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Hi! So this past Tuesday, I had something of an epiphany. I went home to help my dad out with some chores about the place. Nothing strenuous in particular, but it reminded me of an old guideline from Simple and Sinister about testing yourself against unusual and unorthodox demands every now and again. This has always worked out for me to being a matter of serving others somehow, because everyone needs help with moving their couch. I found that I missed the program a great deal. I've also been working on losing some body fat per the latest iteration of Berkhan's Leangains protocol, which is basically all protein all the time. He's suspicious of "fuckarounditis," or trying to train everything and ultimately training nothing. My latest measurements indicate that I'm actually gaining fat on this protocol right now, and that's a matter of compliance more than it's anything else. The past month has been remarkably social, and I've not had all that much opportunity to be compliant. I can't do anything about the social component beyond damage control, but I can do something about my training, and I think it's worth it. New plan is to hit S&S on as near to the daily as I can. GB training is going to be broken up some as a result - no more core movements and one upper-body movement per day, plus one leg movement and 1-2 days of handstand work. Reason being that GB's protocols call for integrated mobility, and in their core series they all ultimately work out to having a lumbar flexion component that Pavel warns against. S&S in its current iteration fortunately can make space for this - once I get back to lifting the 32, the recommended days drop off from daily to 3-4 days per week, and I can return to core training then. In the meantime, the work I'm doing will build me toward a Hollow Back Press, and a Straddle Planche, which are non-flexion core strengtheners which would be good to have a base in by the time I get to the point that it matters. Fortunately, everything should work just fine, I think. The past few days have felt pretty good in terms of me getting what I want. Now the trick is to work in qigong and stretching, which I think I can do as long as I'm focused properly on it. So here are the challenge goals: Goal 1: Train Bit of a gimme, but consistent logging is good for me when I make changes like this, so I can confront myself and be honest about what's happening and whether I like it or not. Goal 2: Meditate This fell off in the past week. Dedicate 10 minutes a day to relaxing my mind. This feels like something I can get after now, but I'm reserving the right to adjust if needed. Goal 3: Write This fell off in the past week too. No excuses, and the good news is that when I've done work, it's been good, deep, structural work. I've been figuring out what kind of cast of characters I need and who they are in relation to the structure of the story, which is good to do. Now I need to keep going. I don't really know how to quantify it at this point beyond "just sit down and do the thing," but I think I can do it. And, yeah. I've been writing down what I do on the mats afterward and that alone has been helpful, but I've had a hard time with actually doing the homework of reviewing videos and taking notes. This could be better. Just a matter of making time, really. Can do. Will do? That remains to be seen. But, uh, yeah. T-minus a couple days. Let's go.

Ryuu Apprentices with the Arrow 5/22/17-6/30/17 (7 Weeks) 500/500 hp + Health potion: 1 I've had some some ups and downs over that past few challenges but mainly I have been moving forward. Slowly but forward. I think the four week challenges are a little short to really see and achieve some good progress since I normally slip up on the weeks in between them, so for this challenge I will be focusing on long term consistency. The end of the school year 6/9 and the Tough Mudder 6/10 will be bumps during this challenge as will my two week long summer jobs: Teacher Leader for the NASA Teacher Institute 6/19-23/17, and Teaching a Metal Smithing Art Camp 6/26-30/17. Though since I will be out of town during the last week of my challenge it's going to be very difficult and I'm hopefully that I can keep up my goals. Since I've been re-watching the Arrow I decided to make this Challenge Arrow themed. If you've never seen the Arrow its pretty good