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12 Week Hypertrophy Quest Quest Goals: 1) Increase Muscle Mass 2) Decrease BF% 3) Increase Strength In All Lifts Overview/Details Each working set should be performed to near failure with 12 being the most reps you should perform and 6 being the lowest. This workout utilizes supersets.Take a 1 minute break between each superset. Supersets are grouped by letter before them. See Quest Objectives for context. Increase weight on each set by at least 5lbs. Increase weight from week to week as well. By the end of the 12 weeks, you should be 10lbs+ stronger in many lifts. This program can be repeated with endless variation. If you begin to plateau, seek ways of making the workouts harder. An example could be adding some dropsets. SPLIT CHEST/BACK SHOULDERS/ARMS LEGS Quest Objectives: Day 1: Chest/Back | Warm-up 5 minutes of cardio A1) Bench Press 2x6 warm-up, 3x12 working A2) DB Row 2x6 warm-up, 3x12 working 1 - 2 minute rest B1) Hammerstrength incline Chest Press 3x12 working B2) Hammerstrength lat pulldown 3x12 working 1 - 2 minute rest C1) Cable Crossovers 5-7x12 working C2) Reverse Flye 5-7x12 working Day 2: Active Rest | Start with 5 minutes of cardio if you normally don't do cardio, and add 5 minutes to your average time of the cardio you do regularly. Increase total time by 5 minutes every other week. By Week 12 you should be doing 30 extra minutes of cardio. For the sake of this program, cardio is considered 150bpm+ for the whole session. Day 3: Shoulders/Arms | Warm-up 5 minutes of cardio A1) DB Shoulder Press 2x6 warm-up, 3x12 working A2) Standing DB Curl 2x6 warm-up, 3x12 working 1 - 2 minute rest B1) DB Front Raise 2x6 warm-up, 3x12 working B2) Tricep Extension 2x6 warm-up, 3x12 working 1 - 2 minute rest C1) Reverse Flye Machine 2x6 warm-up, 3x12 working C2) Barbell Curl 2x6 warm-up, 3x12 working 1 minute rest D) Skull Crusher 2x6 warm-up, 3x12 working Day 4: Active Rest | Do the same amount of cardio as you did on your first active rest day this week. Day 5: Legs | Warm-up 5 minutes of cardio A1) Squat 2x6 warm-up, 3x12 working A2) Leg Curl 1x6 warmup , 3x12 working 2 - 3 minute rest between A and B B1) Leg Extensions 3x12 working B2) Standing Calf Raises 3x12 working 2 - 3 minute rest between B and C C1) Weighted Walking Lunge 3x12 working C2) Lower Back Extensions 3x12 failure Day 6: REST Day 7: REST Let me know what you think below!

I don't know what I'm doing. I do know that I'm going to keep tracking calories. My current target is 2350 +/- 50 kcal. According to people I trust this should be the right amount of food for me to maintain my current body weight, and also gain strength via the Starting Strength novice linear progression. I also know that I'm going to continue to run the Starting Strength novice linear progression. I'm couple of weeks into it. I should say that I'm doing what Rip and other SS gurus call "NWTFP". This stands for "Not Working The F#(&!g Program.". I've modified the program by committing the sin of not doing power cleans. Sorry Rip. Except I'm not really sorry. Instaed I'm doing a light deadlifts day, where I do more sets at a lower weight. I think this will serve to improve my deadlifts. Later I'll also add chinups and barbell rows for additional upper back work, per the original program, and also in keeping with the intermediate program I'm working toward. I also have several ongoing projects that will need as much attention as I can devote to them. This includes refinishing my daughter's desk and preparing my basement for drainage work in February. But beyond that, I have no idea what I'm doing.

