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Challenge 13. I'm heading back to the UK for a holiday in 6 weeks time, perfect challenge timing! I want to be in great shape for my trip so I've decided to repeat the goals I had for my second ever NF challenge, which was a very successful one for weight loss. Only mod is goal 1 now Body Fat % rather than a Kg BMI number. The key focus for the next 6 weeks is going to be fat loss and vanity. When I turn 40 later this year it would be amazing if I was "ripped" but any steps in that direction will be good progress. Goals: Goal 1 - Get to 17.5% Bodyfat. (CHA 5) Goal 2 - Complete 4 workouts per week (STA 2, STR 2, DEX 1) Goal 3 - Limit alcohol to max one night per week (CON 1, WIS 1) Goal 4 - 50% Paleo during the challenge, this means 10 Paleo main meals (breakfast, lunch or dinner) per week (CON 3) Although not on my goal list I will continue to limit caffeine to 1 cup of tea a day and cut out soda completely. These are easy now I am in the habit so I won't include on the attributes goals. Rewards: - Sub 80kg at end of challenge gets me a new t-shirt and hoody with my box branding on it. - Sub 17.5% BF gets me a crossfit WOD at a box while I'm in London. I'm still struggling to overcome injuries and the associated blues that come with them. I'm trying not to be too down on myself and not to let any sabotage around food creep in so I'm calling on my NF friends to help me through this challenge please, it's going to be a tough one! (but rewarding too hopefully)

Hi everyone, I made a post in the New to Fitness section asking some general questions about my diet and exercise in relation to losing body fat and got some great advice, but I have some specific questions that are best suited here. First off, I am 22, male, 6', and weight 155 lbs. My BMI is 21, and my BMR is 1741 (according to My Fitness Pal). I do HIIT 3 times a week, and lift 2 days a week (full body, no splits yet). My HIIT session is difficult for me, and takes about 15 minutes. The lifting session takes me about 1.5 hours, sometimes less if I go harder. I have started tracking calories, and am aiming for about 1800. When taking into consideration my burn rate ontop of the BMR (like average walking, HIIT, Strength Training), is this too low? I've gotten a few different numbers for how much I burn when I exercise, so I'm just confused about if I'm going to burn out. Especially because I'm having a hard time meeting my protein goals (160-180) Thanks very much. _______ I've outlined my routine and diet below if it matters to anyone lol and yes, of course I'm open to any suggestions for improvement: Plan: Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays= HIIT 10 Squats 10 Burpees Mountain Climbers (20 Seconds) Plank (15 seconds) 10 Pushups * No break between exercises *Rest 30 seconds once complete all exercises, and then repeat 3 times (I can only do 2 and a half times right now) Strength Training: Free-Weights (30 lbs unless specified), Body Weight, Resistance Band Tuesdays, Thursdays Dumbell Curls- 6x3 Weighted Squats- 7x3 (60lbs) Hammer Curls-7x3 Batwing Row- 12x3 Dumbell Row-12x2 Overhead Shoulder Press- 3x3 Weighted Calf Raises- 20x2 (60 lbs) Bicycle- 40 seconds Scissors-12 seconds x 2 Arm Raises (straight up)- 20x2 (resistance band) Arm Raises (straight out, like a T/)- 20x2 (resistance band) Ass Maximizers- 20x2 (resistance band, reverse leg extensions) Lunges- 15x2 (body weight) Diet: Beverages: I drink only water, coffee (one a day: one shot of milk, one exactly measured teaspoon of sugar), and tea (one every couple days). That's it, with rare exceptions.Meat: Beef (steak and lean ground), chicken, pork, eggs, the occassional sausage.Dairy: Yogurt, small amounts of cheese when I can afford it.Grains: oatmeal, some whole-wheat breads, granolaFruit: Apples, Bananas, mixed berries (the frozen kind, in a yogurt and protein powder smoothie)Vegetables: all kinds, including potatoNuts and Seeds: AlmondsMiscellaneous: small amounts of margarine for cooking, small amounts vegetable oil, occassionally ketchup, bbq sauce, hummus, salsaControlled Guilty Pleasures to Keep me Sane: Pizza, ice cream, chocolate, peanut butter, jam, honey, cereal, crackers, pasta

