Search the Community

WARNING: THIS CHALLENGE IS ABOUT VULNERABILITY, CHRISTIAN FAITH, AND RECOVERY. "Hi, my name is Granny and I'm a grateful believer in Jesus, who struggles with codependency, resentment, and food." For the last 3 years I've been a member of Celebrate Recovery (a Christ-centered recovery program), and this is how we introduce ourselves. While I haven't struggled with drugs or alcohol, I am the child of an alcoholic and the child of an abuser. I do struggle with other behaviors that have hindered my maturity as an adult. Things like stress eating, people pleasing, procrastination and workaholism. Everyone has hurts from the past that they don't know what to do with; habits they've developed to help them cope with the unresolved conflicts in their past; and hangups about how they view themselves and the people around them. CR uses the 12-step model from AA, the principles in the Beattitudes, and cognitive behavior life skill tools to help untwist the damage in our lives. The Rehab Challenge: In this challenge, I'm going to be working on rehabilitation, both in mind and in body. I'm struggling with the aftermath of being injured in a car accident. The last day of the previous challenge (7-19), my hubby and I were in the left lane of a 3-lane road that's also a one-way street. The guy in the middle lane made a sudden decision to take a hard left turn into a business driveway across our lane, and cut in front of us, so close that we couldn't avoid the crash. He said he didn't see us, and I believe him; we must have been in his blind spot and he didn't look over his shoulder before turning left. Now it wasn't a serious accident; we were only going about 35mph, both cars' engines were still mostly functional, even though the body and frame of both were damaged (the other car likely beyond repair). My husband and the other driver were unhurt. Me, on the other hand, I have a Cervical Sprain, which is also considered whiplash but this one was side-to-side instead of back-to front. I also have two compressed discs in my neck, and the injury is making that area of my neck particularly problematic. Soft tissue damage is still being assessed at this point. It could have been alot worse, physically! But it's taking a toll on me psychologically. I'm in pain, seeing doctors and chiropractors and on the phone with insurance agencies and the lawyer, multiple times this week, which takes alot of my time. I'm also working-- owning my own business means I don't get to take a couple weeks off. I can't do my workouts or play disc golf, pick up my grandchildren, etc. I'm having a hard time keeping resentment at bay. I'm also struggling with a desire for revenge, financially. I don't believe that's the right thing to do, so I'm trying to put those emotions into proper perspective so that they don't influence my behavior. *So my goals for this challenge:* Main Quest: Create a plan to rehabilitate physically. Part of this plan will be to keep all doctor appointments, ask probing questions about my condition to make sure I completely understand what is being said, and make a plan to work my body back to it's previous state (or better!), whether that involves physical therapy or other forms of physical activity. Measurement: Keeping all appointments, making a plan for physical therapy, and following through on regaining my physical abilities: +5 Con Second Quest: Keeping it real. Part of this plan will be to recognize when I'm tempted toward using my injury for greed, and reaching out to my accountability people when those thoughts come. Same thing when I can't do something I want to do because of the injury-- recognizing when I'm tempted to hold my anger or frustration inside and nurse it into a cold resentment. I will choose not to either minimize my injury in order to speed the process toward playing disc golf or working out, nor play it up for laziness or to get out of a responsibility or to get sympathy. Measurement: Reaching out to my accountability team, attending all recovery meetings, and refusing to fall into psychological traps or acting out: +5 Wis

