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INTRO TL;DR version below Fresh out of her training camp, [sAVE GRETEL] was her first mission as witch huntress. Rumour said that Hansel, Gretel’s brother, escaped the witch’s prison, but still trapped inside the castle. After climbing the endless castle stairs and did some serious kicking and punching to the evil minions, she entered the prison dungeon to whack the final boss: The Witchbread. Little did she know that a special armor is an absolute must for her epic win. Too lazy to level up and ignoring her lack of self-discipline, thinking that the stats of her current body measurements won’t make huge difference, she dived right into the last battle with her comfortable-and-good-enough-yet-not-the-best armor. Boy was she wrong. Tiny differences, just few little inches, enough to knocked her out. I failed, totally game over this time, she thought. But then, Hansel jumped out of nowhere, grabbed her arms and dragged her out of the dungeon. “I thought you had the special armor with you!!†Hansel yelled. “Well, I do have it with me! But, well, um…†she stopped. “What?†“Um… It didn’t fit nicely.†“Huh?!†“I can’t breathe normally wearing it. I can’t even move properly. So um, yeah.†“…..For the love of every Norse gods, you failed just because the armor was too tight?!†“Yeah, I don’t know why suddenly it didn’t fit—†“I know. You ate each and every bread from those little evil minions after you defeat them.†“…Oh.†“See? That’s why. Now, you must make the armor fits into your body. And you’ll do it MY way. It’s different from your usual routine, but I know your weaknesses. Trust me.†“Go on." "First of all, don’t pick up those snacks. Nope, don’t even buy it from the item shop!! Eat real food 3x per day to keep you full and distracts you from picking up unnecessary poisonous snacks along the way, the ones that will turn into fat, slow you down, drain the money you keep to enhance your equipments, and waste your time by eating them. And you better get some serious skill upgrade. Level up your movement, punches and kicks, train again at your Muay Thai camp and Aikido dojo. Power them up with your favorite bodyweight routine. And uh, you're too stiff to move around, stretch those hamstrings. Okay, got it? Now do it. My sister’s life depends on you. She can hang in there for 6 weeks, but after that….†“Let’s do it. I won’t fail again this time." —— TL;DR version *bows* Hello guys! I decided to join the Monks for this challenge, because now I added Aikido into my exercise routine I practice Muay Thai 1 - 2x /week regularly , and now I’m back training Aikido again since my last class on 2004. Back then I quit because I had that severe low self-esteem, thinking that I wouldn’t do well as I was so grossly obese, even though I like the movement in Aikido very much. The day I decided to quit, I made a promise to myself: If my weight hit below 70 kg, I will enter the dojo once again. So here I am, keeping that promise. I already paid 1 month in advance to keep me accountable. And yes, that Gretel over there is my favorite keychain. I hang her there upside down on my mirror, right across my target clothes. Seeing her and that clothes hanging every day and night should motivate me. MAIN QUEST Fit nicely on my target clothes. Action plans 1. Don’t buy snack I bought and ate too many cakes and breads. Better tackle this one first. 2. Daily stretching My Muay Thai instructor told me many many times that I have to improve my flexibility. I have to admit that I’m so lazy doing stretching, so it’s time to get serious now. I try to make my action plans into a ‘yes or no’ condition. Daily exercise and food logging are parts of my new healthy lifestyle now, so I no longer list it as action plan. I created a Google Doc of my action plans to make me more accountable. https://docs.google.com/spreadsheet/ccc?key=0AtKLqVvh9W7udGJib3gybE9OYkZ6QVYzVlctbDVnZHc&usp=sharing I wanted to list many other specific goals, like practicing ukemi, kicks and handstand, but I have to keep my goals as simple as possible. I realized that 'one step at a time' really works well for me. SIDE QUEST - Life: Pass the Japanese Language Proficiency Test Finish the kanji book. - Fitness: Do the Blogilates 100 Day challenge (every Sunday) under 10 minutes 100 jumping jacks, 100 sit ups, 100 squats, 100 criss crosses, 100 bridge, 100 chest press pulses. Current time: 10 minutes. - Diet: Be a lefty real foodie Eat real food 2-3x/day with non-dominant hand to slow down my hi-turbo eating speed. - Mini quests From guild MOTIVATION Never repeat the same mistake twice. EXERCISE ROUTINE (adjustable) Monday: Muay Thai Tuesday: Aikido Wed: Total bodyweight Thu: Core bodyweight Fri: HIIT Sat: Rest Sun: Aikido + Blogilates 100 Challenge Not much of change, I only replaced one BW day into Aikido and stack the other Aikido day into Blogilates 100 Challenge day. MINI DEADLINES November 23rd: Friend’s wedding. December 15th: Family meeting. REWARDS No food rewards, I’ll save the money to do other fun activities or buy cool stuff XD Week 1: Go to the shooting training camp with my friend Week 2: Get a new haircut Week 3: Buy a complete set of concealer Week 4: Take the survival swimming course Week 5: none yet Week 6: none yet Grading and body measurements coming soon. Need to find that tape measurements first

