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SITUATION: So a week ago (to the day, so Wednesday) I pushed myself a little too hard on my deadlift. I was lifting around 6am. My back was sore hours afterwards and continued getting worse throughout the day. I thought to myself that Wednesday night that "If my back is worse Thursday morning than it was Wed night that I would not be able to get out of bed to go to work". So that Wednesday night I did some soft yoga targeting the lower back (followed a video I found online). That Thursday I felt a little better, but not fully. That Thursday night I played racquetball and that really helped loosen up my back. Friday morning when I lifted (again, around 6am), I noticed there was some pain, but it was not horrible. Through the day Thursday & Friday, I noticed that if I sat down for too long at a time, I had a hard time standing up (particularly, getting my back straight). Over the weekend I stayed active and it did not bother me much. I could still feel it was sore, and that it was more than just standard DOMS. Monday night I lifted. I actually felt good / strong while lifting. I did notice my back was still hurting. Tuesday night (last night) I played racquetball again and it helped loosen me up. Last night I got home late because of racquetball, and I also did some yoga, so I was up late and then got up early this morning. So the lack of sleep probably did not help (only ~5 hours vs the 7-8 I have been averaging). I went to work out this morning and noticed my back was bothering me a little more than normal during my squats. I am doing the Stronglifts 5x5 program, but I recently deloaded the weight on most of the exercises in order to improve my form. As such, I have kept the weights mostly static for the past 2 weeks. Anyway... this morning when I got to the Pendlay Rows, my body said, "Nope nope nope." That was the first time I have missed / had to skip any exercises. I had some mild back soreness when I first started lifting (which I attributed to a mix of "weak back" and "poor form" particularly on the OHP). Anyway, this morning at work I made this mistake of sitting at my desk for 4 hours straight and I was so stiff. Standing up was painful and it took me about 60 seconds to straighten my back and loosen up the soreness enough that I could walk away from my desk. RECOVERY: I am not "crippled"... but it tightens up and gets bad if I spend too long seated in one place. So other than getting up for a short walk every hour, what can/should I be doing to help my back recover more quickly? I really did/do not want to skip any workouts, but given how bad it has been today, I am tossing around the idea of not lifting this Friday. Giving it a few extra days off to heal. Anyone out there nursed a mild injury like this back to health? What things can you recommend? I have not done much research on this yet or have a lot of knowledge. Only things I can think of is the typical "RICE" treatment (rest, ice, compression, elevation). I have not iced my back at all yet... maybe that would not be a bad idea. I have sat in a hot tub twice over the past week (it is a standard post-racquetball thing, and once in a blue moon as a post-lifting thing I do at the gym).

I will clean this post up as the days go on, but I am squeezing it in at lunch, and wanted to get in on the fun before this 6-week challenge got to far along! I was a Scout at the beginning of last year, trained all summer long and left the 6-week challenge Nerd-Crew due to time and changes in my training focus... Ran my first half-marathon in September and it was solid! SUCCESS!! Then I took a break, recovered and relaxed... Winter started up and disaster struck! I tore the ligaments in my big toe on my left foot while running in the ice and snow... Everything has been reset to zero, I was on crutches for 2 weeks over the Holidays and haven't ran since that fateful December evening. SO... Here I am... I've returned to my Nerd-fitness 6-Week roots to get back on track. Main Quest: Half-Marathon in September 2015 (I would be in heaven if I can do this again!) Goals: Run 32 miles, over 3 runs, adhering to a plan that will put me at half-marathon ready by September 23rd. -Grading based on final percentage of miles completed on the scheduled days. Dumb-bells & bench: 2 times a week. -Grading based on final percentage missed workouts. Drop to 177 lbs making smart eating choices and portion control. -Grading based on delta weight to final pounds. Life Quest: [WIS +1] Work & Home: Get in on time everyday to work M-F & Work on one project at home S/U. - Grading 6wks * 6 days = 36 days, percentage of days achieved. Motivation: Getting myself back from the injured battered runner and get back to where I was in September. Starting Stats: 38 - Male 5'10" ~187.8 lbs