And so the journal begins. Aside from a certain faith figure (I am a Pastor) the other idol I worship is Captain America. I've always wanted to be him... except with a mustache. So it is this demi-god figure that I shall aim to level up too. Not just physically, he is quite handsome (I'm allowed a guy crush), but spiritually as well. To be so self confident, but yet so self giving, he is who I want to be. Are the sights high, hell yeah! can I do? I'll die trying. Just kidding, I'll just keep working at it until I succeed. Every victory gets me closer. I've been trying Nerdfitness Academy for a week now and the motivation has been awesome. Now to turn it into results. Hooah! 10 April 2016, Breakfast was a bit rushed, its Sunday and I am a Pastor, go figure. So it was a protein shake an then out the door. I turned around for a much hardier lunch, which was two pork chops the rest of my mini bell peppers and green beans, all sautéed in butter, yum. The afternoon was spent enjoying some time in the sun, free of the wife and kid (out visiting family), breaking down pallets with a hammer and crow bar (I make stuff out of the recycled wood). I made it through 5 pallets (40ish minutes work each). It was really encouraging, I work bent over with the pallet strewn on the floor (I need to step on it to keep the hammer from knocking it all over, doubling the work). Usually my back starts to get real sore about 3/4 mark of the first one. I've been doing core excercises for the last 2 monthsish, I didn't feel anything until I was just about finished with my final pallet of the afternoon. The rest of the late afternoon was spent exploring these forums. From there it was a wonderful dinner of lemon pepper chicken with steamed broccoli drizzled with lemon juice, really awesome. After a little break to allow time for digestion I smashed the weights hard. I've been following the barbell brigades instructions, I am currently still on lvl 1, I am planning on pacing myself to lvl up at the beginning of each month. Nice slow progression to allow me plenty of time to master the forms as I level up. The stats: Bench Press 5x5 at 145 lbs. (I was lifting heavier before but that was on a circuit, with back to back set up, I didn't want to push it to much, I'll build it back up in no time) Squats 5x5 at 105lbs (Pretty easy, I'll be tacking on another 10 next time, see if I find a grunt or two) Decline Pushups 3x10 (push over, I've been working on Push ups for a while now being in the army, so I've been doing the movement slower and slower to up the difficulty) Planks 3x30s (another pretty easy one, the academy has a static time, but I will probably start to up the time in the week to come) Star Power! Squat Thrusts 5x30s 30s rest (Still pretty easy, before I swapped to power lifting I was in the routine of doing burpee intervals) I am thinking of swapping it out for wall hand stands, I want to steal xp from other guilds mwahahahaha! To reward myself for awesomeness, Another protein shake and a banana. And with that, a good night to you all.

Hey there Adventures! Ken the Brave here with my next quest. A little about me, I live in Colorado with my new wife and I'm very happy to be in a state with so much to do and see! That said, I haven't always taken advantage of that… I'm turning 30 this year and I want my twenties to go out with a roar! My favorite movie as a kid was Indiana Jones so I've decided to model my Last Crusade after his adventures. I hope it's worth following and I look forward to reading your quest as well! My Main Quest: The Philosopher's Stone I want to enjoy the rest of the year and find adventure, knowledge, and happiness. And get ready for more adventures to come! Quest #1: Choose Wisely My wife and I decided to go vegan last year. It's not always easy, but we both feel so much better! My first goal is to keep eating well and track every day! Pass/Fail: For every complete entry, I earn 5 minutes of video game time. Each incomplete entry results in -5 minutes. Doesn't seem like much, but like most things, it adds up over time. Quest #2: Old Friends, New Stories A lot of my good friends from “the old days†have moved away and I've been neglecting my few remaining friends. Every month, I want to go out and do something social and new! Pass/Fail: Every month I go a whole month without any human contact, I will buy the friends I should have been hanging out with a six pack so we have no excuse next month! Quest #3: Three Trials Adventuring demands a lot! I need to be ready to answer the call when it comes. Twice a week, I will either run, bike, or lift. I started doing the 5 x 5 workout last year before getting married and lost all my progress. I want to get that back! My wife and I also signed up to run a 5k later this year and I don't want to be the one panting while I stumble across the finish line. I also enjoyed biking to work and would like to do more of that this year. Pass/Fail: Every week I can't make this happen, I'll clean my bike top to bottom and buy something to fix it up. It's been outside all winter waiting for the spring! Quest #4: Get Lost In My Own Library When you experience new things, you don't so much learn about the world, you learn about yourself. A great way to learn is to read what others have already learned! Every day, I will read at least one page from one of the many books I have but haven't read yet. I am also learning French using DuoLingo and want to keep completing at least two lessons per day! Pass/Fail: Every day I don't read and practice, I’ll make up for it by doubling the lessons the next day. And I'll post an interesting fact about France on that day’s entry (which I may just do anyway. We want to see Paris this year for our anniversary! ^.^)