So I finally managed to get my new challenge sorted out (about time!), so here goes: My main quest remains the same – getting healthy and strong – while I will continue on the path I chose for my last challenge: I'll be working towards my first pull-up ever. My basic routine will also stay the same: Bodyweight workouts on Mon/Wed/Fri, yoga class 1x / week. Goal 1: (Walk the) plank on "off" (non-BW) days (+3 STR, +2 STA) I'm still far from being able to do as many negative chin ups („walking the plank“) as Scooby uses as a starting point in his pull up progressions (5 x 8 reps), but I'm working towards that goal eventually. I'll just have to start with far fewer reps (5 x 2) and try to add one rep on every „plank“ day. I aim to do these 3 – 4 times a week (Tue/Thu/Sat/(Sun)). Not sure if I can keep Sundays as workout days or if I will need a rest day. Will have to see what Wussy and Whiny (my puny wrists and elbows) have to say to that. On these days I'll also keep doing planks, but I will switch from RKC planks to side planks for this challenge. 2 x 30 seconds on each side. A: at least 3 plank days / week B: 2 plank days / week C: 1 plank day / week F: anything less Goal 2: Every day is a bulletproof day (+3 CON, +2 WIS) „If something's important, do it every day.“ Or so they say. I have decided to give the bulletproof guys a try, so I will do their warm up every day. cross crawls rolling rocking crawling A: bulletproof warm up 7x / week B: 5 - 6x / week C: 3 - 4x / week D: 1 - 2x / week F: no warm up / week Goal 3: Improve that left split (+4 DEX, +1 STR) Since I'm not quite happy with my left split from the last challenge, I will continue to do leg stretches. Not sure if I will stick to the 6-week program (oh, the pain!) or if I vary the stretches some. But I will stretch. Every frakkin day. A: stretching 7x / week B: 5 - 6x / week C: 3 - 4x / week D: 1 - 2x / week F: no stretching / week Life Goal: Survive (no stat points) I know that the next couple of weeks are going to be crazy at work (there are those two projects that should have been finished 10 days ago, plus another one that's due in January). Plus, I'll be on redhead duty Fri – Sun until the beginning of December (which usually takes somewhere between 3 – 4 hours a day). Originally I had planned to build some cleaning habits during this challenge, but I'm afraid that would be too much. I know I won't have any energy to spare. Have a successful challenge, everyone!

Being a proud owner of the book “Ninjateknikk II. Usynlighet i strid. Av Arne Treholt†or “Ninja technique II. Invisibility in combat. By Arne Treholt†(written by Thomas Cappelen Malling) which poses as a military field manual in ninja techniques from 1978, I found the Assassins guild a natural place for me to continue my journey. The book teaches you how to best make yourself invisible to your opponent via use of invisibility techniques, sneaking, disappearance and different spiritual techniques such as “Be mysterious. This adds depth to the game and creates fear in the mind of the enemy. Keep to yourself. Don’t eat together with the other people. Do not brag to women. Do not hang around the pub. Do not show strength or skill: Be humble in your future.†Amongst other things, this book teaches you how to hide in plain sight. This book is also made into a movie... It’s not really worth watching. For those of you who are curious, Arne Treholt was a politician and diplomat and in 1985 he was convicted for high treason and espionage on behalf of Soviet and Iraq. So.. To my challenge. Main goal: Defeat Butterball Wobble and Dopey Feebleson as they continue to tear me down week after week. 1 - Flexibility and body awareness I will increase my flexibility so that my sneaking skills improves. This will be done by stretching and by using my standing desk at work. I will mainly focus on increasing the flexibility in my feet and hamstrings. I will aim for at least two hours of standing a day and four sessions of stretching a week. These are minimums. 2 - Mindful eating Keep a healthy diet to weaken my foes. Through a healthy diet my mind will be sharper, my body will grow stronger and it will improve my invisibility training. I will eat real food. Veggies, eggs, meat and some legumes. The legumes will be sprouted or soaked, some even home grown. In addition to nutritional benefits this improves patience. I will allow one day of splurging a week but I will not have this if I feel like I don’t “need†to. Embracing my weaknesses and to be comfortable with them might be more effective than trying to eliminate them completely. 3 - Strength and efficiency I have adapted the dumbbell division rank 1 into two super effective workouts that will help me build the strength and endurance necessary to make my enemies tremble in fear just by the sight of me. I have three weeks left on rank 1 and I will move on to rank 2 when these weeks are over if I feel comfortable enough to do so. Side quest - Co-ordination and speed Juggling pvp. This will increase my hand-eye co-ordination and my reaction speed which will be crucial to build impressive Ninja skills