but I especially like it for the workout scenes that Stephen Amell does, whenever I watch him do his workout in the show it always makes me want to do some crazy workouts too. That and his body= #goals lol Hopefully one day. For this challenge I've decided to keep the HP bar because I like it and I think it helps keep me honest and get a good overview of the quality of my challenge so far, but opted to drop my small goals/ fun money and video game time hours like I've done in the past, not because they weren't useful just that they were really time consuming to implement and keep track of. Goal One: Train my Body I'll be continuing my Gymnastic Bodies Foundations One, Stretch series, Movement, and Handstand training for this challenge but reducing the volume of my movement and handstand courses and focusing more on the upper body, lower body, and core workouts to try and increase my overall strength. Upper Body, Lower Body, and Core workouts x3 per week (one each) = __/3 = ___/ 21 Front Splits, Middle Splits, and Thoracic Bridge Stretches x3 per week (one each) = __/3 = ___/ 21 Movement and Handstand Workouts x 1 per week (one each) = ___/1 = __/7 & = ___/1 = __/7 Missed Planned workout on set day -10hp, missed workout for the week -25, Flawless week +25hp Goal Two: Fuel my Body I've had some pretty good success the past two challenges tracking everything that I've eaten in MFP for all seven days and then trying to stay +/- 200 cals of my goal so I will be continuing that this challenge in hope to really solidify it as a habit. I have also noticed that I've begun to drink a lot of diet sodas, mostly as a free "reward" or when I get home from work and am super stressed. I know that diet sodas are not caloric bad but they can't be good for my body so for this challenge I'm going to reduce my consumption of them and for at least the last two weeks abstain from them completely and see how I feel. Track my Nutrition in MFP x7 per week =___/7 = ___49 Be +/- 200 of 1610 cal goal x6 per week =___/ 6 = ___42 Days without a Soda W1 x 3, W2 x 4, W3 x 5, W4 x 6, W5 x6, W6 x7, W 7 x 7 = ___/38 Craft health potion (+50hp) = 6days at goal [for this challenge they can be non-consecutive] , Healthy Choice +10hp, Bad Choice -10hp, Bad Meal -25hp, Bad Day -100hp. Goal Three: Increase my Activity For this challenge I'm going to try to increase my overall activity by getting 10,000 steps most days of the week and if my feet will let me sprints/ intervals twice a week. Also what kind of Arrow challenge would this be if I didn't have an archery goal therefore I'll be trying to get out and shoot 2 times each week. 10,000 Steps x6 per week = ___/6 = ____/ 42 Sprints x2 per week = ___/2 = ____/14 Archery x2 per week = ___/2 = ____/12* Excluding the last week of the challenge since I'll be out of town* Missed Step goal -10hp, Missed weekly sprints/ Archery -25hp, Flawless Week +25hp Goal Four: Upgrade my Arrow Cave Quiver I'll be continuing my tracking goal, which I think is critical to success, especially the weekly reviews to track my progress. Plus I'll be adding in a few addition sub goals to upgrade my life outside of my workouts. I think the no video game day will initially be hard (mostly to try and find what to do on that day) but after I can get over the initial hump I think I'll really like what I'm able to do and accomplish on those days. I'm not sure if 3 additional sub goals inside this goal is going to be too much but we'll see how I do for the first week and if I have to adjust then I'll adjust if necessary. Track and encourage others x 5 per week =____/ 5 = _____/35 Read for 30min+ x 5 per week = ____/ 5 = ___/35 No Video Games day x 1 per week = ____1= ____7 Throw away some piece of useless clutter x 5 per week = ___/5 = ____35 Missed Record or Read -25hp, Missed Video Game Free Day -50hp, Flawless Week +25hp. Loot! For this challenge I'm going to award myself cold hard cash ($) at the end of each week based off of my grade for each goal per week. I can either spend this money or save depending what I ultimate want to buy. Some things that I'm looking to possibly get include: Running Shoes or some Archery Block(s), possibly saving up for a new bow. A+/100% = $5 A 99-90% =$4 B 89-80% =$3 C 79-70% =$2 D 69-60% =$0 F >60% = -$5

