Search the Community

Returning to my original goals with the hope of sticking to them this challenge: STRONGER: GOAL: By the end of this challenge, I will have increased my physical strength by at least 25% as measured by an increase in number of reps to failure of kettlebell single-arm overhead press. HOW: I will pick "heavy things" up and put them back down for at least 20 minutes, three days a week; this will include mostly kettlebell training with some "greasing the groove" using resistance bands, random heavy objects, and my kids. Training will look like this: Sunday -- Benchmark (single arm overhead press to failure, count reps; 30 minute run, note distance) Monday -- Five rounds of: 200 meter run kettlebell clean and press x 2 each side goblet squat x 5 two-handed kettlebell swing x 20 rest 2 minutes Tuesday -- 30 minute run; record time Wednesday -- 5-10 rounds of: 25 double-arm kettlebell swings 30 seconds rest 25 alternating kettlebell swings 30 seconds rest 25 single-arm kettlebell swings L 30 seconds rest 25 single-arm kettlebell swings R 2 minutes rest Alternating kettlebell clean & press x 30 (15 per side) 2 minutes rest Alternating kettlebell dead snatch x 14 (7 per side) Straight leg singe-arm kettlebell deadlift x 30 (15 per side) Overhead triceps extension x 15 Thursday -- 30 minute run; improve previous distance Friday -- 15-45 minutes of: clean with left hand press with left hand one arm front squat with left hand one handed swing with left hand park the kettlebell, recover, repeat with right hand Saturday -- Distance run on trails; mark distance and pace FASTER: GOAL: By the end of this challenge, I will be able to run a sub-30 minute 5k as measured by a 5k run. HOW: I will run for 30 minutes at least two days a week, with a distance/endurance run at least one day a week and sprint/speed intervals at least one day a week (see 200 m run above). SMARTER: GOALS: By the end of the challenge, I will increase my daily use of Duolingo; I will increase my daily reading habit by at least 5 minutes a day; I will learn at least one new thing daily. HOW: I will set a reminder to complete at least the daily requirements to achieve a 30 day streak on Duolingo I will set aside at least 30 minutes of reading time daily I will use apps such as Humane and Kinnu to learn new information, as well as the NPR app and podcasts. CALMER: GOAL: By the end of the challenge, I will improve my mental health by reducing my angry reactions to stress. HOW: I will use a meditation app to increase my meditation/contemplative prayer practice from 10 minutes to 15 minutes. I will take 30 minute mindful walks to help clear my mind. I will write down what I am grateful for and create daily affirmations using the 5 Minute Journal app. I will practice a relaxing breathing technique (short inhale through nose, long exhale through mouth) and apply this technique in moments of stress and frustration. I will listen to music that elevates my mood.

Why do you want to be harder, better, faster, stronger?

Respawn Rodeo Since I ran my half-marathon last spring, I've gained about 15 lbs, let my fitness habits slip, and eaten like crap (hence the respawn). I need some basic goals to get myself headed in the right direction again, so my days are less like an 8-second ride and more like a relaxing trail ride. Break the Horse My fitness habits have been left unattended for too long, and need to be brought under control again. I need to break some bad habits, and put better ones in their place. I've been using my bad back as an excuse, and it needs to stop. Actions: Work some kind of fitness into every day. Anything counts. I've been loving Lift Weights Faster, and their mini-routines should be easy to work into my life. I'm also getting workouts emailed to me from Metabolic Effect. Treadmill, Zumba, traditional weights, walking at work, DVDs at home are all options too. Success: Any day with activity is a success (x/42) Calf Roping My eating has gotten a little (ok, a lot) out of control. I need to lasso in my eating, especially sweets and "bad carbs." Actions: Go gluten-free. I seem to respond ok to other carbs, like rice, corn, and potatoes, so I don't see a need to really restrict them. I do have trouble limiting gluten items once I get started on them, and I think this will be a good gateway to a more paleo way of eating.Limit sweets to 3 or fewer treats per week. Fruit doesn't count, and I'm also not counting the sweetener in my coffee.Track daily in MyFitnessPal to keep tabs on myself. I'm not detracting for going over on calories right now, but it's a factor and needs to be watched.Success: Any day with no gluten is a success (x/42). Any week with 3 or fewer sweets is a success (x/6). Get back in the Saddle When you get thrown, you need to get back up and try again. I've been a pretty poor excuse for a PT patient. I don't do my exercises regularly or completely. I only have a few exercises to do, so they just need to be done. Actions: Do my physical therapy. Every. Day. No excuses. Success: Complete the exercises daily (x/42) Bonus: Do some additional "therapy" once a week - take a relaxing bath, get out of the house by myself, enjoy an alcoholic beverage to take the edge off, get a massage, etc. Side Quest: Herd the Cats Most days are so unorganized that I feel like I'm herding cats. I need to make a few easy changes to stay sane. Actions: Lay out kids' clothes the previous night. This makes things go smoothly in the morningMake a weekly meal list and have all ingredients on hand. This makes things go smoothly in the evening.Bonus: Do some kind of cleaning or a load of laundry 3 times per week. This will make for less work on the weekends.

