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YOU AND WHAT ARMY? Time to get back on the road! Of course, there's something between us and our destination. Rather a lot of somethings... Between the Assassin Fellowship and an orc army, anyone with half a brain would bet on the Fellowship, right? HOW TO PLAY: For this mini, we'll be fighting orcs with swords and bows! To perform a lunging sword or ax strike, do a jumping lunge. To draw your bow or crossbow and loose an arrow or bolt, do a pull-up.For purposes of this challenge, you may count any pull-up progression variant that is suitably challenging for you. Honor system, please. Dumbbell or barbell rows are fine, as are negatives, assisted pull-ups, and even scapular pulls, if this is your current level. Please don't do thousands of scapular pulls if you can do a full pull-up, okay?Please perform jumping lunges unless you cannot jump. If and only if you cannot jump, walking lunges are an acceptable substitution. No other substitutions will be accepted.The one exception to the above is if you have an injury that means you cannot do either pulling exercises or lunges safely. If this is your situation, please PM starsapart and get an alternative exercise. If you can do one but not the other, that's fine - do the one you CAN perform.15 sword/ax strikes (lunges) = 1 dead orc. 5 arrows/bolts fired (pull-ups) = 1 dead orc. The spreadsheet does the math so please just enter reps.RACE BONUS IN PLAY! Because humans are particularly versatile in battle, they've got an edge (har har) when it comes to sword strikes. For humans, it takes only 10 sword blows to kill an orc instead of 15.SELECT YOUR CHAMPION! Each team will volunteer one champion for a PVP battle against the Orc squad leaders. Please enter the champion's name in the spreadsheet... details of the PVP are forthcoming in the next few days, so no, you won't know what you'll be doing when you sign up.The teams that perform best on this task will earn additional prestige, helping them make their case for being the worthiest of all races... thus bringing their champion one step closer to delivering the Ring to Mount Doom. This mini-challenge lasts until SUNDAY 11:59PM EST... so get to it. >>HUNT SOME ORC<< Still need to sign up for a team? PM starsapart to be assigned. Normal Mini-Challenge Rules: - Mini-challenges are not mandatory, feel free to ignore this one if you don't want to participate. Don't let mini-challenges hinder your own goals. - If you're not sure how to register something, post it here. - Keep it simple! - Don't hurt yourself! Every Assassin who competes in this mini-challenge gets +1 CON for standing against the orcs! Assassins, remember to be safe and have fun!

EVEN HEROES NEED TO RELAX All this traveling sure is wearying. Fortunately, the Mines of Moria are now behind us, and we've got some very fine hosts caring for us while we recover from too many push-ups our hard-won battle. Before we continue on our journey, it's time to decompress and regain our energy. You must know by now what this means that it's time for... Wait. No. That's not it. Actually, it's time for some some yoga. Competitive yoga, because we are Assassins. HOW TO PLAY: For this mini, we will be completing yoga videos. Here is the list of selected videos, by level:Beginner:Yoga for the Upper BackBeginners' Yoga for Leg Strength​Intermediate:Happy HamstringsFlow to Side CrowBalancing Backbends​Advanced:​Power for Deep ReleaseRise to PowerParticipants are limited to completing ONE yoga video/class per day. That means the maximum number per person would be 7.You may repeat the same video as many times as you like, or do a different video every day. Please take care of yourself and stay safe. Some of these do involve advanced asanas that are not suitable for every level of practitioner. If you get into a video and it is too difficult, feel free to make modifications to keep the experience safe and enjoyable for yourself. In most cases, the teacher in the video will suggest alternatives.​​All videos are between 20-40 minutes long. If you take a yoga class/do another video of at least 20+ minutes, you may count it towards the goal in place of the above.HOWEVER, anyone who completes the exact 7 listed above (without substitutions) may award themselves an additional completion bonus.RACE BONUS IN PLAY! Because elves are already pretty at home here in Rivendell, each video for team elf will count for 1.5 points instead of 1. Completion bonus is still worth 1 point each.The teams that perform best on this task will earn additional prestige, helping them make their case for being the worthiest of all races... thus bringing their champion one step closer to delivering the Ring to Mount Doom. This mini-challenge lasts until SUNDAY 11:59PM EST... so get to it. >>DO AS THE LOCALS DO<< Still need to sign up for a team? PM starsapart to be assigned. Normal Mini-Challenge Rules: - Mini-challenges are not mandatory, feel free to ignore this one if you don't want to participate. Don't let mini-challenges hinder your own goals. - If you're not sure how to register something, post it here. - Keep it simple! - Don't hurt yourself! Every Assassin who competes in this mini-challenge gets +1 CHA for being a good guest! Assassins, remember to be safe and have fun!