Update: I loved the idea of making a spreadsheet to track goals: here's mine. Main Quest: Beat agoraphobia & depression. Q1: 20 good form push-ups. (+1 STR) I used to be able to do 46. Now I can barely do 1. Despite having been in the military, I was never an athlete or a tough chick, but repetition helped get me from the arm strength of a flea... I couldn't do a single push-up on my knees, to almost 50 real push-ups on a graded exercise test with a 2-minute time limit. Since my injury and my depression, and now that I'm doing a regular desk job where being in shape isn't a requirement, I haven't made an effort to work out in six months. I did my first push-up in months this morning. It was rough. My middle sagged, I almost couldn't get back to the start position. I don't have a gym membership or free weights, but I plan on practicing push-ups, arm circles and some planks -- anything plyometric basically. Maybe I'll even start getting back my four-pack of yore. Update: I think I psyched myself out during that first bad push-up yesterday. Maybe I just forgot what it feels like to use my muscles. Today (July 22, still 5 days before challenge start) I did a set of 5 not-terrible push-ups. I'm not going to update my goal to make it harder, because I don't want to discourage myself with unreasonable difficulty. However, I'm going to put a longer term counter in my signature to keep track of how close I am to getting back to 50 push-ups. A = > 20. (I was always told that As are not for meeting the expectation, they're for going beyond it!) B = 20 C = 13 Fail: anything less Q2: No alcohol (+1 CON) I'm prone to a lot of anxiety and depression and I've never had any luck with the many anti-depressant, anti-anxiety, anti-have-any-feelings drugs prescribed to me. Individual therapy, group therapy, hospitalization also did basically nothing for me. Now I'm living alone for the first time in my life, in a city where I don't know anyone. And I self-medicate. Out of all the modern miracles of pharmacology, alcohol works better than anything at making me feel less awful about life. With my severe agoraphobia, I don't even like leaving my apartment. Going to the store to buy alcohol actually provides one of the few motivating reasons I step out the front door. Unfortunately, alcohol also upsets my sleep cycle, makes time disappear unproductively, and robs me from actually working on meaningful goals. It has a ton of calories and is one of the factors that my weight crept from a pants size 6 to not-fitting-into-an-8. And more than that: it shouldn't be the only reason I can find to leave the house. A lot of my other nutritional goals hinge on this one. If I pour empty calories down my throat every evening, why bother eating healthy during the day? I use that to rationalize buying sweets, salt-filled freezer meals, and so forth at the grocery store. Sure, I'll also pick up carrots and fruit and salad greens... and then never eat them. I have a feeling that cutting out alcohol is the linchpin to the rest of my nutritional goals, and some other life goals. A = totally dry. B = slipped once or twice. C = slipped three or four times. Fail: anything more Q3: Banish videogames, movies and TV. (+1 WIS)You can argue that this isn't a nutrition or fitness goal, but I have to strongly disagree. Gaming and TV-watching eats up the time that I would otherwise use to be more mentally and physically active. It is an opiate to me. I also tend to eat unhealthy snacks while gaming more than any other time. I have difficulty taking breaks and will ignore the physical world as long as possible as long as I have a game to play. To begin, I cancelled my Netflix subscription. Now, it's not really enough for me to say, "Don't play games" as my goal. I also need to strongly dissuade myself from purchasing them to begin with, and uninstall the ones I have. It's harder to get back into a game if all my save files are deleted and the game isn't on my computer at all. I will uninstall the Origin and Steam platforms, and all games associated with them. I suspect this will have more tangible positive results during the 6-week challenge than if I just plugged in another numerical goal, like, "Oh, do 100 sit-ups" or something. Freeing up large blocks of time that I spend on gaming is objectively the best way to get myself re-involved in the real world. I will not be getting rid of audio books and educational podcasts. If I see a movie in theaters, I will make an exception to the "no movies." I'm just targeting the vast library of shows I have at my disposal with iTunes, Amazon, Netflix and Hulu. Out of all of my quests, this one will be the most difficult, and honestly I'm not quite sure what to expect as the result. Who am I without games and shows? What will I fill my time with? Will my depression worsen or will I become super-productive? A = absolutely no gaming, no movies, no TV. B = slipped once or twice. C = slipped three or four times. Fail: anything more Life (Side) Quest: Go outside every day. (+1 STA) If I'm ever going to be comfortable enough to drive again and minimize my anxiety at leaving home, the first step is just to get out my front door every day. Because I work from home, I can easily go for 2 - 3 day stretches where I don't leave the house. Eventually I'll have to take care of basic things... take out the trash, get the mail, go to the store, go to the laundry room. But the more I stay inside, the worse my agoraphobia gets. It doesn't even feel like a "fear," usually it just feels like... a sort of grey miasma that closes me into my little cell. I say there's nothing to do outside, nowhere to go, no one to meet. I pull down the blinds. I'm not very relaxed when I do go out, sometimes just walking down the street is stressful. Grocery shopping is stressful. In the past few weeks I have pushed myself to do things like take long walks, ride the bus, get a library card, explore a couple new restaurants, even go sailing. However, these events are isolated. The vast majority of the time, I'm locked in my apartment. This is punctuated with short spurts of excursion where I'll strategically take care of several errands at once so that I can go home again. It makes it SEEM like I'm very active when I say I found a great new taco place, scouted out a cool bookstore and a bead shop and walked around the park, went to the post office, etc. But chances are I did all those things back-to-back and won't leave home again for days. Of course it's not enough just to stand on my porch and turn around and go back in every day. That's not healthy progress. But if all I do is walk around the block or go sit in a cafe for a half hour with my laptop, that's a good start. I considered having a more detailed plan about Where To Go every day, but I would like to expand my ability to follow spontaneous decisions rather than fulfill a predetermined task list. The goal is to feel more relaxed, not more regimented. A = 100%, established new walking routines and reasons to get out. B = Got out 6 days a week. C = Got out 5 days a week. Fail: anything less. Motivation: I've never lived alone before, and I think subconsciously I knew I needed to be alone to bring out the worst parts of my agoraphobia and depression, to meet them head on and handle them myself, without depending on the people I love most as my crutches. A lot of days feel brutal and lonely. But I also can't help but feel this could be the best opportunity I've given myself: finding out who I am, really, at the bottom of everything. And who I am right now isn't pretty. It turns out I'm terrified, weak, unhealthy and sad. But there it is. I am finally seeing myself as I am. Edit: I took some "Before" pics although I feel shy about sharing them right now. None of my quests are specifically weight-related during this challenge, but I have a feeling that I will start losing a few pounds here and there with a different lifestyle. Right now I'm about 148 lbs., and my happy weight is in the 113 - 125 pounds range. Intended Starting Stats if all is going well at week 3: STR: 1 DEX: 1 STA: 1 CON: 2 WIS: 3 CHA: 2