This is my first challenge as an actual assassin-type-gargoyle-thing, and the first challenge I am starting with injuries! Yay!... and not-so-yay! Backstory: I was silly and failed to fall properly from kind of really high while bouldering so went and injured my ankle 5 weeks ago. It still bothers me every now and then but is definitely improving. I also seem to have injured my shoulder....some...how 3 or 4 weeks ago. Over-use? SILLY ME. Both are nearly at 100%, though the ankle is lagging behind since... it's kind of hard to not use it. I have not gone climbing since. I shall return to this glorious scaling of walls very carefully, avoiding any routes where I have high chance of slipping off holds, being unable to climb down due to exhaustion, or putting my foot into really uncomfortable, injury-aggravating positions. My first climb will be a very cautious test run - any pain whatsoever and I'm out of there for at least another week. This sucks, but it is necessary. Main Quest Long term goal: Be a healthy Cinalyc that can conquer the harshest of trails. Summit a snowy mountain that wants to eat everyone for breakfast. Explore that there Earth and conquer her hills. Six week goal: Once again, complete all level 1 climbs at the gym. There are apparently plenty of new ones since I last went (5 weeks ago) and I am recovering from two injuries. I must reclaim the wall. Carefully. Complete all level 2 climbs at the gym (still just as carefully), as I almost cleared every level 1 on the first day Motivation: I aim for continuous improvement in all things. It's much easier to do that while healthy. Crushing challenging hikes and climbs is also just simply enjoyable - what more do you need? Objective A: Werkit (+3 STR, +1 CON, +1 STA, +1 DEX) Work out every other day, following this (flexible) four day pattern: Day 1: Stronglifts + inverted rows. Inverted rows become full ROM pull ups once I can get my chest to the bar. Day 2: Mobility work (see below) Day 3: Climb for 1.5 - 2.5 hours... or Stronglifts + inverted rows if my ankle is not yet keen to climb, or a free-weight circuit. Day 4: Moar mobility work! .... repeat Objective B: Flexit (+2 DEX, +1 CON, +1 STA) Fix my body with mobility work. In case that's a little too vague, here's how: Foam roll pecs, T spine, hip flexors, hip adductors, and quads. T spine extensions on foam roller, ~10 sec per vertebrae 2x30sec hip flexor lunge stretches. 2x30sec doorway pec stretches. 2x30sec arm crossover stretches. Stretches will be alternated / mixed to avoid boredom and taking breaks. OR Hot yoga. Most likely rarely, though I do have an odd yearning for this torture as of late. Objective C: Nutritionit (+2 CON, +2 STA) Eat healthy food. (Eat some bad food too ) Avoid: Most starches, most grains, processed food, etc. Added sugar (drinks) must be less than 30g/day (down from 45g). Eat: Vegetables: So many vegetables. Majority of food intake. Protein: Chicken, beef, wild fish, eggs, quinoa, unsalted nuts, 100% plant based protein powder. ~100g/day. May increase if necessary. Fruit: Berries, avocados, apples, pears, pomegranate, tomatoes if we're being pedantic. Drink: Water, black coffee, tea with stevia, almond milk, coconut milk (more like eat). Starches, Grains: Yams, sweet potatoes, long grain brown rice and pasta made with it. Some carbs outside of this is fine. Cheat: Once a week: One less-than-healthy snack, one less-than-healthy meal. Life Quest: Rockit (+1 WIS) Play guitar for at least 30 minutes on at least 3 non-workout days every week. I slacked off on my guitar playing over the holidays. Boo! And with that, I hereby swear to obliterate these injuries... with great care. I shall climb again. It shall be excellent. Edit: Goal upgraded. I'm apparently not as disabled as I thought. Yay 5 week healing window! Edit: Updated descriptions to include stat points, and names!

Our story begins a long time ago, in a turn-based, text-based, role playing game called Vagabond's quest... TL;DR And ends, 12 years later, with me married to another gamer and expecting our first child together. When I joined The Rebellion, I was looking to lose weight, but the reality is that I'm 28 years old, the proverbial 'clock' scares the dickens out of me, and I told The Hubster that I'd either be at my goal weight or be a mother within a year. In my first challenge with The Rebellion, I actually lost about 8 pounds! I had busted through my first goal of 6 pounds and came out on top. I've been away for a while, dealing with this new and different experience, and now I'm returning about 7 or so weeks into my pregnancy. My main challenges have been Lack of sleepheartburnlack of appetite(followed by) roaring appetiteI've been walking quite a bit, and plan to keep that up. I was just getting into strength training in earnest and so I plan to keep going with that as long as it still feels good. Since I'm overweight by so much that my BMI is a concern for my doctor, my goal is to not gain any more than 15 lbs throughout the course of this pregnancy. I have *no idea* how I'm going to manage that, but I'm going to try everything I know about traditional weight loss to accomplish it. My home scale before the pregnancy was 238. My home scale now reads 240. The doctor's scale had me at 243 at my first check up back on 7/21. Now that you know the back story, let's get down to the battle log, eh? Primary Objective: Have a Healthy Pregnancy Walk >20 Minutes, Daily Strength Train 3x/week Continue with Paleo Plan Secondary Objective: Stay Active with Nerd Fitness Check in to chat rooms at least once/week update this thread daily motivate 3+ NF members/week

I am an injured, level one, dwarf rebel/adventurer (warrior aspirant). My exuberance nearly pulled a muscle out of my back. So I will mine coal, and tinker until I can reclaim my fortress body! Main Quest Line = Diet and 20 min. daily activity. Diet A - track all calories, make a meal plan. B - track most calories, eat a salad a day. C - track most calories, eat an apple a day. D - half heartedly track, eat pre arranged snacks. F - Z fail. Exercise A - 20 minutes per day average, and go for a walk with the GF once a week. B - 10 minutes per day average, and concerted effort to ease into upper body fitness. C - 7 minutes per day average, and body weight squats. D - always take the stairs... F - Z fail.