Search the Community

Because life has felt a bit like SadSherlock lately... Another format change woo! I'll probably be going back to the laser-focus format in the future because I really like the concept. But after having 2 challenges in a row "foiled" due to waves of depression, I'm going to try another format and kick it down to "no-fail" mode. It's GRAB BAG time! The grab bag will consist of various things I can do to earn points throughout the week (scored Saturday thru Friday) which focus on long-term happiness (physical, mental, emotional health). Each week, points can be allocated towards different rewards, which focus a little more on short-term happiness. Even if I score really low in a week, I should still have something to look forward to on the weekend, and any unspent points can roll over to the next week. There will be 3 of these rewards. At the end of the challenge, the total accumulated points will be tallied and there will be an awesome reward at the end. Let's get going shall we? The Tasks: The Weekly Rewards: The End of Challenge Rewards:

Welcome everyone If you followed my previous challenges, this is going to be familiar, but for everyone else here's a brief introduction: I'm 25 from the UK, and I specialize in gymnastics, weightlifting and bodyweight skills of various styles (video: summer training sampler). I'm also a software engineer, mental calculation competitor and amateur composer. I put way too much chili sauce on everything. Mmm Because my topic titles are clearly now just calendar-related puns, here's an infographic depicting a variation of the March of Progress that I do not want in my life, and I'll get right on with my challenge: Goal #1: the list: yep, I'm having another list of goals and workouts, because this format seems to work well for me . I'm hoping the weather will soon improve so I can so more outside as I was slacking during February. +0.25 for each, maximum of +6.00: weightlifting (double points!) bodyweight (10 exercises) jumping training (6 exercises) <-- something I need to focus on for gymnastics bouldering 1-arm push-up, handstand or bar muscle-up training session <-- summer 2016 goals! gymnastics class And bonus items - mostly stolen from my previous challenges - are: cartwheels: learn decent cartwheels on each side round-off: learn this gymnastics move front handspring: do this consistently on floor front flip: land this safely on floor front flip: bonus points for landing it on floor handstand walk: do a full 360-degree rotation in a handstand without immediately falling over handstand: 10 second static handstand bar muscle-up: I'm working towards it! back squat: 105kg (PR) change phone contract: I should be able to move to a cheaper one and I've procrastinated this for 2 months... create piano cover: of the death metal piece "Lost Reality" by Mercenary. It's the heaviest song that I actually like, even though it starts with some aggressive vocals. In fact, that's one of my reasons for wanting to make this piano cover - I wanted to find a way to provide an equivalent effect with a piano (whilst hopefully making it pleasant to listen to). I've finished working out roughly how to play this on the piano, but I need to tidy a lot of details and create the sheet music. create piano cover: bonus point for making a piano recording of this. Done - here's the video new sport: try some new activity - yep, did roller-blading new sport: try another new activity No goals this time for mental calculation since I'm taking a short break from that - last challenge I got to where I wanted to be for now Goal #2: pull-ups: I've neglected these over recent months, and while last Summer I could do them weighted with 30kg, now I find sets of 5 bodyweight ones a struggle... So for this challenge, I want to do 3 sessions of pull-ups each week. Minimum is: 20 pull-ups each set must be 5 or more reps These can be parts of workouts I'm already doing - just extra motivation to get out and train +0.25 STR per week Goal #3: rest properly: Laptop off by 01:00 every day. I did this last 2 challenges, and I had much more energy and was happier and more successful as a result. It means I'll get about 8 hours of sleep but won't have rush around brush teeth etc. just before sleeping! Scoring: for each week: 7 days with laptop off by 0100: +0.25 CON two "cheat" days are allowed anytime during the 4 weeks I'll start this at 2015-02-29 01:00:00 for 28 nights. Goal #4: eat clean: recently I've been eating like a moron, and now my body expects 50g of sugar during the afternoon Furthermore, lots of my energy is coming from poor-quality sources like chocolate bars. It's not good for my body... I get sugar dips now and my face feels fatter because that's where I carry extra fat, and my skin quality has deteriorated. Anyway, in March I shall have a cleaner diet and I'll get back to how I've been for most of the past 3 years I shall use the following rules: no soda or chocolate bars from the vending machine at work at most one dessert or pastry per day (usually I have 2-3) drink before eating if dehydrated Every week I get the following points: broke rules 2 times or fewer: +0.50 CON broke rules 4 times or fewer: +0.25 CON Good luck everyone!

Main goal - Follow the (rings) program! Last year when I was in a climbing funk KBGirl was super awesome and helped me modify GMB's Rings 1 to better suit my strengths and weaknesses, but before I got around to start it my climbing took an upswing and put the program in my underpants pile. This makes me feel a bit guilty because I really appreciate KBGirl's help, plus I really do want to play on the rings. And get beastly strong! So now's the time to actually follow a real program like a good girl, 3x/week. This is a video of me messing around on the rings which shows roughly the level I'm currently at. WIP goals These are things that I've lately been working on where I don't want to kill the momentum. Arm balances (crane, flying crow, crocodile, forearm stand) 2 xp/practice Handstands 1 xp Dragon flags 2 xp Backbends 2 xp Climbing 0 xp (no points since I always climb 2x/week anyway) The goal is to collect 10 xp/week but not at the expense of the main goal. Stretch goal - Don't be a tight ass I've had some recurring back ache in the past few weeks, most likely because my butt and hip muscles are super tight. I need to really start a daily stretching/mobilising routine to first fix my niggling back, and second to prepare me to start serious flexy training again. The goal is to spend at least 10 minutes/day on stretches that I don't like. Habit goal - Spread out movement throughout the day When I'm not training I'm a rather sedentary person. I would like to improve on that by adding in more movement throughout the entire day. The goal is to collect 100 movement points/week. Train at lunch 15 mp Walk to or from work 15 mp Loo break movement 1 mp Morning movement 5 mp Evening stretch 5 mp Life goal - Grow food Our flat has a small balcony and I would love to try and grow some stuff on it. I have some seeds already but need to figure out how to actually grow the things and when to plant them and stuff like that. The goal is to figure it out before it's too late this season! Pass or fail.

As I gain momentum in some areas, I'm getting a better idea of what my weaknesses are. They're essentially all mental. For this challenge I'll be working mostly to keep up with my current workout and eating plans, BUT the twist now will be to try to shift the focus to: making my mentality about health a lot more positive. So to find my goals, I've got to know my weaknesses, right? What I want to work on is my wide array of Bad Ideas about health/fitness and body image. I've talked to several trusted friends and I'm finally coming to terms with having a lot of unhealthy ideas about my body and how to treat it. This challenge will be a lot of nebulous, strange goals with the idea to Be Less Problematic About Myself. I'm a fledgling aerialist! And starting my second session of aerial lessons as of the first Sunday of this challenge. So the first goal is: Outer Strength -aerial class 1x/week, bodyweight workout 2x/week -to shake things up here for this challenge, I want to try out one new exercise each week. Most will probably be gathered from the internet and be aerial- or acrobat-specific. Last week I learned a wall variation for practicing v-sits: this week will probably be a new trick on rings! I've discovered vimeo and may share aspects of my workouts for form-checks or just to give a more human voice to this internet persona :> For now, this is my instagram, this is my vimeo. Inner Strength -2 servings fruit/veg a day, no more than 3 outside-bought coffees/week, continue weaning off sugar with no more than 2 sugary things/day Shake It Off -bit of a mix here! I want to get my splits and work on my back bends, to help with my 'shapes' in aerials. I will work on flexibility for at least 10 mins for 3 days/week, OUTSIDE of my warm-up/cool-down mobility stretching. -work on hand balancing at least 3x/week, and my workouts CAN count toward this goal -unfollow people on sites like tumblr/instagram that make me negatively compare myself or perpetuate harmful (to me) ideas about diet/exercise. I'm already well on my way to this and it's helping! -stop focusing on the end-goal and enjoy the journey. I'm going to pick 3-5x/week when I start spiraling with negativity and either meditate or just practice redirecting my thoughts if meditating isn't an option. I'd like for this to be 'every time', but I know that just means I'll feel bad and guilty when I don't do it every time! This goal will probably be on my list for a long, long time to come... I have a LOT of bad reasons I'm as invested as I am in exercise and eating habits, and I want that to change! And mostly I just want to be able to fully enjoy my aerials classes without worrying that I haven't lost weight. I've gained a LOT of self-confidence and coordination and strength since joining up for my first-ever group class on January 10th. Every time I leave class, I can't wait to come back! I've found my Thing, definitely.

Whoa, for the first time I'm actually late posting my challenge Anyway, welcome everyone - if you followed my last challenge, this is going to be quite similar, and for everyone else here's a brief introduction: I'm 25 from the UK, and I specialize in gymnastics, weightlifting and bodyweight skills of various styles (video: summer training sampler). I'm also a software engineer, mental calculation competitor and amateur composer. Goal #1: the list: yep, I'm having another list of goals and workouts, as this format seems to work well for me This time I'm adding in a few extra things that count as workouts. +0.25 for each. Overall we have: weightlifting (double points!)bodyweight (10 exercises)jumping training (6 exercises) <-- something I need to focus on for gymnasticsbouldering1-arm push-up, handstand or bar muscle-up training session <-- summer 2016 goals!gymnastics classAnd bonus items - mostly stolen from my previous challenge - are: cartwheels: learn decent cartwheels on each sideround-off: learn this gymnastics movefront handspring: do this consistently on floorfront flip: land this safely on floorfront flip: bonus points for landing it on floor800-metre run: in 02:50 or less (02:47 into a headwind yay)fix my bike: the gears are getting slowly worsechange phone contract: I should be able to move to a cheaper onecreate piano cover: of the death metal piece "Lost Reality" by Mercenary. It's the heaviest song that I actually like, even though it starts with some aggressive vocals. In fact, that's one of my reasons for wanting to make this piano cover - I'd like to find a way to provide an equivalent effect with a piano (whilst hopefully making it pleasant to listen to)create piano cover: as above - but just the first 00:55create piano cover: as above - but just the first 03:25create piano cover: with recording and sheet music Goal #2: mental calculation: I compete internationally at mental calculation, and I have two potential competitions this year: Mental Calculation World Cup 2016 (September, Germany)Memoriad 2016 (November, Las Vegas)I'm only going to enter if I think I'll perform well (the standard is much higher than when I last competed, in 2012) so I'm currently training for that. Firstly I have a challenge to train using some of the custom software I've created. For each week: 5 days with 5 mins training before midnight: +0.25 WISThere are also some specific goals to be scored alongside the list for +0.25 WIS each: calendar dates: 42 in a minute (before challenge, 41)calendar dates: 44 in a minutecalendar dates: 46 in a minutecalendar dates: 48 in a minutecalendar dates: 50 in a minutesquare roots: second-best score of 315 (during challenge, improved from 308 to 325+)square roots: second-best score of 330square roots: second-best score of 345square roots: second-best score of 360 (maximum possible)binary digits: learn algorithmbinary digits: memorize 500 digits in 30 minutesbinary digits: memorize 750 digits in 30 minutesbinary digits: memorize 1000 digits in 30 minutes Goal #3: rest properly: Laptop off by 01:00 every day. I did this last challenge, and I had much more energy and was happier and more successful as a result. It means I'll get about 8 hours of sleep but won't have rush around brush teeth etc. just before sleeping! Scoring: for each week: 7 days with laptop off by 0100: +0.50 CON5 days with laptop off by 0100: +0.25 CONI'll start this at 2015-02-01 01:00:00 for 28 nights. So I'll never complete all of this before the end of the challenge, but I'm hoping to make good progress and get 8+ of the available stat points. Good luck everyone!