double post

I'm back! I was a Scout briefly last year. Before spraining my right ankle and my left foot last July, I had been training to run my first 5K in September. Well, I migrated to the Assassins after that, and did achieve my first 5K this past June. My goals were to run without stopping, no matter how slow, and to finish in under 45 minutes. I finished in 43:01, and I never stopped chugging along. I consider myself somewhere between a Scout and an Assassin, a combination that I like to call Bounty Hunter Class. But since my focus right now is on running - I signed up for 3 more 5Ks to run between now and December - I finally decided today that I'd spend some time on the Scout side of my split personality. Main Quest - To weigh what I did back in High School when everyone made me believe I was fat. I have four goals for this challenge, one of them being a Life Goal. They go like this: Clean : Harder Eat : Better Run : Faster Get : Stronger Clean Harder - I will set a timer and clean for 15 minutes minimum, three days per week. The theory is that I can actually get a lot done in 15 minutes, and that once I get started I'm more likely to go for longer than 15. CHA +3 Grading based on 18 possible cleaning days. Eat Better - My goal here is to eat more fruits and veggies. I'd like to do 4 per day, but considering my current track record I'm going to set 3+ daily as the goal. I believe I can do at least 3 and will always try to do more. CON + 2, WIS +2 Grading on 42 days worth of eating. Run Faster - I have a new app called 5K Forever which is supposed to train me to run faster. I'm starting week 2 of the 8 week course this week, so the plan is to not miss any runs, of which there are 3 weekly. STA +3 Grading differently on this since it's critical I not miss. A = 17-18 runs, B = 15-16 runs, C = 14 runs, D = 13 runs, F = 12 or fewer runs. Get Stronger - I have had a crappy success rate sticking with any kind of strength program I've ever started. I tried Yoga for my last challenge and didn't mind it so much, so I now I'm going to try Pilates 3 days a week, which is supposed to be good for strength and flexibility. STR +2, DEX +2 Grading again based on 18 days of 'pilots'. Now I gotta get to bed. Tomorrow I'll start making charts to track all of this stuff. At least today I got my fruits and veggies in, so I'm off to good start.

Continuing Main Quest:Under 200 Lbs by 30th birthday (12/04/14). Mini Quests: 1. Get Stronger [sTR +3]Increased upper body strength through Push-Ups, Pull-Ups, Chin-Ups, Bench Press, DB Fly, etc. A = 10+ Pull-Ups In A RowB = 5 Pull-Ups In A RowC = 10 Chin-Ups In A RowD = 5 Chin-Ups In A RowF = <5 Chin-Ups In A Row 2. Run Faster [DEX +3] [sTA +3]Beat high school best 1 mile time of 8:00/Mi through interval training and increased mileage. A = Faster than 8:00/MiB = 8:00-8:30/MiC = 8:30-9:00/MiD = 9:00-9:30/MiF = Slower than 9:30/Mi 3. Clean Eating [CON +3] [WIS +1]Incorporate larger amounts and greater variety of produce (Fruits/Veg) into my diet.Fast food and Beer negate all progress for the day. A = Average of 7+ servings of Different Produce per day in a given weekB = Average of 6+ Servings of Different Produce per day in a given weekC = Average of 5+ Servings of Different Produce per day in a given weekD = Average of 4+ Servings of Any Produce per day in a given weekF = Average of <4 Servings of Any Produce per day in a given week 4. Life Quest [WIS +2]Put away money to fund our Europe Trip ($1500+) A = Saved $1000+B = Saved $750-1000C = Saved $500-750D = Saved $250-500F = Saved <$250 Starting Stats (14 Apr 2014):Weight 218.6 lbsWaist 42"Hips 42"Chest 40.5"Biceps 15.5" & 15.5"Legs 25" & 25"Calves 16" & 16"Neck 15.5" After a rough end to the last challenge, I'm back at it with new goals, new drive, and greater success. I have revised the grading system to be more encouraging, as the points system last time did not work. No more daily goals, instead focusing on weekly averages to maintain morale and focus. I'm also not going to follow 30+ people like last time, as I ended up reading everyone's posts many days later and without contributing much. This approach will make me a better community member by being more producer than consumer. The focus of my workouts is on doing upper body workouts at home with dumbbells (Bench, Fly, Shoulder Press, Front Raise...etc) during the evenings (commercials lol) roughly every other day, and Interval running in the mornings before work. I'll be eating a loosely paleo diet, with the main emphasis being on more vegetables. I considered adding a Walking Dead / Survival theme to this challenge like I have done in the past, but don't want to get too distracted by this.