For the next six weeks I am going to focus on prioritizing my health with the goal of running my first 5k Nov 23rd. To get there, I will run three days a week, strength train three days a week, and stretch after warming up and cooling down. (In the past I have made excuses for skipping stretching,). Most importantly, I will stop saying yes to various activities, commitments, whatevers that take away from the time I need to focus on my health!! Yahhooooo Let's Dooooo Thiiiiiis!

Good afternoon! In thinking about this challenge and how to not set my (sometimes easily discouraged) self up for failure, I decided to design my personal newb zone as the "obvious tutorial" type. The kind with fairy NPCs, where the toughest monster is a largish rat. Since the hardest part of any fitness goal for me is the get up and do it! part, my main quest here is to learn how to play the game. I will tackle the habit of building habits. Sub quest 1: No liquid calories! I mean it! This has been a problem for me, as my fiancé enjoys a soda and we keep them in the house for him. I just need to get over the idea that I have to have one (or 4) just because they are there. Sub quest 2: Walk every day! This is mostly about habit training. I picked walking because I enjoy it and it allows me to spend time with my daughter, so I am more likely to stick to it. Once I accomplish this, I will have proved to myself that it is possible to set aside time for fitness every day. Baby steps! Sub quest 3: Streeeetch! I am very not-flexible. It hurts the backs of my knees to sit with my legs stretched out in front of me, and please don't ask me to point my toes up. Oww. in an attempt to improve my flexibility, I am going to do stretches for at least 5 minutes every day. Again: setting aside time every day for fitness, with the bonus of preparing myself for strength exercises in the future. Life quest: Dear diary.... I'd like to start keeping a journal every day. I want to try out a strategy that was explained in an article on the nerd fitness blog-- the idea to choose "3 big things" that must be accomplished each day-- and use it in the journal. I think it will help me stay organized and motivated to have all of my lists in one place. My motivation is to become happier, healthier, and more productive so that I can be a good role model for my daughter, as well as a better partner to my fiancé. I want to retrain myself from a whiny procrastinator to someone who just does what needs to be done without a fuss. Basically, it's time to grow up. (I'm posting this from my phone, so I'll have to add pictures later)