Hello All, New here, but a frequent "lurker". I am not sure where this post belongs as it has a few questions, both in relation to wanting to lose body fat but also my lifting/exercise. I am looking to lose weight 23y/o about 5"4 - not sure about weight or bf% atm (last weigh I was 70-72kg). I was following a keto diet up until recently I realised it made my binge-eating really bad and generally, I just wasn't happy. Now I am kinda just eating "primal" (i.e mainly fruit and veg) but also kinda just letting myself have a treat now and then, and not berating myself over it... 80/20.. making sure I get enough protein.. I want to lose some body fat - but I am not sure how much I should be eating (atm tempted by 5:2 just because if I go overboard one day I might feel like I balance it out.. ) and all calculators etc are different. I sort of have a desk job, I have a 20 minute walk to/from work, and although I sit down a lot during the day I am often walking around the office, 2-3/5 days I am lifting boxes of paper, packs of waters, boxes etc. I do a circuit class on Sundays, have a 1/2hr PT session once a week where we are currently doing circuits and I workout on my own 2-3 times ..atm heavy lifts followed by some isolation or kettle bell stuff and sometimes cardio.. I was eating 1800cals (total daily not net) - but also having binges so I can't say whether this worked.. I generally prefer eating like say a lower cal number (BMR?) and then when I worked out eat the extra calories so my net = that cal.. I don't like aiming for the same everyday.. Not sure what to do with my lifting as well whilst I calories deficit and really work at it.. Deadift: 100kg (1RM) Squat: 70kg (3RM) Bench: I can do 5x5 47.5kg but I did do 50kg although I think my PT held a lot of it - I am not that confident with this.. OHP: 30kg (5RM) Row: 40kg (5RM) I am currently doing a 5/3/1 sort of thing with my compounds and then any assistance work is 4 sets 8reps.. is this okay to continue? I know I might not hit PRs etc whilst eating less. but atm I wanna focus on fat loss as I can tell I have good muscle tone developing and I know I am quite strong.. Any input or help will be greatly appreciated - kinda on the verge of giving up and feeling like I will never shed the fat! x

Life has been quite a mess the past few months. Its time to clean shit up! Here's a quick recap: Earlier this year I started having problems with depression which derailed my entire life from home to work to the gym. I got some good help (therapy and meds), and now I'm getting back on track. I was able to complete the last challenge and get back into several of my old habits. I've also started on the 20 lbs. PvP weight loss challenge. Main Goal: Maintain and refine the habits gained from the last challenge and lose body fat. This challenge I'll be focussed on cutting and fat loss, maintaining strength, and fixing areas of life that are broken to add more support to my efforts. Yesterday, I read three articles on Lyle MacDonald's blog (one, two, and three) that I found very helpful, and that are guiding my efforts this challenge. These are guiding all three of my goals in one way or another. Grading: Rather than counting points and doing letter grades, I'm going to go Pass/Fail with a penalty system. If I screw up, I do "X" additional minutes of HIIT to compensate. If I have any penalties remaining at the end from a goal, I fail that goal. Also, I'll be gone at a conference for a week, June 19-26. Plans will be modified appropriately. Goal 1: Clean Eating To lose weight without losing too much muscle and strength, I need to follow a good clean, ketogenic diet. I started eating keto last challenge. The only difference is now I'll be tracking, and to keep calories lower for cutting, I'll be removing the skin from several of my chicken quarters. Daily ketogenic macro goals: eat at least 165g PRO, but no more than 50g in a single meal eat less than 58g CHO stay under 2500 cals daily eat around 161g Fat No alcoholic beverages -- also helps goal 3 I will: Eat for hunger only. Eat one piece of meat at each meal. Eat a moderate to small amount of fat with each meal If feelin' hangry... snack on lean meat/protein Eat a serving or two of non-starchy veggies (broccoli, leafy greens, and the like) at each meal Avoid