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I'm coming back after a large hiatus from NF but not such a large hiatus from lifting, although since December 2018 it has not been as frequent or the quality that I wanted. To put it simply, since December 2018 things went to shit! Buuuuuut here we are, closing out 2019, with an application put in for the January 2020 Novice Powerlifting Competition in Perth WA, (my 3rd) hoping to not truly embarass myself, and now having a very solid goal to work towards. A goal to become consistent with training once more, to take that leap and find a coach, to not sweat the small stuff and let it derail everything, and move forward without looking back because "we aren't going that way". My training program starts Monday the 23rd of October but I am starting the Challenge now, with a shed clean up and a couple of days just getting under the bar, moving and finding my bearings again. Looking froward to meeting new and old NF riends and working towards success.

Wu Wei Cup 2018 This year me and my Tai Chi team from the Netherlands participated at the Wu Wei Cup in Germany. The Wu Wei Cup 2018 is a bigg internal martial arts tournament organised by Jan Leminsky. My Dutch Apeldoorn team was made up of: Ferry van der Toorn, Argentina Cotcheza, Douwe ter Horst, Laura Bonthuis, and me Douwe Geluk. In this video you can see my team at the Wu Wei Cup 2018: Wu Wei Cup 2018 team Holland

It finally happened. I finally found a martial arts competition to fight in, it's both forms and sparring (my two favorites) so I'm getting ready to wreck some other karateka (Kinda like this) So I'll have a few really martial arts focused challenges until I complete on 12/1 Here's the goals: Cardio: 3 or more running days a week, gotta keep from gassing out after all, more focus on intervals than long runs to more imitate sparring. Sparring: (duh) 3 or more days a week (one sparring class a week at the dojo, two with my brother) gotta keep up, thankfully there are lots of black belts or higher to spar (and lose too usually) (me vs sensai) Forms: (also duh) Gotta make it nice and sharp so really show off my training, we do it a lot in classes so I only plan to train them one to two days on my own Diet: Eat sensibly darn it, not too much beer, moderate carbs decent proteins and fats, that kind of thing, I'm gonna try to get back into logging my food so somebody yell at me if I dont (or if I'm eating real poorly) Well that's this months challenge have one more gif for reading it all

2017 Lifting Competition #2, Hot and Heavy Heroic Hefting 2017! Awhile back, forum member Andy Gates came up with the idea that we do a virtual power lifting meet where everyone tests their 1 rep maxes in the big 3, and we compete for bragging rights. It was such fun that we decided to make in an official Nerd Fitness forum activity that we do every 4 months or so. The competition will be held from July 15th through July 30th. During this time, test your 1RM in the powerlifting lifts (squat/bench/deadlift) and/or in the Olympic lifts (snatch/clean and jerk) and post them in the SCORING SPREADSHEET. The highest individual and total powerlifting Wilks scores and the highest individual and total Olympic Sinclair scores will receive championship titles to be defended during the next virtual competition . The powerlifting and weightlifting lifts may be done on different days so that people who want to participate in both can put their best foot forward each time, but all powerlifting lifts need to be done in a single session and all weightlifting lifts in a single session according to the rules below. Before you do your attempts, you may enter your name, gender, and an estimate of your body weight in order to sign up and declare your intent to compete. Do not enter any poundages for any lifts until you do them! This sheet is for results, not planning purposes. Just enter the 3 attempts in the attempts columns, not the "best" columns, placing an "x" next to any lifts you fail. The sheet will do the rest of the work. We're using kg, so just multiply by .454 if pounds are your arbitrary mass measurement unit of choice. The sheet includes calculations using the Wilks Formula for the powerlifting section, so we can judge across sex as well as weight. The intent of the Sinclair score the way we are using it is the same, but for weightlifting.Everyone is welcome here, of all classes, abilities, and levels of fitness. This is all for fun and the major reason we track it is so we have a record that you can come back and check your progress against later (ok, and bragging rights). Reporting is all on the honor system, but videos are encouraged!The Prizes: Each individual with the highest individual lift scores for their gender will receive a forum title declaring them as the champion of that lift, which must be defended at the next virtual meet in order to be kept. The individuals with the best weightlifting (PTE, explained here) and best powerlifting (highest Wilks) across genders totals a t-shirt from the NF store, once it reopens, in addition to titles. The Defending Champions are: NF Powerlifting Champions: NF Women's Power Lifting Champion- SpecialSundae [375.92] NF Women's Squat Champion- evabo [137.70] NF Women's Bench Press Champion- SpecialSundae [86.54] NF Women's Deadlift Champion- SpecialSundae[154.15] NF Men's Power Lifting Champion- Juni0r83 [344.93] NF Men's Squat Champion- Juni0r83 [131.27] NF Men's Bench Press Champion- Juni0r83 [86.58] NF Men's Deadlift Champion- Rurik Harrgath [137.50] NF Weightlifting Champions: NF Women's Weightlifting Champion- Arcalia [79.6] NF Women's Snatch Champion- Arcalia [34.82] NF Women's Clean & Jerk Champion- Arcalia [44.76] NF Men's Weightlifting Champion- Rurik Harrgath [262.80] NF Men's Snatch Champion- Rurik Harrgath [112.81] NF Men's Clean & Jerk Champion- Rurik Harrgath [150.02] Powerlifting Rules:https://docs.google.com/document/d/1dr70PeSg-g7RG3mY0r8V49otofZMl5HBtLcDfrAkU1c/edit# The above link is for the Nerd Fitness specific Powerlifting rules. The document is a work in progress (will include weightlifting in the future for example). Please feel free to suggest additions and/or changes in this thread.Weightlifting Rules Weightlifting competition runs in the same fashion as a powerlifting competition. You get three attempts to establish a max snatch then three attempts to establish a max clean & jerk. Again similar to powerlifting, the weight on the bar can not decrease but you can repeat a weight after a missed first or second attempt.All lifts must be performed from the ground - no hang or blocks - and the lifter must demonstrate control with the barbell fixed motionless overhead before safely dropping the barbell. Some of the other rules directly correlate to executing the lifts safely so here's a few automatic "red lights". No part of the lifter, other than their feet, can come into contact with the platform at any time. The bar can not make any contact with the head or neck (other than the front rack during the clean). See also: no egregious press outs. During the clean the elbows may not contact the lifters knees or legs. Costume rules should follow the raw powerlifting guidelines. Complete weightlifting rules can be found HERE.Tips & FAQ: This will be updated as questions are asked USE A SPOTTER AND OTHER SAFETY PRECAUTIONS- We don't want anyone getting hurt. Use a spotter, preferably 2 (one on the each end of the bar) and safety bars on squats and a spotter on bench. Take long breaks between attempts of the same lift so that you take each lift fresh. Lift order for powerlifting is squat attempt 1, squat attempt 2, squat attempt 3, bench attempt 1, bench attempt 2, bench attempt 3, DL attempt 1, DL attempt 2, DL attempt 3 Lift order for weightlifting is snatch 1, snatch 2, snatch 3, clean & jerk 1, clean & jerk 2, clean & jerk 3. Take a weight on the 1st attempt on each lift as something you know you can get, such as what you can typically do for 3. and go from there to ensure you post a total. Especially if this is your first time, chose weights you are confident in and try to complete all 9 attempts. This will help build confidence for future lifts and competitions. If you participate in an organized competition within 2 weeks of either end of the competition dates, we will generally let you count those weights for this competition. The next comp will be at the end of challenge 8.

