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((Edited Friday afternoon (7 Aug) to add a couple of side quests, and update some formatting.)) Hello everyone..I'm Luxia. I'm choosing to post here instead of the Level 1 group because I've been here before, just a long, looooong time ago, and I know this is where I belong. I'm a dancer and a fencer, though the fencing is very new for me. I'm a little late to the game for this challenge, but I figure, better late than never! I'm working on trying to keep it somewhat simple, especially with my first dive back here. So, here's my plan for this challenge. As I said in my intro post (linked in my signature), thank you all for still being here! Epic Quest: Get to 25% body fat - - As of Tuesday (4 Aug 20), I'm at 42.01%. I've had more body fat on my frame, I've certainly had less. I'm choosing to focus on my body fat percentage over my weight, because I honestly don't care how much I weigh, I want to be fit and strong and healthy. A body fat percentage of 25% feels like a healthy and manageable goal, while still requiring a lot of effort to get there, which I'm fine with. I like a challenge. This is a long term goal for me, obviously. I don't have a short term version of this goal, aside from making progress each week/challenge. Challenge Quest #1: 100 kettlebell swings everyday - - I was challenged by a friend to do 100 sings for 100 days. Yesterday was Day 13. I'm currently using a 20# kettlebell. I started with 10# but switched things up on Friday. I want to, and plan to add, more exercise than this to my workouts, but in addition to using the swings to build some strength, I'm using the commitment to 100 days of swings as a way to get back in the habit of working out. Challenge Quest #2: Reduce gluten intake to near nothing - - My body does not like gulten. It's not a full-blown allergy..thank the gods..but I can really feel all the extra inflammation in my body when I eat it. A little bit here and there doesn't bother me, and with my history of disordered eating, completing eliminating foods is not healthy for me. So, for near nothing for me means not eating gluten everyday (or even every other day), eating minimal amounts when I do, and being intentional when I do eat it. Challenge Quest #3: Eat ~100 grams of protein everyday - - While losing body fat, I'd like to keep and gain some muscle. Keeping my protein intake up is going to help with that. I'll be tracking my protein intake in MyFitnessPal. Side Quest #1: Make progress on my 1560s Venetian outfit (Added 7 August) - - I'm a member of the Society for Creative Anachronism (sca.org). It's a historical reenactment group. One of the big projects I started and have been working on during the pandemic is making a 1560s Venetian outfit. I post about each completed garment of the outfit on my blog (Luxia Sabina), but I need more accountability for actually making regular progress. I know it has absolutely nothing to do with health or fitness, but I hope you all don't mind! Side Quest #2: Do fencing point control drills 3x everyday (Added 7 August) - - I'm getting started with doing fencing. Due to the pandemic, my local group isn't able to meet for practice, so I'm doing what I can to work on my technique at home. I made myself a couple of point control targets (one for indoor, one for outdoors). Working on my fitness and strength building will help with being ready for practice once the time comes, but working on getting more comfortable with actually using my sword and hitting a thing will go along way. Here's a picture of my indoor target and my sword.

Hallo, Kate again. So this is my battle log. I try to gain a little muscle, accomplish some endurance and stamina - and lose some weight on the way. Currently I weight 64 kg with 1,57 cm height. (I'm really not very tall.) I'll update my weekly journal here with my workouts and progress with improving my eating habits. I would like to add some tables with figures as well, but I couldn't find out, how o add my excel tables. Perhaps I'll post some screenshots. Goals: I want to accomplish a leaner self. I want to reach 60 kg and build a little muscle. Stamina is also important, because I want to walk home fast without getting out of breath. I want to walk 2.4 km in less than 20 minutes. I want to get leaner. I want to drop weight until I reach 58 kg. [Met on May 21th 2015] I want to gain some muscle and do push-ups and pull-ups. At the moment I can only do kneeling push-ups and never did a pull-up. I want to feel better, have more stamina and respect myself. I want to like my own body and feel more sexy. I want to accomplish healthy eating habits without counting calories. I want to train my fencing skills until August for our regular community meeting. Measurements

