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THE REFORGING Reforge: v. t. 1. To forge again or anew; hence, to fashion or fabricate anew; to make over. I've backpedaled quite a bit from where I was before my hiatus. I'm using this challenge to get back to my former condition, in essence, reforge myself. It will mainly be a habit-building challenge, but will still be quite intense and demanding. However, I have acquired a support group in the form of my father, who runs a crossfit and strength training gym while also being an AdvoCare distributor and nutritional consultant, who will be keeping me accountable for the greater majority of my goals for this challenge. However, I will also need some extra accountability for the rest, plus some healthy competition from other likeminded individuals (yes, I'm talking to YOU). GOAL I: Complete 4 workouts per day Monday through Saturday, with 4 hours of physical actvivity on Sunday. The hard part of this goal will be being consistent. I have a workout plan in place that I have been following, but quite inconsistently. There will be times when I hit all four, but then times when I "justify" skipping a workout here or there. I need to be consistent, and get my workouts in even when I don't want to. My plan is set up to hit all parts of my body every day, along with a good bit of stretching and working my martial arts skills. Grading will be based upon days when I have completed all four workouts. If I hit all four, I get a point. If I miss one, for whatever reason, I recieve no points. For Sundays, I'm really trying to step away from technology for the day, which I'm finding rather difficult. I want to get to a point where I don't feel the urge to play with my phone, radio, tv, computer, etc. in my down time. To do so, I need to fill the void with something. One of those things will be archery. I have a recurve bow that will arrive sometime during next week, and will practice with it at least 2 hours every Sunday morning before church. The other 2 hours of activity will vary from week to week, depending on what I'm feeling. GOAL II: Maintain a consistent paleo diet through the challenge, including taking my supplements when I'm supposed to For this portion, I simply need to keep away form snacking. That's where my fault lies. I cook my meals for the most part, and only purchase meat, veggies, and fruit. However, late night snacking KILLS me. I have a 24 hour convenience store literally next door, so when I get a hankering for something I shouldn't eat ever, I make run to the store. This always includes some sort of snack cake and a coke, and sometimes also includes chips or a chocolate bar. To compensate for this, I have adjusted my eating schedule, to eat later at night, closer to when I head to bed. This will hopefully curb my appetite, keeping me from making those unneccesary late night runs. GOAL III: Read one book per week. This goal revolves around getting away from tech. I typically read a lot, but I do so on my computer, or I will listen to audiobooks while doing other tasks. I want to get back to reading physically tangible made-with-paper books. I have a list compiled already, but this list is by no means concrete, and if anyone has any suggested reading, feel free to recommend it: - Service: Navy SEAL at War by Marcus Lutrell - Valor: Unsung Heroes from Iraq, Afghanistan, and the Homefront by Mark Greenblatt - Modules for Manhood by Kenneth W. Royce - Mastery by Robert Greene - Man 2.0 Engineering the Alpha: A Real World Guide to an Unreal Life by John Romaniello - The Rough Riders by Theodore Roosevelt SIDEQUEST: Clean my apartment every Friday In an effort to go along with reforging my body and mind, I feel like I should go all out and build good habits in all areas of my life. I will start this by being consistent cleaning my apartment. Now, I'm no slob, but I'm also kinda lazy when it comes to doing household chores. I do things like taking out the trash and doing the dishes. Laundry is a must, because I only have one week's worth of clothes. But things like dusting, sweeping, mopping, wiping things down, etc. I don't do but maybe once every other month. In conclusion, this challenge will serve as the flames used to reforge that which once was. I need to get myself back on track, and this seems to be the most appropriate way to do so. P.S. I will not be participating in the Firefly portion of this challenge. This is due to the fact that I know not one single thing about Firefly. I hadn't even heard of it before today. I would ask you not to judge me, but I feel it is far too late for that.

Hey everyone! Ronin has returned! Though, obviously, I don't go by Ronin any longer. Suffice it to say that I've experienced some changes in my life during my abscence, I'm not experiencing the most positive time in my life (coming off of two pretty serious injuries, lack of will to persist in my current job, and little to no support for my future endeavors on the homefront), but it could be worse. I mean, I could have only one arm. Or no arms. It's all about perspective, you know? Anyways, if you want a full detailed report of my return, I recently made a post in the Rebel Introductions, which you can find here (WARNING! LENGTHY POST) I've thumbed through the weekly challenges as well as some of your personal threads, and as I get caught up, I will be posting encouragement when possible. However, some of you have some REALLY long threads, like 15 or 16 pages long *cough* Cheechoe and RP *cough*......so it may take me some time. Overall, it looks like everyone is doing well, it's good to be back!!