What are the most surprising diet facts you've learned, in your journey to become healthy? I recently found out that fat isn't the enemy when it comes to losing weight, saturated fat especially isn't as bad as we were led to believe. I want to compete in fitness category of bodybuilding, and I was surprised to find out that I can diet down in a really healthy way So why are so many fitness gurus on Youtube still starving themselves until they lose their period?

Hi! I'm KB Girl and I'm going to try sticking with a battle log for a whole year! I will use the challenge schedule as a moment to reflect a bit and maybe set a small sub-goal, but I'll log everything here. So the main topic is a journey to the world championship of kettlebell sport in 2018, with a little stop for nationals and the European championship along the way. Let me give you a little background... I've been lifting kettlebells in competitions for 5 years now and won the national title in 2013 and 2015. I participated in the world championship 2015 in Dublin for the first time at a professional level and I was all excited about going to the next one.... BUT not long after I found out I was pregnant! A whole different journey Which was been also very challenging in it's own way.. and also the very best thing that ever happened to me. My daughter turned one year old last week and after a year of rebuilding I'm finally setting PRs again. The world championship of 2017 was also last week (in Korea, Seoul) and I've been watching.. and salivating basically. It's time! I feel excited and CAPABLE of winning a podium spot in 2018. What I need to do: 1. Keep lifting kettlebells, in training and at as many competitions as possible. 2. Work on strength, I've not regained all of my strength and a bigger squat/deadlift and getting my pull-ups back is definitely going to help. 3. Work on cardio.. this is the part I hate. But we've got a rower.. I have a bike.. I have a dog.. THIS HAS TO HAPPEN! 4. Work on basics and have fun. I'm a firm believer in the top of the pyramid being higher when you have a bigger base. (Or I just like giving myself permission to do all the things.) But this means keeping up with rehab and mobility, maintaining and expanding my range of movement and strength/cardio in unconventional ways. 5. Figure out how to lose the last of the baby weight (12kg down, 4kg to go) so I fit back into my weight class Aka stop eating like I'm feeding two people.

"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.

Last challenge I respawned after almost a year of absence (my little girl will turn one year old at the end of this challenge!), so this challenge can be really challenging, right?! As a coach (sports and nutrition) I often tell people to focus on process goals..... but I don't generally listen well to advice Main goal: Break those 100 reps on the one-arm longcycle (aka clean & jerk) with a 20kg kettlebell. I've got a big competition coming up in England in november, unless something unexpected happens, I'll do the 100+ there. (and a little spoiler; I want to make Master of Sport rank before the end of the year, and I'll need 120 reps for that! (according to the dutch ranking tables)) Sub goal: Ok, ok, let's talk some process... - practice my clean, focus on it at least twice a week (I've discovered a technical error there that's holding me back) - train grip once a week (lost it on my right arm so had to slow down a bit, probably due to that technical error, but doesn't hurt to stack my deck) - do 10 sets of posterior chain (my weakest link) activating exercises a week, I'll be doing ring rows and other ideas are welcome! What's longcycle you ask? This video was a competition in Germany in september, it was my last one with 16kg. (I'm on the far right)