IT'S DANGEROUS TO GO ALONE! Our initial hike behind us, it is time to enter the Mines of Moria. Lovely this time of year, certainly - time for a pleasant stroll, because nothing dangerous could possibly ever hap- -pen. Or not. It seems we're not alone down here! Well, you know what this means......... TIME TO FIGHT! HOW TO PLAY: For this mini, we'll be fighting Balrog! There will be two exercises available: one for attacking and one for dodging. To attack Balrog, do a push-up. To dodge a blow, do a squat.For purposes of this challenge, you may count any squat or push-up variant that is suitably challenging for you. Honor system, please. You may do squats with weight, but each rep still counts as one rep, regardless of the extra weight you added. You may not substitute bench press for push-ups.The one exception is if you have an injury that means you cannot do either squats or push-ups safely. If this is your situation, please PM starsapart and get an alternative exercise. If you can do one but not the other, that's fine - do the one you CAN perform and work with your teammates to balance the blows and dodges.Your team will have to do both attacks and dodges to earn points. For each attack point, a dodge point must also be entered, or the attack point will not count. The amount of damage you deal will therefore be dependent on your number of dodges as well as your number of attacks.RACE BONUS IN PLAY! Because dwarves are short more accustomed to fighting underground, they have an easier time dodging in this battle. Each squat for team dwarf will count for 1.5 points instead of 1.The teams that perform best on this task will earn additional prestige, helping them make their case for being the worthiest of all races... thus bringing their champion one step closer to delivering the Ring to Mount Doom. This mini-challenge lasts until SUNDAY 11:59PM EST... so get to it. >>BLOW AWAY BALROG<< Still need to sign up for a team? PM starsapart to be assigned. Normal Mini-Challenge Rules: - Mini-challenges are not mandatory, feel free to ignore this one if you don't want to participate. Don't let mini-challenges hinder your own goals. - If you're not sure how to register something, post it here. - Keep it simple! - Don't hurt yourself! Every Assassin who competes in this mini-challenge gets +1 STR for fighting their way through the Mines! Assassins, remember to be safe and have fun!

SIMPLY DOING THE IMPOSSIBLE! Clearly, he doesn't know us very well. We Assassins "simply" do the impossible every single day. This week, though, our quest is deceptively easy. How does one get to Mordor? By walking, of course. Shhhhh..... we don't logic here. HOW TO PLAY: It doesn't get much simpler than this: walk and track your distance.For purposes of this challenge, you may count ONLY walking. No running, jogging, biking, swimming, rowing, flying....... etc.The one exception is if you have a lower body injury that means you cannot walk safely. If this is your situation, please PM starsapart and get an alternative exercise.If you have a pedometer and are tracking your steps over the course of your day, that's fine - just translate into miles or kilometers. Otherwise, count treadmill distance, walking around your neighborhood after second-breakfast distance... anything is game.There are no race bonuses for this mini challenge.The teams that perform best on this task will earn additional prestige, helping them make their case for being the worthiest of all races... thus bringing their champion one step closer to delivering the Ring to Mount Doom. This mini-challenge lasts until SUNDAY 11:59PM EST... so get to it. >>PUT ON YOUR WALKING SHOES<< Still need to sign up for a team? PM starsapart to be assigned. Normal Mini-Challenge Rules: - Mini-challenges are not mandatory, feel free to ignore this one if you don't want to participate. Don't let mini-challenges hinder your own goals. - If you're not sure how to register something, post it here. - Keep it simple! - Don't hurt yourself! Every Assassin who competes in this mini-challenge gets +1 STA for helping carry the Ring to Mordor! Assassins, remember to be safe and have fun!

