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The topic turned out maybe too honest. A fair warning: I personally think you should read this as an adult, and then decide if it is okay for your kid to think of such. Concerns dark and sad emotions and suicidal feelings. -Thank you My motivation: See to that all the true and beautiful things what I learned from my clear moment after the really dark patch in the middle of 2014 does not become one of those times I’ve had many before, where I see clearly, and then I let it all drop because of the struggles of day-to-day living, and they never get a chance to become reality from thoughts. There’s been many lapses before and thinking about every single time pisses me off. How could I blow such a great chance? The quote encompassing this is: Author probably unknown. My big goals, broken into achievable steps: Skim on everything non-essential, that, in the end, only takes from my happiness, getting me only a short burst of pleasure. Coffee, buns, junk food. I don’t eat them all that often, but I feel unable to dodge the thought of paying 5 € for a pizza to get to stuff it in my face feels like selling my dreams a tasty piece-by-piece. And with that thought the pizza tastes like ash. And burn ludicrous amounts of money into things that really are important, show in my life and others’ lives and make them better. Quality healthy food, exotic+expensive fruits that spice up the meals, good quality meat and fish, the occasional, to-die-for melt-in-my-mouth chocolate, quality, emotion inspiring movies and visits to movie theater with friends, to use money to get more time… I get that as I drop out those useless experiences that I already forgot? Yes all the way! Because one day I thought: “How much good memories cost, anyway?†They are priceless. I want to save up 1000 € by the start of the Camp Nerdfitness (640 for the camp access, 400 for travel), because I want to be there. And even if I do not make it to the Camp, I have a whole grand to use on something awesome. Win-win situation. Yes, partially I want to show my family that I do a thing that’s completely my own . I will swap the NF camp to at least a month abroad, preferably more. With 1000+ euros I can do a lot better than 3 days abroad. I know the NF camp would've been fun, but this will reap more benefits for sure. How: I will take part in No soda PvP, cutting down coffee, soda and sugary juices completely during the challenge. One cheat allowed per week,if it is something amazingly good, like thick, warm choco. I drink coffee twice a day, like a clockwork, juice daily, but soda very seldomly. I have a jar in which I wrote “Dreams†to remind me to save all the small coins from my wallet every time I pass it. --------------------------------------------------------------- I am going to continue the Zenhabits 1000 cuts fitness program that is making progress. Fearkiller, on 26 Feb 2014 - 11:46 PM, said: My first touch with parkour was Mirror’s Edge, and when you speed-drilled you way through the level, and it went good, the flow was amazing. I want to be like Faith, a flowing thing of movement, grace and beauty. And brag about it as I do the ever so casual vault over the fence that everyone else is taking as a obstacle. And if parkour is a awesome way of life as a side effect, it is a sweet bonus "Parkour is natural, effective movement. That’s it. In French, we use the term passement for overcoming any obstacle. You pass or traverse a barrier in whatever way suits you and the moment; there’s no one prescribed method for anything. Parkour is a lens of efficiency applied to every aspect of your movement through life. At its broadest definition, it implies a low-impact and considerate attitude towards bosses, co-workers, family, friends, driving, consumer purchases, and the environment (natural or manmade). What is the least effort and stuff you need in order to live the most meaningful and happy life you can make for yourself? As with the Nerd Fitness Rebellion, it is an exuberant and responsible celebration of life." -Dakao, in The definitive guide to parkour for beginners 2) And we were watching a parkour video from Youtube with my little brother, and this was the discussion: Me: That is wicked cool, just look at it! Seriously! Him: Yeah, it is. Me: If I start right now, I could be there, doing that! In a decade, easily. Him: Yeah, like you could. You’d be tumbling on your face in a second. Me: Oh, but it has to be started so slowly, with the basics, working your way up… Him: Mmh… Just forget it, it’s not going to happen. Me: Oh, we will see. I will get there, in