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MAIN QUEST: Compete on my gym's recreational gymnastics team next competition season (January - April 2014) Even Rocky had a montage... Here's the facts: *Returned to gymnastics in July after a 12-year hiatus *Joined a recreational team *First meet is going to be February 15th at the LATEST. We've got a lot of work to do now, so we're gonna need a montage. Goals for this challenge: 1. Maintain status quo *Continue gymnastics 2-3x a week *Continue weight lifting 2-3x a week I've been pretty good about this and I'm just so excited about gymnastics that this goal should be a piece of cake, but I'll still include it for accountability. 2. Daily Rep Grind *Stretch every day *Basic conditioning circuit every day I'm not very good at this "every day" nonsense, but here we go. Let's see what we can do! 3. Conditioning *3 gymnastics WOD a week from http://www.drillsandskills.com/ *Good HIIT sessions at least once a week *Jump drills once a week I have really let my gymnastics conditioning fall by the wayside. Using DaS.com should help get me back on track. I've also got to work on my jumps as they are sad and sorry, as well as get into better cardiovascular shape for floor routine run throughs. 4. Watch Dat Food Girl you gotta get dat protein up. I'll be shooting for 100g of protein a day for now, while also watching my food intake in general. I've got to cut down on my snacking and shed some fluff for competition season. DISCLAIMER: I TALK ABOUT GYMNASTICS A LOT. LIKE A LOT A LOT. Be prepared!

tl;dr: Made some gains in my lifts. Learned a lot of cool gymnastics tricks. Got better at dancing at dancing and freelining. Before school started this academic year, I got into strength training and fitness in general. However, coming into the semester, I knew that I would have little time or energy to go lifting more than once a week due to schoolwork and 13 hours of dance per week. I was right. However, I rediscovered my passion for dancing and found a new passion for tumbling and skating. I increased my squat from 100 to 120 and my deadlift from 125 to 155. Not super significant for an entire semester’s worth of work, but they are gains nevertheless. Woot! I took a ballet class and participated in two dance teams. I learned a lot about technique and improved mine in the ballet class. My new goal in dance (aside from getting better in general) is to learn how to dance en pointe. Between my two dance teams, I choreographed two group pieces, one solo, and participated in a total of seven pieces (on top of being a student???). My friends have noted significant improvement in my dancing from the past. Here’s a video of the solo that I performed: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cuRuXwJEACY. I obtained a pair of freelines. If you don’t know what they are, here’s a picture of my babies: https://scontent-a-lax.xx.fbcdn.net/hphotos-frc3/1374876_10151873348018972_330126923_n.jpg. I originally intended to use them to travel to and from class, but I discovered so many more fun things I can do with them. For the last three days, I’ve gone freelining for anywhere from 1-3 hours daily. Over these skate sessions, I improved my ability to navigate in these and even start on some cool tricks (although being able to ride these is pretty cool in itself). My biggest accomplishments this semester were in gymnastics. I set the humble goal of learning how to do front and back walkovers, and I have achieved one of those goals. However, after taking a tumbling class for PE, I (re)learned a ton of skills. Among those are: Back walkover (original goal)Back handspring (from standing, from round-off, three consecutively)Front handspringAerial (cartwheel without hands; sometimes that I’ve never done before).I was not expecting to learn these many skills, but all it took was a little push from a coach who knew that I was capable of doing these skills. After all, I was able to do all but the aerial when I did competitive gymnastics ten years ago. Anyways, this was a pretty big self-congratulatory post celebrating my accomplishments over one semester. Thanks for reading!

