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Hey all, longtime reader, first time poster here. I hit the halfway mark on the 60 Day PLP Challenge, and I'm feeling great! I never thought I could do 40 pullups, and it's surprising to me every day I do one more. I'm so glad I found this site! With the help of Nerd Fitness, I eat better, look better and feel better. I've attached my before and during photos. Each one was taken right after my workout. Along with the PLP Challenge, I'm also doing a workout routine of squats with weights, bent over dumbbell rows, dumbbell bench press, and 4 1-minute long planks. I was never athletic growing up. I'm a movie and music nerd. I was in concert band, marching band, and jazz band all throughout school. After working my 9-5, I used to love just sitting around finding new music and watching movies. Now, exercising is included on that list, thanks to Nerd Fitness. Woot! Thanks for reading, B

Ok, finally managed to take a couple form check videos where enough of me might be visible enough to critique. Squat: http://vid1368.photobucket.com/albums/ag163/eewallace/2014-10-9-squat_zps8977d57d.mp4 Pushup: http://vid1368.photobucket.com/albums/ag163/eewallace/2014-10-9-pushup_zpsedf9ce33.mp4 Standing lunge: http://vid1368.photobucket.com/albums/ag163/eewallace/2014-10-9-lunge_zps4be516ff.mp4 Squats have felt pretty good. That front view one looks a little wide, but I think my knees are at least tracking ok; it's a little hard to tell without a better view of my feet, though. I didn't realize until I made the pushup video how much I was bending my neck over to look down toward my feet. Does the first one at least look ok? Lunges have felt a bit off as long as I've been doing them, though better since I've focused more on staying upright. Looks from the video like I'm stepping a bit across my body instead of straight forward, which probably isn't ideal. Anything else wrong there? I completely forgot to get a side view of the lunge to check upper body position, but can do a new one tomorrow if it's needed to give proper advice.

And we're back with another challenge from our fine sponsors. During this challenge, looking at my workout records, I will level up a lot of the exercises I am currently doing. A few months ago, I set up a level hierarchy for the body weight exercises I've been doing. So far, for most of them, I'm still on level one, except for leg exercises, where I'm at level 2. But for most of my level 1 exercises, I'm very close to my "magic numbers" of reps and sets (12 reps per set). And that's just one part of my challenge. Here's what I hope to accomplish this go-round. Goal 1: Fitness: Level up many exercises +3 STR, +1 DEX, +2 STA Here I'll list my current exercises and the ones I'll graduate to. I plan on keeping this updated throughout the challenge so people will know where I'm at. If I'm able to level up 4 exercises, I will give myself full marks. If not, I will scale attribute points accordingly. There are some in this list that I know I won't advance in (both types of planks), but I'll list them here anyways as added motivation. Also, you'll notice that I still have assisted pull ups on the list, even though I got my pull up in last challenge. This is because I want to be consistent and graduate my way fully off of these, continuing to build strength. For this reason, I'll also continue to rock the negative pull ups. LEVEL UP PROGRESS: 50% Pushups (Level 1) --> Decline Pushups (Level 2)Diamond Pushups (Level 1) --> Pike/Jackknife Pushups (Level 2)Assisted Pull ups (Level 1) --> Chin ups/Pull ups (Level 2)Assisted Pistol Squats (Level 2) --> Pistol Squats (Level 3)Squat/Lunge Combo (Level 2) --> Bulgarian Split Squats (Level 3)Side Planks (Level 1) --> Knees to Elbows (Level 2)Planks (Level 1) --> One and one planks (Level 2) *My threshold for leveling up an exercise is 4 sets of 12 for rep exercises, and 120 seconds for timed exercises. *For assisted pull ups, I move on from a weight offset once I hit 12 at that weight, and add a lesser weight to the bottom.Goal 2: Body Fat % Down to 25% or less +1 CON, +2 WIS This has been an overarching goal of mine since the end of last year. I have had this goal in mind for every challenge I've participated in, but up until now, I've set myself mini-goals to make this one more achievable. Well, it's finally within reach. When I started tracking body fat the day after Christmas last year, I was just over 32%, so reaching this goal will be a huge victory. And, of course, if I can go further down during the challenge, I certainly will. Starting BF%: 26.06%Will reduce by at least 1.06% to get to 25% or less Goal 3: Lose 1" from around my waist +2 CHA Getting to 38" around the largest part of my belly has also been an overarching goal for awhile. And this one is also now within reach. Starting measurement: 39"Goal measurement: 38" Life Quest: Play guitar for at least 5 minutes, 5 times a week Research and purchase a car +2 DEX, +1 STA, +1 CHA Last challenge, I think I was a little overzealous trying to play for up to 2 hours a week, especially considering my workload. 5 minutes a day is a lot more easily doable and is much easier to scale up if i'm really enjoying what I'm doing. My car has been starting up very rough, sometimes taking a good few minutes to actually get it up and running. This has been exacerbated by the fact that the weather has become much colder (thanks, almost-winter!). It is also very old (21 years), so it's probably time. My goal is to get a car that is model year 2005 or newer, that gets good gas mileage, is very reliable and not expensive to fix/run, and is going to last me for a good long time (read: I will drive it into the ground). COMPLETED 9th December! So there you have it. Check back tomorrow for my initial weigh-in numbers.

Ok, so I just started the need fitness challenge (the one with 20 hand-in-front squats and 20 lunges) and my anterior thigh is starting to be pretty sore. I'm pretty sure I'm using the right technique. Anyone have ideas on stretches to help that area? Thanks! Bryan