Legend of a Banished Man **this challenge features Rurik the wolfhunter from Urban[Wolf] by our own Wild Wolf** The forest was throbbing with the sound of animal nightlife. The noises made by bugs and the nervous wondering of rodents bared witness of the never sleeping force of wildlife. The warrior listened to this medley of sounds like it was an orchestra playing just for him. Sitting on a branch, resting his back against the trunk of the tree he began to fall asleep. He had strapped himself to the tree to avoid falling over if he tilted to one side or the other while sleeping. The last thought that crossed his mind was of gratitude for the ongoing summer that allowed him to safely sleep in the wilds. He opened his eyes. Something was off. Judging by the darkness only a few hours had passed since he fell asleep. There was still plenty of work to do for the night inhabitants of the summer forest. Yet it seemed like the forest itself was holding its breath. The warrior loosened the straps and searched his surroundings with an axe in one hand and a saex in the other. The shield was still tied to the tree… The Saex or sax is a big knife/small sword tipically used by saxon and germanic people He smelled the man in the way wolves do before hearing the steps on the soft leaves that covered the ground. He jumped to a lower branch and instantly to the floor, landing right behind the stranger. “You are too far from the main road to be just passing by†the warrior said as he pressed the seax against the man’s back â€I’m no brigand nor am I a murderer but I won’t hesitate to kill you, so don’t give me a reason†“oh, but that’s exactly why I’m here…†the warrior noticed the chainmail under the man’s cloak â€...wolf!†The man suddenly turned around hitting the warrior in the face with the back of his fist. The warrior backed off and raised his guard. The man ditched the cloak and stepped directly under the moonlight that made it’s way through the roof of leaves. The tall bearded man was wearing a mail hauberk and carried no shield, only an axe. And it was no wonder for it was the most ridiculous axe the wolfwarrior had ever seen. Ludicrously oversized and clearly to heavy to be wielded properly. One thing caught the wolf’s attention the most: the axe was double bitted. A waste of good steel. Obviously he had no idea of weapon handling or he wouldn’t be carrying that abomination. That man probably was the son of a lesser noble who fancied himself a werewolf hunter or an adventure-seeking merchant who got scammed by a weaponsmith. A hauberk “Go home lad, I take no pleasure in killing sheep†“Sheep? Sheep?! I’m Rurik, you beast! Remember my name for I’ll be the one to send you to Hell†“Alright...Rurik… tell me mate, how exactly are you planning on sending me to the cold embrace of Loki’s daughter?†the warrior found Rurik’s confidence entertaining. “With this!†The hunter cleared the 2 meters between him and the wolfwarrior in two steps and swinged his axe with lightning speed. So fast that the warrior could barely lean back to avoid being beheaded, but an inch of his beard was severed right away. Clearly that thing was sharp. Rurik kept on swinging that monstrous axe like it weighed nothing and the warrior just kept dodging and dancing to avoid the deadly double-bitted head. Suddenly his back hit a tree. There was no place to go and the axehead was traveling through the air aimed right at his forehead. As the wolfwarrior dodged the blow the axe got stuck in tree behind him.“It’s now or never†he thought and took a swing with his axe at Rurik’s head. The hunter dodged the blow but the warrior was already backswinging and the butt of the handle caught Rurik right in the jaw, knocking him to the ground. Although the wolfwarrior raised his guard again, Rurik didn’t move at all... He was unconscious. “Glass-jawed bitch†muttered the werewolf as he sheathed his axe and seax. “let's have a look at thisâ€. He ripped Rurik’s axe out of the tree trunk. It was at the least 6 times heavier than his own axe. He walked towards the fallen hunter and as he raised the weapon overhead for the finishing blow, Rurik opened his eyes and swept the werewolf’s legs in a swift motion. He felt like he was falling in slow motion “I can’t believe I fell for thatâ€. His head hit the ground and the oversized weapon flew out of his hands. Rurik was frantic: “you filthy beast, you can’t kill me! I was banished, cursed until I end every last one of your kin, and by the gods, tonight I’ll be one wolf closerâ€. And so began the axe dance once again, but this time the horn of Ruriks battleaxe drew a cut through the warrior’s tunic and into his flesh. This dance kept on going for what it seemed like an eternity and the wound was not healing. He had to turn, there wasn’t a choice. The hair began to grow all over his body, and his clothings teared as the shape of a humanoid wolf began to replace the human. “oh no, not tonight†growled Rurik as he jumped at the lycan. The hunter’s bare hands grabbed the transforming man’s throat but it was too late. The giant claw knocked him to the side and the whole beast followed along. Now the lycan had the upper hand. The blows did not manage to spread Rurik’s ribcage open due to the high quality riveted chainmail but the sound of the ribs cracking was perfectly audible. The warrior was in a frenzy. All of a sudden the attack lost some of it’s drive; stunned, the werewolf stared at his chest: all around his wound, the werewolf fur was falling off, showing bare human skin. Just Like that he turned back to human form… it wasn’t just a heavy axe after all. Rurik stood up with the torn chainmail hanging from his shoulders. He was in such a rage that with a firm pull, opened the few rings that held the mail together and grabbed his axe. The wolfwarrior was almost naked, only half his trousers and pieces of his tunic remained, let alone any weapons. He raised his fists and prepared for a final stand. The ulfhedinn intercepted the rushing hunter with a jab and a cross to the face. Rurik, with a broken nose and blood coming out of his mouth, kicked the warrior to the ground. He was just too weak from the blood loss. He landed on something hard. It was his seax! The hunter went for the killing blow but the warrior had already raised the short sword with both hands runing him through. Without a second of waste the ulfhedinn stabbed Rurik a second time causing him to drop the axe, which he grabbed and with a last effort sunk on the hunter’s back down to the handle. Despite of his injury, the wolfwarrior parched up his wound, reached for the spare clothes on his bag and left the forest behind. The sky was still dark when a banished man rose from the dead once again. “Fucking Wolf, that was my good hauberk…†Rurik muttered while sheathing the axe that not long ago was stuck on his back â€...you are gonna pay for this†In order not to die at the hands of the hunter, the Ulfhedinn must be quick and dextrous. For that reason, this challenge will focus on practicing my handstands and elbow lever as well as box jumps. As some of you perhaps remember, I've brought iron back into my life on the holiday mini, but I have not been serious about it. in this challenge I'll install a mandatory lifting day a week.I'll be adding some sidequests tomake sure I get sh*t done. GOALS Practice handstands, elbow lever and box jumps 4 times a Week(log every session on thread or it will not count for progressbar)Lift acording 5x5 plan every thursday(also log every session or it will not count for progress bar)Eat paleo with 2 weekly variances(log comosition or pic of said meal or it will not count for progress bar) SIDE QUESTS Practice 5 min a day with the didgeridoo and not more than 5 minutes.Build one or more of this home gym improvements(did I ever mention I'm DYB bitch, lol)​Medicine ball(10%)T handle(10%)Squat stands(40%)Bench(40%)​Make a daily "Stuff to Do" 4 item list, post it on my thread and do the stuffSo, every item on the "goals" list is worth 15%, 15% and 55% respectively and the "side quests" represent 5% each. According to this set up, all individual results are considered as non percetual results(a.k.a without the %) so that they yield a numbre between 0 and 100. Rewards will come depending on the final outcome. A= 100 - 90 B= 89 - 80 C= 79 - 70 below those values... I simply don't care REWARDS A- New pack of plates for the barbell B- Pull-up bar for the door C- Kindle version of "The Primal Blueprint"

I can't be the only Assassin who has tried to engage in bodyweight training, gymnastics, or other shenanigans somewhere that seemed safe... and wound up ripping the molding off an overhang, breaking a table, or (most recently) knocking a thermostat off a hotel room wall while kicking up into a headstand. (It was an old-style mechanical thermostat. Thankfully, I had a screwdriver and could reassemble it, mostly. It seems to work fine but I had a spring left over. ) Anyway, I rarely wind up working out anyplace that is actually intended for working out. I always check my area and test things for sturdiness, but every so often something isn't as sturdy as it seemed, or is a lot closer to my feet than I intended. So I was wondering if anyone else had fun stories about pulling bookshelves down onto themselves or otherwise unintentionally breaking things in the pursuit of fitness.