I have been on a journey to feel comfortable with myself for years. There have been many ups and downs. After a rough year, I have been slowly coming out of a pattern of destructive eating and weight gain. I feel like I am back at square one with my fitness (which is not reality). Further, I am constantly struggling with feeling down on myself. This was a lot better in the summer, and I have recently realised that when I am stressed about school (read: when I am in school), negative emotion seeps into other areas of my life as well. I feel stupid, lonely, fat. I get preoccupied with body image and the perpetual need to change myself. I feel that if only this one thing, or this other thing were different then I would not have to feel so down on myself. When all of these feelings get overwhelming, I often turn to food, or to video games or TV. Or I just push through and do what I need to do in life, but feel miserable. Thankfully, I have a few solutions to these negative feelings. For one, I really enjoy working out. I feel much better after running, spinning, hiking, going to gymnastics, yoga etc. Also, if I can redirect my thinking to the present rather than morbidly reflecting on all of my shortcomings, I often feel better. In the next few months, I want to be more established in healthy patterns that help me to feel better about myself. Specifically, I need my healthy eating patterns to become routine. I also need my fitness patterns to be routine. Lastly, a big way that I feel like a ‘failure’ is by being behind in school, or because of missing class. So without further ado, here are my three side quests: Life Side Quest: I will not miss any school (other than for observerships or other clinical activities) AT ALL during the 6 week challenge. I will study productively for at least 50 minutes each day (2 pomedoros). Every day. Fitness Quest: I just started gymnastics and I love it. It requires strength, flexibility, balance and cardiovascular fitness. To this end I will: Go to gymnastics every Wednesday.Strength train twice per week.Spin once per week (Friday) – but not this week because it is cancelled.Run once per week.Yoga twice per week.Practice gymnastics once per week (in the park, cartwheels, kick up to hand stand etc).Revised and simplified - work out 6 days a week. At least 2 gymnastics sessions, 2 yoga sessions, 1 cardio session and 1 strength session.Diet Quest: Simply, I will follow the diet plan that is laid out by my nutritionist/trainer. No exceptions. Currently, I am allowed two cheat meals – these meals cannot ‘spread over’ into other things. For myself, I will now only eat until I am slightly full on my cheat meals – no stuffing it all in because ‘I can only eat it now’.

Main Quest: Compete on my gym's recreational gymnastics team next competition season (January - April 2014) Brief Background: I did gymnastics from age 4-14, competing seriously for a good number of those years and spending between 16-20 hours in the gym every week. I quit when my coach quit our gym: he was hoping to establish himself somewhere else, but it never happened. I wound up diving for 4 years in high school, but it never really had the same effect on me. I participated in token attempts to continue maintaining a good level of fitness including kickboxing, yoga, and running, but none of them really held my interest. I kind of hate distance running as well, so that in particular wasn't working for me. My general fitness condition began decay. In June 2013, I discovered that adult gymnastics classes were available at a gym really close to my work! After working up the courage to check it out, I've been going to advanced class once a week and slowly getting back my skills. So far this is only tumbling, but I hope to redevelop my skills on the other three apparatuses soon! 1. Actually DO Gymnastics How I'm going to do this: *Open gym or gymnastics class 1x - 2x a week *Actually JOIN the recreational team officially *Attend rec team practice every Saturday The recreational team has sessions that are roughly seasonal, and the fall/winter session will be starting up in the next few weeks. I should be able to join soon, and once I do join, I'm aiming to attend every Saturday that I am not traveling. Because of the uncertainty of when I'll be able to join the team, I'll leave the grading on that until later. I will also be doing some handstand and press work at home as time permits. Grading: A - 6+ open gym/classes B - 5 open gym/classes C - 4 open gym/classes F - <4 open gym/classes 2. Get Stronk How I'm going to do this: *Strength training at the gym 3x a week. I've begun Starting Strength at my gym with supplemental bodyweight exercises at home including v-ups, hanging leg lifts, presses, and working on my pull-up progression. Right now we are going to focus on me getting to the gym 3 times a week, with bodyweight work filling in at home whenever I have the time/energy. Some of the applications of lifting might not provide as direct benefit to my gymnastics progression as greater bodyweight work would, but I'm also just interested in developing consistency and routine, Having something very clearly laid out and uncomplicated will help me stay on track. I would be following the Starting Strength regimen at the gym 3x / week, but I've recently developed a mild rotator cuff injury that is aggravated by both high and low back squats, so I'm going to be doing other variations and exercises as my shoulder allows. Scoring: A - 17 - 18+ gym workouts B - 14 - 16 gym workouts C - 11 - 13 gym workouts F - <11 gym workouts 3. Improve flexibility How I'm going to do this: *20+ minutes of stretching EVERY SINGLE DAY *PNF stretching once a week with a partner I've got to get back into the habit of stretching every day if I want to increase and maintain the flexibility necessary for this sport. I've recruited my husband to help me out with some PNF partnered stretching for my hamstrings and hip flexors at least once a week, which will help me get up to speed quicker than on my own. Grading: A: 38 - 42 stretching sessions w/ 5-6 PNF sessions B: 33 - 37 stretching sessions w/ 4 PNF sessions C: 29 - 32 stretching sessions w/ 3 PNF sessions F: <28 stretching sessions w/ < 3 PNF sessions My Motivation: This is probably supposed to be some kind of emotional thing. I just want to have amazing control over my body, be stronger, look awesome naked, and get booty.