Fruit, Grains, legumes, and starchy veggies (potatoes, other tubers, etc.) And of course avoid sugars, and alcohol. I will write down what I eat. I will record when I notice the signs of being in ketosis. I will weigh myself once a week. I will adjust intakes (more v. less) based on progress. Penalty: For each day I exceed 2500 cal or 58g CHO per day, or 50g protein/meal, or for each alcoholic beverage consumed, Note: If I'm short on protein, I have to make it up, which may cause me to exceed calories for the day so the penalty applies indirectly. Anytime I break one of these rules I owe the Universe 3 additional minutes of HIIT added to my workouts. Goal 2: Clean and Press I'm going to change up my workout routine based on the weightlifting for fat loss articles linked to above. Also, I want to learn the clean and press, and in the future incorporate more Oly lifts in my workouts from time to time. I've been doing a hybrid of Stronglifts 3x5 and IceCream 5x5. Now I'll be alternating heavy days (SL)IceCream 3x5, with lighter weight days of Clean and Press training, plus lightweight accessory lifts and HIIT to burn more calories. For accessory training, I'm shooting for the 8-12 rep range and I'll be supersetting and circuiting to reduce rest times. I'm going to alternate between upper body and lower accessory work. Also, my heavy workouts will replace front squats with low bar back squats and increase the number of deadlifts I do. I increase my lifts when I get 3 full sets of 5, and in every workout, I try 5 sets to get this before giving up. Deadlifts will advance for 1x5, and I will do 3 sets of 5 or less. I will be working out 4 times a week as such: Monday: Tuesday: Wednesday: Thursday: Friday: 3x5: Clean and Press HIIT 3x5: Clean and Press Low Bar Back Squat Upper Accessory Lifts Stretching Front Squat Lower Accessory Lifts Bench Press Press Pendlay Row Deadlift I want to reforge the habit of going to the gym every morning M-F. Wednesday will just be a kind of, show up, do some stuff and leave. I'll do a dedicated session of HIIT then. I'll only do HIIT on other workout days if I need to make up for penalties. Penalty: If I miss a workout I owe the Universe 10 minutes of HIIT. Goal 3: Clean Mind I want to incorporate some things to help deal with my anxiety/depression, maintain better focus and remove stress. Get up early - no snooze Meditate daily 1 Lakeside morning commutes/walks per week If I get up early I can easily get the first three. Penalty: 1 min. of HIIT for each missed clean mind goal, or 1 yoga class removes all penalty points. Life Goal: Clean Priorities Sub-Goal 1: Make a to-do list. -- I need to manage my time better both in work and life, stop procrastinating, and just get things done. So I'm making a to do list. I'll just add things to it as I go, and cross them off as I finish them. I'm gonna aim to get three things off the list per day. Here's the to-do list if you want to check my progress. Reward: Every time I cross something off, I get some internetz time. I can read one article/page, or spend 10 min. on NF, FB, etc. If I cross off five things, or reach the end of my list, I can take all the time I want. I'm not doing a penalty here just because there may be some things that wind up on the list that may take more time than anticipated. I just wanted to make some effort to spend less work and home time screwing around on the internet. Sub-Goal 2: Clean Apartment While depressed this winter, I didn't clean anything. And still I come home to a mess and haven't yet found the motivation to tackle the accumulated clutter and mess. Don't get me wrong, I've kept things (mostly) sanitary, but everything is cluttered and disorganized and messy. So I want to really get things cleaned up and start making a habit of keeping up with cleaning. Spend 10 min a day tidying up -- penalty = 1 min HIIT Clean the kitchen or bathroom each weekend -- penalty = 5 min HIIT Motivation: My motivation is all about getting back in control of my life. Between grad school and depression, I've felt like I've let my own priorities get set by other people or past events or even a warped view of what is and what should be important to me. I want to have a better work/life balance, to be healthy, strong, and have a functioning brain.

