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To fuly understand this post, it takes a brief history explanation. I used to a big time weightlifter, gym rat, muscle head thru my 20's & early 30's. Very strong, fairly fit. Enter a 6+ year hiatus from the gym. Around the time I stopped the weights, I started running shortly after. Then about a year ago I wanted to start strength training again. Enter the body weight workouts. Then about 6 months ago I really started focusing and learning and working harder in my efforts. So last week I went back to a gym to see how things paid off. 255 lbs bench (1.5x BW) 165 lbs military press 21 pull ups 29 dips (I would have broken 30 if I'd not done these last) And then last night I got an ugly, ugly muscle up. It was ugly, but I got up, over the bar & up. And yes, I do work legs a lot, and I squatted some, but I didn't feel comfortable maxing out & risking injury or pulling something. I want people to know you can build real strength just doing body weight moves. Those numbers are far from my PR's (except the pull ups), but I was a lot younger when those PR's were achieved.

Super amped about joining my first challenge-- I am still a bit unsure how this whole posting thing, scoring thing works -- but I'm a learn as you go gal so that's fine! While my specific goals are below, I'm hoping to just be moving around more in general the entire 6-weeks. GOALS. Goal #1: Lift One'self By the end of the challend, I will be able to do two chin ups (the current number is none). Ideas on how to make this happen (suggestions welcome!): one 30 second handstand a day (wall support)two negative chin-ups a day for the first three weekstwo negative plus one positive for the last three weeks.Goal #2: Get there on my Own Each week, I will ride my bike to work at least once, for a total of at least six rides. Goal #3: Unprocess the Food Process Some call it the "short ingredient method." Others say clean eating. My goal is to make it the entire six weeks with the following specific improvements to my diet: No refined flours. I say "gluten-free" mostly b/c that's easier and keeps me from eating scones.No refined sugar.No soy.Goal #4: Play it Again I wil start playing my piano regularly again. three times each week (total 24 times)One new song by earOne new song by sight readingThat's it! Let's do this. leslaz

When I was a teen I loved RPG. To my friends and I, trolls were a creature to be feared and avoided not hunted down and killed. I've not played Dungeons and Dragons for well over 20 years now but my attitude to trolls had not changed. I found that life was full of real life monsters, many nasty troll like people and specters that were hard to kill like the fear-spectre and the over eating-spectre. That could only be beaten with special 'weapons'. But my attitude was the same, avoid and run away. Unfortunately that allowed these monsters into my life and wreck havoc. Bitterness, sadness, obesity, anger, depression, unemployment. That was 4 years ago. I was losing to much and decided to fight back, its not easy but the battle continues. Nerd Fitness is the latest chapter to that adventure. My Goals are: 1. Be able to complete 5 pull-ups (currently at 3) +STR 4 A= 5 B= 4 D= 3 F= <3 2. Get my body fat percentage to 24% (currently 25.3%) +CON 4 A= 24% B= 24.3% C= 24.8% D= 25% F= >25% 3. Stick with diet plan. (currently i give up after about a week) +WIS 4 A= 42 days B= 36 days C= 30 days D= 24 days F= <24 days 4. Complete one household task a week. (such as painting, repairing, fixing) +CON 2, +CHR 1 A= Once a week B= 5 times C= 4 times D= 3 times F= <3 times || Battle Plan || For the Pull- up I will not be concentrating on pull-ups. I'm doing other strength training and curious to see if it transfers to pull-ups. Loosing the body fat % cannot be directly forced of course but should result from my exercise and diet. Diet, well. I have succeeded in the past and dropped 15kg. I have no problem maintaining my current weight but sticking to a strict diet is not working for me. I keep breaking out into junk food, then try to claw my way back. This has been going of for 2 years now and havnt lost any more kg than the initial 15kg. Working on the house is just a matter or writing it in my diary then doing it when the time comes.