Mods, if "Martial Arts" is the wrong place for this thread, kindly move it to wherever it should have been. Thanks. I know there are a few other fencers here at NF. Chime in! What weapon do you fence? How long have you been at it? What kinds of workouts do you find to be the best support for your fencing training? For me, I'm a foil fencer. Just now getting back into the sport after a 20-year hiatus. I had an "E" rating in high school, and am working toward getting back into good fencing form to earn that back. That means dropping about 10 lbs and practicing regularly with my coach. The club here is not huge, and I'm one of the only adults, but I think in time I'll be able to get back into competitions. My workouts so far have been more about general fitness, strength, and weight loss. That's helping build up stamina, which is great for fencing, but otherwise I don't have a fencing-specific workout.

I fell in love with fencing. Obviously this calls for a Utena-themed challenge. So last challenge did not end so well for me. I was getting burned out on life and everything, and then tragedy hit and I just couldn't with anything anymore. After giving myself the past couple of weeks to regroup and recuperate, I have a clearer path going forward in all sorts of things, which makes my summer less panic-inducing (if you're just joining in, work is going to be crazy busy PLUS I'm going to be in rehearsals for Evita starting on May 22), and I know what I want to do with my fitness goals. Because I love fencing, my workouts will all now be tailored towards conditioning for the sport. But I'm also dealing with a back muscle injury of sorts, which is thankfully just a benign injury of the strain/spasm/knot variety, so I need to make sure I take care of that, too, while also making sure that it never happens again! I'm too young for back pain... So, without further ado! MAIN QUEST: Maintain my sanity as I rehabilitate my back, juggle work and rehearsal and life and fitness, and continuing to pursue my newfound love for fencing! QUEST ONE: ENDURANCE TRAINING [+2 STA] In fencing class, my strength is great, but cardio is kicking my butt in ways I did not expect. Seriously, when you’re a very fit person and you have to sit down because your cardio is sub-par, it is a super embarrassing thing. So, twice a week, I will dedicate my workouts to cardio training. It doesn’t matter what it is, as long as my heart rate is pumping, I’m calling it good! A = 2x/week of cardio | C = 1x/week of cardio QUEST TWO: BACK CONDITIONING [+1 DEX, +1 CON] As mentioned, my back has been bothering me and it's been preventing me from doing a bunch of exercises like working through pull-up progressions, toes-to-bar progressions, and sometimes even bench presses and other variations of push exercises. Also, working on anything that deals with back flexibility has been a no-go. The doctor gave me a list of stretches I need to do every day, and other self-care tips, of which I intend to follow through on. So I'll do this quest in two parts: 5x/week I will do the flexibility exercises, and 5x/week I will give my back some heat therapy and/or some massage/foam rolling loving. A = 5x/week | B = 4x/week | C = 2-3x/week | D = 1x/week If my back is completely back to normal before the end of the challenge, part one will continue but part two will either be revised or given a pass for the remainder of the challenge. Here’s hoping that this is a bridge I WILL have to cross! QUEST THREE: SMART SNACKING [+2 CON] The winter months are over and I can no longer use my “I’m a mammal so I’m mammaling” excuse for eating like an asshole. Therefore, over the course of the challenge, I’m allowing myself 8 non-freggie, non-protein snacks. Basically: popcorn, chocolate, candy, ice cream, drinks that aren’t water or tea or my chai latte, Snapea Crisps (SOB THIS IS GOING TO BE THE HARDEST THING – and no, I’m not counting is as a freggie), etc are all restricted. Chocolate milk is okay ONLY IF I consume it within an hour of a workout. A = 8 or less snacks | B = 10 or less snacks | C = 12 or less snacks | F = did you even try to control yourself LIFE QUEST: SPRING CLEANING [+2 WIS] My summer is going to be super busy and there is going to be a lot of things in my life outside of work and rehearsal that will fall by the wayside. That will include keeping a clean home. So that my apartment doesn’t fall into complete chaos and disarray over the coming months, every week I will focus on each area of my house and give it a nice, good, and hard spring cleaning treatment. The four areas will be: bedroom and home office, bathrooms, kitchen and laundry room, and the living/dining room. A = 4 Areas Cleaned | B = 3 Areas Cleaned | C = 2 Areas Cleaned | D = 1 Area Cleaned SIDE QUEST: PIANO PRACTICE [+2 CHA] I’ve been itching to relearn the piano again for years now (I used to be so good, I don't understand why I quit, wtf 11-year-old me), so why not start now? At the very least, I want to master a song, and that song will be the theme song from Tonari no Totoro because as my family and friends will tell you, I am a Totoro fanatic. No joke, 50% of the things I own are Totoro-related. Over the course of the challenge, I will log at least 240 minutes towards practicing, which averages out to be about 1hr/week. This won’t get me from Zero to Hero over the course of the next four weeks, but it’s a start, at least! A = 240+ minutes | B = 180+ minutes | C = 120+ minutes | D = 60+ minutes Ready to do the thing! If you binge-watch the show, you seriously start to get super annoyed at how often they reuse this particular animation sequence...