So this is my second time around signing up for the beginners Rebel challenge. The reason being that when I signed up for the last one, in the midst of jumping right into the excitement I failed to notice I “jumped†in 4 weeks late. I decided to use this time as a warm up for my next “real†challenge and can thus allot true points to my character vs imaginary ones. My Main Quest To be an average rock climber. I just decided one day that I really wanted to try it and I instantly fell in love. It's all I could think of after first going. I love how physically demanding it is while challenging mentally at the same time. I love figuring out the puzzle aspect of it. I declare I desire to be average because that is what my sister calls herself (she's an experienced climber) and she amazes me. And I want to be just like her when i grow up. This will require a good combination of strength, endurance, and flexibility skillz. I think its important to note I'm in pretty poor physical shape for such a demanding sport. I'm not overweight and I eat healthy but I'm at an all time low when it comes to strength and endurance. So much so that when I jumped into climbing (because it was love at first grip..) I added running to the list for endurance (again.. I suck at this..) and found our real soon I have HORRID tight arches on my feet and could barely walk from the pain within a week. This comes from a life spent living in flip flops and not taking care of my most precious possessions (aka feet). Lesson learned. Only supportive shoes and no more bare feet until healed. CHECK. Daily stretching and foot strengthening. CHECK. Taking it easy and not pushing to hard beyond my capabilities. gunna go for a CHECK. I don't expect to be as amazing as my at the end of 6 weeks. Just amazing compared to myself. This will require meeting my specific goals each week: 1. Daily stretching for body and feet 20 minutes a day. 10 in the morning 10 at night. This will include my arch/calf stretches and exercises for foot health. 2. 35 minutes cardio (cycling until my feet can handle something else.) and 20 minutes weight training, alternating days with lower, core, and upper body. 3. Climbing gym at least 2 times a week. Get experience doing what I love, absorb the wealth of wisdom from my new climbing buddies, and just have some out of the house away from the family me time. So in essence climbing time will cover both physical, mental, and social skills.. During this time I will continue to gather my gear (I'm new and it's expensive..) I will grade each week by how I do daily 6 out of 6 days. Sundays I rest from judgments unless I swap Sunday for another day. A-F just to get an idea where I'm at with reaching my goals. I will decide pass or fail at the end of the challenge by how I realistically feel about what I have (have not) accomplished. <---- Just to note, no matter how much I try to fix this font to match the rest, my computer will just NOT do it. grr.. My Life Quest: This kind of meshes with my motivation. I have a brilliant, energy filled 3 year old son who literally takes every ounce of my energy just to keep up with him. He is so passionate about life and goes from 6:30 in the morning until 9 at night (and later if I'd let him..) and I want to provide him with as many cool projects and adventures as I can. As he gets older I want to be able to continue to play and adventure with and somewhat keep up. So each week I want to have something creative and exciting to do with him that takes us somewhere special. He deserves that K enough said! Tomorrow I take up my quest. Onward for the scrolls..