GOAL 1 Pep in your step Start timing your workout, do workout with purpose/focus DEX-3 STA-2 Reasoning: I tend to get distracted while doing workouts. I start to overanalyze what I'm doing, and will actually just stand there in the middle of the floor thinking. No bueno! I'm going to start timing my workout in an effort to combat this. GOAL 2 Push 10 push ups, with good form STR-3 STA-1 Reasoning: upper body strength is kinda on the low side GOAL 3 …and pull 1 real pull up STR-3 Reasoning: Ditto on push GOAL 4 Keep in touch Talk to 1 person that you’re not going to see today. 3x’s/week. CHA-3 Reasoning: This is probably going to be the hardest one for me. I tend to be very out of sight out of mind with people. Even when I am thinking about someone I'm away from, I don't contact them because I think they'll probably be busy, or I'm busy and I forget. Rules: I have to initiate the conversation, and even if they don't respond, I still get points for trying. Alright, let's do this y'all!

I've been trying to get a full pull up since the beginning of my first challenge in January. Yesterday night, I finally did it! Whoot!!!!!

A big hello to all the NF-ers out there. Hello, and congratulations to my fellow adventurers for taking that first step towards positive lifestyle transformation. I'm CalBert, and I've known about Nerd Fitness for quite some time. I read a lot of the literature on this site, and now I'm here for my first NF Six Week Challenge, and I am in need for some intense accountability and support. I'm 27 years old, and I've decided to apply for OCS, or Officer Candidate School, for the US Military. I'm very inspired to become an officer in the military, and I think that it's an honorable job. I'm still in the process of deciding which branch to apply to, but while I look into the prospects, I also want to become physically ready for this endeavor. I hope that this six week challenge, and other challenges to come, will help me realize if I am both mentally and physically prepared to become an officer. After talking to a few officer recruiters, I've narrowed down the main qualifications that I need to work on: Goal 1: 3 Mile Run Candidates are required to run 3 miles in 21 minutes or less. For every ten seconds, a point is subtracted from the maximum of 100 points. A qualifying run would be under 27 minutes. Here is how I'll score myself: A+ = under 21 minutes A = 21 minutes B = 23 minutes C = 25 minutes D = 27 minutes F = 30 minutes Goal 2: Crunches Candidates are required to do a maximum of 100 crunches within a time of two minutes to get a perfect score. Each crunch is worth 1 point. Here is how I'll score myself: A+ = 100 A = 90 - 99 B = 80 - 89 C = 70 - 79 D = 60 - 69 F = 50 - 59 Goal 3: Pull Ups My recruiters have expressed that rules are changing in regards to pull-ups. Nothng is set yet, but I've been asked to be ready to do 3 - 8 pull ups to qualify. The previous rule was to do a flexed arm hang. Every second is worth 1 point from start to 40 seconds. Every second thereafter is worth 2 points. The maximum valus is 70 seconds for 100 points. Here is how I'll score myself: A+ = 70 seconds or 8 pull ups A = 65 seconds or 7 pull ups B = 60 seconds or 6 pull ups C = 55 seconds or 5 pull ups D = 50 seconds or 4 pull ups F = 45 seconds or 3 pull ups All of these numbers are are female qualification scores. Starting Day 1, I'll assess myself by performing all three events, and hopefully see great improvement by the end of six weeks. My goals do seem ambitious, but if I don't make a good grade by the end of six weeks, it doesn't mean I'm giving up. I don't expect to become Wonder Woman overnight. I love sports, but I've been out of the game for a bit. I've played sports since high school, and I've taken yoga, dance, and other cardio classes during college. I have a one and a half years experience in taekwondo, and I picked up kenpo last year. Unfortunately, I tore a muscle in my right arm from over-exertion, and I think that it will be a challenge for getting a high score in pull ups. My Goal 4 is more long-term, which is to be selected for officer candidate school in the summer of 2014. It is a long time until then, but the process is long and demanding. So, here I am getting myself back into shape and hoping to make the military part of my life.

|STATUS UPDATE| 2.6.13 Workout Dumbbell (8.5kg each) Resistance training 3 sets each 1. Inverted Row [max:8, av:4.2] 2. Kickbacks RH [max 5, av:4] LH [max: 5, av: 3.7] 3. Hammer curl RH [max 4, av 3.5] LH [max 4, av 3.2] 4. SL Deadlift RL [max 4, av 3.5] LL [max 4, av 3.5] 5. Wrist Curl RH [max 10. av 8.75] LH [max 10, av 8.2] Test: 3 pull-ups, 6 neg pull-ups (81kg)

Please give me a chance to explain! I'm getting my sister into strength training, and my initial plan was to slowly introduce her to the same exercises I do (I'm a guy). Core among these are pull ups. Her first day, she fought admirably to do half a rep. "That's fine," I said, "it'll improve over time." But here I find this New York Times article, suggesting that girls are at a huge disadvantage when it comes to that particular exercise: Why women can't do pull-ups. To be clear, I understand that girls CAN train to do pull ups, and in that specific study the participants didn't train the exercise itself. However, I'm wondering what results my sister should expect. After months of training, I can do 3 sets of 10 pull ups interspersed with all my other exercises. What benchmarks should my sister look to hit? Is her time better spent doing some other exercise? Thank you for the help, and I appreciate you not flaming me for being sexist - I'm just curious about this data.