I can see a plateau looming with my weight loss in the next month or two, and I want to prepare for what it takes to drop BF% after that. Apparently bulking and cutting is the way to go, so what's your best introduction site/article/how-to for those of us new to it? Thanks in advance!

Hello Warriors! This will be my first warrior challenge and I am very excited to be picking things up and putting them down! Here are my goals: 1. Complete Oly lifting intro classes (3/6 already done) and design/begin oly program 2. Finish my 5k series (all Fridays in April, 2 down [44:12, 39:07] 2 to go) get time below 35:00 3. Keep up with clean eating and logging food (weekends optional) and keep taking body measurements 1x/week 4. Go to yoga at least once a week and try at least 2 strongman sessions Life goal: Keep a gratitude journal, write one thing per day - this will probably be my hardest goal.

Guys! Guys. Guys and ladies. I barely ever visit this part of the forum because I forgot it exists. But now I remember, and I have to brag. Today I finished my first (intentional) weight loss program. Effing eff yeah. I went from 21% to 12% bodyfat in around 9 weeks. Progress photos below, stripey undies brought to you by my sense of humor. Relaxed Flexed Can I get a highfive??!!

Hey - really basic question here, from someone nowhere near the point where she needs to know the answer, but who has been wondering nevertheless. I've been reading heaps about cutting and bulking on Nerdfitness, and I'm wondering ... is this something that is necessary, once a certain amount of exercise/bodyfat percentage is reached? My goal is not necessarily building the largest amount of muscle possible, but I do intend to get to 17% bodyfat eventually. My workouts/exercise will be, for the forseeable future, bodyweight workouts, to increase proficiency at parkour and, starting January, Capoeira. My question is, if I keep working out and making things harder for myself to get stronger, will I need to worry about cutting and bulking? Or if I find a spot where I'm maintaining weight and getting all the necessary nutrients, would I be able to stick to a consistent diet? I guess what I'm really asking is, can someone explain the purpose behind cutting and bulking, and what it does for the body?

I was sitting around this weekend thinking about the cut I'm currently in, and got curious as to how others approach their cutting periods when it comes to training. I've heard some people switch over to an "intensity mode" replacing their standard strength training with HIIT type workouts. There is also the group that keeps their workouts exactly the same during the length of the cut. At this point, I've fallen into the the latter group; however, I have added more cardio than usual (walks during lunch and a weekly 3mi run w/ sprints for the hell of it). I know diet is the key factor during a cut along with keeping protein intake at optimum levels so I guess my question is rather simple. Is it critical to switch to an interval training style during a cut or can the same results be achieved doing standard rep/sets for strength?

Hi Everyone, I've been trying desperately for years and years to lose the excess body fat on me, everytime I've tried I've made progress for 2 or 3 weeks then I turn back to junk food and gain back all the weight I've lost plus some more :-( Well now I want to put an end to that, I've been doing Starting Strength for the past year and weightlifting for the past 2 years or so. I've been dabbling with Intermittent Fasting since April (whilst still eating junk food so my results haven't been good at all). This is my battle log to help track my progress, keep myself accountable, and hopefully inspire others. My Goals Lose 10kg by Christmas Eve Not eat any junk food at all over the next 12 weeks Cut down on smoking, by Christmas to only 3 cigarettes/cigars per week Maintain or Increase my current lifts Go to Kickboxing once per week Go Weightlifting three times per week on non-consecutive days Stick to my diet plan Cut 10cm off stomach measurements Current Lifts(as of 2nd October 2013, all 3x5 except Deadlift is 1x5) Squat: 140kg Deadlift: 162.5kg Bench Press: 60kg Overhead Press: 60kg Power Cleans: 70kg Diet Some Leangains style intermittent fasting with a bit of paleo involved. I count my macros and try to hit that, so on a day I do weightlifting I'll eat 160g of Protein, 230g of Carbohydrates, and 55g of Fat, eating Protein from only lean sources of meat and having lots of fruit, veg, and whole grains like rice. On my days when I'm not weightlifting I'll eat 170g of Protein, 50g of Carbohydrates, and 75g of Fat. So I'll cut out Carbs except for fruit and veg, and eat fattier cuts of meat such of beef mince. On the days I go to Kickboxing I'll eat more carbs. Starting Stats and Measurements (2nd October 2013) Weight (kg): 87.0 Body Fat %: 25.5% Chest (cm): 104.1 Right Arm: 35.2 Left Arm: 34.3 2 inches above Belly Button: 99.1 Around Belly Button: 103.2 2 inches bellow Belly Button: 102.1 Hips: 99.6 Right Thigh: 62.5 Left Thigh: 62.0 For Pictures see below, so far I've only uploaded pictures from 2/10/13, but I aim to upload new ones every 4 to 6 weeks Thanks Everyone and Wish me Luck, Any Help or Advice would be appreciated!