To infinity and beyond! Last year I’ve been quite negative about lack of progress but truth be told I’m in the best shape of my life. I have a level of fitness that allows me to do things with my body that I’d never imagined doing, be it climbing or aerial or arm balancing or other things that make my mum go whoooah and my dad shake his head, roll his eyes and call me crazy. And that feels amazing. Since I already can do so much I might as well relax and have fun with it rather than get upset or sad because I’m not progressing fast enough or think that I suck because there are things that I can’t do. Because that’s just silly. So in 2016 I will focus on approaching my training from a place of positivity and playfulness and learning. Here are some things I’d like to learn or do: Handbalancing: 10s consistent freestanding handstand, solid forearm stands, flying crow, crane, crocodile Flexibility: Unassisted feet to head cobra, consistent splits (all of them) Contortion: Cheststand, walkovers, ankle grab, runarounds Climbing: Climb all red problems, solve black problems on a regular basis Aerial: Have fun, learn some tricks, link movement together and maybe put together some mini-routines General fitness: Get pull-ups, push-ups & dips, toes to bar/pull-overs, funky squats and cardio to a decent level Diet: Get to an ideal BF% range, eat better to improve energy levels and aid recovery And some life goals: Improve the ratio of passive time (films, games etc) vs boring time (adulting) vs active time (learning, creating) Learn to sew Level up cooking Call friends on a regular basis Be less antisocial and do more things on my own Do more fun things like gigs and mini-excursions Complete Katy Bowman’s 52 week course on biomechanics and movement And here are the goals for this challenge. To keep it in line with the epic quest goals I've picked one (mostly) small goal for each category. Climbing: Dedicated core training 1x/week including leg raises and push-ups Flexibility: Try out 2 hip end-of-ROM strengthening drills each week Contortion: Backbends 1x/week practicing elbow lever to chest stand Aerial: Go to open training 3 times Handbalancing: 15-20 min handstand training 7x/week. At least two of them should include or consist of wrist and forearm prehab/conditioning. Fitness: Cardio 3 times Life goal #1: Sew a shiny new outfit Plan: Week 1 - make a pattern, Week 2 - cut out fabric pieces Week 3 - sew Week 4 - win! Life goal #2: Keep up with Katy Bowman's biomechanics course weekly homework Bring on 2016! It's going to be so shiny!

The one in which Mad Hatter pulls her head out of her ass The past six months have been hectic, for starters I’ve moved flat twice, been to Argentina, Thailand, Barcelona, Laponia and I’ve injured myself - twice. As a result I’ve been struggling to get into solid exercise routines and lost a bit of ground from last year. Instead of accepting my current level and doing whatever I can I’ve often made up excuses and stuck my head in the sand. And instead of being happy about all the fun and cool things I CAN do I’ve been sulking about the things that I can’t do. I’m getting bored with that attitude. It's lame, it won’t get me anywhere near my crazy epic goal of gaining contortion level flexibility and skill, and it’s no fun for anyone. This challenge I’m going to focus on fixing my mental game, pull my head out of my ass and focus on being awesome. Goal #1 Stop being hard on myself Stop comparing myself to others, to my “past†self, or to where I “should†be. I’m strongly counting on you guys and B to slap me whenever I use words like “I used to be able to..â€, “I did this awesome thing, BUT…â€, “I suckâ€, you get the drill. I’ll be counting slaps, and aim to reduce the number of slaps every week. Post daily win Goal #2 Lose the flab I’ve been complaining about my weight for a while now and done nothing about it. Well, I’m doing something about it. I’m aiming to eat 12000 calories/week plus I’m allowed to eat back any calories from running Goal #3 Weekly routine Third time’s the charm? I’m going to keep this goal in every challenge until I run out of excuses. 2x backbends 2x handstands 1x active flexibility Side quest #1: Be awesome There’s so many fun things to play with, and I’m going to do them all. As a side quest I’m going to collect awesome points for all the shiny things. No pressure, just fun. Ideas for fun things Slacklining (extra awesome points for walking across the whole line)Armbalances (extra shiny awesome points for crane pose)Climbing (awesome points for each new problem solved)Flow movementAcro in the park (when summer comes)Lindy hop by the lake (when summer comes) Side quest #2: Sew a dress I bought fabric for a dress over a month ago and it's still untouched, so I'm making it a goal to finish it.

Welcome everyone old and new ~~~ INTRODUCTION ~~~ I'm 25 years old, male and from the UK and was never good at physical things except for high jump and sprinting, which I stopped at age 18. At age 23 I got interested in sports once again and now do: gymnastics / flips / handstandsbodyweight exercisesweightliftingclimbing / boulderinggymnastics ringsThis August I compiled a training video of my favourite things I'd been working on - it's here if you'd like to see: ~~~ NEW CHALLENGE ~~~ Last challenge, I dropped off the wagon in many places, so this challenge is designed to ensure I jump back on again if/when that happens. Rules: for everything in the list below, there's +0.25 stat points available bodyweight training:pull-ups: 15pull-ups: 17pull-ups: 20weighted pull-ups @+15kg x6weighted pull-ups @+20kg x5weighted pull-ups @+25kg x4weighted pull-ups @+30kg x3weighted pull-ups @+32.5 x1weighted pull-ups @+35kg x1ring dips: 15ring dips: 17ring dips: 20weighted ring dips @+10kg x8weighted ring dips @+20kg x5weighted ring dips @+30kg x3support hold for 90 secondssupport hold for 120 secondspistol squats on RHS: 20pistol squats on LHS: 20diamond push-ups: 23diamond push-ups: 30ring push-ups: 301-armed straddle push-up (LHS)1-armed straddle push-up (RHS)1-armed push-up (LHS)1-armed push-up (RHS)gymnastics skills: ring forward roll on my ringsstraight cartwheel on both sidesconsistent round-offfront handspring on floor (no crashmats)front handspring on floor (no crashmats) bonus celebration point!frontflip on floor (no crashmats)frontflip on floor (no crashmats) bonus celebration point!backflip without spotters, not in foam pitbackflip without spotters on proper floorhandstand walk in a circlehandstand walk in a figure-of-8upstartupstart: bonus celebration point!weightlifting goals: overhead press 1RM: 50.0kgoverhead press 1RM: 52.5kgoverhead press 1RM: 55.0kgoverhead press 1RM: 57.5kg = 75% bodyweight!overhead press 3RM: 45.0kgoverhead press 3RM: 47.5kgoverhead press 3RM: 50.0kgbench 1RM: 70.0kgbench 1RM: 72.5kgbench 1RM: 75.0kg = 100% bodyweight!deadlift 1RM: 140.0kg = old PRdeadlift 1RM: 145.0kgdeadlift 1RM: 150.0kg = 200% bodyweightback squat 1RM: 100.0kgback squat 1RM: 102.5kg = old PRback squat 1RM: 105.0kgback squat 1RM: 107.5kgback squat 1RM: 110.0kgback squat 1RM: 112.5kg = 150% bodyweight!back squat 3RM: 100.0kgother achievements: 5 km run for fast time 1 mile run for fast time 800m run for fast time (02:55) 400m run for fast time (01:06) study form for bench press study form for back squatworkouts: As well as these, I will also count any workouts (up to a maximum of 35) for a point in the challenge. The workouts have to be the following: a solid weightlifting session (counts double!)10 minute-long decent-intensity exercisesRunning total of workout points: 12 (08 Dec) Recently I've tried choosing 6 exercises, and repeatedly rolling a 6-sided die to determine what I should do next. I'll probably do this for lots of the workouts this challenge. ~~~ SUMMARY ~~~ Okay, that's 100 potential points in total, and I have 15 stat points to collect, so a perfect challenge would be to complete 60 of these. A good challenge would be to complete about 45, and an acceptable challenge would be to complete about 30. Hopefully this time I can have a solid challenge, and I look forward to watching everyone else doing well too

I almost didn’t do this challenge. I think it may have been the jetlag talking, but shortly after I arrived in France, I was pondering over how my last challenge was going and how to make my next challenge new and exciting and, well, challenging. I mean, the last few challenges have pretty much been (1) strength training, (2) running, and one other exercise-related goal, and a life quest. I felt like I pretty much had the pattern down. But it didn’t take too long to realize that I still needed the challenge to make sure I stayed on track. Yeah, maybe I would still go to all of my Capoeira classes, but having the motivation to do anything above and beyond that, while getting wrapped up in holiday markets and with winter right around the corner… That’s iffy. As for new and exciting… Not going to happen really. I’m doing “more of the same†and revisiting old goals (not that my previous goals are uninteresting in any way- I mean, capoeira and handstands? Hells yeah!). But while some of it (at least to me) seems like injury prevention, it’s all aiming towards becoming a true BAMF and not breaking myself along the way. First, let’s revisit my Main quest as it has shifted slightly since my recruit phase: Main Quest: Feel better in my own skin. Currently, progress is being made not only by changing the physical composition of my body, but also by challenging my boundaries, stepping out of my comfort zone (sometimes into others’), and taking itty bitty steps to trust myself more. Quest 1: BAMF Moves I will of course be continuing capoeira into this challenge. Running is taking a back seat here, as doing that 3 days a week in conjunction with my classes was proving to be rather...painful. I’d still like to keep up some running, because Zombies, Run! is so fun to listen to, and because I still want to do 5Ks come spring time. I will be allowing for some lower impact HIIT to replace some of the runs and get my heart pumping- honestly, as much as HIIT hurts at the moment, I think that’s a sign that I really should be working on that more. Also one dedicated strength training/capoeira practice per week, which will likely include animal drills, crow, and handstand practice. 2 cardio/HIIT per week 2 capoeira classes per week 1 capoeira practice/strength training per week 2 STA | 3 STR | 2 DEX Quest 2: BAMF Flexy Partly because I sit in a chair all day and get stagnant and I just want to be able to move, and partly because I want to just improve at flexibility so I can capoeira better faster. Goals here are to improve shoulder & upper back flexibility to help get into bridge, limber up the wrists and forearms to prevent injury there, and work on the ever-stubborn hamstrings. I will be cataloging some go-to stretches for quick cool downs after workouts, as well as doing some dedicated work, likely in the form of yoga. Short stretch after at least 3 of the “activites†during the week. 1 dedicated “flexy session†per week (likely yoga) 1 CON | 2 DEX Quest 3: BAMF Eats This was going to be a repeat- just keep counting calories, but with a pseudo-side-quest of researching ideas on how to consciously change what we eat at home without increasing costs. Husband recently discovered how cheap and easy it was to make pizza and pasta from scratch and lets face it- rice is ultra cheap, and filling, and darn good. Well, I got bored yesterday and started poking around a bit, made an off-handed comment about the paleo "diet" to Husband and he said he'd be all for it as long as we were both all-in. I pointed out that we had a cabinet full of french cookies and he agreed to one "cheat" day. I think the cheat day might move around a bit, rather than being a set day in the week. One day during every week (mon-sun), as long as there are not 2 cheat days together (except, maybe in the case of certain holiday shenanigans). Cheat day may end up being pizza/booze/game night (great for Saturdays) or romantic dinner out (not so great for Saturdays, we hate crowds and prefer restaurants on slow nights). I plan on continuing to track calories, if only for curiosity's sake. ALSO, I want to remember to take my supplements- cal/mag for keeping charlie horses at bay, and fish oils for all of the billions of things fish oils are for (Yeah, I'd like to incorporate actual fish into my diet, but it's expensive and/or not very good here in the midwest) 1 point per day eating Paleo. 1 point per day remembering to take my supplements. 1 WIS | 2 CON Life Quest: BAMF Esprit Stealing from a previous quest, I need to make sure I don’t lose myself over the next month or so. Between work (meh), exercise (yay!), and crochet/markets (I should be more excited about this than I am), it will be pretty easy to get sucked into it all. I will be making an effort to take at least a few minutes a day to do something that just makes me feel good about myself, aside from all of the above. Taking Atlas for a walk, spending time with the husband while not doing other things, meditation, taking a break from crochet to let my mind breathe, even skipping a workout without a penalty to points, all for sanity’s sake. 1 point per day 2 CHA **OBSTACLES** The holidays are upon us. Sort of. November is a pretty ridiculous month in my life with 3 birthdays the week of Thanksgiving. Plus we've got a wedding to go to on the Saturday before. Plus there's loads of stuff to do for the holiday markets. Food day(s) at work celebrating Thanksgiving (the week before), November birthdays (probably closer to the end of the month), the "holiday stroll" (two food days, one hosted by each half of the building in the first 2 weeks of December), and a team lunch for Christmas (where our team drives to a neighboring town and eats all the food, mid-December). This doesn't even touch on how much the holiday markets are going to be keeping me and my hands super busy. This is the importance of the Life Quest- As important as everything is, making sure I take some time to step back and breathe will be crucial.

