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Welcome back to everyone who's been following me before For new readers, I'm an amateur gymnast and weightlifter from the UK, and I also do climbing and slacklining and any other random things that catch my wandering attention... Last challenge I set myself a huge checklist of strength and skill goals, and completed a modest number of these items. I also got quite frustrated and bored with chasing PRs all the time, and decided that my for this challenge I would have more of a process-based approach. So this challenge, I'm working on goals that will not have much immediate gain, but will make me prepare me well to do cool things in the future. Challenge #1: strength preparation: I've picked a few very difficult skills that I'd like to master one day, but are much too difficult to manage them in a single challenge. My goal is to work towards each of these so that in a few months or years, I might be able to do them! For each skill, I have a list of exercises to do each week. My plan is to do these, plus a similar amount of other exercises that will advance me towards this goal: (1) Manna (now: can almost hold an L-sit) 60 seconds L-sit (or seated advanced tuck hold) broken into as many sets as necessaryhamstring stretches (on two separate days)Other useful exercises will include: core exercises (2) Iron Cross (now: very good at ring dips, can't hold any form of front/back lever) 3-sets to failure of Bulgarian ring dips (in L-sit if possible) (at least 10 reps total)to strengthen bicep tendons - 1 set extreme-RoM pec flys OR 3 solid attempts at tucked back leverOther useful exercises will include: chair-assisted iron cross; partial-RoM iron cross; deadlift to strengthen bicep tendon; ring pec flys (on my knees) (3) 1-arm chin-up (now: can do a weighted pull-up with +25kg added) 3 sets to failure of either weighted pull-ups, archer ring rows, or 1-handed rowsOther useful exercises will include: partial-RoM archer pull-ups Scoring for this: each week I have six things to do: manna exercisesmanna extrasiron cross exercisesiron cross extras1APU exercises1APU extrasIf I do the following I get stat points: 3 of these: +0.25 CHA4 of these: +0.25 CHA & +0.25 STR5 of these: +0.25 CHA & +0.50 STR6 of these: +0.50 CHA & +0.50 STRTotal available: +3.00 STR & +3.00 CHA Challenge #2: hand balancing: It's finally warm outside again, so I want to get back into training handstands and other sorts of hand balancing. Last summer I worked a lot on handstands and eventually managed a 10-second freestanding handstand. I got a video of my progress up to this point: The handstands always involved a lot of walking on my hands to keep balance, so my emphasis now is to get better at static handstands. I also want to practise: crow posecrow pose to handstandhandstand against wallcartwheelskick-up with left leg to handstanddrills for good body positiontuck and straddle entry to handstandEach week I'll get +0.25 DEX for practising enough and +0.25 DEX for practising different things to what I'm used to (so I learn, rather than just drill the same things). If I get at least +2.00 DEX then I'll award myself +1.00 STA as well. Total available: +3.00 DEX & +1.00 STA Challenge #3: driver's licence: simple "life" goal here to stop me from procrastinating: study for and pass my driver's theory test (UK). The test should be easy, but I need to take a proper look at the material for anything I don't know, and book a test. +1.00 WIS Challenge #4: intermittent fasting: I've had mixed thoughts about intermittent fasting (where you fast for a large proportion of the day to keep your body in "rebuilding mode" for as long as possible, and then have your calories during the rest of the time). I tried this last year by occasionally taking large evening meal and fasting until the following afternoon, but I didn't like that much. This challenge I'm going to investigate having a regular fasting schedule for an entire week (not yet sure of the protocol) to see how my body responds to this sort of rhythm. +2.00 CON Challenge #5: understanding Spanish: last challenge I practised speaking lots (and probably will continue this challenge) but felt I needed to work on vocab. I also found that listening to the news on the radio is too difficult. Therefore this challenge I'll do each of the following each week:add 50 Spanish words/phrases to Mnemosyne (a spaced-repetition vocabulary-learning software) and keep up with this traininglisten for 30 minutes to something in Spanish that's easier than the newsI get the following stat points for each: 3 weeks: +0.25 WIS4 weeks: +0.50 WIS5 weeks: +0.75 WIS6 weeks: +1.00 WISTotal available: +2.00 WIS I look forward to the challenge, and to seeing what everyone else is up to this challenge! Good luck ~~ CHALLENGE LOGS ~~ Manna (core): +++_++Manna (ham1): ++++++Manna (ham2): +++_++Manna (extra): +++_++ Iron Cross (dips): ++++_+ Iron Cross (bicep): +_++_+Iron Cross (extra): +_++++ 1-arm PU (plan): +_++_+ 1-arm PU (extra): +++++_ Handstands/vol: +_++__ Handstands/new: ++++++ Spanish - mnemo: ______ Spanish - listen: ______ Driving theory: will not complete IF week: completed a week of overnight 14-hour fasts (on average) (Friday 1st May - Friday 8th May)

Why the title? Well tomorrow is my 29th birthday. Which is very close to 30. And while I don't have a problem with getting old as such, I always feel like I've accomplished too little and that I still have the same issues as when I was 20, especially relating to body image. I think it's really about time I'll squash those issues so that my 30's can be even more awesome than my 20’s. I don't want to feel weak. I want to keep a consistent level of basic fitness that allows me to try anything I want without being hindered by or worry about lacking fitness. I don't want to feel fat. My eating habits keep roller coasting from really good to really bad and while some natural weight fluctuations are ok, I don’t want the really bad in my life. I want to feel accomplished and I’ve decided on a big epic quest to tackle - to reach contortionist level of bendiness. Why? Besides the obvious that I love circus and contortion, if I ever reach this goal it will be purely because I put in hours and hours of hard work and honestly that’s not something I often do. Things either come to me easily or I give up straight away. It's time to change this and what better way than an utterly ridiculous quest? Goal #1: Contortion Practice contortion 5x/week. This can be either backbends or handstands. Since my hamstring is cranky I'm going to do an experiment where I won't do any freestanding handstands but instead focus on body line drills, wall work and core strength and see what happens after six weeks. Goal #2: Rehab my hamstring Doesn't need further explanation, I just have to do whatever my physio, every day. Goal #3a: Basic fitness 3a) Pull-ups Last challenge I managed to get back to 1 crappy neutral grip pull-up (for the second time). I'd like to up the number to 5 pretty ones. I'm thinking of using a combination of the twentypullups program and Ido Portal's hanging challenge, unless someone has a better program for me? 3b) Run 5 km I know, I know. Running. The thing is that even though I hate running, I still think that every able-bodied person should be able to run 5 km without it being a big deal. And my stamina is terrible, which I'm sure also affects my other activities to some degree. I'm going to aim to run 2-3x/week, but I'm not going to follow a program because I hate it when they tell me when to run. Life quest: Level up my cooking As a birthday present to myself I have binge ordered a whole pile of cookbooks in order to level up my cooking skills. Two recipe books, one technique book for savoury dishes, one for pastry and one inspirational book. Umm, shipping per book was cheaper this way? Cook 25 savoury recipes from the recipe books Cook no more than one sweet thing per week Tackle something technical once a week Make everything from scratch Side quest from last challenge: Add more everyday movement I also ordered Katy Bowman's book Move your DNA and I'm sure I'll get more inspiration from that. For now I just want to keep up with some habits that I started: Walk (or run) 250 km Avoid sitting for more than 50% of the work day Loo push-ups at work 2x/week Loo pistols at work 2x/week So yeah, before you say anything I did try to restrain myself when writing this challenge. The first two goals are the most important though, so I'll focus on those and hope I'll be able to do everything else as well. Here's to a fresh challenge!