Main quest: Climbing, climbing, and more climbing. My main exercise for the last year has been bouldering, and I honestly do view everything else as filler to help myself get stronger, more flexible, or more in shape for climbing. Despite that, I've spent the last two challenges chasing shiny things and doing "side adventures" only tangentially connected to my main goal of climbing. About 2 months ago, I successfully climbed my first V3. Since then, I've reached a point where I can generally complete the V2s, and I completed another couple of V3s (all balance based routes with crimpy holds. None had any major power moves). I'd like to reach a point where I can generally get the V3s and maybe a V4 or so. I don't intend to push myself too hard with chasing grades, as that tends to lead to injuries or disgruntlement. Instead, I'd like to focus on the background exercises and diet that will generally help with improving my climbing. Since between kids and scheduling, I can only make it to the climbing gym 2 (occasionally 3) times each week for about 90 minutes each time, I have a lot of room for extra exercises. Goals: 1. Get Stronger - obviously, improving my strength will help with power moves in climbing. My ideas to achieve this are to 1a.) select exercises that are more directly applicable to climbing or are needed to balance out my muscle groups, and take a break from the other stuff. This means tons of dead hang pull-ups, tons of core work, and high step-ups where I alternate pushing from the heel and pushing from the ball of the foot. Push-ups and posterior chain stuff will be added just for balancing out muscle group exertions. Take a break from exercises that are only marginally helpful, even if they seem cool and appealing (like handbalancing or prasara). Stop chasing the shiny objects. 1b.) GTG pull-ups and pull-up variations. I need tons more volume. 1c.) be smarter with reps. For some odd reason, I've been stuck on wanting about 10 reps for set. But, I really want strength and power, as that will help the most with my climbing. I don't really want size. So, I should start increasing my weight or exercise difficulty so I'm doing 3 sets of 5 or fewer reps, rather than 3 sets of 10+. Target: 24 points for 4 climbing based strength days/week, where to get a point, I either have to climb, or do a day with GTG pull-ups, climbing based exercises before getting distracted with shiny objects, and increasing difficulty rather than reps. 2. Get Leaner - if I weigh less, there will be less of me to haul up the climbing wall, which should improve my climbing. Also, I want to do a slight bulk (maybe 0.5 lb/week) at some future point, but I don't know that I can bring myself to do that without losing a little, first. This one will be a little bit odd for me, since (aside from pregnancy and the period right after), I haven't weighed less than 150 or more than 162 over the last 15 years (I'm 5' 6.5"). My body will recomp quite a bit in that weight range, but otherwise, I guess my body rocks at maintenance and is awful with everything else. I'm at 152 lbs and not too flabby now, so I'm close to the limits of my body's ability to lose weight or recomp without trying something new. To shake things up, the plan is to: 2a.) eat moderately low carbs (tough, since I'm a vegetarian) and on a deficit during my 3 yoga/stretching days. Eat normally on the strength or climbing days, but at most one serving of refined carbs. Avoid social event binging. 