I admit I'm never very good at these things. But I'm still here, so that counts for something... Thank you to everyone who has stuck by me during my failures here at Nerd Fitness. You keep me coming back for more. --- Body Workshop A body I've built myself. A better, stronger me. Parcourse once a week. Gym three times a week. C25k three times a week. Mind Workshop A mind to withstand all that is thrown at it...even that within. Read and finish one self-improvement book during the challenge period. Learn something new (juggling, no excuses). Practice meditation, nightly if possible. Soul Workshop A soul that forgives and accepts. Pay it forward once a week. Practice self-forgiveness. SUPPORT MY FRIENDS IN THEIR CHALLENGES.

The Fight Against Thunder BOSS FIGHT Vengefulpear VS Thor! Welcome back to everyone for another (what I'm sure will be!) great challenge! So as it's the last challenge of the year (well the last whole challenge of the year) I thought that it would be a good idea to wrap up this little storyline thing I've got going to see out the year and start something new and fresh next year. Despite the fact I would have liked to keep the challenge going and see where the story went based on how well I did I might save that for next year, we shall see! I quite like the whole connecting stories and making my way somewhere so maybe some Malazan themed challenges next year! Anyway! I hear you asking: How does a boss fight work!? Well I'll tell you! Basically I've decided to have specific target goals to reach rather than ones like 'go to the gym 2 times a week' so this time it will be more like 'do 15 pull ups in one go' and each goal will contribute 1/4 of the health of the boss (In this case Thor!) That's my thinking! I'd best get on to the actual goals! Fat Loss: Lose 3% bodyfat +2 DEX +2 CON I feel like 3% was a good number before and I also feel like I've added a tad of weight back on whilst I was at the World Fantasy Convention (damn you hotel pizza and free beer!) So for this I will be eating at about a 1800 calorie deficit about 1800 - 1900 calories per day (as that seemed to get positive results last time I did that) and focusing on eating a minimal amount of carbs (aiming for <50g per day) and I will also be eating as much paleo as I can muster! I hope that TiberiusNightrise will join me once again in a calorie PVP and if anyone else wants to join in it would be awesome to have you along (basically we compare calorie control and the person closest their target wins bragging rights ) Starting Stats: 159lbs / 17% BF Strength: Do 15 Pull Ups / Do 100 Push Ups +4 STR I'm not 100% sure if they all have to be in the same set but we shall see, I'm going to investigate properly the http://twentypullups.com/ programme and also the 7 weeks to 100 push ups programme, later on to make sure I'll be fine with those numbers. The reason that I want to do this is because although last time I did do a fair amount of strength training, I don't feel like I was making progress where I wanted. I never felt like I was pumping out any more pull ups really, it always varied quite a lot. So with a programme like this to follow and a number to aim for it should be all good! And obviously I can do those at home so no excuses! Speed: Run 5km in under 20 25 minutes +1 DEX +2 STA This one I may also change up the times slightly when I have more context (read: I've been for a run again) but I'm fairly sure I did 5km in about 27 minutes before.... maybe 20 minutes is too much to ask... Okay, we'll go for 25 minutes for the moment. Hopefully I can just smash that early on and make my way to 20 minutes! But I also don't want to jump too far and get eaten by sharks! Writing: Post 12 blog posts +2 WIS +2 CHA For this one I'm counting both of my blogs my writing post: http://thetemperedpen.blogspot.co.uk/ and now my fitness one: http://dumbbells-and-dragons.blogspot.co.uk/ So 12 posts should lead to 1 post in each per week (although I might swing more towards fitness if I can't finish/review books quickly enough) and please give me feedback on both/either blogs if you like/don't like them and what you think I could do better That's it for now guys! I shall leave you with this picture of a battling Thor!