Hey, as promised here comes the Druid book of Dragons. Feel free to post a picture or description of your Dragon. You can also add some habits etc etc. All those who participate in the Minichallenge are Dragon Trainees now! Rules will follow if necessary

Druids! The time has come to start a new mini-challenge. As always, you participate only to the extent that you wish, this is just to inspire and spice things up a bit during the ordinary challenge. Last time we did it differently, the consciousnesschallenge was very reflecting and introspective and it was amazing to share your thoughts there. This time we're inspired by all the friendships that exist here, we're all so different and yet we gather here and share highs and lows. Just like in the TV series Friends: For those of you that don't remember ( surely most of you do ?! ) ; here's a short description: Ross would be the nerdy nerd, interested in dinosaurs, shy and awkward but at the same time lovable and loving enough to get married all the time Monica would be the OCD nerd who has so many hangups regarding cleaning, organizing and how things SHOULD be in general.A´she somehow combines that with being a sun that the others are revolving around Phoebe would be the Druid, whimsical and just weird in general, interested in massage and a firm believer in parapsychological phenomena such as her mother reincarnating as a cat. As a contrast to that she used to live on the streets and knows how to defend herself very well. Joey would be the cool and happy nerd, with a massive passion for food (and women). There are so many things he doesn't know, and that's quite alright. He also has experience from being a tv-star. Rachel would be the passionate nerd, with an overflowing heart and a massive interest in fashion. Somehow she always manages to get herself into, and out of, embarrassing situations. Last but not least there's Chandler, who would be the computer nerd, constantly fighting for a healthier lifestyle - but seldom winning that battle. The master of jokes, and weird faces. And by the way, what is it that Chandler actually does for a living….? Find anyone to identify with? Our Friends all have special qualities, and weaknesses, that will inspire us during the next weeks...

Ok, so I have started this thing where I set small goals to be accomplished in a set number of days. For example: x number of squats in 30 days, x pushup in 100 days, etc. Mini challenges if you will Once each goal is accomplished, I would like to reward myself with a small something and I'm looking for ideas. Since I expect to reward myself often, the reward has to be inexpensive, so I'm wondering : What is your reward? I'll go first, but credit goes to Alice.x. She gave me this idea in her thread: If I do 1000 jumping jacks in 30 days, I'll buy myself some nice underwear.

So, my fellow ranger Katinka and I, were a little panicked by the fact there are two weeks of break before the next challenge begins! Not wanting to risk getting sucked out of the airlock, we thought about running a little mini challenge to keep us motivated until things start up on the 29th! They are not long term goals by any means, and most are meant to be tackled in a day or two, or within the two weeks that we are waiting for the next challenge. Open to everyone, no number limit on who can tag along. Just pop in, say hey and let us know you're joining the fleet by replying to this thread. So let's keep the Vipers in the air and do this! Grabbing onto a BSG theme, the setting is this: The Cylons have just attacked the 12 colonies and the Galactica has jumped away from Caprica. There are some survivors on Caprica still, but the place is crawling with Cylons. The first part of the challenge reflects the escape that Helo and Caprica-Sharon are trying to make. The second and third reflect Starbuck's mission to return to Caprica and retrieve the Arrow of Apollo. (If folks have any other ideas to put up, we can add those as well!) ESCAPING CAPRICA “Avoiding the Cylons†: You are stuck on Caprica with Helo. He doesn’t know you’re a Cylon, and you’ve decided to pick your side. Keep Helo safe by keeping him moving – don’t let the others find and catch you. Keep moving! Walk, run, bike – whatever mode of movement you favor, do it. You cannot let the Cylons reach you. It’s a long haul to get away from them, so don’t look back. Walk at least 6 milesRun at least 10 milesBike at least 25 miles “A Hard Choice†: Roslin has convinced you that the Arrow of Apollo is on Caprica, and that you must disobey the Commander and go back and retrieve it. Pick a previous goal or challenge task, that you did not fully succeed on, and go back to do it again.This is your Arrow of Apollo! “Fighting Number Six†: You have found the Arrow of Apollo but a Six is there to stop you. It will be a brutal fight to overcome the Cylon’s strength and stamina, but the hope of finding Earth is in your hands. Defend it! Push yourself. Pick a task, (physical, mental, or otherwise), and pick one day to push past your usual limits on this. If you typically run 3 miles, run 4. If you deadlift 100#, try to reach 125#. Anything you’ve typically done, do it – but push yourself (safely) as much as you can.