2b.) Alcohol only on my "cheat day". The rest of the time, no beer, wine, etc. 2c.) Come up with healthy alternatives to handle my early afternoon energy crash. I've typically grabbed either a not-so-healthy snack or juice to give me a little energy boost. Yeah, it's a bit experimental, but I have to try a bunch of things to see what will work for me. Target: 36 points for 6 days/week of following this protocol 3. Adjust my attitude 3a.) Climb all of the V0s and V1s. I need to stop either feeling like easier routes are "beneath me" or hold myself back out of a fear of failing at something that I think I should be able to do. Even the "easy" routes can hit an individual weakness, and I should learn from them what I can before focusing almost exclusively on the "hard" routes. 3b.) Stop whining about height bias in climbing. Yes, many routes have moves that are challenging and reachy for me, but are trivial for my 6'2" husband. I need to get over it and stop whining or commenting about the height bias, and instead focus on improving my own skills. I'm sure the whining makes me a pain-in-the-ass for my husband to be around. 3c.) If I'm having a bad climbing day (and those do crop up), move to the easier routes or traverses and work on endurance, rather than getting grumpy. I need to salvage what I can out of the session, rather than make the day a complete waste. Target: 100% compliance with these protocols on climbing days. Side quests: 1 Finish constructing our indoor climbing structure (damn it, I want my holds to arrive). Come up with an exercise circuit utilizing the structure. I'm pretty excited to to this and was planning on it anyway, so it's kind of lame as a side quest. Fitness side quest: Yoga or mobility for 30 minutes on every non climbing or lifting day. I've been pretty good about the yoga, but I really need to commit to the time. Plus, there's no reason for me to have a "do nothing" type of rest day. Target: 100% compliance with this on non-strength days. Life power up side quest: Fly with the flylady. Thanks to Bekah, KBGirl, and Elastigirl, I'm going to jump in on the Flylady PVP after all. I'm hoping that their energy will motivate me to clean my house more often. My house is a disaster, and flylady seems to be a great way to break the cleaning down into manageable portions. Plus, my daughter is becoming a slob, and I know I'm setting a poor example. Target: the PVP has 7 pts/week for a total of 42 points. Obtain all of these points.

At the moment I'm not sure whether I should go for bulking or cutting in the next challenge. Since April I've been eating healthy and controlled amounts and have lost some weight. Currently I'm 75kg (165lbs) but with a BF percentage of 37%. My weight is good for my height (BMI 24) but I clearly carry too much fat. I also have basically no muscles. In the last challenge I've set a goal to get to 5 proper form push-ups and and training specifically for that for 6 weeks I'm still not able to 1 really proper push-ups (but getting closer). So, I have two goals: 1. Lose body fat 2. Get stronger I realise these are two goals that are almost mutually exclusive and I need to pick one for the next six weeks and change for the next challenge. The problem is that I don't know which of the two to aim for. Last challenge I went with weight loss, which happens but very slowly. So now I'm thinking that perhaps I should try and build up some muscle to increase my BMR and to make the cutting easier after that as well. Then again, I'm still close to the upper BMI levels and gaining extra fat isn't something I really need. Is this just a case of just pick one and stick with it, or is there a better option? Any input would be greatly appreciated!