Still reeling from my Feelings on this game. So, that's the theme music. Deal with it. So, basically, I've been struggling with balance. Sleep and food and weights and martial arts. It's a lot of fun, but the truth is, I want to skew more toward martial arts. And, looking down the line, one other thing that I'm going to want to do is to get into flexibility training. Right now, there's no way that the current schedule is going to let that happen. Also, I'm about as heavy as I was back in high school, and it's not muscle that's making the difference. I want to fix that. I looked into all the various things I'm doing, and I've realized that there is a way to do it, but it's going to involve a pretty radical shift. It's going to involve stepping off of Leangains, setting my own calories and macros, adjusting 5/3/1 to 2x/week, and adjusting GB to fit that, as well as making sure that I get enough sleep. Fortunately, this isn't even remotely impossible. I remember the past experiments and what they've taught me. And I think I can do it. To be clear, it's gonna be tough. But I spent most of last night hyped up on the idea and brushing up on the things that I think I know. I think I can make this work. But it's going to involve a lot of discipline and some effort on the front end as I adjust the things. But I genuinely think there are rewards to be gained from trying this. I think I'll be able to do Judo on Wednesdays again, and the habit of going back there will make further training possible. I also think I'll be able to avoid the wait at the... weight... racks, and just be able to focus on going out and kicking butt and taking names. And hey, who knows? I might just be able to finally find my way to the not-Kali that we offer at the dojo. And maybe even getting this writing ish figured out too. So. Here are the goals. They're training goals... except they're life goals too. Hooo boy. GOAL 1: HOMEBREWED INTERMITTENT FASTING Caloric average set at 1950. Macros adjusted to suit, based on past experimentation that has shown me what my body responds to. GOAL 2: PRACTICE Monday: Rest Tuesday: KB snatches/GB(SLS) and Karate Wednesday: GB(Core) and Judo Thursday: S&S/GB(Upper Body) and Karate Friday: 5/3/1 BP and DL Saturday: S&S/GB(Handstand) Sunday: 5/3/1 Squat and OHP Now, this looks like a lot. And that's because it is, in fact, a lot. But it's not as much as it looks like. Most of this is actually over and done with pretty fast - anywhere from 5-20 minutes. The stuff that takes longer is slated to take place on days when the time should exist for those things to be done with their due diligence. These adjustments have been made based on my observations of the gym's peak times as well - Wednesday is a stupid-busy time to do barbell training, for instance, so compensate by doing something quick that doesn't require any equipment at all. By contrast, Friday and Sunday are relatively dead times, and I've never had trouble getting a rack on those days. I also think that doing 5/3/1 twice per week feels more Soviet anyway. Wendler says that there's no need to do deloads unless "you need to" and that frees me to wave my training up or down based on the input that my body is giving me. Honestly, the trickiest part about this is the nutritional aspect. I've stacked it so that I have a lot of lower calorie days, with Friday and Sunday being the days for lots of calories. It's not as crazy as it sounds, though - work loves to feed me, coworkers love to feed me, fam loves to feed me, and there is food everywhere. Honestly, it's pretty rare for me to have a week go by the way I plan it, so I've basically planned for it to go sideways. BRING IT. GOAL 3: CLEANLINESS Get the room cleaned up. Get the gi taken care of. Get the extra clothes gone. Get some frickin' sleep. (what. sleep hygiene is a thing). With the sleep in particular, I want to make a point of getting down to bed before midnight on the weekends. I just don't gain anything by being up that late, but I do lose a lot of time and momentum. GOAL 4: WRITE So, hey guys, writing characters is actually forcing me to think and dig into my story and it's making me better. But, I'm still struggling with consistency. Like always. So, we're going to make this stupid-easy - just work on one character every day. It can be the same character if it has to be, but Always Be Character...ing? Welcome to English, where everything's made up and the grammar don't matter. And with that, we enter into what might be the strangest adventure yet.