The Avenger The Wolf-warrior rushes through the night. He lacks not breath despite of the long run, nor do his limbs ache. He’s trained past those nuisances. He reaches the gates of the fort where he’s been left for dead only to find it blocked by logs and a few big rocks: Remains of a fallen watchtower. It’ would wise to stop and figure out a way around the blockade but the rage has put wings on his feet and fire in his soul. He’s pushed himself up in full battle gear a thousand times; he’s carried chainmail-wearing comrades out of the battlefield. A couple of pebbles and sticks shall not stand on his way. With a roar he tosses the last piece of wood away and kicks the door open feeling the beast inside trying to take over his reasoning. He is driven by the smell of blood still on his nose… and the lust for revenge. S.M.A.R.T Goals for this Challenge Do a full 30sec frog stand(+3Str)(+2Dex) Practice Handstands at least twice a week(+3Dex)(+2Str) Swim 1k once a week(+5Sta) From now on my challenges will be oriented towards the acquisition of the skills and feats that would make an Ulfhedinn according to my own interpretation. Skills and feats of an Ulfhendinn Strength Dexterity Endurance Martial Prowess Survival Skills Beast-mode This challenge will based on the primarily physical skills (Strength, Dexterity, Endurance) focusing especially on Strength. I couldn’t leave the other skills out of the goals without messing with the XP system but as you can see they are mostly feats of strength. In future challenges I’ll focus on other skills (e.g. attempting freestanding handstands for Dex. or go rucking for End.)

Hello! I'm Traaki, and this is my second challenge. I'm new to the Assassins (obviously) but looking forward to meeting more guildmates. Main Quest: I have some backlog of important stuff to take care of. I feel like I'm knocking it down, slowly, but I want to amp that up and have these issues dealt with by the end of this quest. In a few months, I'd like to be absolutely crushing my bodyweight workouts, and these quests will help me get there. Quest 1: Work on my dang knees. +4 CON +1 CON if completed before Week 3 As alluded to in my previous challenge, I've got a painful knee problem. I've seen a PT who said it was a tracking problem. I'd like to get a second opinion and start seriously working to fix this issue. I also hate making appointments. If I can get my knees in a functional state, I'll actually be able to do squats! And lunges! And ride my bike! And most importantly: I'll feel like a functioning human being again, instead of a decrepit horrible person. And ain't nobody got time for feeling like that. The steps required: Find a primary care doctor who takes my insurance.Make an appointment & get a referral.Go to the physical therapist. Do the dang exercises. Measurement: A+ = Do exercises for at least 3 weeks, A = Do exercises to help my knees, B = Go to the physical therapist, C = see the new doc for a referral, D = find a new doc, F = do nothing. I'm going to allocate one extra stat point for getting this done early--last time I avoided making my appointments to the very end. Quest 2: Practice handstands 3 x week. +1 STR +1 DEX These will happen after my bodyweight workouts, and on Sundays. I used to take gymnastics classes and modern dance classes that asked me to do handstands, but I never felt super confident--if I stayed up it was more luck than skill. So let's change that! I'm allocating fewer points here because this doesn't contribute to my main quest very much--I'm just excited about it and don't want to wait. Measurement: A+ = 19+ days, A = 18 days, B = 12 days, C = 6 days, D = 3-5 days, F = 0-2 days. Quest 3: Do two bodyweight workouts each week. +3 STR +1 DEX I have one week left in the Level 1 NF Bodyweight Workout. I'll finish that out and then move to the next level. Measurement: A = 12+ workouts, B = 9-11 workouts, C = 6-8 workouts, D = 3-5 workouts, F = 0-2 workouts Life Quest: Make an appointment with my dentist, hair salon and bike shop. +3 CON, +1 CHA if haircut achieved by September 25 I only made half of my appointments last challenge, so I'm keeping it on here until these babies are DONE. I added on my bike shop because I haven't been biking very much and I really want that to change. I want to get my hair cut before September 25, because I'm teaching a workshop that week and want to look A+. Measurement: A = 3 appointments (and haircut before September 25), B = 2 appointments, C = 1 appointment, D = 0 appointments Motivation: I'm looking to knock down some technical debt, sorta. But instead of crappy old code, I'm talking about crappy old habits/issues that I haven't taken care of. I want to get my knees and my bike into shape so I can resume my car-free ways. I want to keep up my bodyweight training because I'm starting to feel like I'm actually getting back into shape.

Hey there! This is my first 6 week challenge. I started week plans by myself from time to time, but I never sticked to it after the first motivation is gone. So, I (at least hope to) learn from the past and now focus on smaller, more reasonable goals. I will write down what I did the other day so I know if I slept or not! Goal number 1: Better sleep To archieve this, I want to stay away from my mobile, my xbox and my computer - devices that send out blue light - the hour before I go to bed. Since I am going to bed at 10pm to get my 8 hours of sleep, I need to stop at 9pm. In the free time I can paint, draw, read and exercise. Turn off devices at 9pm and fo to sleep at 10pm (On Sunday, Monday- Thursday. I want to try it out on weekends too (too not use devices), but I can sleep longer so I dont need to be in bed at 10pm ) Goal number 2: Habit of training I want to build a habit of training. I am starting a calisthenics bodywheight routine (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zVlF6U0eZEw). At the moment, I am not sure what will be better for me, either do a split and work on my upper body on day one + stretching of my upper body and work ony my lower body + core + stretching on day 2 OR do the full routine on day one and do a stretch routine on day 2. I dont know if the first version will give me enough rest between the workouts, but I like the idea more since I am constantly building the habit to workout. In the best case, I can workout at 9pm and then do something else, but I dont know how it will influence my sleep. a) Train 6 days a week (or more) - If I cant do a full routine, I will do a back up short workout (and mention it here) b)Workout 3 days a week and stretch on 3 days a week EDIT: Handstands all the way There was a time where I trained the handstand a lot, but at the moment I can't do it anymore. But I really like the handstand, so I am starting again at point one and do them against a wall, trying to get a straight form before I try them without help ( that was my biggest problem before). I want to do ~5min of Handstand training every day. Do ~5mins of handstand training every day Goal number 3: Milk every day: In order to gain weight, I want to drink more milk. I read the GOMAD diet and liked the idea. But because of my purse and my stomach I will start with 2 L a day to see how it goes. Unoffical goals: These are goals I want to archieve at one point, but I know myself, and focusing on too much will throw me back. So I will try to do these but I can cut them back if I dont have time/energy/money/fun - Eat more - Participate in a martial arts course or breakdance course - Do more parkour videos Thanks for reading! More details + rewards will follow(hopefully) in the next days since it is already 9:30pm and I still want to workout ~ Gurkour EDIT (07.11.2015): I was sick so the challenge starts today

Hi everyone, I am a lucky go happy fire dragon, who has developed such a curiosity for life and all its goodies, that it is time for some time management and discipline in order to get all the fun into the 24 hours a day has... I love particularly pole dancing and aerial hoop, but am excited about other bodyweight and dance arts too. I enjoy yoga and meditation, love traveling, reading, hiking, funny movies, the work I do and of course my gorgeous family. This is a challenge in which I am trying to do all the things and still aim to be On Top of my Game which feels a little bit like this at times and actually I am aiming for THIS: So, how can I get to this level of Ease, Grace and general being on Top of my Game?? Simple, I will have to be a) strong b, balanced c) flexible d) connected e) clear and focused For my STRENGTH I will continue my hoop training, which is easy as I have lessons once a week, but also keep up with my pole training at home until my next set of lessons in September again. This will increase my strength beautifully and be fun when I can do better on things and be all up for the new course when it starts. a) Pole training 2x / week (+ 3 STR) have drafted a checklist of moves I would like to improve on and put it here, it is not necessarily complete also could be a move gets neglected... just gives me ideas and motivation For my BALANCE I will revive my handstand training (thank you, Mad Hatter ) Had done most of a 30 day challenge on those in January and will give it a new go in some way. Not sure yet how my training program will look like exactly, but aim to train daily at least a few minutes and do once a week progress videos. Getting into a Handstand if ever so briefly off the wall would be sooooooo cool! Also want to include training for the wrists (thank you, Elastigirl ) for the spreading of the unbreakable wrist trainings b, Handstand training (daily) + 3 STA - unbreakable wrist training - 5 min walk up, kick up or press up training, - headstand alternatives okay on 2-3 days/week - wall plank for 1 min of training - progress video once a week For my FLEXIBILITY I'd like to train on the splits this time. There, I said it. Now it's official and I will finally have to do it Looked today and am better than I thought I'd be but still wayyyy away from that dear floor... am very tempted to get myself the GMB focused flexibility course for it... will see, otherwise see plan below c) Stretches for Splits (4x / week) + 3 DEX: - both knees bent in long, low lunge - front leg straight - both legs straight - splits - center splits - progress pics once a week For my CONNECTIONS to the dear, dear world around me - meaning my family - that often gets neglected between work, house chores, fitness and other things... my goal is to give them a LOT more time. Related to that in a big way is the next goal, but I know if I don't set these things in my diary, I might end up working anyway and time flying past... NOT ANYMORE This should work well as my kids have only one more week of school and then it's six weeks school holiday. My hubby is visiting his family in SA for four weeks, so I promised I would give the kids a good time here and will! Apart from ice creams and movies etc I will include them in my workouts which is great fun for them and for me, yay. That first point I'd like to keep going after the holidays as well as a healthy habit. d) Training and outings with kids + 3 CHA - do warm up or short workout units with kids and/or go roller blading once a week - Take kids for swim or another fun outing at least twice a week My CLARITY and FOCUS will be a most crucial part of staying On Top of my Game! If work eats up too much of my time, the other important areas in my life come short... if I neglect work I fall behind on that and it doesn't feel good either. I love my work, but am learning to delegate more and more (big woot on that one) so my new goal is to slowly shift my general work schedule to mornings only plus 1 max 2 hours in the evening. This would be heavenly, to have ALL afternoons for kids, house, fitness and fun, woweeeeeeeee, would that be awesome Here is a list of things, I'd like to keep on top of workwise, mainly as reminder to myself The other part of this goal is literal clarity. With sitting a lot in front of a screen, be it for work or relaxation, I want to give my eyes a break in between and pamper them with some relaxation again. Will want and need them to see literally clear for a long time still Eye exercises - do 3 min per hour at computer, set timer - rolling, up and down, crossing, far-near, rub hands and hold - can also be combined with relaxation pose e) Eye exercises and work schedule + 1 CON + 2 WIS BONUS PART What, this is still not enough?? Well, when I look at some of the other challenges, this looks like peanuts to me, but to be honest, it is A LOT for me and I am a little nervous if I can manage... on the other hand, it's all things I really, really want to live daily, so.... Well, assuming I can manage there is one more thing to be a big help in staying On Top of my Game: uncluttering The less stuff there is about, the less fuss I have, right?! This may be a cluttered drawer or a room in the cellar that needs to be cleared and both can be equally intimidating. So REALLY AWESOME would be, if I could unclutter one area of the house per week. Be it one draw or shelf or an entire room, just something that is clear and neat and fresh again so that I have some space to fly.....