Its cuttin time. Next stop: For the duration of the challenge I'll be cutting in the 1.0-1.2 lb/wk area. This is going to be an open ended cut, the object being to cut to the 8% BF area, no visible fat without becoming freaky veiny. And tanning. Lots of tanning. It time to reveal all the muscle I've built in the last year. About 20 lbs worth if my estimates are right. Goals: 1) Learn To Use My Left Pinkie Toe - I have pretty much zero control over it right now, in fact it often goes the wrong way when I try to use it on its own. My right side doesn't have this issue at all. I believe this issue and general weakness of my smaller toes on the left foot is a major contributer to the size imbalance between my calves. Working on finger strength has been the key to forearm growth for me, and I suspect that toe strenth shows a similar relationship with the calves. I think the trick to it will be to spend a few minutes every day working on it. Points Available: DEX +3, CON+1 2) Switch To Full ROM Weighted Skater Squats As My Primary Leg Exercise - This is huge. Pistol squats and weighted pistol squats have been my primary leg exercise now for well over a year. I feel there is potential here for a back squat/front squat type relationship between full ROM skater squats and pistol squats. I'm going to switch to the skater squats for the duration of the challenge. I'll still do some unweighted pistol squats so that I don't backslide on my pistol form. For those that don't know, skater squats are the same thing as a basic shrimp squat, where you don't hold the back leg with your hands. With 2 hands free, you're able to hold a lot more weight. A shrimp squat though is a partial ROM squat (biomechanics do not allow you to go to parallel or below on flat ground), which makes it more suitable as an accessory exercise than a primary exercise. Elevating the working leg a few inches allows a much greater full range of motion, making exercise suitable as a primary exercise. The different hip and back angle between a pistol and skater squat allow for a different mix of muscle activation throughout the range of motion, which is what has me so intrigued with the potential symbiotic relationship between pistol and skater squats. Points Available: STR +4 3) Take Weekly Progress Photos - I'm no stranger to progress photos and I'm going to continue to take monthy progress photos in the bathroom mirror as I always have, however I'm also going to do more. When it comes to cutting into the single digits of BF%, photos are by far the best measure. The tape measure and scale can only take you so far. I need to be freed of the limitiations of the bathroom mirror, therefore I will be using my SLR on a tripod with a timer. Shots will include: front, side, and back relaxed and front, back flexed. I might also do a side flexed. Points Available: WIS +1, CHA +3 L) Spend At Least One Minute A Day Working On My Website/Blog - Starting something is the hard part for me. Once I get going I'm usually good to go and keep going. I'm trying to get in the habit of doing at least a little bit every day. Hopefully I'll be ready to unveil it some time this challenge. Points Available: WIS +3 Workout Log Key: I use a lot of easy to write shorthand in my workout log, which greatly increases the data carrying capability without long written out notes, however it does make it a bit difficult to read without a means of decoding it. Starting with the basic: Exercise Name - Reps or time in a set I try to add the unit (secs/reps) as much as possible, though I do forget from time to time. From there I add a lot of modifiers: / = Forward slash indicates that it is single limb work, and that the set is broken up per limb. I always use the convention left/right. 3/3 means 3 reps on the left, 3 reps on the right. , = delimiter between sets. 3,3 means a set of 3, a break, and then another set of 3. n = negative reps. 5n1 means a set of 5 with a negative rep at the end. 0n3 means a set of 3 negatives. c = cluster reps, can have a modifier in () to denote a nonstandard pause time. Standard pause time is 5 breaths. 3c3 means a set of 3 reps, a 5 breath pause, and then another set of 3 reps. 3c(10br)2 means a set of 3 reps, a 10 breath pause, and then 2 more reps. m{} = myo-reps, I'll usually add a () and note pause time. 10 m{3,3,3,3}(5br) means that I did a 10 rep activation set, took a 5 breath pause, did a set of 3 reps, took a 5 breath pause, did a set of 3 reps, etc... (repeated 4 times total). I often use multiple pause timings when doing myo-reps. Going past what was done, I also have 2 grading scales in use to note how it was done. The following is added to the rep/hold numbers above for each individual set to grade the set. Rate of Perceived Exertion (RPE), notes how "hard" the set was. I use shorthand to note the standard RPE scale: z = RPE 10, need to be mentally prepared for that output (making noises helps as well), true failure/edge of failure, very slow grinding final rep. y = RPE 9, might have a highly motivated rep left in the tank, failure or edge of failure when training calm, slow grinding final rep. x = RPE 8, left a rep in the tank (2 or more if highly motivated), rep speed slowed down noticably and there is a slight grind, but not close to failure. e = RPE's 7 and below, several reps left in the tank, did not lose rep speed, easy work. Rate of Perceived Technique (RPT) notes how good set form was. I'm going to use my own form rating system at first: ++ = Very high quality form, no major issues, any issues with the form are extremely minor. + = Average/above average form. No major issues, though there are some definite problems with the smaller details. - = Below average form. Major issues possible (though not severe), smaller details need a lot of work -- = Poor form, major form problems.