MAIN QUEST: Become a master of disguise. Or at least an actress who can dance like she’s in Buenos Aires and can perform feats of magnificent skill. … Like a ninja. Pascal, my Spirit Animal for this challenge When the question was posed in the Assassins’ Den last challenge about what kind of Fitness Superhero we aspire to be, I mentioned that I want to be a chameleon, where I can blend into whatever role I’m needed to be (or want to be) easily. It’s part of my whole thing of always striving to be a better actress, after all. And what better role model for an aspiring chameleon than a ninja? QUEST 1: NINJA TRAINING [+2 STR +1 DEX, +1 STA] A ninja is always training, always striving to better herself or himself, always getting stronger, etc. And so, I will endeavor to workout 5x/week. There are some extra requirements to this, however: I must lift at least 2x/week. I must work through pull-up progressions and toes-to-bar progressions at least 2x/week. I must work on flexibility for at least 10 minutes at least 5x/week. The other three workouts must be over a duration of at least 30 minutes/session. This can be cumulative throughout the day if necessary. The flexibility time can count as part of the 30 minutes (and yes, if I work on flexibility for 30 minutes, that alone will be enough to count), as can any work done towards the two quests below. A = Criteria 100% Met | B = 75% Met | C = 50% Met | D = 25% Met QUEST 2: GO NINJA GO NINJA GO [+2 DEX] You thought this was going to be a TMNT gif, didn’t you? There’s no dance party like a ninja dance party! Since I’m always working to improve my dancing, 2x/week, I will work on Latin-style dance basics in preparation for my summer in Evita. Videos: http://www.howcast.com/guides/905-how-to-do-the-argentine-tango/ http://www.howcast.com/guides/909-how-to-samba/ http://www.howcast.com/guides/660-how-to-dance-salsa/ A = 2x/week | C = 1x/week QUEST 3: NINJA BALANCE [+2 DEX] A ninja must have balance. With that in mind, I will work on hand and leg balances and inversions 3x/week for at least 10 minutes. Library of Poses: http://www.yogajournal.com/category/poses/types/arm-balances/ http://www.yogajournal.com/category/poses/types/balancing/ http://www.yogajournal.com/category/types/inversions/ A = 3x/week | B = 2x/week | C = 1x/week LIFE QUEST: NINJA BENTO [+1 CON] Going on a mission without a packed lunch is a terrible idea. While I’ve gotten better at bringing lunch to work, my lunches could stand to be healthier since lately they've just been frozen dinners, which are so gross I never even finish them, which is hampering my "get stronger" quest since I’m not eating enough, or I turn to the junk food around the office to get the calories my body is demanding. So, twice a week, I will pack a homemade lunch and bring it to work. A = 2x/week | C = 1x/week SIDE QUEST: NINJA MISSIONS [+1 WIS] What’s a ninja without missions to go on? Even if it is as simple as, "I need that hole punch." Having a to-do list really worked last time to help keep my life in order, and I want to keep that up especially since my life is going to start picking back up with crazy busy-ness. But based on lessons learned from last time, I’m going to make a couple of adjustments: one, that Saturday and Sunday will combine to make one to-do list for the entirety of the weekend; and two, that there is no minimum number of things I need to cross off, as long as I make an honest effort at doing as many things on the list as possible. A = 6x/week | B = 4-5x/week | C = 3x/week | D = 1-2x/week Let's Go Ninja!!!!!!!