Well, I have a story here. I'm at a trampoline park, and some 4 year old kid, who is by no stretch of the imagination being chaperoned jumps a hair in front of me. well, i have 2 options, jump backwards or jump through her. Now i'm no ghost, so i go backwards, land on the small of my back on a metal bar. and my doctor can't see me for WEEKS. well i'm just starting recovery, and my muscle relaxants double my appetite, so long story short, i haven't worked out in ages, still really can't and gained 10 pounds from eating. square 1 i suppose. Let's rush it.

I signed up for my first-ever PL comp a few months ago and I've been training since January. Now it's next weekend... and I'm considering pulling out. Firstly, the people I've been training to compete with aren't eligible for this particular comp (regional) and so aren't able to come with me. But mainly, just at the time when I should be feeling strongest, my training over the past 3 weeks or so has been disrupted by travel, an injury, more travel, and jetlag. My injury (lower back stiffness and soreness, comes and goes) hasn't healed fully, and today was the first time I trained fully in 2 weeks. I felt weak and stiff and just really, really demoralised. On the side of 'do it anyway!' It's my first comp; it's not like I'd be looking to place or even get PBs, so my numbers hardly matterI've been training for this for months and it would be a pity to give up based on a few weeks of disrupted training On the side of 'don't do it': my numbers matter to <i>me</i> injury + comp =/= quick healing. I want to recover, not make anything worse. there will be other comps I've been really looking forward to the comp for a while, and I'd hate to pull out... but I really wanted to walk into my first comp feeling excited and confident (as well as nervous of course). If it was tomorrow, I'd be feeling nothing but fear and embarrassment. What would you do? (or WWNFD for short...)

My name is Zoe. I'm 20 years old, 5"3 and about 170 pounds. As you can imagine I'm here to trying get fit and gain better control of my body, not just lose weight. The problem is that often times I end up trying to work out and being met with millions of mixed messages on what to do. One week someone would say that I should focus more on cardio and then work on muscle exercises once I "slim down". Another week someone will tell me that I should focus more on weight training and that cardio is mainly for warm ups or strictly for persons doing marathons or other running events. Sometimes people say I should use machines, while others say I should stick to dumb bells and body weight exercises and the list just goes on... I would really love it if someone could just give me a program to start with. Or at the very least suggest to me where I could get one personalized for myself (hopefully online?). Note though that I seem to get muscle injuries easily so I can't push myself too hard or lift heavy just yet. I also have no idea where I'd fall in that career category so I'm hoping someone might be able to explain that to me too.

RIP Andurial, level 11 Ranger on day 125 (approx) after: 45 pound weight loss 25 lb 5x5 bench increase 50 lb 5x5 squat increase 40 lb 3x5 lb dead lift increase Killed by: Fibular Stress Fracture, Quadriceps Tendonosis, Lack of Imagination to use alternate exercises What to repeat: Focus on Vegetables for breakfast, snacking Monthly pictures/weigh-ins Tracking of weight lifting workouts Research/Planning for long term goals (Senior Games decathlon in 2018) What to avoid: Primary: Accelerating workouts too quickly Not allowing sufficient recovery time Not making sufficient sleep a priority Not focusing on running form before increasing intensity (stride length too long) Secondary: Not having enough variety in cardio work to avoid overloading joints Not making good use of support available through other members of the revolution Not using upgraded equipment, specifically footwear Not having a nearer term BOSS FIGHT (Now signed up for the Reach the Beach Relay in September, 2015) Ready to try again? YES Clearing previous academy points, restarting at Mindset Module....... Respawn in 3.....2......1......

Hi! I only got the email about the next 6 week challenge about 30 mins ago so I'm far from prepared and unsure if this is the correct way to go about things. But the timing was good as I was on the verge of action either way. I was hoping to be an Assassin but a recent tear to my hamstring tendon has ensured that neither running or jumping are in my near future. And I guess that brings me to the point of my 6 week challenge. I have been keen as to start learning Parkour but obviously that's going to have to wait. But my other love has always been martial arts. Muay Thai, Wing Chun, Ninjutsu... I have enjoyed every facet of the martial arts I have trained. So it looks like I'll be a monk at least for a while. But... injury. This has been the scourge of my existence for the last 8 years. Every time I get involved with a martial art/ weight program/ anything within this time frame I have been injured. And usually in a way that lays me up for a while and takes my efforts back to square one. To be honest it's extremely discouraging but what choice is there but to learn from my mistakes and adjust? With this in mind I have started working hardcore with a physio and exercise scientist to fix my manky movement patterns. And manky they are but I am slowly progressing. I am a very experienced lifter and worked as a personal trainer for 5 years in an environment where appearance > sense and I believe that my issues and muscular imbalances stem from this period in my life. So here is my plan: Main Quest: To do my physio/ corrective workouts as prescribed without deviation for the six weeks. I will record every workout and resist the temptation to push myself beyond my workouts and allow my body to recover and grow strong before I prepare for the zombie apocalypse. God help me if it comes before I can run again though... Quest 1: Within the next 24 hours I will contact the Kung Fu school I have been looking at for the last fortnight or so and book an introductory lesson... AFTER first explaining to them my limits. I will attend a minimum of two lessons per week and practise on my days off. Quest 2: I will improve my cooking so that my (mostly) Paleo meals actually taste good. I am a terrible cook although I have mastered the esoteric art of making crackling on Pork Belly. Motivation: I want to do Parkour and I want to study Tiger Claw Kung Fu. To do this to the best of my abilities I need to have a body I can depend upon and that will not injure easily like it has in the past. And I want to be ready on the off chance I am called to be Batman. I am 37 so I still have plenty of time to do the above and save Gotham. P.s. I'm pretty keen on becoming Batman. Just thought I'd throw it out there