After a unfortunate level of inactivity on my part with the rebellion I am creeping in the back door here a couple days after the challenge starts... I fell off the last challenge hard and haven't been back on the forums since :-(. My last post was on Jan 20...bleh. Life got ridiculously busy and I've been falling behind in just about everything: gym stuff, nutrition, socially, personal goals. Pretty much I'm just consumed by work lately but that's pretty okay by me ( my work life involves lots of personal development so at least we are moving forward) Here are my goals over the next 6 weeks: 1. Level Up my Lifting Why: My gym life has fallen off pretty bad. My lifts are stagnant, my progress is minimal, and those two things alone will prevent me from becoming a total badass (which is my destiny). So I am going to focus on getting back to basics. Goal: Lift 3 times per week - Squat, Deadlift, Bench, Overhead Press Here is my routine: Day A - Handstand, Front Squat, Bench, Rows, Pullups Day B - Handstand, Squat, OH Press, Pullups Day C - Handstand, Front Squat, Deadlift, Bench Not rocket science. Make it to the gym. Increase weight. Side note: I can't lift without eating healthy. My diet has been sub-par lately. Since I don't have an actual goal or method of measuring success for meal prep, this is my reminder that I need to eat healthy. Just make enough dinner each night to have a health lunch the next day and don't forget to keep food in the house (use Instacart when feeling incredibly lazy or busy) 2. Engrain new Routines into my Schedule Why: I'm on a mission to become a hyper-productive entrepreneur. In order to do so I need to have systems in place to that allow me to focus my energy on tasks that have the most impact without wasting much energy on the little things. So I'm testing this new routine into my life: Day Start: Morning Routine 16 oz Lemon Water Health - Delicious way to start the day. Lemon water is hydrating, gets your metabolism started, and sends a signal to my brain it's time to wake the fuck up Take Meds - Allergy Medicine keeps me from death Brush Teeth - Lovely Teeth 20 pushups - get the blood flowing Meditation - 10 minutes When I do this consistently my focus increases, energy increases, consciousness increases. Journal - reflect on day, week, emotions, life, thoughts, Make Coffee - So good Look Over - Monthly, Weekly and Daily MIT (Most Important Task) in Task Management Get to Work Knock out the First MITMorning Work: Creative/Makers Work - Sales/Marketing Lunch Break: Get away from all work. Read, eat, nap, whatever. Afternoon work: Administrative work - meetings, emails, Urgent/Important tasks Afternoon Break: Take a walk, gym, whatever Evening work or social time: get some more stuff done or clock out and see some friends. Or maybe see some friends while working...all things are possible Night Routine: Review Day Report on Habits Plan for next day Eat Dinner, Make Lunch for next day Brush Teeth Plan 3 MIT for Day Read/Journal 30 minutes Double Check Alarm Sleepy Time If this is super interesting to you by any chance I didn't make it up on my own. I totally stole it from a friend of mine. You can read all about it here. This guy is a badass. 3. Convert my Life into Digital format Why: For months I've been telling myself I have to find a new organizational system to keep track of everything. My ways of pen and paper just don't cut it anymore with everything that I have to keep up with on a day to day schedule. I found an answer using two pieces of software: Omnifocus and Evernote. (you can see a great example here). This will not be easy to integrate but if I work really hard I can get everything going in six weeks, so this is a perfect place to do this. And that's it. If I can finish out this challenge and do just these three things, my life will look dramatically different than it does now because I will be more focused, more organized, stronger, and better. Now it's time to do the work. And remember...

Hey there, Rebels! I'm heading into my third challenge, and I'm hoping to push myself even harder. I only have 3 weeks left in this semester, but I'll probably stay on campus for an extra 6 weeks to take a "Maymester" and work. Anyways, life will for sure get a bit easier, so I want to start my summer break off strong by finishing this challenge! I'm breaking this challenge into "Fitness" and "Life" goals, although there's a bit of crossover. Thanks for following me on this journey! Current Weight/Measurements: Weight - 120lbs Bust - 34" Waist - 30 1/2" Hips - 37" Thighs - 21 1/2“ Fitness Goals GOAL 1: Run like Wonder Woman. (Run, or Use Elliptical or Treadmill 3 days a week) (Fun fact - my English professor is Lynda Carter's first cousin. Unfortunately, I still don't have an autograph.) Details: I am not a big runner. It's just not something I've ever done, and I've been okay because I've found other ways to stay fit. However, I need to up my endurance. I am only choosing to do 3 days a week because I get a lot of cardio from dance (especially tap) and I don’t want to set too high a goal. Possible Points: +3 Stamina Current Progress: 2/20 Days GOAL 2: Do a Handstand (Take 2!) Details: This was my goal in my last quest, but it didn’t happen. I have managed to stay in a wall handstand for 60 seconds, but I can’t do it consistently. I also can’t get up on my own away from the wall. So, I’m going to try it again! Possible Points: +2 Dexterity Current Progress: Can hold a wall handstand for 60 seconds. Can get into a handstand away from the wall. GOAL 3: Hulk up! (Regular Weight-lifting Details:I am trying to get more into regular weight-lifting, beyond what I do in my tiny apartment. I’ve been trying to use the free-weights at the gym, but I need the added motivation of making it part of my challenge. I'm also partial to bodyweight stuff, so I will probably rotate between that and free-weights. I’m shooting for a bare minimum of 4 days a week - but hopefully I'll make more than that. Possible Points: +2 Strength Current Progress: 2/24 Days Life Goals GOAL 1: Get more sleep. Details: I used to have a very steady sleep schedule, and unlike most college students, I'm not into partying and I rarely stay up late of my own accord. (#nerd) But recently, especially this past semester, I've been getting an average of 4-6 hours of sleep. I didn't notice it until I got a FitBit and started tracking my sleep, but MAN is that unhealthy. So I'm going to work on getting more sleep. Possible points: +2 Constitution Current Progress: 4/42 Nights of at least 7 1/2 hours of sleep. GOAL 2: Pass the Psychology CLEP Test (And not Britta it) Details: I need to knock some of these GenEds out of the way so I won't have so much going on. First up: Psychology! I'm basically gonna be a therapist, guys. Possible points: +3 Wisdom Current Progress: Studied first 4 chapters of Textbook GOAL 3: "I...am not left-handed." (Regular Fencing!) Details: So I've done a little fencing in the way of workshops (and a lot of stage combat, since I'm an actor), but I never had the opportunity to do it regularly. Thankfully, I now have access to a fencing school that has adult classes DURING times I can take them! So I start on the 18th with a weekend intensive, and I'll be doing it regularly after that. I am really excited about it, since it's something I always wanted to do but never had the time. Also, this school teaches historical fencing, which I'm totally into. I'm actually making this a "Charisma" challenge, because it just makes me incredibly happy, and what's more charismatic than a 5'4" chick with a sword? Absolutely nothing! Possible points: +3 Charisma Current Progress:

Main goal: be a professional competitive kettlebeller! It's been a while since my last challenge! In the meantime I've finished my internship (which kept me away from here) and I also competed at the amateur level at the world championships of kettlebellsport. It was awesome. And I want more! And I want to do better. So here I am, with a very simple challenge setup! Progress video with 24kg, only need to do 50 extra reps per hand for a spot on the podium! Simple because I just need to get back into training a lot. It doesn't really matter yet what I do, as long as I'm doing stuff! So my first goal is related to just doing something; Goal 1: Dance dance! If I don't feel like training at all, I just have to put on the clothes, put on some music and then dance. If after 5 minutes of dancing I still don't feel like training I get to go home. Goal 2: Log the progress It's important to log so I can have proper progression, it's important to take some videos to check technique progress... and doing so here is extra fun! Bonus Goal: Fix all the things All the things that cause me stress. Stress is bad for training recovery. And the list of things is long. But I'm not writing down any specific goals because that'll put on pressure and add to the stress Complicated yes? The goal is only here so I can brag about it if I do something useful.

Mad Hatter bends over backwards Hi! I'm a level 15? 1 dabbler assassin (and perpetual noob). In my past lives I've played with circus, aerial, poledance, acroyoga, climbing, kitesurfing, lindy-hop, ballroom dancing, gymnastics, burlesque and I love it all! But lately I've been utterly fascinated by contortion and handbalancing and my current epic quest is to develop super powers in all things bendy and upside down! I feel like the last 1 3 5 challenges have been all over the place, and that I've strayed quite far from this epic quest. Perhaps not in goals, but in spirit. So in this challenge I'm going to concentrate on a single superpower with razor sharp focus - flexibility. Goal #1: Streeeetch! (DEX +5) I'm going to train for flexibility for an hour every day, in some way or other. My training sessions should be a combination of deep stretching, mobility work and strength training for the back, core and hips to keep my body happy and bendy. This is the main goal for this challenge and even if I fail at everything else that's fine as long as I really tried my best to reach this goal! Goal #2: Fix my environment (CON +4) What's the point in training everyday if I'm just going to undo any progress through my daily habits? I've already introduced a few experimental changes at work that I'll expand on some other day, but this goal is not about tracking each of them. It's more exploratory in nature so I'll just see how it evolves. Goal #3: Shinies! (DEX +1) Every week I'm going to explore a new movement that requires a high degree of flexibility. This could be dancey floorwork, or linking a few static poses together into a flow, or just anything cool that I've found on the interwebs. I don't have to nail anything, I just need to challenge myself and give it a good try even if I end up looking like an ass. Goal #4: Love the process! (WIS+2, CHA +3) The first part of this goal is to document the process. I will post a video every week and also a daily reflection. The second part is remember to love the process, and not to be so harsh on myself. I'm going to practice it by saying something positive about my training or my body in the daily reflection. And for full disclosure you might hear lots of other tales in this thread, of handbalancing, climbing, strength training, maybe some aerial and the makings of tasty food! Wheeeeee!