Well, howdy everyone! It's good to be back! It's been a rather long hiatus full of many ups and downs. My return is catalysed by my current life goal, and the need for strong support and a good kick in pants when required, in order to complete said goal. Sadly, I get very little of this in my day-to-day life, simply due to the nature of my goal, and the conflict it creates amongst those who I would normally look towards for support and encouragement. My physical condition has deteriorated somewhat, mainly due to two injuries I sustained while on my lengthy hiatus: a torn rotator cuff and a herniated spinal disc. Recovery time for these injuries has been rather lengthy, and I have become quite sedantary as a result (well, sedantary for me, anyways). I still remain somewhat active, simply due to my current profession, but have not worked out on a consistent basis in nearly 6 months. I've put on quite a bit a weight, sitting right now at 210 pounds, which is about 30 pounds more than I was before my absence. My injuries are nearly healed, my shoulder is feeling strong, however my back will take a little while to get back to its previous vigor. As for my current life goal, I shall state it plainly: I desire to join the elite military ranks of the U.S. Navy SEALs. This has been long in my mind, and I have finally decided to act upon it. The main obstacle to achieving this goal is my current employer, who also happens to be the biggest male influence in my life, a surrogate father, and one of my personal heroes. He desires for me to stay and help him build his dream, at the cost of pursuing my own. I currently hold a very esteemed position, heading one of several locations, and the most prominent next to the main headquarters. Although I am doing a spectacular job here, this is a position that I do not desire to be in, nor have I ever desired as much. I understand that should I leave, there will be very large shoes to be filled left in my wake. However, I need to do what is best for me, and this is something which he has yet to fully understand, simply because it is to his detriment, rather than his benefit. The fact that he is such a prominent figure in my life and does not support my endeavors is what pains me most. For those of you who remember me as "Ronin", I have obviously changed my display name. This is quite intentional. The name "Balmung" is a sword from Norse mythology, and I believe it is one of the most epic names in the history of onomatology. The reason for my selection of this name, is that I have embraced my Viking ancestry (I did indeed trace my heritage back to my Viking ancestors. If you should ever get the chance, I suggest you also trace your ancestry. It is most interesting.), complete with the massive beard, and beard so majestic that even my father, posesor of a fine beard himself, envies it's gloriousness. The second part of my display name, "Tyro", is another word for "novce" or "beginner". I have chosen this as a public display of my current physiological state, and it shall change as I progress towards my goal. With all that being said, I am quite positive that my goal will be achieved, with or without support on the homefront. Coming off of these two most recent injuries, I realize that I have a massive amount of work ahead of me, but its gargantuan size does not daunt me. On the contrary, I look forward to overcoming this series of challenges, and I will do my best to chronicle and inspire those of you who read my exploits as best I can! P.S.: I apologize for the small ebook I have just posted

I have a love/hate relationship when it comes to swimming. While I'm UNDER the water, I swim fairly well. However, I have a VERY difficult time staying on the surface of the water. I sink like a rock, to the point where I can literally stand on the bottom of the pool and walk about with absolutely no issue (think Link wearing the Iron Boots in the Water Temple from Ocarina of Time). I was wondering if I could get some tips on floating?