I was pretty good about a year ago, I was planning on moving together with my 2-years boyfriend, I had a job and was planning a trip through Europe with one of my friends... so I decided I wanted to FINALLY start taking exercise seriously. I joined a gym, started aikido classes and it felt great. I even joined one 6-week challenge and was ready to SLAY IT. And then, 2 weeks later, everything started to crumble. I was taking a weekend off with my boyfriend at the coast, and after a great day at the beach I took a shower. And when I came out of the bathroom, I discovered that he were trying to check the conversations in my phone. This is a big no-no for me. Long before we even were dating, we talked about how that exact thing happened to me in a previous relationship. Also, it wasn't the first time either, he knew that I wouldn't be happy at all. So I broke up with him. A week later, cleaning at home, I twisted my hand and my chronic tendinitis hit back HARD. Almost a year later I am still recovering. So I quitted aikido, because martial arts with one hand are basically martial arts without half your body. Now, I know I should have gone to the gym and done other activities, but I thought I would recover in a few weeks, so I just waited. I could still be waiting for all that matters haha With that landscape I already was demotivated. I was lucky because I still had a few friends and went out once per week or so, but I started to fall slowly in any other aspects in my life. I was pretty happy because I quickly realized that breaking up with that guy were totally for the best (I'm omitting a lot of s**t here, take my word), but I still felt like a chair with a broken leg. So my job went down too. Now, the good thing is I started using twitter more. This may sound as a terrible thing because it's a productivity killer, but actually I met a group of great people that reaaally aligned with my values, my interests and my vision of life. Thanks to that, we became good friends and we can actually discuss the things that really matter to us, and it made us grow (intelectually and emotionally) a lot. I started a masters degree and started to work again. Nowadays I am finally taking my business seriously. I am also (slowly) changing my diet towards a vegan diet and so far it has been a success. I'm starting to feel like a phoenix (sorry European constitution obligates me to insert here Conchita Wurst's song) and I want to exercise again! I want to feel strong and fit and (of course) sexy again. So I will start really slow with easy bodyweight and aerobic exercises. TL;DR: I went from: - job, boyfriend, almost moving together, exercising, to - no job, no boyfriend, severe injury and therefore no exercise... and then back to - better job, studying again, still single but better than ever, major diet changes and injury almost recovered. Ready to slowly start exercising again and RISE LIKE A PHOENIX

Alright folks, I'll begin my battle-log here, as it seems I have been able to begin my training again. A brief story regarding my injury and return to lifting can be found here: The best crunch sound my body has ever made. Before my injury, I weighed in at 231 pounds as of the last record in my calorie tracker. My lifts were roughly Squat at 385, Deadlift 495, Bench 265. Yes, lopsided, I know. Today I weighed in at 178 pounds. A loss of about 12 pounds since my most recent re-injury. Friday's workout was Squat and Deadlift. 275 5x5 on squat, 315 2x5 on deadlift. Will probably back both of these down while I continue to focus on rehabilitating my back and shoulders. Goal is to have a program in place by the end of this week to get me to the upcoming challenge. Right now I am just throwing weight on the bar based on feel. Very scientific. Today I did incline bench press. Managed 5x10 at 95lbs. This was frustrating for me, but I really have to take it slow. Followed it up with a lot of cable column accessories: rear delt retractions, front and side delt raises, external rotations at the elbow, all at around 20-25 pounds. Moved on to biceps, 4x15 at 80 pounds, superset with triceps for the same reps and weight with no rest between. Ended with a dropset for biceps ranging from 70-25lbs for toomanyreps. Short term goals- get back to a point where I can train overhead press. Right now doing even the bar feels slightly unstable, so I will likely stay with incline until I can finish building up support. Also would like to increase body weight back up over 200 pounds. Eating at a maintenance of ~2500 right now, but will increase to roughly 2750 as soon as I have a program roughly mapped out. Finally, I'd like to keep up my running on off days. Just around 2 miles a day. As the next challenge date gets closer, I will set out a more specific set of six week goals, but this is the rough direction I am heading. Thanks for reading, Mr. B