Valkyrie approaches Trinity College, a beautiful establishment of scholarship and the quiet pursuit of knowle- what is that sound? It comes again: thud! Whomp! “Oof!” Valkyrie hastens, drawn by the sounds of people engaged in combat of some sort. She steps inside a building whose door is just ajar, and is confronted by many people in pajamas, rolling around on the ground! How silly, what are they thinking- Oh! Not pajamas! Gis! And they’re not rolling around without purpose, they’re grappling, playing the human chess game of Brazilian jiu jitsu. The Irish Winter Open for gi BJJ is commencing! Valkyrie steps up to the scale to weigh in, she’s a solid middleweight, scraping by just under 69 kg with her gi on. She can’t help a flutter of excitement at the prospect of testing her skills against other women, and reviews her game plan: take down to full guard or take the back, which decide whether she plays a full guard game or goes straight for the submission via rear naked choke. Of course, she thinks wryly, things never go to plan. Adaptability and fluidity is the key! She who can think on her feet will prevail! —————— Sunday, October 22nd, is my first tournament in Brazilian jiu jitsu! All my efforts the past month have been to prepare for the tournament and make weight (didn’t cut any calories, but boy do I miss salt!), and Sunday I finally get to play! After that, it’ll be my last couple of weeks in Ireland, before I return home to the next adventure and my goal is to just continue what I’ve been doing and have a little more flexibility once the tournament is over. Goals for this challenge: 1. The Weigh In -I will make weight at under 69 kg (or 152 lbs), in my gi, on the morning of the tournament. I will accomplish this by keeping sodium low, water, sleep and steps high. - Sodium: <2000-2500 - Water: >100 oz - Sleep: 8 hours - Steps: >8k 2. Focus On Flowers, Not Weeds - I will write 3 things for which I am grateful every day. If attitude is everything, then mine should be positive and resilient. 3. For Fitness - I will run or perform some other form of conditioning on Tuesdays, and perform 3 sets of ab exercises every day I don’t train BJJ.

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

Welcome my fellow Nerds, to this historic event! In the past Doodlies have battled against each other, but now, for the first time we will measure our skills against non-doodlies. If you want to join, you're in for the entire challenge. You can pick an easy challenge for a week when you have a busy schedule, or when you're not feeling well. But you must participate all 4 weeks. Sign up here. So, what are we going to do? If you have any questions you can ask here We start Tuesday. Week 1: 25 April - 30 April Week 2: 1 May - 7 May Week 3: 8 May - 14 May Week 4: 15 May - 19 May

2017 Lifting Competition #1, The Amorous Assessment of Anatomic Artillery! Awhile back, forum member Andy Gates came up with the idea that we do a virtual power lifting meet where everyone tests their 1 rep maxes in the big 3, and we compete for bragging rights. It was such fun that we decided to make in an official Nerd Fitness forum activity that we do every 4 months or so. The competition will be held from February 11th through February 26th. During this time, test your 1RM in the powerlifting lifts (squat/bench/deadlift) and/or in the Olympic lifts (snatch/clean and jerk) and post them in the SCORING SPREADSHEET. The highest individual and total powerlifting Wilks scores and the highest individual and total Olympic Sinclair scores will receive championship titles to be defended during the next virtual competition . The powerlifting and weightlifting lifts may be done on different days so that people who want to participate in both can put their best foot forward each time, but all powerlifting lifts need to be done in a single session and all weightlifting lifts in a single session according to the rules below. Before you do your attempts, you may enter your name, gender, and an estimate of your body weight in order to sign up and declare your intent to compete. Do not enter any poundages for any lifts until you do them! This sheet is for results, not planning purposes. Just enter the 3 attempts in the attempts columns, not the "best" columns, placing an "x" next to any lifts you fail. The sheet will do the rest of the work. We're using kg, so just multiply by .454 if pounds are your arbitrary mass measurement unit of choice. The sheet includes calculations using the Wilks Formula for the powerlifting section, so we can judge across sex as well as weight. The intent of the Sinclair score the way we are using it is the same, but for weightlifting.Everyone is welcome here, of all classes, abilities, and levels of fitness. This is all for fun and the major reason we track it is so we have a record that you can come back and check your progress against later (ok, and bragging rights). Reporting is all on the honor system, but videos are encouraged!The Prizes: Each individual with the highest individual lift scores for their gender will receive a forum title declaring them as the champion of that lift, which must be defended at the next virtual meet in order to be kept. The individuals with the best weightlifting (PTE, explained here) and best powerlifting (highest Wilks) across genders totals a t-shirt from the NF store, once it reopens, in addition to titles. The Defending Champions are: NF Powerlifting Champions: NF Women's Power Lifting Champion- Tankweazel [451.81] NF Women's Squat Champion- Tankweazel [163.86] NF Women's Bench Press Champion- Tankweazel [112.81] NF Women's Deadlift Champion- Spezzy [182.71] NF Men's Power Lifting Champion- Juni0r83 [329.28] NF Men's Squat Champion- Juni0r83 [121.16] NF Men's Bench Press Champion- wildross [93.64] NF Men's Deadlift Champion- Gainsdalf [146.01] NF Weightlifting Champions: NF Women's Weightlifting Champion- Miss_Marissa [73.70] NF Women's Snatch Champion- Miss_Marissa [36.87] NF Women's Clean & Jerk Champion- Miss_Marissa [36.87] NF Men's Weightlifting Champion- Rurik Harrgath [228.70] NF Men's Snatch Champion- Rurik Harrgath [96.44] NF Men's Clean & Jerk Champion- Rurik Harrgath [132.22] Powerlifting Rules: You get three attempts in squat, three attempts in bench press, and three attempts in dead lift, in that order. Standards are page 17-20 of this, but minus the judge participation. You must do all 9 attempts within the same workout. You're doing this on your own, so you're expected to judge yourself. You can also take a video of the attempts and post them here for us to judge (I usually do). The best result from each of the 3 lifts is added to your total. If someone squats 240, 260, and 280, only the 280 is added to their powerlifting total. Weight on the bar can not go down for a given lift, only up. I can not attempt 280, fail, then attempt 240. So pick a weight you know you can do for the first attempt on each lift. You may compete in any of the individual lifts and not do others if desired, but you're BIG 3 total will be 0. There must be at least one successful lift in each of the Big 3 in order to have a qualifying total. Weigh in on the morning of your lifts. This is the weight you use for the competition. Generally the rules details would be IPF RAW, which means no squat or bench suits, no knee wraps; belts and wrist wraps are fine.Weightlifting Rules Weightlifting competition runs in the same fashion as a powerlifting competition. You get three attempts to establish a max snatch then three attempts to establish a max clean & jerk. Again similar to powerlifting, the weight on the bar can not decrease but you can repeat a weight after a missed first or second attempt.All lifts must be performed from the ground - no hang or blocks - and the lifter must demonstrate control with the barbell fixed motionless overhead before safely dropping the barbell. Some of the other rules directly correlate to executing the lifts safely so here's a few automatic "red lights". No part of the lifter, other than their feet, can come into contact with the platform at any time. The bar can not make any contact with the head or neck (other than the front rack during the clean). See also: no egregious press outs. During the clean the elbows may not contact the lifters knees or legs. Costume rules should follow the raw powerlifting guidelines. Complete weightlifting rules can be found HERE.Tips & FAQ: This will be updated as questions are asked USE A SPOTTER AND OTHER SAFETY PRECAUTIONS- We don't want anyone getting hurt. Use a spotter, preferably 2 (one on the each end of the bar) and safety bars on squats and a spotter on bench. Take long breaks between attempts of the same lift so that you take each lift fresh. Lift order for powerlifting is squat attempt 1, squat attempt 2, squat attempt 3, bench attempt 1, bench attempt 2, bench attempt 3, DL attempt 1, DL attempt 2, DL attempt 3 Lift order for weightlifting is snatch 1, snatch 2, snatch 3, clean & jerk 1, clean & jerk 2, clean & jerk 3. Take a weight on the 1st attempt on each lift as something you know you can get, such as what you can typically do for 3. and go from there to ensure you post a total. Especially if this is your first time, chose weights you are confident in and try to complete all 9 attempts. This will help build confidence for future lifts and competitions. If you participate in an organized competition within 2 weeks of either end of the competition dates, we will generally let you count those weights for this competition. Future comps will be at the end of challenges 5 and 8.