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The Main Quest - Be inspired and inspire others Last challenge I set out to find my Inspiration. Inspiration was found from my husband, Lexphoenix, and dancers in general. Despite my inspiration and my great start I struggled with illness, stress and life issues in general. I stopped reading the forums and disengaged from the NF community (which I am not happy about). A fortnight again I revamped things and changed how I was thinking and started again with the mantra "Fall down 7 times, stand up 8" The life quest remains and I am standing up again! Inspiration - YouTube I have been watching a range of workout videos and bodyweight work with my husband. Our comments range from "WTF" to "No Way" and after a few seconds "I want to do THAT!" Goal 1 - Pistol Squat A - unassisted 2 per leg B - unassisted 1 per leg C - assisted 3 per leg Goal 2 - Forward walkover A - Practice 3 times per week and successfully do a forward walkover! B - Practice twice per week C - Practice once per week Goal 3 - unassisted handstand A - 10 seconds B - 5 seconds C - 3 seconds How to stay on track This challenge I am going to measure these exercises each week to see my progress. My husband and I have started a spreadsheet where we record a range of exercises including my 3 goal exercises this is to keep us accountable, on track and allow us to see progress. I am also going to post my starting stats and weekly achievements here each week! Inspiration - Music On Sunday I went to listen to some free live music as part of our yearly city festival. I cried, laughed and smiled. The evening of entertainment was exactly what I needed as I had a horrible week. After the show I went up to the singer and thanked her for making my day and reminding me of my musical past. As part of starting NF I have noticed other parts of life that are lacking and music is one of them. I am currently working with a friend to record my own CD of covers and I need to improve before then. I know that I am putting a lot into this goal but I am not happy in my life and I need to change it now! So I have picked one area to work on for now even if my goal is ambitious. Life Goal - Practice my vocals 3 times a week and write 1 song per week. A - 5 times and 2 songs B - 4 times and 1 song C - 3 times and 1 song Progress Base - Pistol Squats - assisted using beam 11 each leg Front walkover - assisted from standing to bridge but I can't get up from bridge Handstand - on wall 60 seconds, 1 second unassisted

I am trying to learn how to do a backward roll. Every time I go back,instead of rolling straight back, I end up going sideways. How do I make myself roll straight back?

Hi! This is my first true blue attempt at joining an online community that isn't a guild in an MMO. I'm new to the Nerd Fitness forums, though I've had my fair share of exercising stints and I'm slowly devouring all of Steve's articles. My goal is to gain strength through body weight movements in order to fling my body through the air in a succession of flips, kicks, and twists. This training stint is going to largely focus on gymnastics training (went to my first adult tumbling class on Monday, loved it!) and hanging rings for upper body development. I like to play frisbee, slackline, read nutrition articles, read books (half fitness, half whatever interests me), and hang out with friends. I dream to have a job doing something involving fitness, maybe involving teaching children, and owning a well kept VW bus. And my name comes from a strip in one of my favorite web comics ("Antics"), though years of biking have had their benefits in the development of my posterior. I'm looking forward to being a part of the community and making new friends!

My goals: run 4 times every week for 25-40 minutes (according to my training plan);do my gymnastics static and basic strength workout 4 times a week (also according to my training plan);be able to do all gymnastics pre-reqs - i.e. to hold Hollow, Arch, Plank, Reverse Plank, Parallel Bar Support, Dead Hang positions for 60 secs, 3sets;stay smoke-free. Current level: just started running on June, 20th, 2013;gymnastics static and basic strength workout started on May, 15th, 2013;gymnastics prerequisits:- Hollow (40/20 sec; 45/15 sec; 60 sec),- Dead Hang (60 sec; 51/9 sec; 60 sec),- Reverse Plank (60 sec; 60 sec; 60 sec),- Parallel bar support (60 sec; 45/15sec; 54/10 sec),- Arch (60 sec; 40/20 sec; 60 sec),- Plank (60 sec; 60 sec; 60 sec).smoking: quit on June, 17th, 2013; relapsed on June 24th and... trying not to give up!!! (definitely the hardest part of my challenge!) Current attributes: 1 - Strength (STR) - physical strength1 - Dexterity (DEX) - agility and speed3 - Stamina (STA) - Endurance and Energy6 - Constitution (CON) - ability to resist damage and disease2 - Wisdom (WIS) - intuition and sense of things around himself2 - Charisma (CHA) - force of personality