And just like that, the next challenge is upon us. Honestly, I've been raring to go all week. I've got a 90-day training plan I've been sitting on, and I waited until the start of this challenge to apply it. I've spent the past week, pretty much just resting and doing yoga and eating lots of fat and vegetables. It's been pretty okay. Definitely impressed upon me how vital diet is in getting yourself to looking the way you want to look. I'm fasting my way through today after having had cheat day yesterday, and I feel like things are going pretty good. I've ended up in a coaching group led by Jason Ferruggia, and have found myself with probably more in the way of resources than I'll ever really need for a lot less than I was paying to buy individual programs before. Can't believe I didn't think to do this sooner. So! What's up this challenge? Same old same: trying to get to looking great naked while improving strength while training martial arts. The only difference is, this time, I don't have to carry the weight of my own programming anymore. Goal 1: Bodyweight Bodybuilding 4x Per Week Yup. It's a whole slew of exercises designed around using calisthenics to build the body. It's the best of both worlds, as I see it: building strength that's functional, as well as having fun with all kinds of different things. I don't feel right listing the specific exercises; feels like proprietary information, you know? But I will remain accountable to y'all for doing them. It's essentially a bunch of moves and some pre-programmed finishers. Graded out of a possible 24. +4 STR Goal 2: MMA Bodyweight System 4x Per Week And this is where it gets interesting. XD Dunno if you heard of this guy, but he created a system of using MMA moves to condition the body. It's short, intense, to the point. It's basically practicing cage-fighting mechanics, combined with striking work. It's kind of my way of touching base again with martial arts, which I need to get back into again. Same as above, proprietary stuff, can't list the workouts themselves, but I will be accountable to you that I did them. Graded out of a possible 24. +5 STA Goal 3: High Volume Maintenance Right. So I haven't ever been the best about paying attention to my body's needs for maintenance. Warm-up? Cool-down? The hell are those? The thing is, I've gotten a lot better at warming up. I'm not quite so good when it comes to cooling down. That's something I need to do more of. I wasn't so good about warming up before I made it a habit; now I need to make my cooldowns habitual as well. Graded out of a possible 42. +3 CON LIFE GOAL: REDEFINING HUSTLE So, some of you might remember that my car basically bit the dust this past week. And I'd been working on finding a solution to that. My dad basically came in and helped me get a new car, which is awesome. And now I'm going to have to make car payments, like an adult. This is not a problem, except that I need to find another job to help me get there. So, I'll be working the personal training job, plus another job (possibly two), whilst simultaneously attempting to build up some clientele on my own. My work is cut out for me. But for the moment, let's just focus on getting that next job. Pass/Fail. +1.5 WIS, +1.5 CHA So, what's gonna motivate me? After all, I don't have a spouse to look good for, a kid to inspire, or anything like that. Yeah, I want to take care of my family, but being able to do more pull ups or getting teh abzzors isn't particularly relevant toward any of that. What drives me in this? Honestly, it's the fact that I have you all to be an example for. Struggling for physical beauty and capability has just been something I've done for a long time. Y'all give me a reason to keep on fighting over here, because I know y'all are gonna work hard wherever you are. I gotta step up if I'm going to lead you all with anything like a clean conscience. I'm ready if you are. Let's go to work.

"Heroes get remembered, legends never die." Six simple words with such a profound meaning, at least to me. It is my goal to be considered by others a "legend". There's something about the word "legend" that appeals to my sense of pride and adventure. I understand that this is a journey that will take a lifetime to complete, but hey, I gotta start somewhere, right? This will be my 4th challenge here at NF, my very first with the monks, and also my first after a hiatus due to an extremely hectic schedule over the summer. Although I never stopped my journey, I did have to break from NF simply due to the fact that I could not keep up. Now that the school year has started, my schedule has become more steady (although quite full, which is how I like it!), and I have the time to resume chronicling my journey here on NF. My goal for this challenge is simply to continue my journey to legendary. Kinda vague, I know, but I don't know how else to put it. My objectives for this particular challenge, however are not vague in the slightest: The legendary must LOOK legendary. 80% of my physical appearance is DIET! {+3 CON} A] To return to cooking my own meals B] To drink no soft drinks other than on Sundays (my cheat day) C] To eat no unhealthy foods other than on Sundays To be legendary, I must be able to last through the rigors of being legendary. Therefore, I must be FIT! {+3 STR, +2 STA} A] To make both of my daily workouts (6:00 am, 2:00 pm) The legendary are legendary because they do legendary deeds. If I wish to be legendary, I must have the SKILL! {+3 DEX, +1 STR, +1 STA} A] To learn and perform 2 "new" tricks consistently: A gainer, and a butterfly twist B] To level up my boxing/kickboxing skills (keep my hands up more consistently, and keep my punches straight when I get in tight to my opponent) C] Stretch!!! Every day!!!! SIDEQUEST: Can’t become a legend if I’m swamped with debt! {+2 WIS} A] To get my student loan payment back on track As for how I will grade myself, I'm pretty black and white, pass or fail. I have 3 objectives, each worth 30% of my overall grade, and a sidequest worth 10%. Therefor, if I manage to complete at least 2 objectives and my sidequest, it will be a passing grade (70%), but only barely. These goals are all highly and easily attainable for me if I keep myself disciplined to making progress with them every day. Luckily, I have NF here to help! I'm definitely looking forward to working with the Monks this time around!