Hello guys, I'm back! Just in time for competition too (Comp is January 22nd! Squee!) Feeling a lot better in general, taking some time off did really good things for my mental health. Zero Week Goals: (Challenge goals to follow) -Adulting - buy a singlet/other stuff for meet! It's three weeks away and I haven't bought anything *gasp* (needs to be done ASAP) -Lifting - do the program -Eating - track the foodz -NFing - Post Every Day Challenge Goals! 1a. Tracking in MFP = 10 Points 1b. Completing Entry in MFP = 10 Points 2. Do the Yoga = 10 Points 3. Do the (Lifting) Program = 10 Points So a perfect score would be (1a*(4*7)) + (1b*(4*7)) + (#2*(4*3)) + (#3*(4*3)) = 800 points Life happens, so... we're doing grades again A is (800)*(0.9) = 720+ B is (800)*(0.8) = 640+ C is (800)*(0.7) = 560+ D is (800)*(0.6) = 480+ F is (800)*(0.5) = 400+ Will think of prizes for these later.... I'm thinking nerdy t-shirts or tank tops for lifting Also, I am going to do discretionary points. AKA points that are basically gold stars. If I don't do them, it doesn't hurt my total, and I'm not counting them in my calcs at all. This can be... eating a fruit/veggie with every meal for the day, doing an adulting task that was difficult, prioritizing my mental health, posting in NF every day, etc. These can be awarded in any increment, but I'll probably keep them under 5, and of course I'll tell you guys what they're for!

Placeholder because Hawaii. I'm in it. Be back next Monday! Goals: Powerlifting something something Zombies Row and stuff NF daily (when not on vacation) Adult Ranger minis Catch y'all later nerds! sent from the depths of the Ionian Nebula EDIT: So here are my goals!

Just about 5 weeks until my first power lifting competition so this challenge will be the final countdown in preparation for that. The challenge goals are pretty basic (lifting and eating as per usual) and adding in some checklist goals that will help me prep as competition comes near. For those that have not been around my challenges before, the competition in August is strictly Man vs Barbell(No weight classes). Its part of a custom GoRuck weekend-long event thus per GoRuck tradition the idea is to earn a ruck patch, in this case for lifting either 1000lb, 1250lb or 1500lb total. Want to pull 1000lbs and get a shiny new GoRuck Iron patch for my ruck. Lifting Goal: Current 1RM Estimates Squat: 335lbs Bench: 260lbs Deadlift: 415lbs Competition Total: 1010lbs (OHP: 160lbs) The goal is to get that Estimated total as high as possible. I would like to see that estimate at 1025lbs so that I have some room to play with I am running the 4 day a week mass building program from my coach again this challenge. Really need to focus hard on the three lifts. Schedule is getting less busy now that I have moved and am not working crazy 50+ hr weeks at work. No more excuses to skip out on accessory work! Food Goal: Last challenge I did I half-hearted cut. This challenge I am not worried about cutting and rather am going to focus on fueling workouts and recovery. Only goal is to not gain a large amount of weight. Bumping my daily calorie intake up to 2500 from 2200 and want to see if that aids in recovery and gym performance without drastically affecting weight. At current weight and activity level, that should be right below maintenance but I haven't seen that trend in the past. Also, going back to a low key version carb cycling. Tend to perform better and recover better when carb heavy meals are just before or after workouts. One thing I will keep from the last challenge - don't eat like an idiot on the weekends. I've got a couple of weekends of summer parties and events between now and the competition and they are always the thing that drives my weight up so got to minimize that. Pre-competition Checklist goals: 1) Need to figure out what opening lifts are going to be. I've never had to plan something like this before so that will be a new adventure. 2) Want to verify format. I believe the competition is Wessel's rules so once you fail a lift you are out for that lift. That would affect the above checklist item as you wouldnt get another shot at a failed lift. 3) I will likely add more to this list as competition nears! And just for good measure since everyone is thinking of the song from the thread title...