For this challenge, I'm going to focus on fully living in the present, rather than dwelling on the past ("before my knee blowout, I could do whatever thing but now I can't") or punting things toward the future ("It would be really nice if I could do...") without taking the steps right now to have any realistic hope of achieving that. As always, I will be doing and logging my usual rock climbing/bouldering, playground parkour, yoga, hand balancing, weapons, hooping, etc. 1. (Fitness)Respect the progressions: There are several yoga moves I'd love to do, but I'm not quite flexible enough. There are also several parkour moves I'd love to be able to do, but I'm not strong or flexible enough. So, rather than just giving up and doing nothing at all to get there (which has kind of been what I've done over the last many challenges), I'll instead dial things backward and work through some easier progressions until I have a solid enough foundation for the full move. The moves I'd love to focus on are: (yoga) Firefly pose- currently need to improve flexibility to get my shoulders under my legs. I can either balance a few seconds with my legs really bent, or I pick up and fall right back onto my rear. So, I'm going to focus on the deep squat with my shoulders under my legs to improve the mobility. I'll also just try to get better about holding with my legs bent. There's no point yet in trying to pick up all of the way and getting frustrated with my repeated failures. (yoga) - wheel to standing or wheel kick over - My backbend/wheel is okay, but in order to stand from it or kick my legs up and over, I need my hands and feet to be closer together. So, I'm going to focus on pushing my torso closer over my shoulders and walking my feet in toward my hands. (parkour) Kong vault - I can't confidently even do a ground kong without having my knees flare out such that they're outside of my arms. I'm also horribly paranoid about clipping my legs, especially since my knee still isn't quite 100%. I'm going to work on good form ground kongs, the kong jump-ups, and just jumping over low-ish obstacles. (parkour) rail balance - While it's still cold, I have parallettes I can step upon. When it's warmer, there are plenty of playgrounds with rails. Rather than getting fancy and trying to move around a lot or do QM, I really just need to practice standing around or walking very slowly. I may come up with a few more things to add to the list. I'm not going to grade based on practicing a certain number of times/week. Instead, it's going to be whether I feel like I'm putting in the honest effort to follow the progressions, rather than giving up or hiding from the skills in question, and whether at the end of the challenge I'm seeing some progress. 2. (Fitness) Tons of Handstands: I've always wanted to have a solid handstand, but I've been stuck at 3-5 seconds freestanding for a long time and have never really put in the effort to improve with that. After some personal training with this, I learned that my shoulders aren't engaged properly when I do handstands. I've instead been doing lazy, loose handstands. Now that I've started practicing really pressing upward, engaging my shoulders, and keeping my core very tight, I feel like I have so much more control. I want to ride this success and finally make some progress with the handstands. Goal is to do 100 handstands/week, but to count, all of the handstands need to have solid form. 3. (Life) Positivity and Gratitude: I truly believe that being positive and grateful is a habit and mindset. Each day of the challenge, I must come up with and post something for which I'm grateful, something that made me happy, or something generally positive. Goal: 42 daily postings. 4. (Life) Learn a new language -For years, my husband and I have been saying that it would be nice if I could speak German, so we could have our own adult "secret language" that the kids can't understand. And for years, I've done nothing on that front. I recently downloaded Duolingo. My goal is to add 250 XP to my total each week. I'm at 659 right now, so assuming I'm around 700 at the start of the challenge, that means I should aim for 2200 XP by the end. Extras: There's no way to grade these, but they're just things I'd love to work on and be reminded of frequently through my challenge. (Fitness) Form comes first: I have a few yoga moves in which my form (shoulder alignment) is off. I also am guilty of taking some shortcuts, or squeezing out a few extra reps even after my form is starting to fall apart. I've spent the last year assuming that everything would eventually work its way out, but realistically, I'm just perfecting bad form. This goal is more about shelving the ego and dealing with not managing as many reps or as much hold time, or having to step back in some of my progressions. (Life) Control the clutter: No one in my house (including myself) puts things back where they belong after using something. So, we're always fighting clutter. Rather than just setting things down out of place and assuming I can put it away later, I'd rather stop generating the clutter in the first place. (Life) Get over it: I'm one of those people who gets upset or over-analyzes things long past the point where I should just accept that things are over and done. So, I want to reach a point where if I'm foolishly getting worked up about something, I can take steps to calm down (whether it's doing some cardio kickboxing, weapons, yoga, meditation, taking a walk, playing piano), and then learning to just let it go.

Because not all Disney princesses are damsels in distress, and anyone who knows me can tell you that I am the exact opposite of a damsel in distress. Hi again! I’m blkhole24601, or Vicki if you want a real name to work with, a former Scout who is learning the graces of Assassinhood through dancing and maybe someday, gymnastics. My main motivation is because of my night job: I’m an actress in the Denver area and musical theatre is my first love, which is all well and good except I’m not exactly what you’d call graceful. Thus, my focus on dance! I’m also trying to pick up other physical skills (see: handstands, cartwheels, splits, etc.) that will make me more employable. Main Quest: Become a physically adept actress! Quest 1: Mulan - Let’s Get Down to Business [+2 STR +4 DEX +3 TBD] I know Mulan isn't technically a princess, but she's part of the official Disney Princess franchise so... This quest is honestly just a fancy way of saying, “I will exercise five times a week.†There is a regimen I want to incorporate into every workout that I do, and this is the easiest way to be sure that I not only find that routine but also continue to learn/perfect the skills I want to have under my belt by year’s end. So, said regimen: TMNT Mobility and Balance 5x/week [+2 DEX] Stronglifts 2x/week, free-for-all workout 3x/week [+2 STR, +3 TBD based on what I do] Jazz/ballet/tap classes don’t count. Not because I don’t think they’re a workout because I know they are, but because my focus is more on technique than a cardio session. Alternatively, other dance classes will count, and any at-home work on jazz/ballet/tap will also count. Tentative plan for the three other workouts will be yoga, running, and at-home dance work/U-Jam/Zumba, but again, NOT holding myself to this in case of Life. Splits/Flexibility Work 5x/week [+2 DEX] If a minimum of 30 minutes of yoga was completed as the main workout, it will also count towards this criterion. A = all 3 criteria met | B = 2 criteria met | C = 1 criteria met | D = for effort | F = zilch Quest 2: Ariel - Getting New Legs [+3 DEX] To continue my ultimate 2015 quest to quit moving like a graceless lummox at dance callbacks, I’m dedicating myself to 3x/week of dancing, with one of those days being at a jazz/ballet/tap class. Ideally I’d love for this to be twice a week but realistically schedules may not always work out that way. Zumba/U-Jam/anything that isn’t jazz or ballet or tap will not count towards having gone to class but will count towards the 3x/week. [3/6/2015 Adjustment: Weeks 5 and 6 will be excluded from the class requirement as long as I spend one dance session focused purely on technique.] A = 3x/week (A- =3x/week, no class) | B = 2x/week (B- = 2x/week, no class) | C = 1x/week, class | D = 1x/week, no class | F = zilch Quest 3: Tiana - Best Cook This Side of the Mississippi [+1 CON] Okay, so my meals will most definitely not hold a candle to Tiana’s, but I do miss cooking like something fierce. Therefore, I will cook once a week. I know it’s not a lot, but it’s all about starting small. I do hope that cooking more frequently than once a week will come naturally as I get into it more! A = 6 weeks complete| B = 5 weeks complete | C = 3-4 weeks complete | D = 1-2 meals cooked | F = never happened Life Quest: Giselle - Happy Working Song [+2 CHA] I don't care that she's not part of the official franchise, I love her and I love this movie. Part One: Sing 6x/week, just to solidify this as a habit. For a contingency should I not be able to sing for whatever reason (sick, voice needs a break, etc.), as long as I dedicate time towards studying musical theory, working on my audition pieces or The Mikado music (such as solfege work or plucking the notes out on my piano to get them in my head), or researching pieces for upcoming auditions, it will count. [+1 CHA] A = 6x/week | B = 5x/week | C = 3-4x/week | D = 1-2x/week | F = zilch Part Two: And now for a proper adulting requirement. I’m bad at keeping my apartment clean. I’m good at Netflix marathons. So, let’s combine the two! I will clean 5x/week for the length of an episode of whatever on Netflix. If I put in something that’s longer than 20-40 minutes, then I will only dedicate myself to cleaning for the first half hour or so. This should also, theoretically, help me declutter, too. [+1 CHA] [3/6/2015 Adjustment: 2 days a week starting in Week 3, as long as I do one chore in the house, it will count towards this quest. Chores mean putting away dishes, starting laundry, putting away laundry, taking out the trash, cleaning the litter box, etc.] A = 5x/week | B = 4x/week | C = 3x/week | D = 1-2x/week | F = zilch In Summary: 1. Workout 5x/week [+2 STR +4 DEX +3 TBD] 2. Dance 3x/week (Class 1x/week) [+3 DEX] 3. Cook 1x/week [+1 CON] 4. Sing 6x/week [+1 CHA] 5. Clean 5x/week [+1 CHA] (see why I basically HAD to go with a Disney princess theme???) Attribute Point Distribution: 2+ STR | 7+ DEX | - STA | 1 CON | 0 WIS | 2 CHA (3 points from Quest 1 to be distributed at the end of the challenge based upon what exercises I do. Tentatively +1 STA and +2 DEX) Weekly Recaps: Day 0 | Week 1 | Week 2 | Week 3 | Week 4 | Week 5 | Challenge Complete! Mini-Challenges +1 STR earned +1 STA earned +1 CON earned +1 DEX earned +1 CHA earned +1 WIS earned

