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The Beard is back (well actually I never went away) If you can't grow a beard you are exempt from this. Because my beard said so. I have successfully completed my first challenge as an assassin! I lifted myself to new heights by increasing my maximum pull up reps to six! I gained a new perspective on things by holding a free standing handstand for eight seconds! To help recover some flexibility lost in an injury years ago, I stretched and stretched, and became more stretchy! And finally, where would a good assassin be without yummy food things? Channeling the discipline of my inner beard (and my regular one!), I managed to keep most of my consumption between 2100 and 2200 calories each day (with a few well earned reward meals here and there)! But what will my beard and I do next? Probably something manly. Like chopping down a tree. And then eating it. Main Quest When I finally strike, I want my target's last thought to be "Damn, that's a sexy, bearded man..." In order for this to become reality, my main goal will remain body recomposition (the whole "look good/better naked" thing). Rather than a specific body fat percentage, I'm just going to do what I can to keep bringing it down. I will be able to get it professionally measured at a bod pod station during the first week or so of June, so until then I'll just keep working at it. The Twelfth was "Thou Shalt Eat Bacon (or an approved bacon substitute)" Goals: Beard ups I love these and I want to keep doing them! Every time I achieve a new max gives me confidence boost! So here's what's what. Practicing for three days a week went pretty well for me last challenge, so I'll keep doing them. The only "tweak" is that the end goal is to ultimately get up to ten reps in a row. This doesn't necessarily have to be accomplished during this particular challenge, it's simply a benchmark/milestone that I'd like to get to eventually. Total days - 18 Stat points awarded if completed: +4 Str The beard gives him the extra oomph to clear the bar Om nom nom I love food, but I need to manage how much I eat. Just like last challenge, I'm going to be keeping consumption between 2100 and 2200 calories unless my good friend/trainer tells me otherwise. Weekdays are mandatory for counting, though I'm given one reward meal each week. Saturdays and Sundays I actually tend to under-eat most of the time, but I'm still going to try my best to get approximately in the 2100-2200 range. Total days - 30 (plus any bonus weekend ones) Stat points awarded if completed: +4 Con OM NOM NOM Spicing up handstands I can hold handstands (with at least one foot touching a wall) for something close to a minute and a half and can hold an unassisted one between 6-8 seconds most of the time. But I've been at this level for a while and quite frankly I'm getting bored with handstands on their own. However, I don't want this skill to atrophy, so I'm going to mix things up with handstand push-ups. I know that right now I can do a few, but I'm not really sure what my max is. So for right now, we'll just say that three days a week I will do three sets of max reps. This one may be tweaked based on analysis in the next couple weeks. Total days - 18 Stat points awarded if completed: +2 Dex, +1 Str This is literally the only picture of a bearded man I could find on the internet Life Quest I want to try practicing the piano for at least five minutes, three days a week. I have mild skills with it, but I haven't found/made time to use the electric keyboard that I have. I want to keep practicing, but I also need a bit of accountability to pigeonhole myself into making time. These forums are a great way to accomplish this. Total days - 18 Stat points awarded if completed: +2 Wis, +1 Cha Well that's it folks! See you on the other side! Oh, and back by popular demand, I give you Shark Beard! What I really mean by "popular demand" is that I find this picture hilarious

Got to the WOD last Wednesday and it included handstand push-ups. The coach asked what I was going to do and I said "scale" -- either box press or feet on the wall. He asked if I could do a (supported) handstand and when I said yes, he said, "why don't you try a handstand push-up first?" and put down two abmats to make it easier. I got inverted and tried a handstand push-up but came down too fast and collapsed at the bottom. Coach said: "get yourself stable on top before you come down..." and I did it! Woot! The WOD included 5x HSPU each round and 5RFT; I figured I would do 1x HSPU each round and scale the rest... but when I reached the HSPU in the first round I went into 20s berzerker mode and... got 5x HSPU! Woot Woot! After repeating that performance in rounds 2 and 3, there was no turning back... so I blasted out 5 HSPU in each of rounds 4 and 5 to finish the WOD -- reaching for RX, 2 abmats of assist. One of my Fitness Goals for 2014 is to get an HSPU. I'm closer than I thought... need to drop to 1 abmat and then none... Woot!

Hi, everyone. Here it is. The next stage in my epic quest for physical and mental dominance. It's been epic in the way reading War and Peace is epic. This has been going on for ever! There is so much more I want to do over the next 6 weeks, but I suppose it will be good to really focus on achieving this one thing I've been "toying with" for far too long. Time to get serious. If I manage to shed a few pounds in the process, one of my other goals might just take care of itself (doing more than 10 strict-form, bodyweight pull ups). Wish me luck, and when you are all long-finished with your current Sep-Oct challenge, I'll let you know how mine is still going. My Main Quest: Maintain a strict Paleo diet. My Side Quests: Life Side Quest – Obtain BA in History and next belt in Hap Ki Do (both on track in next 6 weeks)Fitness Side Quest – TBDMini Quests – None. This is my first challenge. My Motivations: Why I’m Doing This Challenge – I promised myself I’d be in prime physical shape when I hit 40. That’s three years from now. Must keep moving! Why I Want to Level Up – As I approach 40, I also approach retirement from “Phase 1†of my professional life. The second phase has to meet or exceed the first. Must keep moving!