With the return of Game of Thrones, I dedicate my challenge to every warrior’s favorite character The mountain. My goals are to eat, train, and sleep like the mountain to prep for my push-pull competition, which JUST SO HAPPENS to be the last weekend of this challenge. https://www.facebook.com/events/1531902903773755/ (If anyone is interested! I happen to be the only female registered thus far, easy way to lock up first place. Haha) https://www.buzzfeed.com/andyneuenschwander/the-mountain-from-game-of-thrones-revealed-his-diet-plan-and?utm_term=.ce2vemVvA#.sxqY8pdY3 http://www.gq.com/story/game-of-thrones-the-mountain-workout Now that my hip is feeling good and I’m back to moving without pain it’s going to be easier for me to get my workouts in and start getting my mind right! (and my food right!) I'm going to continue to post my workouts in my BATTLE LOG but might x-post here. I might also post gymnastics fun here, because who doesn’t want to learn about cool shit that I’m doing in gymnastics. Expect this post to be full of copious Game of Thrones spoilers and me fangirling over the Mountain. 1) Train like the Mountain I have training programmed out through the 24th with 9 sessions between now and then. Also have 4 gymnastics sessions between now and then (will be 5 adding in the following week). The goal is to complete all of my training sessions, but also be PT focused. Complete all training sessions and all gymnastics classes. Scale back if I need to. Do my prescribed stretches/therapy and/or foam roll 5x/week. 2) Eat like the mountain (Rollover from last challenge) My nutrition is still all over the place. If you’ve been following me, you know that this is a thing I've been struggling with. Injuring myself and spiraling into emotional eating did nothing to help the problem. I need to cut a little to make 132 class by my competition. If I don’t, no sweat, I’ll compete at 148, but I should be able to if I reign in the diet a bit. My challenge is finding BALANCE between tracking compulsively, yet still eating enough to fuel my body and my workouts. If I don't track, I don't eat enough or eat in proper ratios. Especially fat, I am ALWAYS low on fat, it's just so much easier to eat proteins and carbs! I also binge eat, so my calories will vary from 1400- 3100 over the course of a week; which is unhealthy, inconsistent and unsustainable! Last challenge the goal was to focus on the weekend, and I didn’t find any real improvement by focusing on that. This challenge the focus will be meal prep and trying to get back to a carb cycling type of diet. Meal prep: Ensure I always have protein sources prepped and available for lunches and dinners (aka meat). 1-2x/week prepping should be sufficient. Do that carb cycling thing again: Track my macros. Aim for P/F/C = >135/~70/[<100/~180/~250] based on that day’s activity level (rest=low, gymnastics or cardio=medium, lifting=high). Doesn’t have to be perfect, just try. Start up the creatine again. This fell off once I injured myself. I was having issues with it, mainly digestion and headaches. This leads me to believe I’m not drinking as much water as I should be. The goal is to drink at MINIMUM the half gallon of straight up water a day, in addition to any teas, coffees, diet sodas, etc I have throughout the day. Take creatine daily. At least half a scoop, more if I can tolerate it. Drink half gallon of water daily to ensure maximum pumpitude. 3) Sleep like the mountain I don’t usually have a problem with going to bed or falling asleep, but I have issues with waking up in the morning. Goals will reflect me waking up and getting a good start to my day! Similar to what Thor does! Phone doesn’t get charged in the bedroom. Must be charged outside of the bedroom so I don’t wake up and check social media in bed forever. Must actually get up out of bed to turn my alarm off and start being productive. Eat breakfast. Every day. Before I leave the apartment. (Before the move I was really good about this! Now that I have a more lenient start time at work, my habits have fallen apart) 2 days/week cardio and core in the morning. Preferably non training days to avoid multiple showers. A third cardio and core day should be done, but not necessarily in the morning. Life Goals for this year will be COMPOUNDING as appropriate. The idea is to produce HABITS! 1) Don't be a hoodrat (challenge 1) Look fabulous. Take selfies. Post here for everyone's pleasure. 2) Don't get too fat (challenge 2) Crushed this goal last time at 1x/week so I’m going to up it! Walk or bike to work. 2x/week minimum. Note: This goal is highly dependent on my hip and it’s continued healing. If I am having issues, I will nix it. 3) Read (challenge 3) Although I pretty much nixed my last challenge from the beginning, the reading stuck around. Continue reading at least 3x/week. 4) Don’t be a hermit (challenge 4) Weekends I have a terrible habit of laying on the couch watching Netflix and doing housework all weekend. It’s rare if I see sunshine. I need to do SOMETHING that involves leaving my apartment on non-work days. Go to the store, go on a date with Mr. J, go to the gym, nerd meetup for tea, or just go for a walk or bike ride. Just something so I don’t fall into that deep red glow of Netflix that is so comforting. Leave my apartment on either Saturday or Sunday. With the eventual goal of making this both days.

Bit late to the challenge party, but here we go. I'm competing on May 28, so I am full on meet preparation mode. I honestly only have a few things I need to focus on: Recover (stretch, sleep, eat) - Meet preparation is a lot of heavy weight at low volume, so it's crucial I recover enough. I also need to not eat TOO much or else I risk coming in over weight. I'm over a kilo under at this point, and I'm hoping to keep it that way. Get my form consistent - My snatch form especially has been all over the place, and I need to rein that in before I lift. I'm hoping to push my openers a bit heavier this time, so technique is crucial. That's really it. Head down, focus on the task at hand.

