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You ever feel like everyone and everything just wants to suck the energy out of you? That's when you gotta do squats all over their face! (major points if you catch the reference) But seriously... During the last challenge, I almost got crushed under the weight of my own goals and my new job. I was hungry, exhausted, sore, beat up, and trying to impress an unimpressed boss. I need to eat more, sleep more, and workout different. There are two months left on my probationary period and I will secure my spot at this company. That's why... It's maintenance time. MISSION: MAINTAIN STRENGTH AND STEADY WEIGHT LOSS, WHILE HAVING THE ENERGY TO PERFORM ALL REQUIRED TASKS AT WORK Let's get straight into the quests: Quest 1. Eat less than 2275kcal but over 2200kcal per day. Check out my Battle Log for the nitty gritty. I performed most of the calculations on http://iifym.com/. With this method, I'm eating at least an extra 400kcal per day, while not going over maintenance calories. With the exercise I will be performing, I should still be slowly losing weight. I'm not going to sweat macros that much. I didn't last time and I lost 8lbs in 6 weeks. Though, I will aim for a 40/30/30 ratio, the 40 being protein (obviously ). I won't gade myself on them. Potential Stat Growth: 4 CON Quest 2. Lift 3x/Week According to Program. This is an experimental program, designed to maintain strength levels and increase my volume. Progressive overload finally hit a plateau last challenge. I needed to eat more. You can read my Battle Log for the minute details, as it is quite intricate, but basically I will doing the following: I will use the StrongLifts lifts and two accessory lifts of choice, but I will be progressing volume instead of weight. Deadlift, and the accessory lifts are exceptions. The goal here is to not beat myself up, gain endurance, drill form, and, of course, maintain strength. First, here are the Lifts/Weights: Barbell Squat - 315lbs Barbell Bench Press - 225lbs Barbell Deadlift - 350lbs Barbell Overhead Press - 135lbs Pendlay Row - 135lbs EZ Bar Curl - 80lbs Body Weight Dips, Chest Version - Unassisted I deloaded rows because I realized while watching a video that my form is awful. I use these weights and begin by attempting to complete a 5x5. Once I succeed at that twice consecutively, I progress to 5x6, then 5x7 and so on, seeing how far I can get by the end of the challenge. For deadlift I am going to follow normal StrongLifts protocol until I can do 1x5x365, simply because I have OCD and don't like 2.5lb weights. The 25's on the end will look better (I'm vain, whatever). At this point, I will add another set up to 3x5x365. If I get to this point, I will actually add 5lbs and start the number of sets back over at 1. Curls I will do until I can get 3x10x80 and then I will add 5lbs and repeat. On Dips, I will simply be attempting to reach 3x10xBW and after that, I will do 2x10xBW and then the final set to failure. I'm interested to see how this works out. I'm in the spirit of mixing things up and I'm interested to see how my body responds to higher volume. I will lift 3x/week. Monday Morning: Squat, Bench Press, Pendlay Row, Dip Wednesday Morning: Squat, Overhead Press, Deadlift, EZ Bar Curl My choice of Friday or Saturday at any time: Everything - I've done days like this, and particularly on Friday Nights or Saturday mornings when the gym is mine, it's glorious. Potential Stat Growth: 2 STR, 2 STA Quest 3. Perform 20 minutes of Stationary Bike HIIT, with a warm up and cool down, daily. I felt sluggish on my off days last challenge. This will keep the blood pumping, while not being too strenuous. Also gives me that little bit of cardio simply for my health, while also cooling down my legs on lifting days. Potential Stat Growth: 2 STA, 2 DEX Life Quest. Get 8 hours of sleep minimum. Try to get 10 on the weekend This is simple and logical. Sleep = Energy, health, and peace of mind. Potential Stat Growth: 1 STA, 1 CON, 1 WIS My grading system is simple. I keep track of each goal on a pass/fail basis daily. My final score is the passes out of potential passes as a decimal applied across my stats, rounded to the nearest whole number. Say I did 13 out of the 18 possible workouts for quest 2, I'd get 13/18 = 0.72 --> 0.72*(2 STR, 2 STA) = `1.44 STR, 1.44 STA --> 1 STR, 1 STA Looking forward to giving the routine a spin this week. Gonna cash in on some serious sleep tonight. This should be fun. Hello Adventurers!