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"Back to the Grind" Prologue: Vacation is over. Horizon is looking calm, except for some wee bumps. Last few weeks were hard on the part of me that wants to get fit(ter) and lean(er). Going on vacation with the bike was just a very bad combination in regards to maintaining strict about a lot of things. Being around a group of bikers that drinks heavily every evening, combine that with a person who loves to have a beer, and you get the picture. Not being able to workout due to a number of things (daily schedule and the heat over there being the most important factors). Back home i was still in vacation mode, not working out much (thank god for the StrongViking and the 12K at work). The wife returned last night from here short trip to Mallorca which closes this chapter of holidays. And i'm ready for the next step. I want to get back to the Challenge! Planning ahead i want to use the end of this year to prep myself for trading in Fitness for Crossfit starting next year. So i'm gonna make lifting my primary goal. Maximizing my strength to be able to handle heavy weights when it comes to the WOD from Crossfit. I've chosen Starting Strength (SS) as a base for this, i want to add some upper body work to this as this is the part i'm lacking... I need to (can) make the most progress in this part, and from the things i understand SS is not specifically meant (optimal) for this part. I'm still on the lookout for an answer to this question. For now i have made a start with a deload and restarting SS. Welcome To "THE GRIND" (sidequest: watch this video at the start of every lifting session, and preferably at the start of every day) The Challenge: This challenge will center around lifting and all goals will work towards maximizing progression.The goals will all be beneficiary to this cause. Except for the lifequest. There are a few things i'm postponing because i'm lacking courage of setting these gears in motion. I need to make a list about this and prioritize it. This will be first weeks goal and subsequent goals will be derived off of this. #1. "The Grind": Lifting 3 times a week. Monday Wednesday Friday. Start with a deload, work my way back up and beyond my PR's atm. No exceptions, make planning accordingly, work out possible schedule problems in advance. Allow for only one missed workout throughout the challenge (allowing for that one catastrophe to hit). Using Starting Strength as a base to get started. Looking for a good upper body plan to mix with SS. #2. "Sensible Fuelling": Eat to grow as a healthy Oak. Do.not.check.the.scale. I will get fatter, i will get heavier, i hopefully also will gain muscles in this process! The "sensible" part means two things. 1. Eat sensible in as healthy as possible. 2. Be sensible in the way that growing bigger will also mean gaining BF and become heavier. Last couple of challenges has shown it's impossible for me to gain strength without gaining weight/BF and keep this up for long time. Looking at the scales will make me give up for sure and go back to cutting, but i needz the muscles. Battleplan is to bulk till the end of the year, and when CrossFit is introduced (next year) revise the plan. #3. "Protein is Whey Cool": Keep up with the protein. Combining meat and whey as the primary sources of protein. Morning shake (combination of 6 types of protein) combined with Creatine at breakfast. Meat-leftovers for lunch A decent amount of meat (and make sure to leave some leftovers for the next day) Post-workout shake (Whey isolate) Protein shake before bedtime (Micellar Casein) #4. "Lose the booze": NO Drinking of beer, i have done this before, i can do this again. Stuff get's out of hand quickly when this is not a specific goal. Reporting back to you guys i have been acing this goal really gets me to stick to it! I allowed for 2 exceptions: one bottle of beer on my birthday-party (next saturday) and my actual birthday (sept. 28). Which makes a total of 2 bottles of beer throughout this 6WC. Next to this i try to drink as clean as possible, drinking mostly tea and water. When i really need a change-up it will probably be a diet-Lipton, but certainly not more than 2 glasses a day and certainly not every day (more like 2 times a week max). #5. "Sleep, i must": Last few weeks i have had seriously too little sleep. Going to bed later and later. Now going back to work (and having the alarm clock going at 06:00 am to drag my ass out of bed by 06:10 am) i have to make sure i get enough sleep. When i have to get to work the next day i need to be in bed before 11:00 p.m. The other days i have to be in bed before 12:00 a.m. Exceptions to these rules, when i'm away for the evening. This usually means being at a party or playing cards at a friends house. This doesn't happen all that much, and i generally don't make it very late, usually home between 01:00 am and 02:00 am. #### LifeQuest ###: There is some stuff that needs to get done which i'm constantly postponing. First week's part of this "lifequest" will be: make a list of 5 things that have to be done that keep getting postponed AND prioritize it. This quest will be changed in the weekend of week 1. DISCLAIMER: There is a small chance another OCR will be planned for somewhere in October, this challenge has to be seriously revised if this happens.