Okay so pretty much a natural continuation of my last challenge but with a competition and holiday dropped in! The big things happening in April are: I compete again on Sunday 17th of April. It's a big one because I need to hit a qualifying total (525kg at 83kg) to qualify for the Scottish Classic this year I have two weeks off work from Monday 18th of April (SOOOO HAPPY ABOUT THIS) I go on holiday to Spain for a week on Thursday 21st of April I should also break the 500 lb mark in the deadlift either tomorrow in or competition itself. I don't normally pay any attention to weights in lbs but a couple of people commented that my 225kg deadlift in February was just under 500 lb so time to break that! Update: with challenge goals! Deadlift 230kg/507lbs This is another step along the way to hitting a triple bodyweight deadlift, which is one of my medium to long term goals. I've done 225kg with ease in competition so this one should be something of a gimme. Qualify for the Scottish Classic The Scottish Classic at the start of June is basically the national competition for unequipped lifters in Scotland. There's the British Classic, which is a level higher, but I'm a ways away from qualifying for that. So qualifying for the Scottish Classic is a good interim goal. I need to hit a total of 525kg or higher when I next compete on the 17th of April. Continue to log my weight every day Even though it's only of interest to me, I've found it very useful to make a note of my weight on NF each day and it also encourages me to post every day, which is good. Relax I've had a really stressful couple of months at work and I need to unwind a bit. I've been playing a bunch of old video games in my spare time to relax so I'm going to keep that up. I've also got a holiday the last two weeks of April. I have two weeks off work and in the middle of that will be going to Barcelona in Spain, then heading to the coast for a couple of days. The plan is to be more or less off the grid for that week.

I usually only pop up round these here parts when I'm going to compete (and likely fail) in something. And this time is no different. March 6th I will be (finally) competing in my first powerlifting meet. This is just a placeholder for when I actually think of goals and all the bullshit, which will likely beon Wednesday, but for now... ====================================================================================================================================== So despite bringing a strange, crying, needy alien being into my house I've decided to do my first...long awaited powerlifting meet. So in efforts to not completely embarrass myself I need to focus on the three things that lead to gains...three things that I do not get enough. Lift the weights...consistently. Since the end of December I've been in the gym less then 5 times, previous to that I was in the gym 4-5 times a week. There's no way I'll come anywhere close to hitting the numbers I want without consistent workouts, The missus has been supportive of me finding ways to get training in which has been very helpful in letting me feel considerably less guilty.I'm running Candito's 6 Week Strength Program in preparation for the meet. This calls for me to be in the gym 5 times the first 2 weeks and then 4 the next 2. Find time to recover...any time. Babies are the killers of sleep (as shown by the fact that I'm typing this up at 5am). Lack of sleep is the killer of gains, Between work, a newborn, a toddler, and the gym I've been pulling 1-3 hours a day. I need to get back to consistently hitting at least 5 hours. In addition to sleep, BCAAs and creatine (SUPP LIFE BITCHES) need to be consumed consistently. Lastly, contrast showers after EVERY squat/deads session. I've found that these almost completely reduce my DOMS. Eat ALL the foods...ALL. THE. FOODS. Lack of sleep and just generally being preoccupied, I forget to eat. I've generally been eating one meal a day...da fuq!? I need to start getting back to eating like a normal person and eating at least 3 meals a day with 2-3 protein shakes (SUPP LIFE BITCHES) mixed in there. Level Up Yo Life, Fool. I need to declutter my life and mind, but we'll just start with my life. Each week I will try to do something to declutter my office, apartment, inbox, et cetera.****Hopefully I'll come back to this and add the appropriate GIFs, memes and pictures.

This is sort of a maintenance challenge for me. I'm competing in powerlifting for the first time on Sunday so I'm pretty much fixed into a routine for the initial week. After that it's going to be about keeping up the good things from the last challenge and focusing on maintaining a good, stable balance between lifting, work and life stuff. Goals! 1. Compete! I am competing in powerlifting for the first time on Sunday 7th of February. IPF-affiliated 83kg class. Planned lifts are mainly submaximal as I'm aiming to go 9/9. 190kg squat, 100kg bench, 220kg deadlift. 2. Maintain! I started out the last challenge aiming to maintain weight and have ended up losing nearly 1.5kg. This is good because it means I will easily be able to compete at 83kg but it does mean I need to be eating more to maintain. So my goal after this week will be to find my maintenance calories and try to get my weight sitting steadily in the 83-84kg range. 3. Log! The last challenge showed that there's some room for improvement around my food logging. So alongside daily weigh-ins, I will post my target vs. achieved macros every day. Except Saturdays 4. Train! I have two sub-goals here, both of which will be difficult to measure during the challenge but I will be starting to work towards them: Squat 200kg+ in competition in AprilImprove my bench press technique and set up and bench more in competition