Hey quick question here- I am working up to a pull up, and i finally did my first set of negatives, but now it is 2 days later and i am scheduled to work out but i can't get anywhere near that bar again. Is this fatigue normal? Would scaling down to say- dumbbell rows be acceptable?

So, it's been about a week now since I officially started a workout routine! I started with the Beginners Body Weight exercise that Steve had put up. From there, I increased what I could and added a couple of other things today! It's been an intense yet fun exercise, and I am definitely enjoying it. Here's what my progress looks like so far: Wednesday, February 20th, 2013: 50 Jumping Jacks warm up, 3 TIMES ROUTINE - 20 Body Weight Squats - 10 Push Ups - 20 Lunges - 10 Dumbbell Rows - 30 Second Plank - 30 Jumping Jacks Friday, February 22nd, 2013: 50 Jumping Jacks warm up, 3 TIMES ROUTINE - 20 Body Weight Squats - 15 Push Ups - 20 Lunges - 20 Dumbbell Rows - 30 Second Plank - 30 Jumping Jacks Monday, February 25th, 2013: 50 Jumping Jacks warm up, 3 TIMES ROUTINE - 25 Body Weight Squats - 15 Push Ups - 20 Lunges - 20 Dumbbell Rows - 40 Second Plank - 40 Jumping Jacks Wednesday, February 27th, 2013: 60 Jumping Jacks warm up, 3 TIMES ROUTINE - 25 Body Weight Squats - 15 Push Ups - 15 Toe Touch Crunches - 20 Dumbbell Rows - 20 Lunges - 40 Second Plank - 15 Calf Raises *each leg - 40 Jumping Jacks Now, on the off days I tend to fill them in by building up my pull ups, with some other exercises to do with the pull up bar, usually spending no more than 10 minutes on it. This has allowed me to improve on my resting days without overdoing it. I guess I wouldn't really consider them resting days, so much as the weekends are my resting days. Even on the weekends I keep myself busy with some sort of physical activity, be it cleaning, playing with my dogs, or some other thing. The extra workouts I added to my latest (today's) routine, I had taken from a video of different routines to do created by the Bar Brothers. This video lists some pretty challenging yet worth wile exercises to add into the body weight routine. As you can see, I'm slowly merging both Nerdfitness and Bar Brothers into my fitness regime, hoping for ultimate results and my path to becoming a Hero! Also to note, I have been making major changes to my diet. I have completely cut out caffeine, which I did due to being raised on the stuff for my asthma as a kid. I eat no more than two fruits a day. I eat vegetables mostly, when I am hungry, and throw in some protein at least twice a day. My protein consists of Eggs, Chicken, Tuna, and on occasion Bacon! I hope this all sounds like an awesome workout and diet change, and if anyone has any advice to throw in, please do so! (:

Disclaimer: I've never posted regularly on any forum, so I'm a textbook n00b. I don't know the etiquette of this thread, but I figured the first post would be a good place to set up my baseline. It has been two months, but I finally made the transition to full Paleo a week ago. So far so good, down about ten pounds. The transition wasn't too bad, except I hit a hiccup when I switched jobs. A lot of eating out for lunch when I left the old gig. A man only has so much will power and after watching people down pizza and burgers for lunch everyday I had to break the diet or go crazy. Anyway, I'm back to my routine of bringing my lunch to work and eating healthy. Typical day of eating for me right now: Breakfast: Two eggs (over-easy), two slices of bacon (mmm...pepper bacon) OR three turkey sausage links, tea, and lots of water. Lunch: One handful of nuts, spinach salad (with carrots, bell peppers, cucumber, sometimes tomato, and 1 T of Oil/vinegar dressing) Snack: Either a protein shake (mixed with water) or a small portion of last night's dinner leftovers. Dinner: Something from this list (Mark's Daily Apple recipe archive) with the dairy cut out. My goal for training right now is completeing the Tough Mudder in Kansas City in the fall. My biggest worry with that is the amount of hanging there is and the fact that I can't currently do a pullup. The race is 10ish miles with 25 obstacles, so if they're evenly spaced that's less than half a mile between each obstacle, many of which will be choke points in the race (meaning I can slow down, wait in line and recover a bit). I've ran that much in worse shape than I am now so that doesn't bother me. I've been barbell training for a few months now, trying to get as many muscle groups as possible in each work out. I choose four of the exercises from the following list each time I lift which is 2-3 times per week. Bench press (max set 2x275lbs) Back Squat (max set 5 x 285lbs) Overhead press (max set 5 x 155lbs) Deadlift (max set 5 x 225 [though I can do much more if I use straps, I have a grip strenght problem]) Romainian Deadlift (max set 5 x185) Power Cleans (max set 5 x 115 [just added these and I'm working on form]) Assisted Pullups (I do these every workout) (currently at 5 sets of 8 pullups with one foot on a box for the assist) Outside of the weight room I play volleyball for 4 hours a week, this spring I'll be playing softball one night a week, and I walk between 1 and 2 miles at lunch. Once the snow melts, I'll hit the hiking trails on the weekend with my wife as she gets ready for her Dirty Girl 5k.

Hallo! I have been devouring Steve's articles for about a year or so now, and this is my first venture into forums. In fact, my very first post! A little about me: I am an avid gamer of many different genres. From Elder Scrolls and Half-Life, D&D and The Sims, to Mario Galaxy and The Secret World, I think you get the picture. I am a massage therapist with my own small business. I've been in practice since October of 2011. After joining the Air Force at 18, serving for 4 years, and leaving on not very good fitness terms - my weight and health have been up and down since (with a steady climb upwards). I've tried Weight Watchers, other calorie restriction diets, and the exercise portion of P90X, and none of it really clicked with me until I started Paleo and Steve's Rebel Fitness Guide. I have been eating a Paleo-with-dairy diet (can't give up that cheese quite yet!) on and off for 10 months. I started the RFG September of last year with varying levels of discipline, but have currently progressed to and just started the Level 4 Rebel Workout. I dream of going on real life adventures; climbing mountains, canoeing rivers, hiking through woods - like my video game avatars do - all while feeling terrifically fit and ready for anything. I am the only one of a group of family and friends that is working towards and planning fitness goals. My husband cheers me on, but I lack any true accountability except for myself. My hope is that by participating in this challenge, supporting others in their efforts, and getting their support in return; I can finally stick with my plans and achieve my goals. I'm feeling pumped up and ready to see the changes made 6 weeks from now! LET'S DO EEET! Stats: Age - 26 Height - 5'5" Weight - 196.4 lb. L Thigh - 26 in. R Thigh - 26.5 in. L Bicep - 12.5 in. R Bicep - 13 in. Hips - 46 in. Waist - 45 in. Bust Over - 46 in. Bust Under - 35 in. Goals: Do 1 pull up (unassisted) I have been working towards this goal for a while now, have gone through a series of alternate moves leading up to the actual pull up. I am at 5 negative chin ups. Once a week or so I’ll hang on to that bar, kick my feet around wildly and see if I can heft myself up, but as of yet to no avail. Three plyometric push ups Being able to do these just sounds freakin' awesome. The most of these I've been able to do are 3, while on my knees. Other push ups off my knees are a 6 (one-legged) and 6 (divebombers). Only 1 "sugary treat" a week I say I'm Paleo-with-dairy, but I'm about 80% on the wagon. I am a fan of cider, frozen yogurt, and chocolate. I may treat myself to these 2-4 times a week, and I want to wean myself off this sugar addiction. So as of now, my goal will be either a few ciders or a serving of frozen yogurt or a few squares of dark chocolate (only one of these!) for the week. Eeeeep, I'm nervous about this one already! Increase non-discounted client sales by 3/week I've had my massage practice for over a year now, and besides a few Facebook ads, I've never really done anything to go out there and gain more clients. I recently ran a Groupon that will bring in a lot of new people, at a discounted rate, but the hope with that is to gain regular clients that are willing to pay the full price. I want to reach out to new people about my service (post more on my Facebook page, run ads on local websites) and gain at least 3 more regular massage clients a week. And there you have it. I think those are very attainable goals, as long as I have the discipline and motivation to stick with the RFG and my other diet/life plans. I will mainly be using the RFG at least 3 times a week, or every other day, as a strength workout, and I want to throw 1 or 2 long walks (say one hour of 3mph) a week. I will refuse to buy cider and frozen yogurt for myself, and if I want to limit such items to once a week, they will only be accessible if I leave the house to get them. I'll have to research other methods of advertising, or possibly go to a expo or health gathering to promote my business. That sounds the most scary to me, as I'm not an outgoing person, and hate speaking to large groups. Gotta find the courage! Alrighty, it's time to begin this adventure =D PS - photos of me "before"