Welp, time for another challenge isn't it? Well then... So, I've been thinking. We all try to be good don't we? Do our best? Keep on trucking? Have good karma. All that jazz? Isn't just so stressful? Being uptight, helping little old cross the street and only to get hit over the head with cane? Realizing that the asshole next door seems to have all the fun even though they're kinda a prick? Why don't we just let loose? Be the life of the party? Take the reigns, be in control, teach someone a real lesson? Why not bring a little bit of chaos into this place? Why don't we all take a walk on...the dark side...? I'm BlackTezca, you all may remember me from such world destroying schemes like my villainous monologue introductory From Lurker to (Newb) Rebel!, the ongoing crime spree known as BlackTezca's Daily Battle Towards Feline Greatness, and my latest and possible greatest plot BlackTezcas' 4th Trial: An Artsy, Geeky Amazon Must Train and Smell the Roses. I'm here to conquer the universe and party on with my evil, vile, and psychotic monk folks! And I have come with a Challenge; A Challenge to celebrate those who break the rules, or make their own rules to hell with what those do gooders think! To the big dreamers, the big schemers, to those who won't let things like morals and the law get them down. Just like I won't let ANYONE, ANY HERO, get in the way of my main quest... My Main Quest is to be as POWERFUL and BATTLE READY as Wonder Woman (Ignoring the fact that she does has...you know...a Amazonian code and all that...) In order to destroy all my enemies and make all of the weaklings bow before their rightful diety, one needs a plan. A cunning and truly immoral plan. A plan to tap into all of the vices in order to fully get in touch with the evil inside of me. A Plan to get... ...I don't have such a plan, nor is my goal a mere million dollars. But I do have villains who have come before me. Who have inspired me! These villains who are the pillars of this challenge!! ROLLCALL!!!! Obito Uchiha: "But a world of just victors, peace and love... such a world can be created too." Details: Obito wishes to create world without suffering. A world filled without pain. And last challenge my body was in a lot of pain. Mostly because I don't get flexible and don't stretch after beatdowns like Kickboxing. So its' time for me to stretch! I need to stretch at least 5 minutes after I do kickboxing, which is about 2 to 3 times a week. Every workout needs to end with a way to get rid of pain. Contingencies: No Contigencies. Stretching needs to be after every workout, including kickboxing, so after I do a kickboxing session at Easton, I'll be doing stretches that same night! Tracking: I'll be tracking the stretching sessions using MyFitnessPal ( username BlackTezca ) with the workout listed as "yoga" or "pilates" and this lovely thread will be updated as well. Grading: A for extra stretching session for at least 5 minutes three times a week ( 2 Dex 1 Con ) B for extra stretching for at least 5 minutes twice a week ( 2 Dex ) C for extra stretching for at least 5 minutes once a week ( 1 Dex ) F for all else Ursula: "Now I am the ruler of all the ocean! The waves obey my every whim!" Details: Though I'm not planning on ruling the ocean, I do need to learn ULTIMATE CONTROL...over my body. Thus my goal for this quest is do a handstand. For this, I will be doing the 28 Day Hand Stand Challenge. I hope to progress and try to get 5 minutes a day of hand stand practice, so that eventually I will be able to something I have NEVER done. Contingencies: Now we have 42 days of challenge funness and...I'm a cheater so I am NOT practicing a handstand every day per say. I need to have solid rest days too and a handstand and getting towards it takes a lot of work. My hope to stretch out the 28 days over this 6 week period which should definitely allow for rest days. Also, it allows for visualizing a good handstand pose, so more flexibility there. Tracking: I'll be tracking the handstand practice using MyFitnessPal ( username BlackTezca ) and the workout code 'handstand practice'. Of course I shall track on this thread too! Grading: A for 25 to 28 days of handstand practice ( 3 Str 2 Sta ) B for 22 to 24 days of handstand practice ( 2 Str 1 Sta ) C for 19 to 21 days of handstand ( 1 Str ) F for all else Shishio Makoto: "In this world, the weak are the sustenance of the strong. The strong live, the weak die." Details: UGH!!! I hate cooking; I hate making my own food. I have a husband who likes making food, but as this is his living, he gets a bit burn out and he's not a fan of baking. So I have decided to try my hand at some baked goods and some smoothies. I'm pretty solid on making smoothies (mmmm delicious breakfast), but not generally on baked goods. So I need to find some recipes and get to some baking during the week or weekend! Contingencies: My complete and utter hatred? Just kidding (not really). Not really contingencies other than making the time for it and getting the ingredients I need. I'm aiming for healthy recipes Tracking: I'll be tracking what I make (and eat) via MyFitnessPal ( username BlackTezca ) and also this thread! MyFitnessPal will be updated with recipes too since those can save the recipe. Which is an awesome too. Maybe I'll take some food pics? Not sure! We'll see! Grading: A for 5 to 6 smoothies and 4 to 6 baked goods ( 1 Con 1 Cha) B for 3 to 4 smoothies and 2 to 3 baked goods ( 1 Con ) F for all else The Joker: "He turns to me, and he says, "Why so serious?" He comes at me with the knife. "Why so serious?!" He sticks the blade in my mouth—"Let's put a smile on that face!" And... Why so serious?" Details: I need to relax. I need to go with the flow and fun. I need to play some videogames. Yes...I'm doing a video game side quest. Really silly I know, but I have been doing a lot of just plain old staring at my computer at home. Sure I watch anime, but after Fate Stay Night, I really won't have anything to binge on. So I need to play some video games. I'm only aiming for an hour 90 minutes a week of some gaming. That's it. Contingencies: Well time is a factor isn't it? When it comes to the other things on this list, gaming is pretty much on the bottom of priorities. However, I'm hoping that having an hour only for this challenge to do some gaming, I'll have some flexibility. If I find it to easy I may up the ante later. We'll see. ...Realized another factor...my desktop is dead. Hmph. That's an issue. Tracking: I'll be tracking using this thread. Expect some rants or thoughts along the game I'm playing, how I feel about it, if I'll continue it, etc. Grading: A for an 7.5 to 9 hours of gaming this challenge ( 2 Cha ) B for 4.5 to 6 hours of gaming this challenge ( 1 Cha ) F for all else Sailor Galaxia: "I will create a new galaxy... ...at the place where destiny begins" Details: MY ART QUEST!!! It's time to draw! This time I am aiming for the Seven Sins project that has dug into my brain like a parasite and just won't go! Though, of course, I aim for full images, I am gonna allow for sketches, WIP, etc to count. I have to or else there is no way I can complete this side quest. I am planning on doing the full set, but for sanity sakes, I am aiming for 5 (like usual) to make an A. This why I don't beat myself up for than usual. Contingencies: Welp, hoping I don't get burnt out really! This is a larger project for my art quests than others I have done, even if the grading is the same. I also tend to take a long time or get stuck in a rut, which is unfortunate. My hope is to get some of the harder sins done first (Greed, being old, Gluttony being a new body type for me, Envy being a brat, etc) and then the other sins will come a bit easier (Wrath being the easiest, Sloth next easy, Lust being sexy easy, and then Pride being the middle). Let's hope it works out! Tracking: I have an art Tumblr and I also have a DeviantArt (WATCH ME FOR ACCOUNTABILITY). I'll use those for tracking and on a weekly basis...like a weekly update or something, I'll post art on this thread. Grading: A for 5 sins drawn (sketch, full image, WIP) ( 2 Wis 1 Cha ) B for 4 sins drawn (sketch, full image, WIP) ( 2 Wis ) C for 3 sins drawn (sketch, full image, WIP) ( 1 Wis ) F for all else Another mega evil five quest challenge! I feel like soon a four quest challenge maybe in the future. But not now! MUAHAHA! EVIL FIVE CHALLNGES! Now let's see some starting measurements! Sure this may all change by July 27th but who cares about the rules?! I know I DON'T!!! Starting Measurements: Date: 07/18/2015 @ 8 am Weight: 126.4 ***Body Fat***: 23% Waist: 23.5 Waist @ Navel: 24.5 Hips: 35 Neck: 12 Chest: 32 Left Bicep: 10 Right Thigh: 16.5 Wrist: 5.5 Forearm: 8.5 What's interesting is that for the most part, this challenge doesn't LOOK as a bad as the last one. Physically it should be a lighter, in fact I'm aiming for less soreness and pain here! The handstand will be tough and I'm not looking forward to the baking (even though I love baked goods), but overall it's not an delivish challenge... Well...until you get to the art one and it stars get to get pretty evil. That will be tough but I think I should be able to meet the parameters of this challenge and then some. It's just a matter of figuring out the kinda of character portrait I want to do (full body, torso, bust, neutral pose, action like pose, masks, nor mask etc). That, with my normal day routine should make things tough. But you know what... Let's conquer the world my fellow villains.