Ryuu1011 plays D&D 400/400hp Inventory: 0 Healing Potions (+50hp), 0g 0s Gold and Silver (Dollars and Cents), 0 Mana This challenge will be a direct continuation of my last challenge in both layout and for most of my goals. I have big obstacle course race coming up at the very end of this challenge on May 20, 2017 and since its called the Dragon OCR I figured there isn't a better time to do a D&D themed challenge. Goal 1: Train my Body for Adventure Continuing to use my Gymnastic Bodies Foundations classes as I continue to build strength, flexibility, balance, and movement. Using the money that I earned durring my last challenge I purchased GB's movement series and will be incorporating it into my weekly workout not too. Since my writs and elbows were getting a little sore by the end of the last challenge I've decided to scale down my handstand work for this challenge and have decided to double up on the movement classes to replace it. GB Foundations (UB, LB, C) x3 per Week ___/ 3 = ___/12 Stretch Series (FS, MS, TB) x3 per Week ___/3 = ___/12 Handstand Series x1 per Week ___/1 = ___/4 Movement Series x2 per Week ___/2 = ___/8 Workout Schedule- Mon- Walk, Upper body Tues- Movement, Middle Split Wed- Lower Body, Front Split Th- Thoracic Bridge, Handstand Fri- Movement, Core Sat-Rest, Play, or Run/Walk Sun-Rest, Play, or Run/Walk Training Mishap: -10hp, Failed to do a set workout on the set day, that was not pre-planned Battle Wounds: -25hp, any workouts left uncompleted at the end of the week Goal 2: Craft Health Potions to Survive Since I've been dieting for so long for the rest week and the 1st week of the challenge I will be eating at "maintenance" for 160lbs ~2300 calories then for the last three weeks I will start back on my deficit of ~1700 calories to ideally be at about 158 by the end of the challenge. Record my Nutrition in MFP x 7 per week ____/7 = ___/28 Be within +/- 200 cal of 1700 (+ exercise cals) x6 per week ___/6 = ___/24 Starting Metrics (4/13/2017): 159.8lbs, 14.7%bf Waist: 31.75" Hips: 32.75" Craft Healing Potion: +50hp 6 days at +/- 200 cals of my goal Cure Light Wounds Spell: +10hp Chose the healthy option Scratched by a Goblin: -10hp Bad Choice Gashed by a Skeleton: -25hp Bad Meal Smacked by a Troll: -100hp Bad Day Goal 3: Mend my Wounds This goal is all about rehab and prehab to help with my long term health and wellness, especially for my feet and my sleep. The last time I made a sleep goal it was really tough on my relationship with my GF so hopefully it willn't be as bad this time around. Walk 2x per week ~30 min 1+ mile __/2 = ___/8 Ice Roll my feet 2x per week __/2 = ___/8 Get into bed by 10:30 5x per week ___/5 = ___/ 20 Attacked by Bandits: -25hp per any walks or ice rolls left uncompleted at the end of the week Fatigue: -10hp per day over 2 stayed up past 10:30 Fancy Room at the Inn: +5hp per day going to bed by 10:00pm Goal 4: Record my Adventures & Help others on their Quests I account this goal for one of the reasons that I did so well in the last challenge so I would be silly of me to not include it again in this challenge. Check in here 5x per Week ___/5 = ___/20 Touch base on at least 1 other person’s thread 5x per week ____/5 = ___/20 Consumed by Battle: -10hp per day missed on my log or others. Detailed Notes: +10hp per day over 5 Monsters to Kill To weaken the dragon before the fight I must first take down some of his massive evil army. These are some other daily habits and tasks that I would like to continue to do over the course of the challenge, as I complete them I will earn gold and silver (dollars and cents) towards fun fitness related purchases, and mana towards video game time.