Some acquaintances roped me into a Whole Life Challenge back in September. I was kind of at the end of my rope with diet - what's bad, what's good, what should I avoid, what should I eat? Ahhhh! The challenge broke it down pretty easy - no soy, no diary (except yogurt and butter), no sugar (except whole fruits), no wheat. I did the "Intermediate" level It had a giant list of "Yes" foods and "No" foods. It also had mini-challenges throughout, stretching daily, exercising in some way for 10 minutes a day (even if that's just going for a walk). Anyway, read up on it if you're curious. It just ended Friday (yesterday). Goals: Get faster at running. Lose body fat but not necessarily weight. Results? I lost 1.5 inches off my waist, 1.5 inches off my booty. At the beginning I timed 1 mile at 10:00 minutes. Today I ran 1 mile in 8:35, and then ran another 3.5 miles after that (much slower, but averaging ~10:30 mins/mile). This is why they make you take before pictures because although my weight hasn't changed at all, I can tell a difference in the mirror, doh! Lessons learned: Scales are stupid. Weight means nothing. I weighed myself about a week ago and was crushed to see the weight was the same as it ever was. But that certainly didn't mean I wasn't progressing!! Consistency is key. This is hard for me because I get a snowball effect when I eat something "off the list". I just want to keep eating and eating instead of just saying, "well that was a delicious cupcake, and now back to your regularly scheduled programming". Portion control! Because I was planning all my meals and didn't want to get caught without food, I rarely overate. Eat when you are hungry! Sometimes I eat just because it's time, or because I think I should. Listen to your body! It's much better at telling you what's going on than you think. Anyway, I'm pretty excited and can't wait to see where I am 8 weeks from now!

This is my second NF Challenge, and my first as a Ranger. Whether it's Jim Phelps and the original gang, or my generation's Ethan Hunt and crew, everybody digs the IMF. There's just something so badass about a group of people who tackle odds so steep, even their own organization's name assumes they can't win. Yet somehow, time and again, they get the job done. I really like the idea of achieving the impossible on a regular basis. See, I'm a big guy. Have been for a long time, but I've also been working for a long while at being less big. At 6 foot and 278lbs, I'm about 32 pounds lighter than my heaviest weight. In the last NF challenge, I lost 8 pounds and added some awesome gains to my lifting regimen. I assumed I'd be doing more of the same for this challenge, until I talked to a buddy a little while ago. He told me about a race he'd done back in May, 5 miles. Not just running, but facing obstacles, lifting heavy objects, getting muddy and cold, facing fire and electricity. Another buddy, ex-military, commented, "sounds like basic training all over again!" Another close friend, somebody I hugely respect and one of my fitness heroes, told me he'd already signed up for next year. And that's how I committed to a Spartan Race for next May, and that's why I'm in the Ranger subforum. This is a six-week challenge, but I'm playing a pretty long game here. I've got 75 pounds to lose, in 9 months. I can keep up a run for a couple minutes, but not much more than that. I've never run regularly in my life, beyond playing when I was a kid. I can't do a pull-up. From here, the mission is looking pretty impossible. The Mission: Kick ass at the Spartan Race next year. (aka: lose weight, get fast, get stronger) The Impossible Mission Force didn't stop the bad guy and save the day just by having a long-term objective. They set specific short-term goals, and executed them one step at a time. You gotta scale the Burj Dubai before you can get the nuclear launch codes from the sexy assassin! So the long-term goals of weighing under 200lbs, being able to run for miles and miles, and being able to do pull-ups, backflips, handstands and all that fun stuff, comes via the specific goals listed below. The Six-week Goals: Eat right, run regularly, lift myself and other things Eat right: I've gotten in the habit of logging everything I eat these days, and I've seen some great progress just from staying in the 1900-2100 calorie neighborhood. I'm gonna tighten things up for this challenge, setting a goal of 1700-1800 calories each day, logging every bite, and sticking to a mostly-paleo diet. Lots of veggie omelettes, bacon, chicken breasts, protein smoothies and steamed veggies coming up, which is awesome. I'll have the occasional slice of bread, but I'll be avoiding anything processed or loaded with sugar. I've also found having cheat days to be an immense help with sticking to a plan like this, so I'm gonna designate Saturdays as my day to ignore the restrictions and eat whatever I want. I'll post my calorie totals for each day in this thread. Run regularly: I'm going to start with the classic Couch To 5K running program. I put in the first workout of that today. It's a little tough to log that one on Fitocracy, but I'll give it a shot. It's a 9-week program so I won't be complete by the end of this challenge but I'll be well on the way. I'm sure I'll have a lot of questions to ask and info to gather, as running is by far the weakest area of my fitness knowledge. Lift myself and other things: By the end of last challenge I had a pretty good habit going of lifting at the gym. I'm gonna try and stick with a lifting routine for this challenge, secondary to the running goal. I'll continue building toward pull-ups by doing bodyweight Smith rows and lat pulldowns, and add push-ups to the routine. I've got some research to do before I fully define the routine so I might tweak this section later this week. I've got a life quest left over from the previous challenge, since I bailed so hard on it last time. Draw 1 page per week of the comic book I'm working on For real, I only drew two pages last challenge. I work as an illustrator in my day job, and I've been back-burnering this book for a year(!). If I don't finish it soon I never will. Here goes!

Quitting is not an option. One more rep. Embrace the suck. Do you hear/say these things on a regular basis? Do people act shocked and call your workouts "crazy", "insane", or other similarly awesome word? You probably belong with us. Post your loads and times to comments.