Hey there, Rebels! I'm heading into my third challenge, and I'm hoping to push myself even harder. I only have 3 weeks left in this semester, but I'll probably stay on campus for an extra 6 weeks to take a "Maymester" and work. Anyways, life will for sure get a bit easier, so I want to start my summer break off strong by finishing this challenge! I'm breaking this challenge into "Fitness" and "Life" goals, although there's a bit of crossover. Thanks for following me on this journey! Current Weight/Measurements: Weight - 120lbs Bust - 34" Waist - 30 1/2" Hips - 37" Thighs - 21 1/2“ Fitness Goals GOAL 1: Run like Wonder Woman. (Run, or Use Elliptical or Treadmill 3 days a week) (Fun fact - my English professor is Lynda Carter's first cousin. Unfortunately, I still don't have an autograph.) Details: I am not a big runner. It's just not something I've ever done, and I've been okay because I've found other ways to stay fit. However, I need to up my endurance. I am only choosing to do 3 days a week because I get a lot of cardio from dance (especially tap) and I don’t want to set too high a goal. Possible Points: +3 Stamina Current Progress: 2/20 Days GOAL 2: Do a Handstand (Take 2!) Details: This was my goal in my last quest, but it didn’t happen. I have managed to stay in a wall handstand for 60 seconds, but I can’t do it consistently. I also can’t get up on my own away from the wall. So, I’m going to try it again! Possible Points: +2 Dexterity Current Progress: Can hold a wall handstand for 60 seconds. Can get into a handstand away from the wall. GOAL 3: Hulk up! (Regular Weight-lifting Details:I am trying to get more into regular weight-lifting, beyond what I do in my tiny apartment. I’ve been trying to use the free-weights at the gym, but I need the added motivation of making it part of my challenge. I'm also partial to bodyweight stuff, so I will probably rotate between that and free-weights. I’m shooting for a bare minimum of 4 days a week - but hopefully I'll make more than that. Possible Points: +2 Strength Current Progress: 2/24 Days Life Goals GOAL 1: Get more sleep. Details: I used to have a very steady sleep schedule, and unlike most college students, I'm not into partying and I rarely stay up late of my own accord. (#nerd) But recently, especially this past semester, I've been getting an average of 4-6 hours of sleep. I didn't notice it until I got a FitBit and started tracking my sleep, but MAN is that unhealthy. So I'm going to work on getting more sleep. Possible points: +2 Constitution Current Progress: 4/42 Nights of at least 7 1/2 hours of sleep. GOAL 2: Pass the Psychology CLEP Test (And not Britta it) Details: I need to knock some of these GenEds out of the way so I won't have so much going on. First up: Psychology! I'm basically gonna be a therapist, guys. Possible points: +3 Wisdom Current Progress: Studied first 4 chapters of Textbook GOAL 3: "I...am not left-handed." (Regular Fencing!) Details: So I've done a little fencing in the way of workshops (and a lot of stage combat, since I'm an actor), but I never had the opportunity to do it regularly. Thankfully, I now have access to a fencing school that has adult classes DURING times I can take them! So I start on the 18th with a weekend intensive, and I'll be doing it regularly after that. I am really excited about it, since it's something I always wanted to do but never had the time. Also, this school teaches historical fencing, which I'm totally into. I'm actually making this a "Charisma" challenge, because it just makes me incredibly happy, and what's more charismatic than a 5'4" chick with a sword? Absolutely nothing! Possible points: +3 Charisma Current Progress:

Hello, fellow nerds. Silverdrag0n, 61 year old female n00b here. I just found Nerd Fitness a week ago, and this is my first challenge. Overarching goal: To build my fitness level to a point at which I can go on a long day hike in my local mountains (roughly 12 miles, with lots of elevation gain/loss) without fear. If I get some money, I may take up the sword again as well (swordmasters generally like to be paid... ) I wouldn't mind having the 61-year-old version of Spezzy's physique as well... but that would be gravy. Why: Other than the joy of getting out into the hills (and maybe stabbing something) -- I am moderately to severely ADHD. Medication for the condition is out of the question for reasons I won't go into. I want to be able to focus on the things that matter to me -- and a combination of diet and fitness is said to really help. I wouldn't know -- I haven't been there. Maybe on the diet (strict Paleo) for about a year, 4 years ago -- and maybe on the fitness, once or twice for a month or two. Never both at the same time. Quest #1: To be able to complete the Beginning Bodyweight circuit, as presented, for the full 3 laps. Right now, I can't do one complete circuit. Quest #2: To lower my carb intake to 100 g/day. Life Quest: To submit a story to an anthology. Um... how do y'all get those cool progress bars to put into your signatures?

Good afternoon to all! I know I'm a little late (oops), but there was a visiting fencer at the club which stole my attention. Main goal- Earn "E" ranking in foil. Goals to get me there- Practice foil three times a week Do some form of PT six days a week (currently looking at two days of weights, two days of plyometrics, and two days of run conditioning) Intermittent Fasting at least four days a week.

IT'S BAAA-AAAAAAACK. Hey Monks! Harris here...now flying under the callsign PointyEnd. To remind me to keep things simple. First lesson: STICK 'EM WITH THE POINTY END. DUH. Sometimes the simplest lessons are the hardest to follow. It's been awhile, Monks. After making quite a bit of progress with help from y'all at NF last year, I've been largely a slug for a great while. Doing some swordfighting and fencing, sure, but not with any kind of sustained diet and exercise plan behind it. And it shows. So, back to basics. GOAL: Make the body engine run better. Here's the four-point battle plan. 1. STRENGTH Twice a week, do an exercise routine from the following: -Gym: 5x5 bench and squat, pull-ups, box jumps, military presses -Home: 3x5 pull-ups, 3x5min jumprope, 55 burpees (10+9+8+7+6+5+4+3+2+1) That's it. Simple. But it can and will kick my ass, as I have discovered in the last couple of weeks of getting back to lifting/conditioning. I may add deadlifts, if I can figure out how to do them properly. I don't have a trainer, and I'm nervous of doing them wrong. 2. BALANCE Twice a week, do one of the following things: -Sword class -Fencing practice -Yoga class -1/2 hour mobility work at home That's it. If I go to both fencing and swords every week, I'll meet this goal. *rolls eyes at delinquent self* 3. MOTION I moved from a rural outpost into the middle of town last fall, and immediately dropped my mile-a-day walking routine. Probably because every time I walk down my street, I have to talk to people. Hah! That's no excuse. I have discovered the secret of obtaining permission for antisocial behavior, O my brothers, and it is HEADPHONES. Also. It so happens that there's a little family piece of land right outside of town. Which I should be checking in on, because I am responsible for it and stuff. And the walk there is about a mile, round trip. So: Mile walk. To the land. Every day. With yon headphones on to fend off chatty neighbors. And every day I will snap a picture there and share it with y'all. It will be a very exciting picture for awhile, full of exciting sticks and mud and things not growing. Whee. 4. FUEL (A.K.A. THE EGG TAX PLAN) I need to eat more protein. I need to eat fewer starchy grainy things and less booze. I've run into some trouble doing the no-grain and/or no-booze diet thing. I tend to do it well for awhile then fall off the wagon spectacularly. So I'm trying something new: The Egg Tax. The Egg Tax is simple. I will boil a big pot of hard-boiled eggs once or twice a week. Every time I eat something on the grain-booze continuum, I have to eat an egg. Beer? Eat an egg. Piece of pizza? Eat an egg. Bottle of wine? Eat a bunch of damn eggs. I'm either going to quit my bad cornflakes habit in a hurry, or I'm going to eat a huge pile of eggs. Either way I win. NF seems to have dropped the stat points thing since I was around here last. But other folks seem to be using it. Maybe I'll award stat points if I pass this challenge. Gonna worry about passing before I worry about how much STR or CON or WIS or whatever is in all those eggs. EXCELSIOR. P.S. I am down for burpee side challenges if other Monks are. I love those goddamn things. Ask Kishi.

