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Hi Warriors, I'm a newbie here but very much not a newbie in the gym. A bit about me. I'm 6'3" with long arms and legs which makes strength training 'interesting' at times, but I do it anyway. Here are some PRs set from the last challenge. Deadlift: 385lbs for an easy single Squat: 315lbs for a single Bench Press. 240lbs for 4. Bentover barbell rows. 220lbs x 5 My 'inclination' is a Warrior Ranger hybrid with more of a warrior side. I train more in a traditional bodybuilding style with strength movements thrown in for fun. In my personal experience, I've always needed recovery time for joints and tendons so I can't lift heavy straight 3 days a week. I tend to rotate lifts and only lift heavy tops once a week per joint. So, one heavy lift that involves hips and one that involves shoulders. The times that my PRs have jumped most have been not when I keep grinding heavy weight day after day, but rather, when I focus on weak points in my physique. It's great to come back to a lift 5 months later and find that it has 'magically' increased 30lbs. I want to build the body, not destroy it! OK, preamble is done. What are my goals? My main goals have not changed from last challenge but this time, they will be more implicit. Rather than stating my process, I'll just state the goals. Main Quest: Fat Loss. 1lb per week, nothing more. If I lose too fast, I eat more. 200+g of protein per day and lots of veggies. Regular refeeds to stave off metabolic adaptation. Carbs in morning (Oats), preworkout, and post workout only. Log calories, take progress pics, etc. Side Quests: This is important stuff, and stuff that absolutely NEEDS to be addressed so it will be the focus of my weight training throughout the challenge. Bear in mind that the weight training has been going on for years so I'm not developing a new habit here. 1). Correct muscle imbalances. Strengthen i. front of neck to restore strength balance with neck muscles. ii. Strengthen Rotator Cuff, Core, and Lower back. iii. Strengthen Delts. (There are exercises and form alterations I can do to fix all this. If you want clarification I can discuss this) 2) Increase flexibility. I realized that problems I thought were due to height are actually due to flexibility. I can't touch my toes because my hips currently don't bend far enough. I am going to increase neck, shoulder, and hip flexibility via regular stretching. I know stretching 'derails strength' but I'm not going to worry about lifting heavy for a bit. This is so that I can lift more safely laterl on. 3) Reprogram form for Squats and Deadlifts. For Squats, I had a tendency for my strength to derail because I'd lose control near parallel. The problem was that my hips would lock up and I'd start folding in half trying to get the extra depth. This moves the body out of an advantageous lever position which makes it work much harder than necessary to move the weight. Following stretching, I will practice squats without resistance and then overhead squats with light weight. I'll alternate overhead squat sets with back squats as I try and perfect my form adjustments. For Deadlifts, I'm following Elliot Hulse's advice and working on learning how to engage my lower back. My hams and glutes are currently engaged well in the motion so I just need to get the lower back better involved. The hip flexibility is also inhibiting this motion and making it hard for me to keep my lower back as flat as I would like. It is not a problem but it can become one. Once the form is well practiced, then I can worry about moving real weight! 4) School. I have to start my Thesis (Orchestra Piece) and get some serious progress made on my Research Project. Serious progress = at least a page a day 5 days a week for Research Project and 10 measures a day, 5 days a week for the Thesis.