Ryuu1011 Battles the Machines 400/400hp Inventory: 1 Health Potion (+50hp) Last challenge was not my best effort and I've been thinking about a fun way to keep me focused and on target to my goals, with flexibility for the days that I know I'm going to fail, but also with a system to let me mentally say "ok that's fine, its ok to fail sometimes, but don't let that one thing de-rail your day or week, get back up and try again". To that end I give my my Horizon Zero Dawn Challenge RPG. I will start with 400hp and 1 health potion, I will gain and loose health as I train and work towards my goal. Then I will use my goals and habits to try and take down the machines in my own world. Goal 1: Strength to kill the Machines This challenge I will continue to use my Gymnastic Bodies Foundations classes as I continue to build strength, flexibility, and balance. GB Foundations (UB, LB, C) x3 per Week ___/ 3 = ___/12 Stretch Series (FS, MS, TB) x3 per Week ___/3 = ___/12 Handstand Series x3 per Week ___/3 = ___/12 Workout Schedule- Mon- Handstand, Upper body Tues- Run/Walk, Front Split, Handstand Wed-Lower Body, Middle Split Th- Run/Walk, Thoracic Bridge, Handstand Fri- Walk/Run, Core Sat-Rest or Run/Walk Sun-Rest or Run/Walk Training Mishap: -10hp, Failed to do a set workout on the set day, that was not pre-planned Battle Wounds: -25hp, any workouts left uncompleted at the end of the week Goal 2: Craft Health Potions to Survive the Battle Working on my nutrition is one of the hardest aspects of health and fitness trying to make sure that I stay on track and keeping sweets away is tricky, but hopefully this system will help me stay within my goal. Record my Nutrition in MFP x 7 per week ____/7 = ___/28 Be within +/- 200 cal of 1700 (+ exercise cals) x6 per week ___/6 = ___/24 Starting Metrics (3/16/2017): 163lbs, 16.2%bf Waist: 32.5" Hips: 33.5" Craft Health Potion: +50hp 6 days at +/- 200 cals of my goal Handful of Berries: +10hp Chose the healthy option Scratch: -10hp Bad Choice Gash: -25hp Bad Meal Gorge: -100hp Bad Day Goal 3: Explore and Find new Machines I know that Running club will help me with my running goals, and hopefully since the days are becoming longer now I'll be able to go on more walks with my GF to accomplish my walking goal. Run 2x per week ~ 30 min ~ 5k/3m __/2 = ___/8 Walk 2x per week ~30 min 1+ mile __/2 = ___/8 Caught by Surprise: -25hp per any run/walks left uncompleted at the end of the week Soothing Campfire: +5hp per day going to bed by 11:00pm Goal 4: Record my Adventures & Help others on their Quests Last challenge I really started struggling when I started slacking off on posting on here and instead spent that time on my PS4. So to help with that this challenge I'm making one of my goals to check in with everyone on my own thread, and to catch up with my fellow nerds on their threads and help motivate them and keep them going too. Check in here 5x per Week ___/5 = ___/20 Touch base on at least 1 other person’s thread 5x per week ____/5 = ___/20 Consumed by Battle: -10hp per day missed on my log or others. Detailed Notes: +10hp per day over 5

Yeah, I said it. Years of half-hearted stretching hasn't entirely changed my life, shockingly, so it's time for a small change. Which means accepting that it's a long journey and starting it right. Concentrating on soft tissue is my way forward for now. I've been reading and listening to Coach Sommer at Gymnastic Bodies, and noting that most of my aches and pains are down to soft tissue issues (oh yes), and that they take longer than muscles to sort out. I'm in it for the long haul, and I'm going to do the Gymnastic Bodies Daily Limber every day to slowly loosen up and rehabilitate my body. Slowly. Also taking it slowly will be... my head. I've been banging on about mindfulness, with fitful practice for ages. When I meditate regularly, it helps, so I'm going to meditate, even for a short amount of time, every day. What else have I been talking the talk but not walking the run/walk with? Oh yeah, Couch to 5K. Taking it slowly at first, of course. Started it with my partner this weekend. Hooray! And I'd like to do more productive sitting down, so I'm going to see at least one play during this challenge. That'll probably do for now, though I'll keep working on my debt, and we've also started the guitar. A fullish New Year plate, hopefully not too full. 1)_Do GB Daily Limber every morning_____________ (28) 2) _Meditate for five minutes every day____________ (28) 3) _See at least one play_______________________ (1) 4) _Do couch to 5k with Ali three times per week_____ (12)