End Game Goal: Take little rose prince running with me this summer in an injury free maner. Mid term goal: Charity Bike ride SMART GOALS! 1. Battle the dark monster (Maintain balance physically and mentally. I get very grumpy every winter, i think its from lack of sun i go to work in the dark and get home in the dark) - New thing=use eliptical or run twice a week, balance with spin classes -walk at work 3 days a week 15-20mins. (this did not work last challange) 2. Train for the Journey (this will be my third year. I'm riding in memory of my dad who passed away from ALS donate here Train for the Cape Cod Gettaway 2015, 150mile road bike for charity="its not a race") -New thing= stretch those hips once a day -Spin class once a week, start/increase when ready Will now be upping this to twice a week 3. Don't eat horse meat. (eat well, eat even) -New thing= eat carbs earlier in the day vs. at dinner -Eat enough -I'm giving up sugar for lent* *what’s sugar? Well if it’s got added sugar then it’s off limits, So fruit is ok but sweetened dried fruit is not *One sugar packet or 2 sugar cubes in my morning coffee being the exception Things to Continue- -go to sleep before 10pm, wake up at 5am, 7am on weekends -keep a professional eye on my injuries, go to doctors and physical therapy as needed -Yoga on mondays -After lent: high impact carbs only once a week (sugar in my coffee being the exception) -continue to take iron supplement and vitamin D From Last challange Reward: Visit Rohan (take a horse riding class/session ) I've always wanted to do this its expensive but very modivating. I'll have to save up for this as part of my challange. ( will be waiting till spring to go horse back riding)

Okay so it's way past my bedtime but I wanted to set this up before I turn in. I have decided to lose weight. After a long journey of self image metamorphosis, I decided it's time I actually lost weight. Not get stronger, not get healthier, not get more skilled. Get thinner. Smaller. Lose weight. Don't get me wrong, all those things too, I'm not going to throw away everything I've learned in this journey. But I decided it's time to focus on my weight. It took me 13 kilos (29 pounds) to get here, since I quit smoking two and a half years ago. I have been exercising to find myself, to keep my mental health in balance, to discover the pleasure of sport, to learn how to lift weight. Well, now I want to lose some weight. Yes, I know it's mainstream, but it's just something I have to do. I took some unflattering pictures of my belly in order to express what's been bugging me. I'm not really sure how to go about it. I have half a plan, which means I'm not completely clueless about what to do to exercise-wise. And I know I have to eat less, but I don't have a concrete plan yet. All I know is no low-carb (tried and got seriously sick), no paleo, no primal, no making this more complicated than it should be. I also don't know how to recruit accountability and help through NFR, but here I am. Step one, check.

Reward: Visit Rohan (take a horse riding class/session) I've always wanted to do this its expensive but very modivating. I'll have to save up for this as part of my challange. End Game Goal: Take little rose prince running with me this summer in an injury free maner. SMART GOALS! 1. Battle the dark monster (Maintain balance physically and mentally. I get very grumpy every winter, i think its from lack of sun i go to work in the dark and get home in the dark) -walk at work 3 days a week 15-20mins. -go to sleep before 10pm, wake up at 5am, 7am on weekends -keep a professional eye on my injuries, go to doctors and physical therepy as needed 2. Train for the Journey (this will be my third year. I'm riding in memory of my dad who passed away from ALS donate here Train for the Cape Cod Gettaway 2015, 150mile road bike for charity="its not a race") -Yoga on mondays -Spin class once a week, start/increase when ready 3. Don't eat horse meat. (eat well, eat even) -Eat enough -high impact carbs only once aweek (sugar in my coffee being the exception)

Hey all, I had a bit of a rough time in my first challenge since I got in a car accident in the middle of it! Now I'm ready to get back into things and make this challenge better than the first! My Challenges: #1 Go Climbing Once a Week--I was doing well with this until the accident. My main challenge is that I have not yet found another steady partner to do top rope with. I hope I can make that connection this time. #2 Lift Weights Once a Week -- With particular focus on building towards unassisted pull-ups and dips. #3 Get back on track with the South Beach diet --Back to Phase 1 for 10 days, then Phase 2 until the end of the challenge. Bonus Activity: Go swimming. I love swimming. I love the water. I always seem to forget this when I'm outside the water.... Life Quest: Go read a book! For as much as I love reading, I REALLY don't make time for it. I will read something in printed form (book, graphic novel, non-vapid magazine) for 15 minutes 5 days a week. I'll try to flesh this out more later...