Hey For anyone new to my threads, I'm a 24-year-old guy from England. I do: amateur gymnasticshand balancingclimbingweightliftingbodyweight exercisesslackliningWhile motionless I work as a software developer, compose piano music and listen to metal. This challenge: my aim is to create a training sampler video that demonstrates lots of the stuff I've been working on this year. To do this, I'll need to: collect videos of various thingspractise some skills to get them as good as I can manageproduce the videoGoal #1: keep training: the main goal this challenge is to train many of the following list each week. For some of them I can count two sessions per week if i do them. There are 23 listed in total. Stat points will be awarded as follows: 6 or more: +0.25 DEX 8 or more: +0.25 STR10 or more: +0.25 WIS12 or more: +0.25 DEX14 or more: +0.25 WIS16 or more: +0.25 STRExplosive push-ups: [plus second session] I've been working lots on clapping push-ups recently, so now I want to experiment with some more advanced variations. Muscle-ups: [plus second session] On the gymnastics rings I can do these, but I want them to look prettier so I need to build strength for the transition. I also want to learn ring forward rolls and bar muscle-ups, which will benefit from and count towards this training. Weighted pull-ups: [plus second session] Currently I can lift over 31kg (68#) on pull-ups, and want to get even stronger. An extended session on 1-arm rows or similar will also count for this. Backflips: [plus second session] I can just about do these onto soft surfaces, and I've conquered some of the fear issues involved, so the next steps are to improve them and get used to doing them on scarier surfaces. Handstands against wall: [plus second session] I don't do these enough but they do help me Freestanding handstands: [plus second session] Currently I balance for 5 seconds if I'm lucky. I'm making slow progress and should continue. Handstand walking: [plus second session] I can walk on my hands quite well, and want to learn to control my direction rather than just walk to prevent me from falling over Levers - front and back: such as this [plus second session] - I need to increase my shoulder strength for this. Slacklining: My friend has a line and there's a circus group who have open sessions, so I should make use of these opportunities much more Hopak dance - jumping: hopak is a style of Ukrainian dance involving some crazy acrobatics that I'd like to learn. This item is for the jumping moves. Hopak dance - windmills: this item is for the move at 1:50 in the video above Hopak dance - cossack squats: this item is for the item at 0:00 in the video above Tricking kicks: jump high, spin around, and have a reasonably aesthetic kick in the middle! Like this. I've only tried these once so I'm interested to see how they'll progress. Anything else **new** that might be worth including in the sampler: [plus second new item] watch this space ...that should cover everything Goal #2: collect videos: to ensure I record some good material for the video, I'm going to record at least one thing every week to a quality that I consider worthy of inclusion to the final product. As I want to keep the last week free for creating the video, The 6 weeks will be weeks 0-5. +2 CHA is available, and I'll award: grade A: 6 weeksgrade B: 5 weeksgrade C: 4 weeksgrade D: 3 weeksGoal #3: sleep early: I keep sleeping too late. I should sleep before 0045 so I have more than 8 hours' sleep. This challenge will run from evenings of Sunday 26th to Saturday 5th September. +2 CON available. grade A: 36-42 nightsgrade B: 31-35 nightsgrade C: 26-30 nightsgrade D: 21-25 nightsGoal #4: adulting: There are a few responsible things I should sort out before the end of the challenge: move house: I need to find a nice place to live before the end of Augustplan holidays: 17.5 days of my holiday allowance will go to waste unless I find something good to do with them. I'll arrange something for 4 daysplan more holidays: actually make that 7 daysplan even more holidays: actually make that 10 days. Nice problem to have I know, but it needs to get fixed.+0.50 CHA for each. Hope this will be an enjoyable challenge both for me and for everyone reading. I appreciate your support and advice as always ~~~ TRACKING: ~~~ Goal #1: keep training: 1_3___ - explosive push-ups (1)______ - explosive push-ups (2)1234__ - muscle-ups (1)______ - muscle-ups (2)1_3456 - weighted pull-ups (1)______ - weighted pull-ups (2)1_____ - backflips (1)______ - backflips (2)_2____ - handstands by wall (1)______ - handstands by wall (2)1234_6 - handstands, freestanding (1)_2____ - handstands, freestanding (2)123___ - handstand walking (1)______ - handstand walking (2)12_4__ - levers (1)_2____ - levers (2)_2____ - hopak, jumping______ - hopak, windmills12_45_ - hopak, cossack squats______ - tricking kicks1__4__ - slackline1234_6 - something new (1) - elbow levers; elbow levers; pistol squats; pistol squats; suicide jump; front handsprings___4_6 - something new (2) - [forgotten]; paused reps in weightliftingweek 1: DEX STR WIS (10)week 2: DEX STR WIS (10)week 3: DEX (6)week 4: DEX STR (8)week 5: (2)week 6: (4) => grade D (challenge probably too ambitious) Goal #2: collect videos: week 0: YES (front lever)week 1: YES (rings basics)week 2: YES (muscle-up, lever, 1-armed lock-off)week 3: YES (weighted pull-up)week 4: YES (slackline, rings)week 5: YES (hopak, 1-armed row) => grade AGoal #3: sleep early: week 1: sm_wT__ (4)week 2: s_t_TF_ (4)week 3: s_t__F_ (3)week 4: _mtw_F_ (4)week 5: smtwTF_ (6)week 6: smt_TF => grade CGoal #4: adulting: moved into new placebooked holiday to the Netherlands, Spain and Morocco (with more to come)booked holiday to the Lake District (England) => grade A

The last mini-challenge really made me step up my game. I've historically been really bad at determining when "ow" means "you can do it, push!" and when it means "stop now or real damage will happen," and as a result, have been very conservative in my gains. But something about seeing numbers on a spreadsheet lure my team toward victory flipped that switch over the last challenge, and I found I really could do more than I thought I could (despite terrific DOMS the next few days). I've been at the bodyweight workout for eight months now, and while on a day-to-day basis, it doesn't feel like I"m accomplishing much, it does apparently add up. Today (July 25), I met up with my family for my mother's birthday party, and (through a series of events) ended up doing squats while holding my little sister (135 lbs). They were maybe not the deepest squats ever, but I was still rather impressed at myself. So apparently, progress is happening. Unfortunately, school, gardening, and work are conspiring to take up as much of my time as possible, to the point where the garden is getting somewhat weedy. Rather than letting my workouts suffer, I am going to try changing them up, and breaking the bodyweight workout into two days. I'm going to try to follow this routine for the next six weeks: Day 1: arms/core Day 2: legs/core Day 3: HIIT or dance Day 4: arms/core Day 5: legs/core (2 days of rest/gardening) I was able to get the arms/core workout done last night with a full warmup and cooldown in 20 minutes, and I'm going to try to get the legs done similarly tonight. I recognize that the cardio/dance will take longer, but one night a week is doable. And hopefully the next class, which starts in 4 weeks, will be less chaotic. In other news, I am super excited because I finally got handstand gloves to help with my somewhat inflexible wrists! Even after doing stretches and GtGs every hour at work for six weeks, it's still a little painful to put all my weight on them for wall planks. So the handstand practice and progress continues through this challenge as well! TL;DR: I don't want to lose my workouts to a (hopefully temporarily) busy schedule, so I'm breaking them down, adding cardio, and going for 5 days a week. Handstand practice continues, with outside assistance. Goal 1: Hit 5 days of workout every week, not including garden. Score: A - 6 weeks. B - 5 weeks, C - 4 weeks. D - 3 weeks. Fail - less than 3 weeks. Reward: under consideration Goal 2: Two-minute wall plank Score: A - 2 minutes. B - 1 to 2 minutes. C - less than 1 minute. Reward: being able to do it! Considering I currently do a 40-second floor plank, the wall plank is a super ambitious goal, but I'm aiming for it, nonetheless. I suspect I am capable of more than I think!

Week zero, here we are. And where, in fact, are we? That's right friends, it's a Daredevil challenge! This comic means a lot to me - it's one of the comics that I discovered on my own, in middle school, and it really got under my skin. Daredevil taught me that hypersensitivity can be an advantage, it doesn't make you weak and fragile, it just requires you to work hard, stay balanced, and have a clear head. When the world floods in on you from all sides, you need structure and purpose, and then you can become someone extraordinary. He was also a hero who used words and smarts as often as fists, and had a full, meaningful life outside his vigilante activities. Balancing the self-control with rage, aggression, etc. Anyhow, all that to say that this one's real close to my heart, and I spent a hell of a lot of time during middle school teaching myself how to do things blindfolded, and hitting myself in the face with makeshift weapons. Here is the challenge! 1. Training I've been having pretty good success with five bodyweight workouts per week, so I'll keep on with that, with a few changes. First of all, I will do at least one workout blindfolded each week - this is something I have done before, and I really love it. I'll also continue with handstands, folded into the routine. I also want to start upping my workouts - for the past six weeks I have kept myself at the "level 1" for all the neila rey workouts - that's three rounds for the regular workouts and five rounds for HIIT. I think I can do more now. Let's start with four. I'm also thinking about starting to get organized about training my side rolls and cartwheels... 2. Study Matt Murdock isn't just a punching kind of hero, he's also a talented and hardworking lawyer who understands the power of the word. He worked hard for that knowledge and skill, and so will I. I'm applying for graduate school this fall, for an MFA that will be a really important step towards me breaking into being a professional author, and give me two years to do my work, to learn and study and hone my craft. I have a lot of work to do to get those applications ready, but most immediately I need to get my portfolio into shape, and i need to take the GRE. So, that's 30 minutes editing per day, plus 10 minutes GRE study. Also I need to sign up for the GRE. 3. Fuel I'm getting real tired of all this dead weight on my body. Need to be able to move and fly. So, I'm cutting white breads, including pasta, anything battered, cake, whatever. Continuing to track all food. I would say that part of this challenge is cutting back on booze, but it actually looks like that's been taken care of by budget concerns. Yay? 4. Embracing Silence I have been so overstimulated lately - comic bingeing, video games, constant audiobooks and podcasts, and not only is it interfering with my general productivity, it's cluttering up my headspace, dragging energy out of me, and I just plain don't like myself in my lotus-eating phases. So let's start with a hard and fast rule of only music allowed after 10pm, and I'll be trying to see other places where I can create a little more silence. Hopefully I'll find an equilibrium, dedicated times, places, amounts for media consumption. I'm also going to put a little more juice into my meditation practice, be a little more deliberate, give myself less wiggle room to slip out of it. LIFE QUEST: Micro adventures! Once a week, I will embark on some kind of micro-adventure! Visiting a new island? Going to a concert or a theater production? Kayaking for free on the Hudson? Finally walking across the Brooklyn Bridge? Dare-devil indeed... I will be using this week for it's actual purpose, which is of course test-driving the new challenge parameters, and probably all this will change a little in the next few days. WEEK ZERO GO!