********************************************** References / Sources of Information. Westside Barbell Conjugate Program - For Sun, Mon, Wed, Fri training. Gymnastics Foundation 1 Gymnastic Bodies - For Gymnastics work on Tues, Thurs and Sat/Sun Crossfit Endurance - For Rowing / Running intervals on Tues, Thurs to supplement training. Dangerously Hardcore - For how I will be eating to fuel this program. Carb Backloading. Eat to Perform - Another source of information regarding Carb Backloading and high volume training (specifically mentions Crossfit). Holocron - My collection of information surrounding training, nutrition (including supplementation) and health. *If anyone wants questions any aspect, fire away and I will throw a post up. ********************************************** Greetings everyone. After completing my first 12 week training cycle, I feel I have developed a good foundation of strength and conditioning. After taking a week of rest (with some weight sessions to keep away any muscle catabolism and hopefully and DOMS when I start training again!) I am ready to kick off phase 2. Phase 2 is going to focus on Gymnastic Strength Foundation training (see the references for Foundation 1 - Gymnastic Bodies), with some conditioning work placed on the back of it. The conditioning work will be in the same vein as Max Effort Black Box (short, intense, nothing over 12 - 15 mins). I will be keeping my Sprint training twice per week as I thoroughly enjoy it. Additionally, I will swith from Max Effort Black Box training to the Westside Barbell Conjugate training with my friend Matt. The reason for this is primarily because I am enjoying exercising with another person, plus I have started to get addicted to weight lifting after seeing the results from the previous program. However, the overall focus remains the Gymnastic Strength Foundation - or as I like to think of it, the 'Jedi movement fundamentals'. On days that I am not doing weightlifting (Westside) I will throw in some body weight training in the afternoon (this should occur Saturdays, Tuesdays and Thursdays). My previous body weight training was all circuit work - I intend to mix this up and do some body weight exercise sets, focusing on hard exercise such as Pistol Squats, Handstand push-ups, etc. Therefore, a week of training will look something like the following... Sun - Westside Barbell Dynamic Bench Press. Mon - Gymnastic Foundation 1 with conditioning circuit, Westside Barbell Max Effort Squat/Deadlift. Tues - Sprint/Interval Training, Body Weight Training. Wed - Gymnastic Foundation 1 with conditioning circuit, Westside Barbell Max Effort Bench Press. Thur - Sprint/Interval Training, Body Weight Training. Fri - Gymnastic Foundation 1 with conditioning circuit, Westside Barbell Dynamic Squat/Deadlift. Sat - Rest - or Group Training (Circuit or Strength with some of the guys), Body Weight Training. Force Attunement - This is an indicator of how I felt prior to commencing the workout. The rating stretches from One to Five, each with the following meaning: Completely out of alignment. Almost no connection to the force. Training should probably be postponed. Difficulty in feeling the Force. Possibly tired or fatigued. Re-assessment of one's training supporting elements (Diet, Sleep, etc) should occur if a trend of this level develops. Normal connection levels. Considered the 'base-line' for Force sensitivity. Heightened connection. Above a normal level, resulting in increased optimism and feeling of well-being. Very strong connection. A feeling of almost perfect alignment.Nutrition - equally, if not more, important than the training itself is the nutrition. My target is 200g of protein each day, with Carbs dependent on the day. Fats will fill the remainder of the calorie intake (until satiety). Meals will remain High Fat/Low Carb throughout the day with Carbs at night. Breakfast is a non-event (read the Car Back Loading principle for why). Post work-out for the Barbell program will be Luecine and Whey Protein shake. Sun - High Carb night (~200g) Mon - Low Carb night (~50g) Tues - Moderate Carb night (~150g) Wed - Low Carb night (~50g) Thur - Moderate Carb night (~150g) Fri - Low Carb night (~50g) Sat - Moderate Carb night (~50g) ***** Starting Body Weight is 72kg naked (approximate) ****** Any and all information that supports this program can be found in my Holocron which I keep up to date with any new data I stumble upon.