Hey Guys! Hope you all are well and having a good day so far. I want to ask a injury related question, but didnt know where exactly to ask so here it is. It is Crossfit related. I have been doing Crossfit for second month now so i am a newbie when it comes to it. I was doing toes to the bar the other few weeks ago, practicing on it and getting somewhere, when i noticed a slight shoulder discomfort on the right side. It is mostly when i hang on the bar and try to do the kippings or any kind of pull up movements or when i raise my arm upright, i feel the tension where the ligament lies i think. Today we did another wod that included toes to the bar and it seems like its worse now. I have been applying cream and stretching the shoulders, which help a little but not for so long. Sometimes when I am warmed up, i dont feel the discomfort until the end or if the wod goes on for long time. I am proud that i RX my workout when it comes to toes to the bar, but i feel that its taxing on my shoulder. Should i stop doing them for a while? Why and what is happening? Also, any tips on how to stop bad rips on my hands appear when doing toes to the bar? I do shave my calluses and apply cream to moisturize them but it doesnt seem to help. Any tips would be really appreciated guys! Thanks a lot Romana

Hi fellow rebels Sorry for the absence but I had some issues lately Tons of work, kids you know.... but I managed to keep on training kickboxing till Dec 23th. Then the Piriformis syndrome got me. Long story short... it's a pain in the ass. Probavly , in the search of the perfect head kick, I over stretched the Piriformis muscle and now I had trouble even laying in bed. Today I'm gonna check the doctor and will see if I can handle with some medications or stop training for a longer period. On the 27th of Jan I also have a minor surgery that will prevent me form any training for a 2 to 3 weeks time frame. Not the best time to take a fitness challenge? I don't think so... So I'll focus on wis and int for this challenge: Reading I have a ton of books to read. Breaking Bad had sucked up all my free free time in the past few weeks and now that I have seen it all I can go back to some good book. the goal is 4 books in the 6 weeks: a technical book ( work stuff) a martial artsr elated book ( probably A warrior Mind that is laying in my kindle since ages) a fantasy book ( Night of the hunter ) wis +2 int +1 Writing I have a lot of draft in my blog that needs to be published. The bare minimum is 3 every 2 weeks. Let's see what happen Int +2 Meditating Along with a routine that would help my piriformis to recover I wanna wake up early to meditate for 10 minutes 6 days a week Wis +2 Eating After a huge feasting during holidays me and my wife are going to embrace a (paleo) zone diet. I do not have to loose any significant weight . I choose zone diet just for balance with macro nutrients and an easy way to check I'm eating enough Con +2 Training I'll find a routine that do not stress the lower part of my body. Suggestions are welcome. Str +2 Cross your fingers fellow rebels!

2 workouts down and my elbow and shoulder are not giving me any crap, though my shoulder does feel a lot weaker than everything else, but that will pass with time. Here's to not overdoing it again! :-D

Hi All, I've read Steve's post on becoming antifragile, and a lot of it rings true for me. Unfortunately, the parts that I can relate to are the parts about feeling fragile. I've spent the last couple of months trying to fix this, but today I feel even more fragile than ever, even though I think I'm doing everything right. Here are my stats/lifestyle choices: Age: 28 Height: 6'0" Weight: 149 Diet: Pretty solid, low carb/high fat with very little cheating. Lately I've been trying to eat more since I've always had trouble gaining weight, and I'm up 3-4 pounds over the last month or two. Sleep: I regularly sleep 8+ hours a night Exercise: I do yoga almost every day, foam roll often, I'm working through Becoming a Supple Leopard, I lift 3x per week (Stronglifts), I do 150 push-ups a day, I go to Taekwondo twice a week, and I'm in the middle of week 4 of the 7 Weeks to 50 Pull-ups program. I'm also training for GORUCK events by doing the occasional ruck march with 40+ pounds on my back. I always try to warm up before workouts, but if I'm being honest I tend to cut this short. Injuries: I've been dealing with ITBS for a while, but it's mostly under control. In October of last year I hurt myself, and it ended up being diagnosed as piriformis syndrome. I went to a Chiropractor for a few weeks, PT for ~5 weeks, and got a few massages over the past four months. My piriformis is at about 80-90% now, but my back is still giving me trouble. This past Sunday I did a group workout to help prepare for an upcoming GORUCK Challenge, which involved a 6.5 mile ruck march with 40+ pounds, followed by an hour of calisthenics with our rucks on. After that workout and through today my back is killing me. Bending over to touch my toes hurts, and mobility is definitely decreased. Basically I feel like I'm doing everything I can to stay healthy, but every time I do a hard workout my body feels destroyed for days. Is this just part of getting older, or is there some step I'm missing? Any advice would be much appreciated! -Jonathan