I am Ellen and this is my third challenge. Last challenge I spent over in the druids guild for some self balancing, and now I am ready to begin training again. Goal 1: 2 STR, 1 CON, 1 STA Do a bodyweight circuits workout at least 3 (but no more than once every other day) times a week. I am thinking of starting with the beginner's body weight workout, and if I find it too easy I will either add things to it or give the advanced body weight workout a try. Goal 2: 2 STR, 1 WIS, 1 STA Be able to do a freestanding handstand (something I have been unable to do, even when I was in gymnastics as a kid). Obviously, I will be following this workout. Goal 3: 3 DEX, 1 STA Spend at least 10 minutes a day 6 or more days per week getting more flexible. I don't have a plan for this, however I intend to use yoga to my advantage. I would like to be able to have my hands flat on the floor when I touch my toes, but I don't think that is really a realistic goal, so I will just aim to spend at least 10 minutes a day working hard on flexibility. Life Quest: 3 CHA I will do at least 4 things over the course of the 6 week period that are social activities that I would normally decline going to. Usually I am a recluse. I stay in my house, never go to bars or parties, always just hang out with my kid, read books, or play video games. I understand that social interaction is good once in a while though, so I would like to aim for coming out of my shell a little.

Sorry that I am joining the party late. The holidays kind of hit me hard, partly because I had so much backed up from having gone on our epic trip to New Zealand. (For those who want to see, I did finally post a summary and some pics at the end of my last challenge thread: http://rebellion.nerdfitness.com/index.php?/topic/56318-elsfaire-accompanies-the-hobbit-through-middle-earth/page-5 Just scroll down a bit. ) I have been doing things, but have not been able to post on the NF boards at all fro a few weeks. For this challenge: I have a real issue with maintaining balance. I recently had a breakthrough in dealing with my “baggage,†and want to use the opportunity to really get the hang of emotional balance. When it comes to work and home tasks, I have a tendency to laser-focus on the most important thing, and let everything else get away from me. If there is nothing to laser-focus on, then I kind of meander and I accomplish only a fraction of what needs to get done. Since I work from home, this can be a real problem. For this challenge, I think I will get the best benefit from improving my balance in all areas: emotionally, work/life/relationships, and –of course- physical balance. Yes, this could be a Druid challenge, but I feel at home in the Assassins and want to stay here. So there. :-P For simplicity (and my sanity), all goals will be points-based. They may seem easy, but I am trying to establish a habit of balance instead of see-sawing between goals and tasks. Fitness Goals: Balanced Workouts: Work out at least 6 times per week, hopefully evenly split between aerobic, strength, and flexibility/movement. 1 point for each workout lasting at least 20 minutes. Non-consecutive 20-minute workouts are ok for all but aerobic days. Finding Eternal Steadiness: For this, I will return to balance work. I used to have great balance as a child. I also enjoyed working on handstands last summer, though always doing the same thing gets tedious. So, I will let anything that improves my balance count for this category. Yoga can count for both a workout and balance, if it contains a significant number of balance poses. 1 point for each day that amounts to a cumulative 5 minutes or more of balance work. Emotional Balance: Doing: 1 point for each day/time that I either: journal/self-parent, spend social time with friends/family, or am authentic with someone, or do another activity that supports me emotionally. Thinking: 1 point for each day that I either meditate or spend time on my positive questions. Life/Work Balance: 1 point for each day that I get through my entire day’s to-do list OR have at least 3, 1-hour long sessions of focused work time (as opposed to being scattered for the entire work day). This counts even if I make the to-do list more reasonable in order to accomplish it. 1 point each day that I choose to do something fun OUTSIDE of work hours, ask for help with family chores, decide NOT to do work for my day job in the evening, or kindly hold my children accountable for their tasks. Grading The realistic number of points for the week in each goal category is 14, but I will give bonus points for 2 workouts in a day, etc. In keeping with the grading format that has worked better for me in the past, grading will be as follows for each category: 0-3/need more support; 4-6/A good start; 7-9/Nice –keep it going; 10-13/Great!; 14-18/Wow, Amazing!; 19+/â€I am the Dragon†I will probably not participate in stat points, Most Wanted, and such this challenge since I am so late. I reserve the right to change my mind, though. I can do a week 1 summary tomorrow...

I'm not sure if "challenge" is the correct term for the next couple of weeks. While there will be a lot of work involved, my challenge is surely not going to be spectacular, there won't be any huge milestones to be achieved, and progress will be slow, at best. Goal #1: Floor 1 I'll be starting the GMB program "Floor 1", which is supposed to teach me essential strength, agility and body control over the course of 14 weeks or so. The program has me working on that 6 days a week, alternating balance, strength and flexibility days. While I will have probably few problems with the flexibility basics, I have a lot to catch up on regarding strength and balance. For example, day 1 will start (after a proper warm-up, that is) with a crow hold, "up to 30 seconds", according to the program. Ha! As if... I can not really do a crow hold at all. For a second, maybe, if I'm lucky, on a good day, when the stars are in favour or something. So this is going to be interesting frustrating a good learning opportunity. I'll also not have a dedicated handstand practice goal this time around, because there is going to be a lot of hand balancing (or training for hand balancing) in this program. No need to put more strain on the wussies than that. Goal #2: Check up on those Emo Sugar Monsters Same thing we do every night, Pinky... try to stay sugar free on 21 out of 42 challenge days. This should be easier, now that the holidays are over, and most of the treats have disappeared. I'll stick to two health / fitness related goals, because anything more wouldn't make much sense for me right now. I will be going to my usual kettlebell and yoga classes on top of Floor 1, then there's Rosie, so in some weeks at least I will probably get mroe exercise than I have bargained for... Life Goal: Set up a better working environment with Git and possibly a VM for development Ahem. There is still a lot to do in this regard. So, the life goal stays. - Check current Ubuntu VM for LANability. - Set up Apache + same PHP version as current dev machine on said Ubuntu VM. - Figure out which DB to use (DB on current dev server? local DB on VM?). - Install Git on VM, clone project data and set up repo so that we all can work with it. - Git happily ever after. Just like the last one, this challenge will be done without stat points and without leveling up. It's more about consistency and keeping doing the things that work than working on major changes. Still, the battle cry remains... JUST WHO THE HELL DO YOU THINK I AM????!!!