GOAL 1: STAY FOCUSED I spent a lot of time this past week thinking about my long term training goals. At first I was thinking in general terms (get stronger) and then a little more specifically (keep up the regular routine) and then a lot more specifically (I want to perform X skill for X time/reps). This challenge will focus on working toward my long term goals and not wandering from that path. Long term goals: Muscle-up Planche V-sit Press to Handstand One-Arm Handstand Front Lever Back Lever Human Flag Dragon Flag Plyometric Pistol Squat For this challenge I will complete a bodyweight routine three times per week. This bodyweight routine will consist of floor, rings, and parallettes-based exercises that work directly toward accomplishing one of my ten long term goals. I'm not going to set my routine in stone (though I like what I have spec'd out so far), but if I change it I must demonstrate how it relates to accomplishing one of the big ten and why it would be better than what I already have planned. In addition to my bodyweight routine, I will complete a cardio routine two times per week (usually an Insanity routine) and participate in all Assassin Mini-Challenge missions. POSSIBLE POINTS: +2 STR, +2 DEX, +1 STA GOAL 2: STAY ON TARGET I am INCHES or rather POUNDS away from my ultimate weight loss goal and my freakin' six-pack abs. I am currently rocking a four-pack with a little growler underneath. Damnit... as much as I like beer, I'd love to see that growler hit the road. Last challenge I spent a lot of time tracking EVERYTHING. Weight, measurements, calories in, calories out, etc. I went all Waldo on my challenge and I learned a lot about myself and my body. I'm going to keep that up (NEED MORE DATA) and hopefully apply what I learn. The goal is to hit my weight target and maintain it for the remainder of the challenge. Then and only then may I even consider my first bulk. I will track my sleep, weight, calories in and calories out daily. I will track measurements weekly, along with average calories in/out. I will take a progress photo weekly. I will take all this data and make handy charts and bust out my first six-pack. Target weight is 135 lb. but that's not set in stone. Really it's appearance that will be the deciding factor on this one. POSSIBLE POINTS: +1 CON, +1 WIS, +1 CHA GOAL 3: STAY COOL, BRO Last challenge I tackled good habits. Specifically, flossing, shaving, and drinking water. This challenge I'm keeping the same goals but leveling them up a bit. I will be flossing once per day, shaving at least once per week, manscaping at least once per week (a lot of "more shaving" with some plucking thrown in for good measure, I won't go into the horrible details), cutting my nails at least once per week, and drinking my 64 fl. oz. of water per day. PLUS, and this is the big one, I will be revisiting the "no drinking alone" rule that I failed in epic fashion a couple of challenges ago. Seriously, no drinking alone. *BEGINS TALKING TO HIMSELF* You may not have a wine or beer with dinner even if it fits your macros unless someone else at the table is also drinking. And seriously, bro, no trying to get others to drink so that you can drink. Lame, Wolvie, lame. POSSIBLE POINTS: +1 CON, +1 CHA GOAL 4: STAY MARRIED For Mother's Day (my wife's first!) and our wedding anniversary last year, I "gave" my wife a back patio. Now, we already had a back patio... it was just kind of boring. So I was like, "Dude! I will plant plants and build buildy-type things and paint stuff and get furniture and it will be awesome, because I love you!" I made a card and everything. It was epic. Fast forward to today, almost a year later, and the patio is still not done. It really needs to be done before her next Mother's Day and our next anniversary... ESPECIALLY before our next anniversary because I would like there to BE a next anniversary. Here is the patio before we moved into the house and about a week ago after I finished the new trellis: We have a patio table and a lounge, and the trellis is complete. There's a lot left to do, but for this challenge I will paint the walls of the house (the patio is surrounded by three walls in the shape of a "u") and remove the planter in front of the fireplace. Bonus points for also painting the lounge (it is white and needs to be black or dark brown). POSSIBLE POINTS: +1 CON, +2 CHA, +2 WIS

My 6 week challenge goals are... Physical: 4 x Skin the cat with straight legs. Why? Just because they look cool and is much more attainable than say a front lever.That's not to say that I don't hope to get there one day. Just not in this 6 weeks. Social: I have always been terrible at keeping in contact with friends and family. Normally this isn't an issue but because I’m away from home at the moment I have to call other people because they can’t get hold of me. My goal, call one family member every week. Commitment: I have recently started a gymnastic conditioning programme and would like to ensure that I stick to it. The goal is to complete at least 6 weeks of the 12 week programme. Obviously I want to do the 12 weeks but that doesn't fit in the challenge! Life goal: This life goal is to figure out mt life goal. You’ve got to start somewhere right, and why not have a goal to get a goal. To get what you want, first figure out what you want. Some short and sweet goals that shouldn't be too difficult. I didn't want to go all out crazy and then realise I was never going to reach any of them. Baby steps this time and maybe in the next challenge I'll step it up a bit. Let's do this!