Hi! I'm 0gravity I'm starting a log here to keep all of my things in one place. A short intro - I'm a 35 year old guy who just trying to stay in shape. Bouldering is my sport, and I spend more time doing that than any other physical activity. I have specific goals and training techniques specifically to improve at bouldering, which you will see below eventually. I also until very recently weight trained regularly, and recently I have switched into trying to develop specific bodyweight only skills such as the handstand, and have left the weights behind for now. I was climbing pretty well in the Fall, then I had elective surgery in November to remove hardwear from my ankle. I was unable to climb for four weeks, and now I have been climbing indoors for four weeks, after four more weeks (February 15) of climbing indoors I will be able to climb outside again. My work hours are a big obstacle to me. Currently I work 3AM to 3 PM, three days a week. In March, I will be switching to the opposite shift, 3PM to 3AM. I think this will be much better for me and involve less caffeine and hateful alarm clocks. My short term goals (by February 15 - taken from the challenge thread) 1. Complete a v6 indoors updated: Complete a v7 indoors 2. Campus 1-5-9 (metolius spacing) - each side - will explain later updated: Campus 1-6-10 both sides 3. Complete sets of 5x5seconds of m4/m4 and 35slope/35slope on beastmaker 1 hangboard - again needs explanation, later 4. advanced tuck front lever x10 seconds 5. one arm lockoff x10 seconds each side 6. freestanding handstand x15 seconds 7. tuck planche x10 seconds 8. wall headstand pushups x5 with full ROM 9. pistols x5 each side 10. Run 5Km in <30 minutes Medium term goals - (by April 1) 1. Finish Pow Pow (v8), at the Sad Boulders, which has been my project off and on for years Long term goals - (by 12/31/15) 1. Planet of the Apes (v6), Joe's Valley 2. Gibbs Cave (v8), Squamish 2. Finish Soul Slinger (v9) at the Buttermilk Epic Goals (any time, but if I don't get them by ~age 45, most of these will never happen) Stained Glass (v10), Bishop Xavier's Roof (v11), Bishop Mandala (v12), Bishop Spectre (v13), Bishop Midnight Lightning (v8), Yosemite Valley The Orb (v8), Rocktown The Shield (v12), Little Rock City Karma (v11), Fontainebleau Rainbow Rocket (v11), Fontainebleau Duel (v11), Fontainebleau Shosholoza (v12), Rocklands

So I started using Nerd Fitness, probably around April. I used that in conjunction with a running program to get into shape. There weren't any crazy remarkable results, I mean, I lost some weight, looked a bit thinner, felt more energized, and slept better, but nothing like a total transformation. What I did like was that there was progress. I had noticeable results that kept me going to the gym. Unfortunately, about 2 months ago, I sprained my ankle pretty bad, turns out I tore some ligaments. Needless to say I haven't been to the gym since. My ankle is still not ready to run, in fact, I still have trouble walking sometimes. What I really want to know, is how do I keep going? What do I do without the use of my ankle? Most of the Nerd Fitness workouts involve me doing squats, lunges, or even doing stuff like rotational chops. I don't want to lose everything I've done, although i feel i may have already, but I don't know how to do this.

This is my first challange. I'd really like to be training for a half marathon right now, but due to a foot injury I've had to stop nearly all work outs for the last 3 months , So I'm going to take it slow and build core strenght while NOT injuring myself. 1) My main quest will be building muscle, while learning about weight lifting. Sub Goal 1) Build up to weight lifting 3 time a week.Sub Goal 2) Track each one of my work outs on on paper so i can see my progress.Sub Goal 3) Take a class at my gym at least once a week. 2) SIDE QUEST: Reasurch cash envelop budgeting system.3) DECLARE YOUR MOTIVATION: Take my little guy jogging this summer.

So - about a month ago I went lifting with some friends in a different gym than my own. I'm not sure what happened - I blame the bodybuilding vibe - but something I did during that session made my lower back hate me for a while. This was very frustrating as I was in the final week before testing my 1RM DL after 16 weeks of this program. I could still be active - cycling and so on - but any lifting made my back sore again so I went cold turkey for a few weeks. I've started doing some light, core-and-arms focused workouts in the last ten days (dips, Turkish get ups, farmer's walks) and my back is still a tiny bit niggly but getting better all the time. I don't want to start DLing heavy again until I'm 100% happy with my back, but when I do, any advice on where to restart the program related to the time I've had to take off - one week back in the program for every week off? How do you decide where to restart after an injury?

Not sure if this is the right forum or not, but anyway..... Have hurt my shoulder, actually did it a month ago but have been working through it til now. I think it needs to be rested now though. I did it either doing incline bench or dips, not sure which as it didn't flare up properly until the workout was done. Its some sort of rotator cuff injury. Whether its a tear, tendonitus or impingement i'm not quite sure. I need to register with a doctor after moving house so appointment there will be about 3 weeks I will be going so please don't just say "go to a doctor" Getting the bar on my back is painful on the shoulder during squats, but it is possible. Should i stop squatting because its painful or carry on as its not really weight bearing on the shoulder? Deadlifts and rows seem totally fine, but if i need to stop all lifting to get it better quicker then i will. If you can't do a decent lifting routine then what do you to prevent from losing strength while you rest up? I guess i'll have to go back to boring cardio for a while too. For anyone with good shoulder knowledge: The painful arc test is not that painful, sort of dull ache. Which i believe suggests not a tear Neer's test hurts, which suggests impingement, but its a lot more painful with palm facing inwards than outwards. I'm not sure what that means. Thanks

So the injury I got in the last challenge while carrying yoke finally got fully assessed by my Doctor, and after a few rounds of looking, it turns out I broke a vertebrae (T2) which is way more dramatic sounding than it is. The first week after the break was agony, but I feel pretty much normal now, but am officially sidelined for a few more weeks. After feeling pretty good and thinking it was a muscle thing, I had gone back to lifting at about 80%, which was probably not too smart, but last week I got a cold which really made me just stop, so I think my body may be telling me to slow down a little. I will follow up with goals soon once I figure out what I am doing, but it will probably sound like trying to cut more body fat by eating really well, getting healthy with lots of sleep and doing all the doctor stuff (CT scan next, and all the insurance stuff is such a pain!) and doing a lot of body weight work. I'll be doing a lot of work travel during this challenge which always makes things exciting as well.

