. I turn my face into the future, and indeed, am beginning to feel a measure of hope I haven't had in a long time. What you should expect on this Sunday's Check-In (6/26): Week 1 of Level 1 Nutrition Quest Back on track with my daily plan (will have a picture for you of what it looks like) If you don't see those items, then you can fuss at me to get back on track ;-). Alright, that's enough sitting. Gotta get out and get some groceries. Until Sunday.