Ryuu1011 Trains with the Bat Family Challenge 9 (2017 Challenge #2) Feb 12 - March 11, 2017 Continuing many of my goals from last challenge, with a few modifications. These lists correspond to my own goal setting philosophy which I came up with for my 2017 Battle Plan consisting of Auto Goals (goals on the back burner/ habits), In Progress Goals (long term goals that are works in progress) and Strike Goals (goals which are within striking distance of completion). Auto Goals (My Challenge Checklist): [X] Pay off $150 extra on my Student Loans [ ] 1 Date night with GF (Set! We're going to Medieval Times on Feb 26th!) [ ] 1 NC NF Meet Up (Set! We're having a dance meetup on Feb 18th!) [ ] [ ] [ ] [ ] Play with my throwing knives and bow In Progress Goals: 1. Train with Nightwing and The Robin's: Master my own Body- Continue GB Foundations (Upper Body, Lower Body, and Core) x1 each per week , Stretch (Front and Middle Split, and Thoracic Bridge) x1 per week and Handstand Series x3 per week. (___/12, ___/12, ___/12) Nightwing and Red Robin are both body weight training Masters, Nightwing was an acrobat and Red Robin was a Gymnasts. Robin (Damian Wayne) is a highly trained assassin from birth, so I'll be doing similar training to hopefully one day reach their levels. This goal shouldn't be too hard so long as I'm able to keep up my consistency. The GB foundation workouts are not too hard yet until they get to level 9 (their mastery level) which normally involves 5 sets of 15 reps or 5 sets of 60 second holds... uhhh they are rough. 2. Train with Alfred: Master my Health- Loose 3lbs, 1%BF, and ~ 1/2" off of my waist by recording my nutrition in MFP (___/28) everyday and prepping ~9meal per week (5 lunches (___/20), 4 dinners (___/16)) I'm sure Alfred knows a thing or two about nutrition and meal prepping since he has to keep the entire bat fam healthy and fed to fuel their late night escapades so I'll be studding under him to try and get my nutrition in check and thus my waist line. I'll be primarily using my waist and weight along with my body composition spreadsheet to guesstimate may Body Fat %. Starting Measurement were taken on 2/9/17 Starting Weight= 163.0lbs Starting BF% = 16.2% Starting Measurements: Waist: 32.5" Arms: 12/ 13.5" Calf: 14" Chest: 40.5" Hips: 33.5" Thighs: 21.5" Butt: 39" Neck: 14" 3. Train with Bat Girl: Master my Cardio- Run or Walk 3x per week, ~25-30min, ~5k/ 3m (___/12) I don't even want to guess just how much cardio the bat family gets in a week but by training with bat girl hopefully I'll be able to keep up with them soon. This goal might be a little bit more difficult, and might get changed depending on how my foot is feeling/ how much I think I can take. My feet have been having some problems which is going to definitely slow my cardio progress but I'd rather be safe than push myself past my limits again and hurt my feet for a second time. 4. Train with The Bat: Master my Training- Research Personal Training Certifications, Go to 3 gyms and ask what types of Certifications they require, Select a certification and start saving for it. ( [ ] Research, [ ] Champions, [ ] Snap Fitness, [ ] Life Time Fitness, [ ] Savings Started) There is no better master of personal training than Batman himself. He has trained many partners and continues to be train and improve himself mastering his own body. (I mean look at that picture that suit is practically painted on!) I am thinking about becoming a personal trainer, perhaps as a complete profession swap or just part time, I'm not sure right now, but for this challenge I just want to do my research and figure out the best path to start down on. Challenge Strike Goals: 5. Work on my Batcave: [X] Remove my old bed from the workout room [ ] Clean up and Organize the Workout Room I couldn't train with the entire bat family with out without working on my batcave too! By the end of this challenge I am hoping to get our spare room organized and start turning it into an actual full workout/ art studio for my GF and myself so we can workout from home and do art stuff too, though I'm setting the goal at just cleaning and organizing for right now.