Hey foxy fit Scouty Nerds! Over in the Ranger Guild this week we have a brilliant mini challenge asking us to scout (see what I did there ) a new buddy in another guild who can help us make progress in one of our goals. This led me to you wonderful endurancey/stamina-rich people, as the goal I would like some assistance in is indoor rowing. I've been rowing for a few months now (heading out on the water for the first time in September! ) and have completely fallen in love with it. My goal is simple - at least one rowing training session per week. I'm working on getting my 2k time down, currently 8:16, and would like to go sub 8 minutes (and then beyond, but baby steps Ems!). If anyone has any advice, tips, training programmes, suggestions to help with this I would be very grateful. Virtual high fives will be on offer in abundance, and maybe even an internet hug If interested please drop me a line (challenge link on sig, or PM me). Thank you, and I look forward to learning from your long distance awesomeness! Ems

Dear Monks, I am currently participating in my first six week challenge with all you most excellent nerd fitness folks. I'm a ranger with Monk inclinations and our next mini challenge is to reach out and find an accountability buddy within another guild with a common goal. I am in most desperate need of yoga to center myself, calm my raging anxiety, and stretch out all of my muscles from weight lifting and the pavement pounding of a good run. Won't you be my neighbor in this endeavor? My goal is to spend a minimum of one hour this week practicing yoga. We can break it down into whatever measures that you want. I was thinking of 20 minutes for three days this week, but, and this is important, I'm flexible. Ha, did you see what I did there? I'm most familiar with Ashtanga, but you are the Monk so I will go with whatever form you prefer. Any interest?

Hello! I'm a new Ranger, and as other posts have mentioned here, our mini-challenge is to find someone in another guild who is good at what they do and make noticeable improvement towards our goal. My goals are both vague and concrete (i.e., they're habit building rather than accomplishment-driven), BUT one thing I need help with is developing a good Tai-Chi workout or a new yoga routine that I can do at the park. If you can help me think of a fun and amusing reason why one might have to do said exercise while trying to escape a cave, even better. Part of my challenge is to escape a 300 mile cave full of obstacles, and I'm always looking for new challenges to tackle in that adventure. In return for your help, I will happily cheer you on towards your own goals for at least the length of the challenge and offer whatever assistance I am able to give.

So... I'm new here... And after some prompting I've decided to participate like a good little rebel and do a mini challenge. Here are my goals: Do the Beginner Body Weight Routine three times a week (+3 STR +2 CHA) Eat 50% Paleo, measured per meal in 24 hours (+3 CON) Track my calories every day online - I use myfitnesspal.com or on paper (+2 CHA, +2 WIS) Stay within my budgeted amount for purchasing food and entertainment (+3 WIS) Here I go!

So the Druids have issued an invite to all the other guilds to go play with them for the next week in a mini challenge . If you are looking for an extra challenge this coming week and it doesn't conflict with your other goals... this is the perfect opportunity. Sign up with the Roman legions and go hunting Gauls for fame and glory. http://nerdfitnessre...omans-are-here/ Completely optional but should be a fun way to challenge ourselves! Do all things!