... so this last year didn't exactly end on a high note. Dammit, Thrillho, we talked about this... It wasn't all bad! I got to spend a lot of time with my kids, we got to go sledding quite often and we played a lot of board games, and we had a pretty awesome and quiet Christmas at home, without any ridiculous northern Canadian mid-winter travelling (except when we got snowed in at my sister's during a freak storm for two days... which was actually still kind of awesome.) That said, I was sick almost literally from the first day of vacation until... yesterday. I exercised almost less than zero times. I ate like someone was going to take it away from me (they might have! No point taking any chances, right?) I really enjoyed my whisky, and all of the cheese I was consuming helped to soak up any negative effects from the hangovers. So I'm basically starting 2016 about as fat as I've been since BEFORE 2015. Not an auspicious start. So listen up, fruit cup! I ain't saying this twice! I've got eleven weeks from today until the Tiger Balms. That's about, what, two and a half challenges under the new system? That sounds pretty good to me. I think this is going to be a bit of a 'warmup' challenge anyways, while I turn myself around and try to develop some new habits. Some of those habits have already started... I made hummus and guacamole today so I can actually have a snack that's kind of sort of healthy, and they're both great additions to my wraps. I've got a turkey vegetable crock pot thing going to keep me in meals all this week. Back at the gym tomorrow morning, and MMA tomorrow night. And perhaps most excitingly, my Creative Writing course at the university starts Wednesday evening. Creative Writing? You're paying someone to tell you why the curtains were blue? Shut up, Titus. All of those inspirational memes with bullshit platitudes posted over blurry landscape photography that tell you to follow your dreams now and that things will always be difficult? They're kinda right, in a way. So this is my way of actually lighting a fire underneath myself to try and follow my dreams This course is the Tiger Balms of my artistic creativity. Even if I crash and burn and fail (which I may very well do at the Tiger Balms), it will still be something that I chose to do, and that I attempted. If I didn't do something just because there was a chance I would fail, then I would never do anything. Correction: I would CONTINUE never doing anything. So we're turning that around in 2016. On with the challenges! Thrillho's Neverlution Challenge #1 - Working Out Alone I have a punching bag and stand in my basement. I have weights, I have kettlebells, I have pads and wraps and gloves and pretty much everything else any decently motivated individual needs to turn themselves into a beast. That said, I also have a couch with blankets and I have three televisions with functioning remote controls, so those weights and kettlebells and things hardly ever get used. I work out at MMA because I'm in a class full of people, I work out at the gym because I have to take my son for his physio, and I work out when my wife's friend comes over to work out because they need someone there to keep them on track. But I don't work out when I'm alone, even when I have free time and nothing to do. I find reasons and excuses and distractions, and while nearly all of them are things that I CAN do and some even NEED to be done, they don't need to be done RIGHT THAT SECOND. I can be honest enough with myself that there are enough slack minutes in my home life that I can work out. Quite a lot. And I need to start doing that. (I think my last challenge had this, and I failed miserably.) Work out at home 3x a week (morning or night, doesn't matter)Work out for at least 30 minutesWork up a decent sweat Seems pretty easy when you spell it out like that, huh? Dumbass. Thrillho's Neverlution Challenge #2 - Proper Diet And Supplements Eleven weeks isn't a lot of time, but I can do a lot. I lost 20 lbs in only six weeks for Ellismania, and that wasn't really REALLY trying too hard. Salad wraps and blue cheese and eggs and laying off the carbs, and switching to green and black teas... it's amazing what you can do. But I need more than just weight loss for this challenge (since the weight classes are very accomodating), I also need muscle building. Protein after workouts is important. Creatine for recovery is important. I splurged a little bit and got some of the Onnit supplements recommended by pretty much everyone I know, and I'll be test-driving those all through the month of January (T+ and Shroomtech). Not nearly as concerned about weight as I am concerned about proper fitness, energy levels and a well-functioning system of mighty organs. Take my T+ and Shroomtech before every workoutTake my protein and creatine after every workout, and protein after MMANo empty breakfast carbsNo more work lattes (tea with one sugar cube is acceptable)No more tasty, tasty dessertsSmall dinners Ask your doctor if Getoffyourassadone is right for you! Thrillho's Neverlution Challenge #3 - Stretching and Flexibility One thing I don't do nearly enough of is stretching. In December, while I was at MMA before my body and life went to hell, I would start every class with inverted wall splits, back arches and wall-assisted handstands. I noticed improvements almost immediately, especially regarding balance, footwork and hip flexibility. Naturally these all stopped when I was no longer attending classes, even though I have more than enough room in my basement to pull this off. Heck, I have a huge wall next to my bed. I could do all of these when I get up and when I go to sleep. And it's about time I started. Stretching in the mornings, especially before workout days. EVERY DAY.Stretching in the evenings, especially after MMA nights. EVERY DAY.Attempted wall-assist handstands every day. 10 times or 10 minutes. Are a man's hips supposed to do that, Thrillho? Thrillho's Neverlution Lifestyle Challenge - Writing Always the biggest one, and yet the smallest one. I have a desktop. I have a laptop. I have a tablet. I have a phone. And yet, most of the writing I do is in my little notebooks when I;m at gymnastics with the girls or when I'm waiting to pick my son up from HIS MMA classes. Because any time I settle down to do some writing, there's always more things that need to be done on my computer... like idlegames. And organizing my music. And posting on NF. Or heck, maybe just watching something dumb on YouTube. There's always something to distract me. Which is a cruel irony, since the only thing I want to do when I'm working, or driving, or cleaning, or otherwise occupied, is write! I have all these great ideas when I'm in bed or when I'm in the shower or when I'm shovelling the driveway (Canada, hello), but at best I jot down a few core concepts and then goof off. When I do write, it's never anything 'serious', for various definitions of that loaded word, but just something silly to amuse me. But I've got a writing course coming up, and I'm assuming I'm going to need to write something for it. I know how much I can write when I put my mind to it, so it's about time I fill up the remainder of my silly free minutes with words, words, words. Attend every writing class, even if you're really sleepy and can make it up with the online webinarWrite at least 500 words per day (1000 always seems daunting, while 500 always seems super easy... but 500 might get done)Try to read what OTHER people are writingDownload and listen to "The Next Chapter" podcasts, at least once per day (CBC, amazing show all about writing)The podcast one might seem strange, but it's super inspiring to actually hear other writers talk about their craft. I want to be like that. Stretching, supplements and words? Oh yeah. Your life is real hard, buddy. It might not be that hard, but that doesn't mean it's easy. The easy road is always the road of sitting and letting life pass you by. Maybe you move your lawn chair so an overpass shields you from the sun by the freeway of life, but that's just putting in the bare minimum of effort to make your laziness that much more bearable. I'm 35 and I'm pretty sick of saying that I'll have time when I'm older. When the bills are paid off. When the kids move out. When I get into shape. When I finally have free time. Because it's been thirteen years and I'm still saying it. Teenaged me would dickpunch current me without a second thought. And he'd be right. Viva la revolucion.