So this is my second time around signing up for the beginners Rebel challenge. The reason being that when I signed up for the last one, in the midst of jumping right into the excitement I failed to notice I “jumped†in 4 weeks late. I decided to use this time as a warm up for my next “real†challenge and can thus allot true points to my character vs imaginary ones. My Main Quest To be an average rock climber. I just decided one day that I really wanted to try it and I instantly fell in love. It's all I could think of after first going. I love how physically demanding it is while challenging mentally at the same time. I love figuring out the puzzle aspect of it. I declare I desire to be average because that is what my sister calls herself (she's an experienced climber) and she amazes me. And I want to be just like her when i grow up. This will require a good combination of strength, endurance, and flexibility skillz. I think its important to note I'm in pretty poor physical shape for such a demanding sport. I'm not overweight and I eat healthy but I'm at an all time low when it comes to strength and endurance. So much so that when I jumped into climbing (because it was love at first grip..) I added running to the list for endurance (again.. I suck at this..) and found our real soon I have HORRID tight arches on my feet and could barely walk from the pain within a week. This comes from a life spent living in flip flops and not taking care of my most precious possessions (aka feet). Lesson learned. Only supportive shoes and no more bare feet until healed. CHECK. Daily stretching and foot strengthening. CHECK. Taking it easy and not pushing to hard beyond my capabilities. gunna go for a CHECK. I don't expect to be as amazing as my at the end of 6 weeks. Just amazing compared to myself. This will require meeting my specific goals each week: 1. Daily stretching for body and feet 20 minutes a day. 10 in the morning 10 at night. This will include my arch/calf stretches and exercises for foot health. 2. 35 minutes cardio (cycling until my feet can handle something else.) and 20 minutes weight training, alternating days with lower, core, and upper body. 3. Climbing gym at least 2 times a week. Get experience doing what I love, absorb the wealth of wisdom from my new climbing buddies, and just have some out of the house away from the family me time. So in essence climbing time will cover both physical, mental, and social skills.. During this time I will continue to gather my gear (I'm new and it's expensive..) I will grade each week by how I do daily 6 out of 6 days. Sundays I rest from judgments unless I swap Sunday for another day. A-F just to get an idea where I'm at with reaching my goals. I will decide pass or fail at the end of the challenge by how I realistically feel about what I have (have not) accomplished. <---- Just to note, no matter how much I try to fix this font to match the rest, my computer will just NOT do it. grr.. My Life Quest: This kind of meshes with my motivation. I have a brilliant, energy filled 3 year old son who literally takes every ounce of my energy just to keep up with him. He is so passionate about life and goes from 6:30 in the morning until 9 at night (and later if I'd let him..) and I want to provide him with as many cool projects and adventures as I can. As he gets older I want to be able to continue to play and adventure with and somewhat keep up. So each week I want to have something creative and exciting to do with him that takes us somewhere special. He deserves that K enough said! Tomorrow I take up my quest. Onward for the scrolls..

Helloooo nerds! Don't mind me while I experiment with colours. If this whole rebellion isn't mad, crazy and weird enough for you and you want an extra portion, you've come to the right place! Trying to get bendy, strong and just a little more awesome? So are we! Are you an assassin or going to be one once you've finished your first challenge? Come join us while we share our madness, successes and get over our fails together! Sign up on the accountabilibuddy sheet and post a little intro here, I'll make sure your thread is up in this post for everyone to see - easy following and all that jazz! Let's see if we can do this together: Meet the crazies! Waldgeist's Endangered Initiation, Part I Mad Hatter and her Maiden Mission ApfelStrudi with Pudding arms begone, huzzah! Abtacha's Treasure Hunt continues! Bekah starts to build her castle Xerla is almost there Bagelyo gets a little stronger Milythael is regaining control Paradigm's Bikini Battle L_A_Malone: Demigod finds Camp Half Blood An inspired SkyeRose