ten years, vaulting over things and being awesome! You just watch! How: I will start making the ‘cuts slowly into something more parkour like: plyometric box jumps on top of and over objects, running through uneven terrain in the woods, learning three easy parkour moves that can be done everytime the opportunity arises. And I am planning to join the Assassins the next challenge. ---------------------------------------------------------------- The practical training place – go to work, be in time, and do actual work there, every single day. Even if there’d be a “fuck-it-all, hopeless, dark negativity†somewhere in between there. That demon has been beaten, and I fear to talk about him, or he might come back. There must be a ridiculously, immensely good reason not to go. If I play the fuck-it-all-card even once, it’s fearfully easier the second time, and third, and then… I would lose the golden line of doing things, if I get kicked out of there. I will not go there again, if I can help it. NO. Also, I am fortunate in that when I walk out of the door at 5 pm, I do not have to drag a single piece of my work home. So, as it is common that people say “I am so tired after workdays, I really can’t imagine doing anything else than fall to the sofa and zone out†and I have been there seldomly with the schooldays, and I see people in my family do it often. I want to experience how do I have to use my limited free time usefully so that it helps me to be alert and vigilant. How: Go to sleep at 10 pm, get up at 6 am, and find a way to get up, even if it is that alarm clock that sounds like a fire alarm (but I hope I don’t have to go there). Spend 15 minutes daily/an hour weekly thinking what I did wrong/right, how do I feel, why, and what can I do to improve. The practical training work starts 14.7, so this goal would only apply the last week of the challenge. I will switch this simply to a sleep goal. To sleep at 10 pm, up at 6 am. I will find a way. ---------------------------------------------------------------- Life goal: I have had trouble lately, because not much gives me joy anymore, and life feels useless. Living life because of the life itself is pointless, and even the good moments, while nice, lack a reason, they have no deeper meaning. I could shrug all I do away with little effort, not a lot of things feel real. 3 minutes of meditation daily. Whenever I have spare time (have to wait for something, have a break, etc.) I will close my eyes and breathe from my diaphragm, letting my mind settle, focusing my attention to the breathing only. That’s how the theory goes, my practical application may vary

Hi there, I'm an aspiring Olympic weightlifter (Raising the Bar, geddit?) who lives in Edinburgh, Scotland. Over the last 18 months, I've gone through my own epic fitness odyssey that you can read all about in my introduction thread. Suffice to say, a year ago I started lifting heavy and fell in love with it. Earlier this year, I started training in the Olympic lifts and now my goal is to get to a point where my numbers make me competitive at meets here in Scotland. I've got a long way to go before I achieve that though so this challenge is the first big step on the road to that goal. I work for a digital agency and am desk-based most of the day but I try to get out and walk every lunchtime and normally hit 8,000 to 10,000 steps a day. I currently train three times a week but will likely increase this to four later on in the year or when progressing my lifts requires it. Starting Stats: For the sake of tracking progress, here's where I am as of 28 July 2013. Bodyweight: 85.5kg Bodyfat %: 15% Snatch: 65kg (extremely messy) Clean & Jerk: 77kg Back Squat: 152.5kg 5RM, 160kg 1RM Front Squat: 115kg 3RM As you can see, my Olympic lift numbers are nowhere near my squat but I'm still a newbie in Olympic lifting and my technique needs a bunch of work. Main Quest Lift more weight in the Snatch and Clean & Jerk by getting stronger and improving my technique My long term to hit an 85kg Snatch and 110kg Clean & Jerk which could potentially have me medalling in my weight class, but I expect to be competing long before I reach them. As I have no idea how long it will take me to achieve those numbers this challenge is all about making progress towards them. Challenge success will be based on weight added to each lift and won't be easy! If you're wondering why the numbers are different for each lift, it's because the Snatch is more technique based and the C&J is more about strength, so lifters always put up bigger weights in the C&J. Scoring A: +7.5 kg Snatch, +10kg Clean & Jerk B: +5kg Snatch, +7.5kg Clean & Jerk C: +3kg Snatch, +5kg Clean & Jerk D: +1kg Snatch, +2.5kg Clean & Jerk F: +0kg Snatch, +0kg Clean +Jerk I'll be absolutely thrilled if I manage to score an A or a B on my main goal as these are really significant increases! C is kinda consistent with the progress I've seen the last 6 weeks but I *know* I can do better. Mission #1 - Lift more weight In the Squat Everyone knows that squats build a big, firm booty but did you know that they build bigger, tighter Olympic lifts too? Snatches and cleans go up as squat strength improves and so the squat is the #1 strength exercise for weightlifters. At the moment I follow Texas Method programming for my squat and back squat Tuesday and Saturday, front squat on Thursday. I'm going to judge this using my 1RM with a max out day the last training day of the challenge Progress will be judged based on weight added to my 1RM for the back squat. Scoring A: +15kg B: +12.5kg C: +10kg D: +5kg F: +2.5kg or less Mission #2 - Do mobility work at least 5 days per week (foam roll, band stretches, lacrosse ball) The Olympic lifts aren't all about brute strength though - speed and flexibility are required. I slack on my mobility work way too often and jump into training without taking the time to do the stretches and rolling that I know make my lifting go smoother. Time for this to stop! If we've got 6 weeks and I want to do mobility work 5 days a week that means 30 mobility sessions total so let's use that as a base number for scoring. Scoring: A:28-30 mobility sessions B: 25-27 mobility sessions C: 20-24 mobility sessions D: 15-19 mobility sessions F: 15 mobility sessions Mission #3 - Take video of my lifts at every training session and post my training log on my blog I'm pretty good about logging training on my blog already so I need to keep that up but as a self-coached lifter, it's absolutely critical that I take as much video as I possibly can. I don't always too this and sometimes when I do, I screw the video up by accidentally cutting the top of my body off in the frame or something like that. No excuses, video for every training session! Before I talk about tracking progress I should say that I'm going on a trip for work to a week and while I will have access to a hotel gym, it is extremely unlikely that it's going to have the setup I need to do my Olympic weightlifting training - though I'm bringing my lifting shoes just in case! For that reason, I am going to count that as a recovery week and so will be doing 15 training sessions during the challenge (3 sessions for 5 weeks). Scoring: A: Log/video for all 15 training sessions! B: Log/video for 13-14 training sessions C: Log/video for 10-12 training sessions D: Log/video for 7-9 training sessions F: Log/video for 6 sessions or less Life Quest Reclaim my free time from the procrastination/inefficiency monster I'm a pretty busy guy and never feel like I have enough time to do all the things I want to do in my free time. Over the last year I've really struggled to find time to do the other things I love, that don't involve lifting things up and and putting them down - like gaming, watching movies and reading. The thing is, I know that if I was better organised I would be able to fit in more of the things I want to do. So what am I going to do about it?! I'm going to do more batch cooking so I don't have to cook every single night, I'm going to try and tidy up as I go along instead of spending 2+ hours cleaning up the mess I've made all week and I'm just to spend less time watching things I don't even like on TV. By the end of this challenge, I'd very much like to be able to say that I had finally finished two of The Last of Us, Tomb Raider and Bioshock Infinite! My Motivation Be more awesome I get a huge sense of achievement out of pushing my body to its limits and exploring what I'm truly capable of. Although it's an extremely demanding sport that requires a great deal of concentration, patience and self-analysis, I have completely fallen in love with weightlifting. There are always ways for you to improve - it's a sport that takes a lifetime to learn and two lifetimes to master I haven't competed in sport since the age of 14 and back then it was when I played soccer. I've *never* competed in a solo sport and as a bit of a lone wolf, I love the idea of testing myself on the competitive stage sometime next year. Looking back at where I was two years ago, I know I never want to be that guy again and the new me is going to keep trying to better himself and be the very best he can be. I think that's it for me, can't wait for the challenge to begin!