So I've been shamming the past year, hiding behind the concept of Easy Strength for a bit too long. I've convinced myself that I train smart, but I realize that I've forgotten how to train hard. No more. Time to increase the ability to move large loads long distances quickly across broad time and modal domains through constantly-varied functional movement executed at a high intensity. So I went ahead and put some mad money down to commit to a year at a local CrossFit box and signed up for a competition on the 30th, outsourcing all my training programming to someone else so I am forced to work on stuff I suck at (i.e. Wall Balls). Because if as a coach you don't believe in being coached yourself, that kind of makes you a hypocrite. All the increased lactic work is going to require some new dietary adjustments, and because little guy Chris Spealler outweighs me by 10 pounds, I may need to get some gainz going. The mission is simple: Accountability in Rangering-up 1. Box Attendance: 5 WODs a week. Turn up, log-on, and grind-out. Simple, yet somehow hard to do. 2. Protein: Consume 140g of protein a day. You can't be a meathead without meat. 3. Supplementation: Simple--Fish Oil and Creatine. Exercise virtuosity, in both the gym and the kitchen. Let's see how this goes. Glad to be back, Rangers.

Okay, so the last couple of challenges, I've got through and survived. There's still progress to be made, though. I have some BIG things coming up in this challenge! 31 October - GBPF (UK IPF affiliate) referee exam28 November-6 December - Vancouver for Commonwealth Powerlifting Championships2 December - Competing in my first international powerlifting comp7-9 December - Visiting Nerds in Seattle9-12 December - Visiting Nerds and family in BostonI'm currently working through a peaking routine so towards the middle and end of November I will be freaked out and really tired. Current maxes: Squat - 132.5kgBench - 75kg (training max), 72.5kg (comp max)Deadlift - 135kgGoals: Squat - 140kg+Bench - 80kg+Deadlift - 145kg+Accentuate the positive I have a bit of a reputation as being grumpy, argumentative and opinionated and sometimes being negative probably gets me down even more, so I'm going to try to be positive and smiley and helpful this challenge. Reach out to people and be helpful and positive. The goal is to average one positive or helpful comment on here a day until I fly out to Canada (and as much as possible after)... with room for slippage. If I have been genuinely helpful to you, though, let me know. Goal: 30 helpful or positive comments on other people's challenge threads, battle logs or enquiries +3 WIS +2 CHA I know that seems low, but I know I'll struggle sometimes and I don't want to make any promises for whilst I'm overseas. Unsurprisingly, I'm probably going to stress out as this challenge goes on. I know I can't win my weight class (I'm lifting a good 50kg less than the top girls in my class) but I'm hoping to come home with a medal for an individual lift. Training is going to be really tough as my programme is based off theoretical maxes at the moment (probably would have got them if I hadn't been sick at the British... but that's an excuse that's going about a lot). This is going to be part of my positivity challenge and not really going to be scored, but it's something I need to be aware of. Work dat ASS Yup... Still having glute problems. Goal here is to do at least one of my physio exercises every day. No big explanation here. Total goal 42/42. +2 STR +2 CON Sleeping Beauty Frightfully boring, but the same as last time. Aiming for a minimum of 7 hours a night. This will help with recovery and with managing stress. +1 7hrs+1.5 7.5hrs+2 8hrs+ Total time in bed is counted, rather than sleep on FitBit. Goal - +50 Bonus points - Massage - +3Date with Grant - +3Long, hot bath - +2Score - +3 CON +2 STR +1 WIS

Not a very imaginative challenge title.... but that's certainly what this challenge is going to be all about. It'll be terribly boring, i'll whine about my diet (still need to lose 3kg), i'll whine about my hands hurting, i'll whine about my imposter syndrome and I'll likely whine about having to do cardio-ish training..... But all of that hopefully in good spirits, while talking coaching stuff and having the time of my life o/ Main-quest; be all sorts of awesome at kettlebellsport (as an athlete, coach and nerd) Main-sub-quest (lol); be awesome in general (strong, skilled and mobile!) Current chapter: World Championship 25th-29th November - weigh in on competition day @67.9kg - try not to come in last (aka do 60-70 snatch reps with the 24kg kettlebell) - coach my athletes as best I can (that's the ladies in my weightclass at last years worlds) Two more competitions: - december 6th: annual gym weightlifting competition (pick 3 and max: snatch, c&j + deadlift (currently 45kg, 57kg and 112,5kg) - december 13th: SAP-Cup kettlebell competition with 4 min snatch and 4 min double longcycle Lifegoals; - launch the website for our gym (yes, we've actually gone 5 years without a website, it's insane) - prepare and promote the next course for wannabe-kettlebell trainers - my baby sister is moving out on the first day of the challenge (looong story, but she lived with me+bf for 2 years) so we're turning the extra room back into an office, so the goal is to make it the most wickedly useful office in the history of ever

This challenge instead of focusing on the process (like a smart person) instead i'm going with a list of things I want to achieve these 6 weeks. I'll be posting about what i'm doing to get there. Expect rambling, workout logs and lots of videos. Main-quest; be all sorts of awesome at kettlebellsport (as an athlete, coach and nerd) Main-sub-quest (lol); be awesome in general (strong, skilled and mobile!) Current chapter; qualifying for worlds on september 27th - weigh in on competition day @67.9kg - do 60 snatch reps with the 24kg kettlebell - be well rested (at least 8 hours of sleep the first 2 weeks of the challenge) (that's me and my current PR on 24kg snatch) Big list of other physical-sub-goals.. - get 5 pull-ups - get 1 dip - do a bodyweight clean, bonus points if I get the jerk too! - PR my back squat - PR my deadlift - do a 10 minute set with 24kg longcycle - make (freestanding) handstand gains - go running at least 6 times - go cycling with family at least once Lifegoal; - write the index page for a book about kettlebellsport - prepare and execute the next two days of my kb course well