Hey guys, this is my 1st anniversary fitness challenge! I'm back to kick ass and take names. Getting back into things after being sick and the holidays derailing everything. I've already started and am feeling good. I'm sticking with the same goals again this challenge because I need to make sure I keep doing them and I have not had a good track record when I've added new things. It's all maintenance now, for the rest of my life, but if I keep it up I'll keep getting stronger and better and faster. Goals for this Challenge: Stretch 3 days per weekSledgehammer or swimming 3 days per weekNo S-Diet Updated! Goals for this Challenge: Stick with my diet and exercise planChase the shinies (1 activity/week)That's right, I'm giving myself permission to do fun stuff ... but also setting an expectation for myself that I'll make time for the other fun things in my life, like: Rope (still have to get to level 2!)WritingUkulele (my sister is getting married in August and I want to write her a song)Hula hoopPhotographyAssassin mini-questsI'm also open to suggestions/dares! Life Goals: Get a new freakin' job For reference, my January and December photos (underwear warning!) January's will be posted on Monday - 1 year later!

This will be another quietish challenge for me. After this, I get back to bigger things, promise! First Perspective: Judo Theory and Philosophy I have been terribly remiss in not reading cover to cover several books on Judo in my possession. As there will be two weeks in which I am barred from working out, this will be an excellent time to read them. Kodokan Judo by Jigoro Kano Mind Over Muscle: Writings From the Founder of Judo by Jigoro Kano Judo itself is not going to be a goal this challenge. I will go when permitted to do so and nothing else should be a problem. Second Perspective: Get upside down! Use the GMB guide and work on handstands and their supporting exercises at least 3x/week except when I am forbidden from working out. Third Perspective: My apartment I love the place but being away for a week showed me that it needs some deeper cleanup and maybe some rearranging. Make it sparkly and awesome again. Clean out/handle the items on the following list. Cupboardsclosetson top/inside the fridgemove knitting supplies to the trunkclean out dresser for other storagejunk drawersmove book cases and media to my bedroom?set up computer desk in living room (may not happen this challenge)swap large bookcase and dresser, see how that looksClean stairway walls, with magic eraser if neccessaryFix floor scratches left by previous occupantClean out boxes/misc crap in odd cornersfind all of the cat toys hiding under furnituremove my Grandfather's painting to a better locationreplace the broken blinds in the living roomDust the odd corners that don't usually get reachedGo through my booksTry to clean the bathroom blindsAcquire curtain rod and hang stupid curtains in my bedroom!Transfer my African Violets to a larger planterLife Goal - Improve my wardrobe Purge wardrobe of things that don't fit, I never wear, or are just in too bad shape to keepWardrobe diagnostics - look at the breakdown of what I need versus what I haveFigure out style(s) that I like - post pictures, read advice and check out what's availableIdentify minimum number of needed items to allow me to dress well for my regular activitiesBudget some money for clothing each monthBuy and hang a mirror - would be nice to not need to stand on my toes in the bathtub to see my upper body in the bathroom mirrorBuy and hang a hook for longer dresses/skirts - I have nowhere to store longer items as my closets are too lowMaybe make a nice cowl? Completed but given to my Mom since she loved it so much. Complete the second one :-)

I was trying to think of a clever, fantasy-type title, but they all felt too pretentious. I'm eager to begin my first challenge. I've been hanging around these fora since the end of November, just waiting to get to start on the next challenge. I used to work out fairly regularly until life circumstances changed at the end of October 2013. Then I was unable to continue with my group training sessions and parkour classes, and other than biking to work a few times over the summer, have fallen into a rather sedentary existence. Things came to a breaking point mid-October 2014, and I started to attend therapy and taking drugs to manage my depression and ADD. I was doing really well on that treatment, until my life circumstances shifted again at the beginning of December, and I find myself falling back into a moderate, vegetative depression. From my father's experience and my own, I know that exercise will be a significant means to control my depression. I have been taking sword fighting classes since the end of October last, and have been going to the gym regularly since the beginning of December. I've already made some progress on my strength and I'm excited to continue learning the sword. My major worry is that I'll let this depression subdue me again, that my graduate program, which begins next week, will encourage me not to work out as much as I'd like, and if I find a job over the challenge, I'll use that as an excuse not to get the exercise I need. Main Quest: Build up the strength and control to begin working on acrobaticsGoals: Three sets of unassisted chin-ups. 8%8% I've been making progress already at the gym, using the assisted chin-up machine, and at my last work-out, I got a set of five and a set of 4 without the machine. A: 3 × 7B: 3 × 6C: 3 × 5Hold a handstand. 10%10% I've also been working on this as well. A: 15 secondsB: 12 sec.C: 10 sec.Go to Sword Fighting classes and the Gym regularly. 28%28% I have been doing, but as I start grad school and look for work, I need to make sure I keep at these A: 16+ sessions each of Gym and Sword Fighting over the next three weeksB: 13+ sessions for either Gym for Sword Fighting, 16+ of the otherC: 13+ sessions each for Gym and Sword FightingSide Quest: Develop experience working on computers (the insides of them).

The end of 2014 allowed me to clear the warehouse full of rats and start my personal journey of improvement. I figured the Adventurers would be a good start for my second challenge since my goals are pretty diverse. Epic Quest: One Handed Handstand like Luke on Dagobah (carried over from 1st challenge) Main Quest: Lose 50 pounds (Also carried over from 1st challenge, I'm down 10 pounds so far) (+3 CHA if I lose 12 more pounds and get below 208) Goal 1: 28 Day Handstand Challenge - For full credit I need to complete all 28 days without missing two consecutive days. (+2 STR/ +1 STA) Goal 2: Yoga/Tai Chi/Karate/Cardio 5 days a week - For full credit never miss 2 consecutive days and complete 27/30 scheduled workouts (+2 DEX/ +1 STA) Goal 3: Eat a Paleo Breakfast Daily - I'm allowing for 1 non paleo breakfast each week in case my kids want waffles or pancakes on the weekend (+3 CON) Life Quest: Keep my house ready for potential showings - My house is on the market and I want it to sell ASAP. Everyday I will do one thing to keep the house clean or do repairs to make sure the house is ready for potential buyers to take a tour. (+3 WIS) In the end this is more developing habits to make healthy choices a part of my routine. My wife was told by her doctors to do more exercises like Yoga and Tai Chi so I'll have a partner for many of my workouts to keep me motivated. I chose breakfast as the start of my dietary changes since I normally eat alone and don't have to worry if my wife or kids will like the recipe.

Oooh, it feels really awesome to get in on a guild! Ah, even better to take my first step into the whole guild world with the Assassins! The choice was a little tough with martial arts and parkour being some passions of mine, but...well, parkour is a lifestyle. So, here I am, ready to take flight and be a badass addition to the Assassin! Quest #1: Condition, condition, condition. Bodyweight conditioning for the world! Ah, as of late, I'm really into bodyweight conditiong and y'know well, training myself using nothing but my own bodyweight. Repetitive, I know. As for my choice of BC, 3x a week of Neila Rey's Super Saiyan workout. Rewards: +2 STR, +3 STA Quest #2: Train, train, train. Parkour is a sport drowning in the need for repetition, and also for an ever increasing chance to evolve. Learn a new move? Train it until it's second nature. Now train it on all kinds of surfaces. Now practice your flow with the move, and so on. Go out and train 3x a week, using parkour vision. For any non-traceurs or traceurs unfamiliar with the term, it's just truly seeing everything as potential to train your technique. Rewards: +2 DEX, +2 STA, +1 WIS Quest #3: Handstands, handstands, handstands. I can't really do a handstand. I can get up there, but my head is pressed against the floor. And so, practice my handstands for 5 minutes a day. Goal is a free standing handstand but I'll take what I can get. Rewards: +2 STR, +2 STA Life Quest: Save, save, save. I have a bit of a hard time saving money. Even if I budget everything out, somehow what was supposed to go into my savings somehow goes well...not into my savings. So my life quest for the challenge? Add a minimum of $50 to my savings account for every paycheck. Rewards: +1 WIS