Hi everyone! I'm back! Seems like I'm always taking breaks and then realizing how badly I need 6 week challenges. So, here I am again. I truly believe there is no shame in starting over again...and again...and again. It means you're trying. I just got back fro 5 days in Vegas, so my eating has been off the charts bad. I really need to wrangle this back in! BUT because of all the changes in the next month, I'm NOT doing a whole30, as much as I would like to, but instead, eating with whole30-like intentions, but keeping in mind there will be challenges like booze and dinner with friends. **For friends who have been wondering what I've been up to - feel free to skip over** Here's the quick version of my life since my last challenge - AKA April/May. I listed my house for sale in the middle of May - the market here is super saturated, and it still hasn't sold. I'm starting to consider renting it in the fall because I"m not willing to drop the price so much that I would be losing a lot of money. Either way, I need to move out by mid-september because i have obligations in BC, and also, my flight to camp is booked out of Vancouver. I'll be moving in with my sister in Surrey BC. Work is a dump, and calling what I do with my days "working" is a bit of a joke. I hate feeling like I"m wasting my time. But I'm in the process of getting ready to quit. It would be a hell of a lot easier if my house sold, but I can't do much about that. I'm starting to pack up my house and get ready to move. After this, I'm off to buy supplies (tape, makers, labels, etc) and start with some stuff I'm keeping but won't be needing. I'm constantly decluttering and getting rid of stuff. I just got back from 5 days in Vegas and all the eating and drinking has left me very ready for a challenge to clean up my habits. **end update** Because I've missed a challenge or two, it's always hard to not get overwhelmed and wanting to do ALL THE THINGS (my eternal struggle). GOALS 1) I want to cook meals at home both to save money and to eat better. The other goal within cooking at home, is to use up things that I have. With a big move coming up at an undetermined date, I'd like to empty more of my pantry. The goal is to eat at home (or someone else's home) 3 meals a day (packed lunch for work) seven days a week, for the 6 weeks minus one. I can allow one meal out a week, chosen thoughtfully. With the way things are I'm not going to be starting too strongly here, but it'll get better... week 1 - 4/12 week 2 - /20 week 3 - /20 week 4 - /20 week 5 - /20 week 6 - /20 week 6+ - /20 2) Morning Routine - I want to get up earlier and go for a short walk and do some mobility/rolling work. While walking a lot in Vegas, i was actually surprised by the fact that my feel getting sore was the worst that happened when walking in my (pretty minimal) sandals all day. I loved the fact that even walking on hard surfaces all day, despite the fact that I'm generally VERY sedentary, my knees and hips didn't hurt at all. I want to keep going with the walking momentum I gained and I also want to get back to my yoga tune up rolling. Week 1 - 2/8 Week 2 - /14 Week 3 - /14 Week 4 - /14 Week 5 - /14 Week 6 - /14 Week 6+ - /14 3) Evening Routine - I really want to work on handstands! I've never made this one a really big goal, but now I want to. I love all the people on my IG feed that do handstands everywhere! I want to be one of them. lol I don't want to put a time limit on it because I feel like it will take time to build up strength, but I do think just making myself practice every day will be enough for me. The other part of this is that I want to set aside 30 minutes of reading time before bed. To work on this, I"m going to start using my actual alarm clock to wake up, and putting my phone in another room. I easily waste 30 minutes in the morning and at night on my phone. I keep buying books on trips, start them, and then once i"m home, I never finish them! I have 3 to finish right now - David and Goliath by Malcom Gladwell, It Starts with Food - Dallas and Melissa Hartwig, and also the 4 Hour Work Week - Tim Ferriss. Week 1 - 2/8 Week 2 - /14 Week 3 - /14 Week 4 - /14 Week 5 - /14 Week 6 - /14 Week 6+ - /14 4) Bonus: The other thing I wanted to start doing every day is Power Posing. I just watched this ted talk on Netflix, and wanted to start incorporating it into my daily life. I'm going to be up against a lot of challenges in the near future, and some extra confidence could go a long way. Week 1 - /4 Week 2 - /7 Week 3 - /7 Week 4 - /7 Week 5 - /7 Week 6 - /7 Week 6+ - /7

Man, reading through everyone's challenges is a great way to get new ideas.... and a bad way to start comparing myself to others. My first three challenges focused on food, working out, getting a routine, and trying new things, all of which are great, and I needed them! But the last challenge really drove home the fact that I'm pushing way too much, and I need to keep it simple. The last class took a lot out of me- it was a ton of writing and research. I got an email this week from my adviser warning that the next class I'm signed up for (which starts June 1) is "not a traditional class," and requires a lot of database manipulation and interpretation. It's also an entirely new topic for me, so I get the sense that I need to set aside a fair bit of time for it. Now, what that doesn't mean is that I intend to let food and workouts slip away from me. I am in a pretty solid place right now: I'm holding steady on the BBWWs, the garden is completely planted and starting to produce, tomorrow (May 27) is moving day- so hopefully we'll be settled by the time class and challenge start- and ditto on the sinus infection that is currently beating me down. What it means, though, is that I need to balance things out, and not promise more than I can sanely deliver. Just because I can do it, doesn't mean I should. So, here is my very simple, very focused goal, for both the bye week(s) between challenges, and for the six weeks after: Balance, strength, and simplicity: Handstands Bye weeks: keep working on strength, and getting my hands to bend back 90 degrees. Goal: Hold my wrists at 90 degrees for 10 seconds without any weight or bracing against anything. Challenge weeks: Progress from wall pushups to at least a 30-second regular plank with my weight properly spread on my hands. I didn't add a reward last time, because I knew that moving would take precedence (monetarily and time-wise). This time... Reward: <30 second plank: learn from mistakes. 30-second plank: new workout pants. >30-second plank: fancy sushi lunch. Working up the wall: target practice at the range. That's my goal. Only one thing, so I don't feel overwhelmed. I'll still be doing the BBWW in the background, and ultimately my goal will include this entire move by Lara, but for now... I'm staying focused. One step at a time.

Welcome to the place where I write things For those of you who are new, I'm an amateur gymnast and weightlifter and I intend to spend as much of my summer as possible learning cool bodyweight skills. I also do slacklining and climbing, I'm learning Spanish and I occasionally write piano music. Over the past few challenges (this is my 10th with the Assassins, woo!) I've been working on holding steadier handstands, improving with the gymnastics rings, increasing the weight on the four main lifts, and learning frontflips/backflips, amongst other things. Although I enjoy experimenting with cool physical activities, often I lack the motivation to actually improve at them. So for the next two challenges, I've chosen a special tool - a special incentive - to motivate me to actually learn new skills and gain new strength! I'm going to make a training sampler by September. And of course, if I'm going to make a training sampler, I'm going to want to improve as much as possible so that I can fill it with the best stuff possible So this challenge, I'm going to push the boundaries of my best/favourite skills. However, there's a small complication at the moment that I have a broken toe (I think) so I'll need to nurse that back to health before I can do proper work on the leg-based skills Goal #1: bodyweight skills: the following exercises are good for me but I'm much less likely to do them unless I have some motivation. I intend to do several of these each week: adductor stretches 4 days per week - for deadlift and squat mobilityfalse-grip pull-ups (4 sets / 15 reps total) - I want to tidy my ring muscle-upweighted pull-ups or 1-arm rows (each arm) (4 sets / 15 reps total)plyometric push-up variations (1 good session with warm-up) - I want clapping-behind-the-back push-upssession of pistol squat variations (each leg) (2 sets / 15 reps total)three handstand practices in a weeksession of experimenting with kicking moves (like in tricking - more details when I start experimenting!)The following are cool achievements that I would like to have managed by the end of the challenge: bar muscle-up (yep, including this again haha)ring forward rollring shoulder stand or handstand (hard! although I've never tried...)pretty cartwheel on both sidesparallette L-sit for 10 secondsstatic handstand for 10 seconds10 second handstand walk where I'm control of the direction the whole timering dips +30kg x 3front lever Manx pullback lever Manx pull[Disclaimer: "Manx lever" is a term I made up to describe these since I couldn't find a decent existing name. The leg position reminded me of the Isle of Man ("Manx") flag] Scoring: for the exercises, each week I get +0.25 DEX if I do 3 of the exercises, and +0.25 STR extra if I do 5 or more. Until my foot is healed, I'll accept doing 4 rather than 5 as I won't be able to practise pistol squats, kicks or handstands. As there are 7 weeks, I will ignore my best week when calculating the points. Total: +3.00 For the cool achievements, I'll award +0.25 DEX & +0.25 CHA for each one I manage (maximum 6 - I'm unlikely to get that far!) Total: +3.00 Finally, I'll subjectively award up to +1.00 CHA extra if I do lots of other interesting work towards the training sampler - such as flips, slackline, other experiments. Goal #2: workout plan: usually when I do a workout (strength or skill) I arrive with no plan, and just do things at random. This has its advantages (fun and flexible) but also its disadvantages (unfocused and unproductive). Therefore, each week I'm going to plan a one of my substantial workouts in detail beforehand, and execute it according to plan. Other workouts can be carefree and experimental, but I want to have at least one structured/planned one each week. +3.00 STA (there are 7 weeks, so I'll get +0.50 for each structured workout - except the first such workout won't count) Goal #3: sleep early: similarly, my bedtime has been pushed later and later, so that these days 1am seems like an early night. Really to get at least 8 hours of sleep I should be sleeping at 1.00am at the latest. There are 48 nights during the challenge, so I'll award myself: grade A: 42 nights - 48 nightsgrade B: 36 nights - 41 nightsgrade C: 30 nights - 35 nightsgrade D: 24 nights - 29 nightsTotal: +2.00 CON Goal #4: eat clean: recently I've been a bit lazy with eating sensibly, so I'm going to make a special effort to eat according to my high standards this challenge. In particular, I've been eating too much sugar, and not always at sensible times. Graded subjectively. +2.00 CON available. Goal #5: driving theory: in the UK we need to take a theory exam before taking our practical exam. I'm learning to drive, so I should stop procrastinating this, book a test, study, and hopefully pass. +1.00 WIS for passing before the end of the challenge. Thanks for coming by to see my challenge - I'm hoping to make lots of good progress, and spend lots of time outside enjoying the sunshine And the rest of it updating this giant task list haha. ~~~~~ TRACKING ~~~~~ specific exercises: - grade C- week 0: HLR, PiSq, ExPU ©week 1: FGPU, Add, PiSq, ExPU (A)week 2: FGPU, 1AR, hs2 (F)week 3: ExPU, PiSq, 1AR, hs1 ©week 4: ExPU, wPU, HS3, PiSq ©week 5: 1AR, HS3, Kick, FGPU, ExPU (A)week 6: wPU, hs2 (F)skills achieved: - grade D- 10-second parallette L-sit+ up to one stat point for other work - grade B pre-planned workouts: week 0: YES - weightliftingweek 1: YES - ringsweek 2: YES - ringsweek 3: YES - bodyweight & TODO listweek 4: YES - weightliftingweek 5: YES - field gymnasticsweek 6: () grade A/Bsleep early: week 0: +++__++ (5)week 1: +____++ (3) (8)week 2: +++++++ (7) (15)week 3: __++_++ (4) (19)week 4: +____+_ (2) (21)week 5: ++_++_+ (5) (26)week 6: +++__+() (4) (30) grade Ceat clean: grade C driving theory: passed comfortably grade A