I train in Karate - currently 8th kyu, will test for 7th in a month - and fencing (ranked D14). I prefer to work with body weight exercises than use gym weights, but I am open- minded about it. I hate running. It took me training for a half marathon to realize this, but I finished that training and I will never run more than I have to again. Star Log 1 4 2014 Started my commitment today. I will follow a semi-Paleo diet with a focus on veggies and eating healthy snacks. I want to join the 6-week challenge that starts in a few days. Looking forward to character creation. Did my weekly weigh - in today: 141 lbs. I want to buy a soft measuring tape so I can start doing measurements too. Stats: (update once a month? sound reasonable?) weight: 141 lbs height: 5' 3" sex: female age: 19.7 Earth - years Food Log This morning was terrible because I hadn't made my goals yet; I had coffee, green tea, pancakes made with (edit: almond) milk, a bunch of sugar and peanut butter. I was running out of food. After realizing this, I came here and made my commitment to myself to eat healthier. I decided on a semi-paleo diet until I can beat cravings with my fists and let them know that I'm boss. Ate oatmeal as a snack, going to have a lettuce salad with chicken, tomato, cucumber and carrots for dinner. I bought some yogurt if I am still hungry later. (again, going semi-paleo until I can resist cravings) Workout Log Jump Rope: 100 x normal jumps 50 x right foot 50 x left foot 75 x alternating left right Stretching Fencing footwork: advance hops x 4 strips retreat hops x 4 strips a a r a x 3 strips r r a r x 3 strips Strength: 10 pushups x 3 sets 10 body weight squats x 3 sets 1 minute plank x 3 sets Fencing: will free fence tonight for about an hour ~ hour and a half - FantasitiCourtney

Hello people of the rebellion! My name is Tom and I am from Australia. I have always struggled with my weight from an early age, from being extremely overweight from over eating and under exercising to being underweight and fuelled by a diet of alcohol and bananas and over exercising with running. (Strange I know.) I also suffer from anxiety and I find my appearance makes me feel incredibly anxious around other people. This year I decided to make a huge change in my life and got into university to study Science (I have a huge interest in Genetics and Immunology). I also took up Fencing and have found that I have a huge passion for it. Since I don't like how my body looks and I would like to feel strong and manage a back injury I suffered, I decided to join up at a gym and begin to better my health, my life, and my body whilst at the same time improving my brain with study. So here I am, joining the rebellion, nervous as all hell but excited to become apart of this community. Stats. Weight: 85kg - 187 lbs Height: 181 cm - 5'11 Strength . Push Up max - 10 (Goal - 50) Pull up max - 6 (Goal - 20) Agility/Endurance Maximum distance ran - 2km (Goal - 5km) Beep test Score - N/A (Goal - 6.5) Intelligence/Spirit/Discipline (Goals to achieve) - Form a good sleeping routine - Form good study habits - stop drinking alcohol altogether - stop drinking coffee ( Kind of addicted at the moment) - Move to be fully vegetarian (only partially at the moment) - drink ore water - work on stress management - grow my own vegetables - stop eating processed foods.

I fence épée. Maybe I am taking on too much because I don't think my muscles get ample time to heal between practice (M/W/F and sometimes sundays with tournaments with a lot of sprint cycling every day)... But do any of you fencers have any exercise regimens they suggest to accelerate fencing strengths (especially weights)? We already work on plyometrics during practice, and that's great. But...