When I heard that a new challenge was starting, I was conflicted. I am currently doing Starting Strength, which is a Warrior skill, but I am an Assassin at heart. So, I'm with the Assassins. And that's just how it's gonna be. Arguments? Meet me in the back alley at midnight (I'll be the gal you won't be able to find until it's too late, because I'm an effin' NINJA). Goals: Starting Strength 3x/week (4 STR) I will be continuing my routine of Starting Strength every Monday, Wednesday and Friday. I also need to buy weights - I'm currently working with just the bar. Handstand practice, 10m/day (2 DEX) Two minutes on wrist work, then hollow body work and/or handstand practice using this as a resource. Keto (4 CON) Mostly fat and protein, lots of veggies. The very last day I'll allow myself sweets - the 15th will be the day I celebrate Valentine's Day with the hubby. I'll be good till then. Business 2 hours/day (3 WIS 2 CHA) To keep growing my business, I need to keep taking action. I'm working for two hours minimum on it every single day. I will probably work more on most days (5,6, 7 hours), but I need to establish a minimum. Schedule: M: Starting Strength T: P90X2 Mobility and Recovery W: Starting Strength Th: P90X2 Mobility and Recovery F: Starting Strength S: Mobility and Recovery S: Yoga Every day: Handstand practice

GENERAL THREAD WARNING: I am queer, genderqueer, polyamorous, and kinky. This is my thread, I don't censor myself much, and I will put NSFW warnings on anything that might get you in trouble for clicking on at work. Ask if you'd like links to the sites where I post the really NSFW stuff. My Motivations: To improve strength and flexibility to be a better rope bottom and rigger (of myself and of others)To improve dexterity and stamina to be able to wrestle guys and legitimately winTo be able to do pull-ups and handstands because that would be amazingly cool - CHIN UPS ACHIEVED NOVEMBER 25!!! Goals for this Challenge: Yoga 3 days per weekSledgehammer or swimming 3 days per weekIn bed by midnight 5 days per week - removing this goal as of December 5No snacks and no sweets except on S days Life Goals: Get a new freakin' jobGet to grade 2 of my rope classes by the end of this challengeThe first needs to happen, really badly. I got some clarity last challenge during a volunteer tree-planting event, and direction is good. I'm also aiming to get to the next grade for the rope classes I'm taking, and having it as a goal is helping me to stay focused on the other parts. Focus leads to success. Feeling pretty awesome. I'm very happy with my progress and how my body looks. Now it's just a matter of tweaking my BF%, gaining muscle and strength and flexibility, and CRUSHING ALL THOSE WHO WOULD OPPOSE ME. Also! Stats to compare myself from a year ago to today! November 5, 2013 Weight: 165lbs Total cholesterol: 4.30 Casual glucose: 5.8 Blood pressure: 102/66 Body fat percentage: 31.9 Body mass index: 25.8 Waist circumference: 31.5" November 6, 2014 Weight: 144lbs Total cholesterol: 3.98 Casual glucose: 5.7 Blood pressure: 101/73 Body fat percentage: 23.9 Body mass index: 22.5 Waist circumference: 29"

"too late for second-guessing, too late to go back to sleep. it's time to trust my instincts, close my eyes, and leap! it's time to try defying gravity..." INTRODUCTION: Oh look, I'm back again, finally injury-free (knock on wood) and ready for some hardcore assassining! Last time, our intrepid heroine relearned how to walk. This time, the moment has finally come to learn how to fly. In less grandiose terms, my dreams of taking aerial lessons are coming true at last - my first class is on 11/11! Additionally, I'm finally getting back into the flexibility work I had to abandon in favor of rehab and healing. My training has been looking a bit Ranger-esque lately, and while I intend to continue my commitment to the Stronglifts program, this challenge is all about the fun, assassin-like things I love most of all! Onward and upward! MAIN QUEST: Become the strongest, flexiest, most graceful version of me! Incorporate pieces of my training to the disciplines I love to grow my skill. Also, have fun with it. QUEST 1: YOU CAN'T TAKE THE SKY FROM ME (+4 STR) I had great progress with my pull-up quest last challenge. I am busting out assisted pull-ups and chin-ups like no one's business, but I've been neglecting my negatives. No more! I know they're good for me, I know they're the logical next step in the progression, and now, I am upping the ante and giving myself a goal of doing these 3 days a week. If by some miracle I can manage to do a real pull-up or chin-up, obviously these will count in place of negatives. A: 3 days, B: 2 days, C: 1 day QUEST 2: GETTING ALL BENDY (+3 DEX, +2 CHA) I've been swearing up and down that I will work on a straddle split progression someday. Someday is right now. I will spend a minimum of 5 minutes a day 6 days a week a minimum of 10 minutes 3 days a week working on stretches that will aid with straddle splits. I've got a ballet progression and a yoga progression to work from. I will measure how far off the floor I am at the start of the challenge and the finish as well, though it will not count towards my points (effort is the goal here, not perfect achievement). Points to you if you know why I used this particular gif. A: 6 days complete, B: 5 days complete, C: 4 days complete QUEST 3: LIKE A TRAINED APE - WITHOUT THE TRAINING (+3 DEX, +1 STR) Another thing I've sworn up and down - I will work my my handstands, someday. Time to give the handstand challenge a go! Starting from wall planks and working my way up, I will spend a minimum of 5 minutes a day 6 days a week working on my handstands. I know my shoulders are strong enough, I suspect my core is getting there... no way but up! Yes, I will probably fall on my face a lot. Whatever, it won't be the first time. A: 6 days complete, B: 5 days complete, C: 4 days complete LIFE QUEST: THIS AIN'T NO WOBBLY HEADED DOLL CAPER (+2 WIS) Ah, NaNoWriMo. This one is simple: I'm participating in this year's NaNo, and I am challenging myself, despite all distractions, to finish and win. Let's go! Simplest grading in the universe, with the caveat that this goal must be complete by November 30th.... A: reached 50,000 words, B: reached 40,000 words, C: reached 30,000 words LIFE QUEST: ALL RICH AND FANCIABLE (+2 WIS) Welp, as those of you who are following know, I decided to abandon the writing quest for my own sanity. I did get about halfway and it's not a real failure - I have a good story start to prod at once I'm no longer burned out - but right now, writing isn't what I really need to focus on. I'm going with the ever-elusive GET OUT OF DEBT, DON'T PASS GO, DON'T COLLECT $200. Right now, I have $8,881.88 in credit card debt (sigh). I've been over 10k in recent memory, so in fact this is an improvement, but lately emergencies have constantly pinged at my efforts to pay this off. I've decided to give myself a chance to earn all 2 of the WIS points as opposed to going for partial credit.... but with a stretch goal that will be reaaaaaaaally hard to reach, and then a more realistic goal to reach for 1 point. So, I declare: by the end of the challenge, I will get my credit card debt down. How much, do you ask? A: $6,999 or less remaining on credit card, B: $7,500 or less remaining, C: $7,999 or less remaining The points thus come out like this, assuming I mathed correctly: STR : 5 (A=5, B=4, C=3) DEX : 6 (A=6, B=5, C=4) WIS : 2 (A=2, B=1, C=.5) CHA : 2 (A=2, B=1, C=.5) I'll be keeping track of daily accomplishments in a gdoc, publicly available HERE. The spreadsheet does all the fancy math for me (I love technology). REWARDS: What would an epic quest be without treasure? If I succeed, I will reward myself with something nice (that isn't food). Rewards are stacking, meaning I get the A, B, and C rewards if I get to an A grade, the B and C rewards for B grade, and just the C reward for C grade. Rewards are as follows: A overall: Armor upgrade 1.0! Boots. Pretty new boots, just in time for snow. B overall: Armor upgrade 2.0! I'll pick out a fun workout shirt from Activate Apparel or Look Human. Maybe this one. C overall: Potion pack! I'll pick up some of my fave brews from Teavana. Before pictures: Measurements: Neck: 14.1" Chest: 38" Waist: 30" Hips: 40" Thigh: R: 24.5" L: 24" Calf: R: 16" L: 15.7" Bicep: R: 11.3" L: 11.7" Weight: 164.6 Dress/pants size: 8!!! I tried on about seven items, only one didn't fit, and it was designer (i.e. it would run small)

I sat out the last challenge and did an "anti-challenge" before that. It was nice to have a break and just free form my exercises, but it's time to dig back in and chase some goals down. Challenge Themesong: Tom Petty - Runnin Down a Dream Goals: 1: Handstands - Work on them at least 4 days a week. I can currently do a 30+ sec wall handstand, but my PR for a free handstand is ~5sec. 2: Muscle Up - Work towards them at least 4 days a week. Current workout includes supersets of chest-to-bar pullups and low dips, but I don't have anywhere handy to try an actual muscle up at the moment. (All the pullup bars I have access to are either free rotating or have the neutral grip handles in the way.) 3: Stretching - After every workout. I've been good about it the past couple months, but I'm starting to pickup my schedule again and need to make sure I stay on top of it. I'm not going to have a specific life goal this time around. There are a bunch of things I need to work on, but none of them jump out as "most important." I also won't be worrying about stat points any more; they weren't motivating me and the extra paperwork distracted from my real goals.