Hi all! I'm Natalee, a new assassin and I can't wait to get stuck in with this coming challenge! After my first challenge I kind of... let myself go a little bit, with this I realized just how important it will be for me to continue this until this new life of fitness becomes a part of myself and not just something that I want to attain. As I am writing this I feel as if I conceived last week, I hope that this isn't the case and that my body is just topsy turvy at that moment, and that I'm just over thinking this situation. At present my LO is 11 months and I believe that by the end of this challenge he will be walking all over the place. I have not been focusing on diet, and by the end of the challenge I hope to have incorporated a a more wholesome diet. At present I eat what I can, when I can, I want to control this a little more by the end. I'm really looking forward to all that will unfold over the course of this challenge. This will be a good one. Challenge Overview Quest One: My name is Stronger. In the pursuit of mastering myself strength is imperative. During this six week program I will be following a program created by myself which will be outlined once I've fine tuned it. I will be overhauling the routine every two weeks, just to switch things up a bit. Quest Two: I'll be Flexible The ability to be flexible both of mind and body. One of the first things my first challenge reminded me of is that there are many ways to get to a destination. Can I get my splits in 6 weeks?... I don't know. But I don't think that that is how I want to quantify my goals. Although I will use this to see my progression. It won't be my focus. My Flexibility plan will be outlined below also. Quest Three: Finding Balance Achieving a freestanding handstand is definitely something I want to do this time around. I also want to play around with planches, I'm going to figure out where I am, and we will see where I can go during the course of this challenge. Life Quest I want to become less of a backseat rider on this forum and engage a whole lot more with other Assassins and encourage other people in their challenges.This challenge I want to do 10 minutes of Bible reading everyday (at the very least), I'll meditate on whatever it is that I happen to read throughout the day, but I really want to get those 10 miniutes in.Take care of me - I neglect myself so much, during the course of this challenge I want to engage in a few little things that will help to relieve stress and also keep me looking good. Namely to give myself a foot scrub once weekly and get my hair done biweekly.

I'm back! errr.....sort of. So after completing my last challenge which was a long time ago, I finally got a job and buckled down on school. However that took a lot of my time and my workout schedule was put on the back burner. Not anymore! I passed my classes with flying colors and now I'm ready to get back on track with my fitness. I decided to just go back to the basics and start with the BBWW, replacing the planks with a handstand workout since I really want to get better at it. This is the breakdown of it: Main Quest · To learn parkour Health Quest (+1 STR, +1 DEX, +1 STA) o BBWW + Handstand training o Running o Side Quest: Eat a salad once per week Life Quest (+1 CHA) o Clean up back room (long term) o Get permit/new SSC Creative Quest (+3 WIS) o Finish up Marvin the Squid o Practice left hand writing GRADING HQ · 5 days = A · 4 days = B · 3 days = C · 2/1 days = D · 0 days = F LQ · Half-cleaned = A · Quarter cleaned = B · 1/8 cleaned = C · Nothing done = F CQ · Finish MtS = A · Not done = F · Writing 2x week = A · 1x week = C · 0x week = F I think this is doable. I'm going on a trip next week so I can't wait to try out the hotel room workout, although I already think my trip is going to help me move around a lot. I'm excited to get back into the game and proving myself that I can handle more than I originally thought. Cheers to the challenges ahead!

(stumbles) (trips) (recovers) Oh hi there, dear Rangers! I hope you'll accept a guild-confused member to your group this challenge I'm still trying to find my 'home' on the forums, and haven't made your acquaintance yet! But don't be frightened, I'm only new to this area, not to the 6-week challenges. And I have befriended some of your ranks at the Academy and Camp. I'm (mostly) harmless. Quick summary: I've been part of NF since the first Level Up Club, just over 2 years. I've lost 75 lbs and increased my awesome by a ton. But I'm stuck! I've been on a horrible plateau since last August, and I need to spend a challenge not going crazy at the scale. BADASS WOMAN Part of my level 50 involves reducing my consumption. I have made a lot of progress, but I'd like another big success. My daughter's room has gotten out of control. I will have this pared down and sorted by the end of the challenge. I need to get rid of clothing, toys and furniture that she no longer uses, and will spend time going through stuff every week. Goal is to have her room drastically more organized by the end of the challenge. I've hit a wall with my lifting. I knew it was coming, and I'm fully there. I'm not seeing as much progress as I'd like, and I'm starting to not enjoy it as much as I used to. This 6-weeks lines up perfectly with the end of my current lifting routine, and I've already worked out a nice TRX circuit. I think seeing progress with bodyweight movements will help me mentally, as well as get me in a good place to pick lifting back up. Goal is to do 3 TRX or BW workouts a week. I have been focusing on increasing strength in a different ways, and recently figured out that I can do a headstand. I started a 28-day handstand challenge, and am working on the wrist strength needed for success. I need to spend 5-mins a day working on handstand related things (wrist strength, headstands, wall planks). Goal is 60-sec wall plank by the end of the challenge.SIDE QUESTS I am working on improving all facets of my life. I've been reading "how to win friends and influence people" along with some other self improvement resources. I must implement life improving strategies and report back (good/bad/indifferent/or otherwise). This includes doing things from my reading or meditation. I need to get a second follow-up BodPod scan. I am finally seeing progress in black and white, and need to keep that momentum going. I have to have my third BodPod scan completed.MOTIVATION PROGRESS: Week 1: Baby Room Declutter: Pass. 3 TRX Workouts: Pass. Wall Plank Progress: Pass, 45 sec Life improvement: Pass Bodpod scan: N/A Week 2: Baby Room Declutter: Pass. 3 TRX Workouts: Pass. Wall Plank Progress: Pass, 50 sec. Life improvement: Pass. Bodpod scan: N/A Week 3: Baby Room Declutter: Pass. 3 TRX Workouts: Pass. Wall Plank Progress: Pass, 60 sec. - completed first goal Life improvement: Pass. Bodpod scan: N/A Week 4: Baby Room Declutter: Pass. 3 TRX Workouts: Pass. Wall Plank Progress: Pass, 3x 20 sec because wrists. Life improvement: Pass. Bodpod scan: N/A Week 5: Baby Room Declutter: Pass. 3 TRX Workouts: Pass. Wall Plank Progress: Pass. Life improvement: Pass. Bodpod scan: Pass. Week 6: Baby Room Declutter: Fail. 3 TRX Workouts: Fail. Wall Plank Progress: Fail. Life improvement: Fail. Bodpod scan: N/A BADASS WOMAN, CHALLENGE END UPDATE Goal was to have my daughter's room drastically more organized by the end of the challenge. I'm going to call this one 70%. I got my daughters old bed out. I got the new one in. i got rid of a lot of furniture and clothes. I even managed to get caught up on laundry for a good while. But she still has too much crap in there, especially in the toys. And at some point the living room got cleaned and so MORE toys are in her room than normal. I still need to work at this, but getting her moved into her own room (and out of my bed) was a huge deal. Goal was to do 3TRX or BW workouts a week. 5/6 weeks isn't bad. I had to switch to kettle bell after my bodpod scan, but I still made it to the gym 4x most weeks, and the last week I just didn't make it because I was traveling with a 3 year old. I like my new kettle bell routine, and I'm seeing such a great weightloss since cutting out dairy that I'm actually excited about my next bodpod scan. Goal was 60-sec wall plank by the end of the challenge. I made this goal, which is great. I still need to work on strengthening it, however. It's still very difficult for me to hold a 60 sec plank, so I need to work on that before I start on bails I think. That and being able to get into a headstand without the wall. I can easily bail out of those. I had no idea how far I'd come with headstands, and it feels amazing. I'll have to do final videos (shoulda done it this weekend and I forgot).SIDE QUESTS I must implement life improving strategies and report back This went really well. I am loving the "How to Win Friends and Influence People" book I'm working on, but I got a little sidetracked by chronic inflammation issues. i've switched focus to my health, but both are worthwhile endeavors. I am still using the principals from the book every day, and I'll switch back to focusing on it more when my inflammation is under control. I started my elimination diet today, and I'll be working on that for a while. I have to have my third BodPod scan completed. Did this. Hated it. Will do it again after 8 weeks. I've lost 3.2 pounds just cutting dairy, so I'm really excited to see what happens when I am able to avoid other triggers. It looks like peanut butter might be another one, but dairy is definitely the big one. I'm not having caffeine this week, so that's another bummer. Especially in the mornings. But my health is important to me and it's worth it. Seeing results just makes it that much better.