Hi Everybody! I thought I’d come up with a challenge for myself and share it with anyone who fancied joining in. THE (MINI) CHALENGE: So, here’s the thing... I’ve been wondering if there are going to be mini challenges coming up... I miss the mini challenges. I love the short term goals and the mixing in of some extra training that you might not have thought about otherwise. I might have missed an announcement or something but I have a sneaking suspicion that this 6WC will be lacking in mini challenges... Also, I’ve been playing Farcry 3 recently. Got it for Christmas It’s Great Fun and, while the story is pretty straightforward, the sandbox gameplay is just superb! It contains all my favourite elements of a non-urban, action sandbox RPG (stabbing people, shooting people, sneaking through the jungle, stabbing people, archery, gathering collectibles, stabbing, hunting, driving, stabbing, hang gliding, swimming, stabbing, shooting, EXPLOSIONS, wrestling crocodiles, sniping, plenty of upgrading of gear and skills and even some gratuitous stabbing). All that’s missing are some swords and I’d be in gamers’ heaven! <SARCASTIC SPOILER ALERT> For those of you who haven’t played it, the game puts you in the position of one of several entitled, wealthy douche-bags, who has seen too many movies, get’s kidnapped by slave trading pirates and, though initially just terrified, comes to see himself as the saviour of an islander tribe who are being threatened by the pirates and are led by a sexy shamaness. You are relentlessly pursued by the villains while you try to rescue your (similarly entitled and whiney) friends. All in all, you, as Jason Brody (clearly a high functioning psychopath by the middle of the game), kill a LOT of people (stab!), hunt a load of endangered animals (nom nom nom), blow up a lot of stuff (kaboom!), burn down a McDonalds ranch worth of rain forest (whoosh!) and generally latch onto murder (however justified) as your new meaning in life. As I said: Awesome, Escapist Fun!! In the game (along with all the stabbing) you have to collect plants to craft combat drugs Medicine. Different types of plants allow you to create different types of "beneficial pharmaceuticalsâ€. To make this a family friendly challenge, we’ll leave out the stabbing, shooting, exploding, firing, killing and so forth... We’ll concentrate on the collecting. Collecting plants, specifically. NO, I don’t mean go out in the garden and start digging stuff up! I mean Exercise and Diet achievements that are rewarded with a specific coloured leaf. Plants in the game are found in 5 colours: Green plants = healing; Yellow plants = perception; Red plants = combat; Blue plants = exploration; White plants = “specialâ€. When you harvest a plant you get an appropriate coloured leaf. Simples! How do we get these plants? What do they do? I'm glad you asked... RULES: Ignore, just for a moment, your main goals for this 6 week challenge. Look at the little things... the minutiae that have vexed you from time to time... TIMESCALE: two weeks. Starting tomorrow (Monday 21st Jan) and running until midnight (GMT) Sunday 2nd Feb. NOTE: Be Smart. Be Safe. Make sure you have appropriate instruction for any new stuff and don’t overdo it. Green: Diet and Rest. By far the most important (and often easily overlooked) aspects of improving one’s self! For each day you eat well, stick to your diet 100% and avoid processed / junk food you get a green leaf! For each night that you make a point of getting good, uninterrupted, restful sleep of 8 or more hours you get a green leaf. Yellow: “Perception†training. Connect to your surroundings. Interact with your environment. Anything than puts you more in tune with your surroundings: agility, flexibility, yoga, parkour, meditation, barefoot exercises, walking through a forest, etc. Each activity you do which connects you further to your surroundings grants you a yellow leaf. Red: Strength or Combat training. Does what it says on the tin – regardless of whether you’re training in martial arts/HEMA, building muscle size, power or endurance or rebuilding muscles as part of physiotherapy. Each strength training session or martial arts session grants you a red leaf. (Don’t overdo it: if you already do a lot of strength training then try to throw in some combat discipline and vice versa.) Blue: Stamina training. Cardio Baby! Long distance, HIIT, aerobic, cycling, the list goes on... Each stamina or endurance training session grants you a blue leaf. (Again, be smart. Don’t overdo it. Too much HIIT is not a good plan.) White: Learning new stuff. Try something new. Add a different exercise to your routine. Usually use dumbbells? Try a kettlebell routine. Usually run long distance? Try Tabata sprints. Maybe try some Tai Chi in place of still meditation. (This doesn’t have to be workout or diet related – you’ll get a white leaf for anything you try that you ordinarily wouldn’t do: learning to hang-glide, signing up for language classes, try something artistic – get out of your comfort zone) Congratulations! You get a White Leaf! note: some activities will grant you more than one kind of leaf. That's fine. If you do something that you think covers more than one category then you get more than one leaf - Just be honest with yourself as to whether it really counts. it's only for fun, after all REWARDS: At the end of two weeks, the totals will be compared and the people who have the most numbers of each leaf will be awarded Special Titles connected to their achievements (e.g. whoever has the most yellow leaves gets to add “...the Hunter†to their name in their signature) I’ll come up with a title for first and second place in each colour by the end of the 2 weeks. (any suggestions are welcome...) If you're joining in, just post on here and get to it and have fun!