Well ok I'm not really taking a chill pill, I actually have loads of fun things planned!! I have class 3x/week (handstands, contortion and circus), open training on the lyra and I'm going to keep up with my bouldering. Since I can't predict how hard the classes will be each week I don't really feel it'd be a good idea to set any particular fitness goals. Instead I want to make sure my recovery is good, which means eating, drinking and chilling. I do have lots of fun skills to work on, so I'll keep posting about them in my challenge thread, but I won't grade any of it. There might be video though. Goal #1 - Cooking Last challenge I had a cooking goal where I wanted to try 5 new recipes/week, which failed spectacularly. I want to try this again, but on a slightly smaller scale. Also cakes don't count this time. Rather I want to make sure that I eat properly even when I get back late from training or work. To do that each week I will find one recipe that's suitable for batch cooking and one pre/post workout snack recipe. +2 WIS for batch cooking recipes (6 in total) +2 WIS for snack recipes (6 in total) Goal #2 - Recovery I not only need to eat, but I also need to make sure I get enough protein in me. I'm kind of hoping that by tracking my protein intake I will also keep my calories in check as I could really do with losing some of my excess weight... The second part of this goal is to drink enough water. Lately I've been getting random muscle cramps and the first thing to try is to make sure I stay hydrated. And not through tea, to which I confess I have a terrible addiction. I have no intention of stopping my excess tea drinking though, but I can at least make sure to drink 1 big glass water for every cup of tea. And coffee, but I drink max one espresso per day so that's less of a concern. +2 CON 100g protein/day +2 CON 1 glass of water/cup of tea (or coffee) Goal #3 - R & R This is a bit of a weird one, and it has more to do with habits that I find annoying. Like compulsive phone checking say checking my blog roll even if I have no intention of reading the articles at that time or playing on my laptop while watching a movie. It's just a waste of time and makes me feel all over the place. Similarly if I'm tired after work I should rest properly instead of distracting myself online, or by going on a sugar and/or caffeine high. For example watching a show is not really resting, but listening to music or taking a nap is. I also find just switching off doing nothing is a great way to relax, having some me-time and get the brain juices flowing. I'm not sure how to grade this as it's more of a general mindfulness goal but I'll give the following sub goals a subjective grade each day or something. +2 CON Rest properly +2 WIS No mindless browsing on the phone Goal #4 - Video Well I did say there might be video. I want to record some of the handbalancing exercises we do in class, partly as a progress video and partly to share some ideas with the fellow handbalancers around here. +3 CHA Yep, this is a quiet challenge, no shiny things, no fun theme, just trying to make sure I stay on track and keep up with life.

Hello there! In previous challenges I've been working on strength and learning as much gymnastics as possible, and I'll be continuing with that this challenge I'll be starting the challenge in England (where I live) but halfway through the challenge I'm going to Southeast Asia for 3 weeks of adventures and fun. So when designing this challenge, I chose things that won't distract from my travelling, but that I can work on while I'm out there. Challenge #1: new movements: I started this idea last challenge and it worked super well, so I'm continuing this time. Every day, I should experiment with a new physical activity, or style of exercising. Real examples from last time included: learned a no-handed kip-up incorporated clapping pull-ups into my strength training visited a new gymnastics centre learned to kick-up into a handstand with my other leg For practical reasons, the activity for each day can be done a day early or a day late in needed, and I'll be even more flexible for the three weeks I'm travelling. For Friday 12th September - Saturday 04th October: one per day For Sunday 05th October - Sunday 26th October: travelling - seven over entire period Sep 12 - frontflips on bouncy castle Sep 13 - horse riding Sep 14 - rope ladders Sep 15 - () Sep 16 - sharks Sep 17 - negative 1-armed push-ups Sep 18 - clapping-behind-the-back push-ups on knees Sep 19 - () Sep 20 - () Sep 21 - CPR push-ups Sep 22 - () Sep 23 - () Sep 24 - superman push-ups Sep 25 - () Sep 26 - () Sep 27 - () Sep 28 - () Sep 29 - () Sep 30 / non-kipping plyometric pull-ups Oct 01 - leg-supported drill for glide kips Oct 02 - straight-arm machine pull-down for glide kip Oct 03 \ time-planned weights session Oct 04 - () holiday1: gymnastics rings / archer pull-ups holiday2: water-assisted bodyweight exercises holiday3: shoulder shockers holiday4: hotel room workout holiday5: cat's cradle dismount holiday6: clean & jerk holiday7: squat rack Maximum possible: 30 new things Total achieved: 19 new things: grade C grade A: 24-30 grade B: 22-23 grade C: 19-21 grade D: 15-18 +2 STA, +3 WIS Challenge #2: bodyweight skills: I have a list of skills I'm working on, so here is a selection to concentrate on that don't require specialist equipment... this way I can try them in the gym or park here, or on the beach in Thailand or the jungle in Malaysia. handstand 360 (rotate 360 degrees while holding a stable handstand) handstand walking (walk 8 steps forwards, remaining stable) handstand roll push-up with a clap behind the back 1-armed push-up glide-kip cartwheel bridge walking (walk 2 metres in a bridge) Maximum possible: 8 skills mastered grade A: 6-8 grade B: 4-5 grade C: 3 grade D: 2 +3 DEX +3 CHA Challenge #3: eat responsibly: for two years now I've been eating pretty healthily, but recently I've been having more sugar than usual, and eating impulsively rather than because I'm hungry. To be fair I'm almost always hungry - I need nearly 3000 calories daily and insist on having lots of vegetables, but I should keep an eye on this. This challenge will be marked entirely subjectively. Sep 12 - 14: (1) B Sep 15 - 21: (2) A / A Sep 22 - 28: (2) B / B Sep - Oct 5: (2) B / B Oct 06 - 26: (4) A / B / C / B achieved: grade B +2 CON Challenge #4: train hard with weights: earlier in the year I had some really intense weights sessions, and built up a lot of strength very quickly. Recently I've been slacking off, so I'm going to have another subjective goal to start having intense sessions at least once per week. To get a grade A it's also necessary to make at least a genuine effort to have some hard training in Asia. Sep 12 - 14: (1) B Sep 15 - 21: (2) C / C Sep 22 - 28: (2) F / F Sep - Oct 5: (2) A / C Oct 06 - 26: (4) C / C / B / A achieved: grade C +2 STR I'm going to be better at following other people's threads this time too, so I'm looking forward to seeing what other people are working on

