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Hey, so if no one minds overly, I'll just park this here instead of over in the assassin's guild for a change. Goals to come while I think about how to deal with an ongoing injury (apparently sticking my head in the sand and just working through the discomfort isn't the right approach). But just quickly if anyone is interested: I joined NF almost exactly a year ago (first challenge of 2014) and then because of lack of money for a gym membership I joined the assassin's guild while I did bodyweight stuff. Then about 3 and a half months ago, I joined a gym and started on the SL 5x5 program. Since then I've managed a 1.0x bodyweight deadlift for 5 reps, a 0.88x bodyweight squat for a 5x5, and a 0.64x bodyweight bench for a 5x5. I'm supposed to be on a cut, but haven't lost anything since joining the gym back in September, but I have managed to shrink my measurements noticeably, which is nice. Anyway, I'll get back here with goals (hopefully later today/tonight) and actually make a start on my warrior's journey. Tl;dr Currently injured, don't know what my goals should be yet. Bodyweight training for 9 months followed by SL 5x5 for a little over 3 months Goals to come later.

Hi everyone, I have been playing in the gym for a while, lost the "easy" weight and have just started to get serious about lifting. I have lost about 60LBS in the last 18 months and started StrongLifts about a month ago. I did what it suggested and started fairly light and concentrated on form - I flew through the first 3 weeks building confidence and form. My form is coming along okay, but this morning I reached the point on my squat and overhead press where I could not get the last few reps with good form, in fact I was not sure I was going to finish out without a long break. According to the plan I will not increase the weight on those two exercises until I can complete them with good form, so that is what I will do. My question is this... is it normal to stall out this quick in the program and have to start repeating weights? If so, do most people get moving again pretty quick, or could it take a while to start to move these numbers up regularly again? If it is not normal, what is usually the issue (not enough food, bad form, all of the above). I realize this is a loaded question because gains/stalls are different for everyone, but I wanted to see what the community thought overall about this topic to see if I was very far off base. My stats are: 5'11" 180 (Chubby Hubby) 42 Years Old Squat 155 LBS (5x5) Bench 120 LBS (5x5) Overhead Press 85 LBS (5x5) DeadLift 155 LBS (5x5) BarbellRow 125 LBS (5x5) Thanks in advance for your comments.

No personal history lesson needed...just started SL 5x5, so weights are light (135 pounds). All comments are welcome and thanks in advance! 4th Set-Side View (currently being edited on the World-wide-intratubers to rotate right) 5th Set-Angled View

#1 "Healthy Skin" Diet This has become the number one issue in my life. It is not that the skin looks that bad, but I know it is an indication of a bigger health problem. I am not going to be following any particular diet for this challenge. I need to go food by food to note reaction. Everything I eat I need to check for a reaction! No exceptions! Then I need confirm reaction with a second or third testing. My symptoms; hives on face or break outs, red cheeks, itching skin & scalp & palms, dry eyes, soreness under arm pits, dry scratchy throat, post nasal drip, swollen lips and tongue, tightness and burning down my throat, difficultly swallowing, sore, achy joints, brain fog,tightness in my chest, swollen tonsils THE PLAN: A) Go to the doctor's and get some testing done. I have a doctor's appointment (4/25) but don't have the expectation that my doctor will be able to do much for me. I plan on requesting an allergist and getting a Thyroid work up. So I am hoping some tests will shed a little light, but I need to walk in the doctor's office with a plan and list of tests I would like to see done. B Track all eating on Nerd Fitness C) Following Dr. Suzanne Bennett 7-Day Allergy Skin Plan: Things to Avoid (and any additional foods that proved to be problems) No nuts, tea, coffee (Bulletproof tea & coffee are ok) No Starbucks (Burning throat) No dairy (Ghee & butter are ok); No ice cream (burning throat) No grains, breads, things with yeast; No cinnamon french toast (Burning throat) No mushrooms No alcohol ( This one sucks but it needs to happen) No Olive Oil (Fancy gourmet stuff burned my throat, coughing and made my eyes water ) Things that had not caused a reaction (pretty Paleo, don't you think?) - Strawberries, blueberries - Organic grass-fed steak - Ham & bacon - Tomatoes, sweet potatoes - eggs - salt (not sure about pepper) - Butter - Brussel sprouts, asparagus, salad greens D) Feed the skin - I need to watch for Almond & nut oils in products -collagen protein power -collagen cream -Diatomaceous Earth -Proboitic Soap -Clay Mask Pore Cleansing -Charcoal detox E) Learning to listen to my body to figure out what to eat. Things are pretty Paleo but I feel I just need to personalize my diet based on my body's reactions. #2 Thought fitness: Heart & Mind workout Meditation Gratitude Statements Intention Statements Use the power of thoughts to improve my health and the health of my family This is particularly important with my autistic son. Thoughts affect how people react to him. Many people around him have low expectations of his abilities. I need to live as if Jacob is healed and normal ten year old, I need to think and act that way. I know this idea can sound strange to people but our thoughts are so important to our functioning and relationship with ourselves and others. #3 Body Squats Yoga SL 5x5 - 2 to 3 x week during school in the weight room. #4 Cleaning up My Home Home Finances Clearing Space for new things to enter!

I am focusing on one goal this challenge. Make a total of 800 lbs on the big three by 4/6, two days before my 50th birthday. I last played high school football way back in 82, for you young people that was back in the 1900's. I was at a small school, class of about 50 kids. We didn't have much of a weight room and lifting was not emphasized as much as today. We had an "800" club for the big three lifts, but there were not too many in that club, and since I never took it seriously, I never made it. To make that club at 50 would be an awesome accomplishment, especially for someone like myself who neglected to lift a barbell again for over 30 years. My current best lifts are 220, 180, and 285, which puts me at 685. I figure my squat will need to be at least 250, bench at least 200, and DL 350. I have ditched eating at a deficit until I reach that goal, so far adding 3.5lbs in the last 6 weeks and making big gains. Seven weeks is not long to gain 115 lbs on my lifts, but I am willing to hit the iron hard to make it work. That's it. Get stronger and make 800 by 4/6. I will do this by eating at a small surplus and lifting 3x5 three days a week. Good luck to everyone else on the challenge!