Making it simple and specific because I’ve had trouble keeping on track lately. Normally, I focus more on fitness, because that’s fun, while diet is a necessary annoyance. I like my cake as much as I like running J. However, I’m currently almost back to my highest weight, and barely fit into my size 14 pants. The good news is last time I was at this weight, I was barely fitting into a size 16, so I’ve gained a fair amount of muscle. The bad news is at my lowest, size 12 jeans were comfortable, and I was 15 pounds lighter. I’d like to be back in the 12s, or even down to a 10, which hasn’t happened since high school. So I’m going to focus on actually losing weight. Diet: I get the best results when I record what I’m eating: that way, cookies can’t sneak in a be forgotten an hour later. So number one goal is to record what I eat on weekdays, and record all desserts on weekends. As far as food guidelines go, I know that eating a diet high in protein and low in carbs is the most effective way to lose weight without being hungry. Record all meals during the week, and all desserts and slip-ups during the weekend. I use MyFitnessPal. Cook healthy meals high in lean protein and veggies at least twice a week: Make leftovers. Weekend: plan for meals: don’t just graze all day. Exercise: My favorite activities are running, hiking, and yoga. At the moment, I’ve got a slightly injured Achilles tendon, so running is limited. I’ll be slowly reintroducing it, assuming it doesn’t make my ankle hurt more. The yoga class I had been attending got canceled, so I’ve been using videos. I miss the actual class, but haven’t looked too hard for a new one due to financial reasons. Do yoga at least 1 hour a week, either as 1 long session, or two shorter ones. Add running back in slowly, starting with 1 or 2 days a week. Walk or hike when running isn’t an option. Record exercise.Motivational: Post on Nerd Fitness every day. Even if it’s just a sentence to say I don’t have time to post more. Life: Play music every day. I’ve been mostly singing lately. I sing in a local chorus, and also play fiddle (thus my name). I want to combine the two. Specific Goal: Learn to sing Big Yellow Taxi while accompanying myself on the fiddle. It’s a three chord song, and I already know the lyrics. I’m going to post a video of myself by the end of the challenge, ready or not. Of course, if I decide it’s really not ready, I reserve the right to take it down after the first week J.

Here is my respawn story: I start everything with good intentions, I have an idea, it's not unrealistic but it's never easy. I make a plan and then I fall off. and then the shame and guilt sets in and I want to hide under a rock to avoid dealing with the people I so proudly told my goals and now I have to tell them I fell off the wagon. Now this time I made a huge goal and told people, and now I am super embarrassed, (if you have been following my challenges then you'll know this already) I want to join the Royal Canadian Mountain Police. Whoot! but I need to get in shape, because well it's difficult to be a cop and be overweight... So here's what happened: My husband has been working nights, and my roommate is super sabotaging, so besides the wonderful people here, I am doing this alone. I really don't want to eat by myself anymore, it gets lonely. I am really really lonely. So I start to emotional eat because I miss my husband and my friends are not very supportive. I just have been finding any excuse to crawl under the blankets and watch Gillmore Girls. I also has injured myself 2 weeks ago and did minimal workouts as I could not do anything more than that, but then when it came time to get back into it, I just didn't do it. So.. repawning in 3..2...1 I need to get my rear in gear because I hate my job and all the drama bullshit that comes with it. I want to be that lady that goes to the opera and attends fancy wine tastings ( I love that crap) but I also want to be the lady who kicks bad guy butt and arrests them! I noticed my weight loss in a physical way earlier this week and it was jaw dropping (I may have gained it all back this week, or at least some of it) I knew I had lost the lbs, but I couldn't SEE the difference, until this past Monday. I couldn't believe how good I felt and I let that feeling go. I need to get back on the train and stop eating out and go back to the gym, I always felt amazing. My problems are emotional, not physical. So I need to deal with the emotions, instead of bottling it up and then binge eating a tub of ice cream while I cry. I started my respawn by finally sharing my dream with my family and was overjoyed that they took it quite well, and have been thus far, very encouraging. I also have made plans to meet up with friends (no negative friends and no fitness brought into it so that they can't say boo), I think this will help alleviate how lonely I feel. I also need to start being active again when I do see hubby twice a week so that it doesn't start the trend of not doing anything all week too, back to the dog park and I will just have to bundle up against the cold.