Main Quest – Become Resilient People have accused me of becoming “consistent†over the last challenge. Sadly, this remains a struggle for me. Over the last few years, I’ve learned what works to keep me happy and healthy. Far too often, I wander astray because I “deserve some time off†or want to pursue some shiny new method or goal. Time to develop persistence and focus like Batman. Time to bounce back from setbacks even stronger and wiser. Time to become resilient. (BTW, grading = >90% - A 75-89% - B 50-74% - C <49% - F) 1) The Training is Nothing! The Will is Everything! The Will to Act! [+5 STA] Doucard is right. The will to act is how I will continue my daily training, including: - pray and read the Bible - prepare food - play outside (walk, BWW three times per week) - post on NF - pause (meditate) - plan for tomorrow This is the big goal for this challenge - consistent will to develop a healthy, happy Batperson. 2) Why do we fall? So we can learn to pick ourselves back up. [+3 DEX] Because sometimes falling is the only way forward, at least 3 times per week, I will develop the following skills… - chin/pull up negatives - bailing from handstands - parkour rolls 3) I synthesized an antidote. [+3 CON] I will counteract fear toxin (candy, junk food, baked stuff, work cafeteria “foodâ€, and other forms of emotional eating) with new antidotes. Some ideas (feel free to suggest more)… - drink tea - walk - listen to a song on my iPod - meditate - find a joke on the internet - animal pictures - read inspiring quotes - five deep breaths Side Quest – I am the Night! [+2 CHA] For the last 2/3rds of the challenge, I’m going to be working a super wonky schedule – 16 hour overnight shifts every other night. I have enough trouble shifting my schedule, but this looks to be playing sleep on expert difficulty. Here’s my plan to maximize the sleep that I can get, but expect adjustments - while on days sleep 9pm-6am - while on nights sleep – 9am-3pm - nap sometime between 1-4am or sleep later on non-working days - yellow glasses - magnesium? Life Quest – Build the Batcave [+2 WIS] My house and laptop are crammed to bursting with too much stuff. I will spend at least 15 minutes per day to declutter, organize, clean, or otherwise improve my physical and digital batcave.

Ahoy Fellow Adventurers!!! My name is Mary and this is my second challenge. My first with this awesome guild. There are so many things I want to achieve in this great quest we call life. I want to be fit and have fun living. I have a lot of goals. 1. Ride in the 2015 STP 2. Do a pull up 3. Do a handstand and oh so much more!!!!!!!!!! These 3 things are attainable and will be a part of my adventures. However what I have always wanted and have never had (not even as a kid) is a flat tummy. I face a tough challenge, one that will take more than 6 weeks. I have had many surgeries in the abdominal area. I have been pregnant 8 times, 4 of those births were by c-section, gall bladder removed, appendix removed, and one crazy, stupid attempt at a flat tummy the easy way. I got injections in that were suppose to liquefy the fat cells and flatten them. This kind of worked in my lower abdomen. Now my upper ab is larger than the lower and the lower ab has an odd flattish shape that is distorted by the scars of all of the surgeries. My first three and half weeks of this challenge will be spent in preparation and celebration of my daughters wedding. So I am setting up my challenge as 4, one week challenges and then really cracking down for the last 2 weeks. Main Quest: Overall a flat tummy. For this 6 week challenge...... 2" off my upper abdomen(currently at 45") 1/2" off my mid section(currently 44.5) 1/2" off my lower abdomen, hip area(currently 46.5) other stats that may be pertinent age: 45 (46 in Nov.) Height: 5' 4" weight: 178 lbs( I am thinking that my goal weight overall will be 140. For this challenge I am aiming for 170) Week 1 Quest 1 Core work out, which will include handstand practice 5 days. 5 days = A 4= B 3= C Week 1 Quest 2 2 low carb meals per day (10 to 15 grams per meal) 7 days 1 glass of water for every alcoholic beverage consumed. This one is a little hard to grade but should not really be difficult to ace. I eat this way a lot anyway. I also won't be counting the alcohol carbs. Week 1 Quest 3 Ride my bike 10 to 15 miles, 3 days. This one is a pass or fail. I must ride to train for the STP Week 2 Quest 1 Core work out to include handstand practice 4 days 4 = A, 3=B, 2=C Week 2 Quest 2 1 low carb meal per day, for 7 days 1 glass of water for every alcoholic beverage consumed. Week 2 Quest 3 If I have access to a bike I will ride at least 30 min. a day for 3 days If not I will walk 30 min. for 3 days or we may have some activities planned that will be good for a work out. This is the actual wedding week, people will be showing up for the big event!!!!!!! Week 3 Quest 1 Handstand practice 4 days unless I am hungover In which case I will allow for simple floor core excersises 3 to 4 days Week 3 Quest 2 Do Not Be An Idiot consume plenty of water and try to eat low carb as often as possible reserving the higher carb choices for something you really want!!!!! Week 3 Quest 3 Very busy week, so if I can ride I will. Riding will be a bonus for me. I will be in a rental house for this week and I will do 10 incline push ups before going up the stairs and 10 squats before coming back down. I do anticipate many trips up and down the stairs. Week 4 Quest 1 ( this week is recuperation and travel home) Core work out to include handstand practice 4 days Week 4 Quest 2 1 low carb meal per day, 7 days Week 4 Quest 3 Ride 2 days 10 to 15 miles or if I must ride inside, a minimum of 45 min. Weeks 5 and 6, back to reality Quest 1 core work out 6 days and will include handstand practice Quest 2 low carb eating 3 meals a day, 7 days a week. NO ALCOHOL Quest 3 Ride bike 15 to 20 miles(outside) or 1 to 1.5 hours(inside) per day 3 to 4 days. I won't have much time to keep up with posting or following anyone for the first 4 weeks. I will check in if I can and when I get back I will try to catch up with other challenges. Good luck everyone!!!!!!!

Elastigirl ‘s training with the Dark Knight had gone well, so well that The Dark Knight had asked for her assistance on a mission. After helping him save Metropolis, Elastigirl was now taking a well deserved rest. Sitting in her deck chair, sipping some ice tea and enjoying the summer’s sunshine. Suddenly, she felt something whiz by her head. Looking up she noticed a green arrow had been thrown into the nearby deck post. Curious, she walked closer to examine it. Attached to the arrow was a note; It read: The sun is bright, Shall we take a flight? To have you on my journey would be a delight. Meet me at the quarter moon and half past midnight. Puzzled, she thought for a moment. Well obviously with the green arrow, this note must be from The Arrow. Did he really want her help on a mission? It must be. And a quarter moon, why that would be in a few weeks time. If she was going to help Arrow then she needed to get in shape. She knew that Arrow’s workout program was vigorous, he was well known for his salmon ladder training. And that that training was necessary for all the wall climbing he had to do. Putting her book aside, she went inside. Time to get serious about her training Elastiigirl needed to prepare herself to scale walls, hang from ledges,and climb the roof rafters. Main Quest: Improve My chin up reps Training Regime: Mission #1 Chin up practice 4 days a week *Mission guidebook-Armstrong pull up for women * will modify to 4 days a week instead of 5 * chin-ups instead of pull ups * if my body is tired I can modify it to 3 days a week without penalty As part of the program continue with my before breakfast walk+ pushup routine *if time is short or weather is not cooperating I can skip walk and just do pushups http://armstrongpullupprogram.com/armstrong-pullup-program-for-women/ "EDIT- Decided this program was too intense and not really what I needed. I will instead be following the GMB pullup training regime Week 1- daily- 3 pulling prep,3 negatives, 1 chin,hangs Week 2- 3 days a weeks- pulling prep exercises, and 2 chins,hangs Week 3- 2 days, as many chins as possible, then pulling prep exercises It is only a 3 week program, though there is a program to do after you are up to 5 pulls. So after I finish these weeks, I will decide how to continue. Points 5 STR Mission #2 Shoulder care- Spend extra time foam rolling and stretching shoulders and elbows 4 days a week * Not putting a time limit, just want to make sure in the evening or morning I spend some bonus time taking care of anything that might be stiff Points 4 DEX Mission #3 Resistant Starch- Have one serving of resistant starch at least 4 days a week I want to experiment with this and see if it helps me with my goals. I struggle with the right amount of carbs, too little and I don’t have the energy I need, too much and I gain weight. This might help me eat a bit more carbs and not gain weight. http://www.marksdailyapple.com/the-definitive-guide-to-resistant-starch/#axzz38d6cqrKu Points 3 DEX Life goal: At my church, we do dance lessons once a month. One of the dances is the postie jig, and it is super confusing. I pretty much suck at it So next dance is August 17, between then and now I will watch videos of it, and read about the moves.By the time the dance is I will at least know the dance moves in my head ( can't really practice as it is an 8 person dance) Points 3 CHA Side Quest_ Transform from Elastigirl to Girl of Steel Still working on my kick into handstand. After watching video, I still am struggling with the bendy leg problem. Too elasticy . This challenge I am going to concentrate on having legs and arms of steel that do not bend.