Last challenge had one great success. I got my tushy out of my apartment and did things that were FUN! No excuse of "I don't have anyone to go with." or "I really should do X instead." Nope. I went to a whiskey tasting. I learned to make sausage. And I went to an adventure park. I LOVED the adventure park. I didn't conquer all of it with anything even resembling grace. There were a few challenges that kicked my tuckus. I came home covered in bruises. And I LOVED ever second of it. I loved the mix of brains and balance. I loved figuring out how to get my somewhat short and plump self under, over, around and through what ever evil elevated puzzle made up the next section of arboreal path. I loved the team work - even between strangers - out on the path. Two things became very apparent - I want to do this more. And I want better upper body strength. In the first challenge I took the adventure's path, thinking I should be *more* of a whole host of things before I could attempt an assassin's path. This time I'm following what makes my heart sing. Goal #1: Play Regularly. This is a "show up" goal. I am a horrible spectator. If I get myself out, I will participate. The challenge is to get out on a regular basis. How: Parkour at Urban Evolution twice a week. Get outside for at least 15 min EVERY day. Dance at Glen Echo 3x during challenge. These are logged on my calendar. Stats/Pts - +2 Dex, +1Stam (pretty self explainatory), +1 Wis (situational awareness), +1 Char (ppl are more attractive when they are having fun). Goal #2: Do a full Unassisted Pull-up. Once upon a time, I could rock the flexed arm hang part of the USMC physical fitness test. I'd like to be able to do a proper pull up. I'd also like to do 50 push ups in 2 minutes again. However, I'm keeping the goal simple, challenging, and easy to measure. How: By listening to Steve (of course.) http://www.nerdfitness.com/blog/2011/04/25/do-a-pull-up/ Success is being able to do a full pull up. This is Pass/Fail. Either I can do one on Feb 18th or I can't (yet) and it rolls over to the next challenge. Stats/Pts - +4 Str (Pulling up my own body weight? Yup. That would be strength.) +1 Sta (Not dying on the journey? Stamina.) Goal #3: 80/20 Paleo. I had moderate success with this last time. Better mood control, lost a few pounds, no chronic tummy ache, made a passable Ossobucco. I was probably only doing 60/40 though. Going to crank this up to the next level. I've got some good resources now, time to put them to use. How: Cook at home and make my own "frozen dinners". Clear out non-paleo foods by Jan 16. Eat a good snack and drink a full glass of water before any grocery shopping. Use frozen veggies and fruit (because I was throwing too much fuzzy produce out.) Drink a full 48oz of water daily. Diet gets logged in calendar too. Stats/Pts - +2 Con (Eat well. Be well.) Goal #4: ICU Bridge application ready to drop. I want to be an ICU Burn nurse. Feb 20 is the earliest I can apply for the ICU Bridge Program (where one learns to be an ICU nurse.) Goal #4 is to get that application ready to submit on Feb 20. Resume updated. Portfolio updated. Recommendations lined up. Application completed. ACLS class completed. ABLS (Advanced Burn Life Support) didactic portion completed. Professional memberships updated. Stats/Pts - +2 Wis (Career planning.), +1 Char (Ppl are more attractive when they are happy.) What is not on this list: Cleaning my apartment. This has been a big buggaboo. It gets in the way of everything else. So I'm giving myself a pass - I have to keep up on dishes and laundry. But other than that, I am choosing to NOT fret about the rest of it for the duration of this challenge. I'll pick up the clutter battle again next challenge.