It's finally heeeere! I'm so excited about this challenge. So I'm not going to write a lot of stuff, first challenge can be found in my signature, to the goals we go! Overall goal! Prepare to beat my boyfriend. In a non-violent way. The only thing that may be getting hurt is his pride. By "beating my boyfriend", I specifically mean being able to do more pull ups and push ups than he can do. That means I'd have to do at least 4 pull ups and at least 12 push ups. At the moment, I can do not a single one of either. Since I don't believe it's realistic to go from zero to that within 6 weeks, I'll work specifically towards that goal, even if I can't reach it! Ideally, I'd be able to do at least one push up and one pull up - the more the better! Breaking it down into 3 goals 1. Keep up with my routines from Challenge #1 For those of you who haven't been following that - for my last challenge, I ate paleo and went to bed at 10pm. I want to keep up with that. I won't be as strict, but I've noticed tons of changes in my body during that challenge - and changes for the worse when I stopped doing it just for two days after the challenge, so I want to keep this in my life. I'm setting it as just one goal because I've had time to get used to it. I will not be as strict, though, because paleo can be very expensive, and some of its components especially so, like almond milk that's 2.70€ per liter. Since I don't drink much milk anyway, it won't be much of a problem. But I'll allow myself little slips and 3 un-paleo meals per week, if I want to. Being in bed by 10 pm is something else I will be not as strict as last time. I'll allow myself being in bed by 11pm twice per week, because it really bothers me when there's a movie on TV at prime time and I have to go to bed 15 minutes before it ends and can't actually watch how it ends! Grading (breaking this up into 2 parts that will be combined to one grade then!) A:Nothing more than 3 non-paleo meals B: 5 non-paleo meals max. C: 6 non-paleo meals max. D: 7 non-paleo meals max. F: Anything more than 7 non-paleo meals. A: At least 5 nights 10pm Everything more than 5 nights pulls the paleo-grade down one letter. If I'm not in bed at 11pm more than twice, it's an auto-fail. 2. More strength! This includes going to the gym at least 3 times per week. I'm currently still in my beginner's strength workout but will get a new training plan after the first week of this challenge, where I'll work towards push ups and pull ups. This goal is pretty straight-forward, so the grading system will reflect that. A: Go to the gym at least 3 times a week and do all the exercises on my plan. B: Go to the gym and leave out max. 2 exercises F: Everything else 3. Do my homework: On at least 3 days per week, do training at home. I'll mostly be concentrating on stretches this time around, because I'm about as flexible as a dry potato, but may slip in a bodyweight workout or a run as well. Generally, I want to do one type of exercise (bodyweight, cardio, HIIT or something else) to get properly warmed up before I do my stretches. The difficult thing here is that I don't have a stretching routine, but want to stretch for at least 30 minutes at a time. A: Do homework 3 times a week, stretching at least 30 minutes B: Do homework 3 times a week, stretching at least 20 minutes C: Do homework 3 times a week, stretching at least 10 minutes D: Do homework twice a week F: Anything less than that. Whew! Sounds like this challenge is going to be harder than the last time, but I love it. It's definitely more specific. Now, my side goal. Get a new job Ideally that would be a full time job, which would make my goals much, much harder to achieve because I'm currently only working a few hours every week.But my current job has been causing me so much frustration, anger and sucks all the joy out of me. Just this week, I've found it so hard to drag myself to the gym after work that I simply didn't do it most of the days, and I don't want that. A: Send out at least 5 apps per week B: 4 apps per week C: 3 apps per week D: 2 apps per week F: Anything below that Of course, that goal would be an insta-win if I got a job sometime during the challenge. Motivation Pudding arms begone, huzzah! Stats, if successful Goal 1: +2 CON, +1 WIS, +1 CHAR Goal 2: +3 STR, +1 STA Goal 3: +1 STR, +2 DEX, +1 CHA Life quest: +2 CHA, +1 WIS Edit 1 to add stats Edit 2: My grades are per week - just in case that wasn't clear. Will then add up to the end grades!

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.

Hey guys! I want to get more flexible. Because currently I'm about as flexible as a tree trunk. I can't reach my toes with my fingers when my legs are straight, for example. It's something that prevents me from taking a yoga class, for example, because I often feel like I can't even do the basic poses. I don't want that anymore. During my next challenge, I want to do more stretching exercises on those days that I don't do strength training. However - I don't even know where to start. Sure, I know those basic stretches like reaching down to touch your toes, but I want to get into a real routing that can take 30 minutes or more and not just the 10 minute beginner's yoga I do every now and then right now, or the stretching I do after lifting/working out at the gym. I want more. What helps me personally is having videos or apps that I can simply follow. It's much easier for me if there's a routine I can just join in with, that tells me what stretches to do, how long to do them, and helps me progress towards being more flexible. Now - I've looked at the play store (I have an android phone, just in case you have apps to suggest!) and I've looked at youtube and found a few things, but I'd really like the opinion of all you experts to find something neat that's what I need. Thanks in advance!

Greetings, I am just a humble little nooblet monk who aspire to master the ancient art of traditional Taekwondo and my little problem is: straddling. I didn't get any further with it since I started in April and it is pure torture, so I thought about practising at home everyday to improve my flexibility (especially of my hips, they are so stubborn that they really get in my way if I try to do the kicks properly). After warming up a little, of course. But before I would be delighted to hear some opinions - is this a good idea or will this do more damage instead of benefit when being done to often? Best regards, Courier6

Hey guys. So I did my first body weight circuits on Monday which were great and I'm due for another session tonight, the thing is my legs are still very sore on my quads especially. Should I work out again through the pain or wait until they're not so sore - will I damage them? I'll be looking at some proper stretching methods today as I think mine are rudimentary at best. Any advice much appreciated

Main Quest: Become a Full-Fledged, Fast Runner for Abel Township (in other words, run a full 5k in under 30 minutes) I've been doing c25k in conjunction with Season 1 of Zombies, Run! I just didn't like the format of their 5k program, so I'm sticking with season 1 while I finish getting up to a 5k distance and allowing myself to continue onto season 2 as a reward for completing the program. Although the point is not to just finish the 5k and stop like last time, it's to run the 5k and keep it up/improve it. I always laugh when the app storyline comments on how fast I am, because I'm not. My current running goal is 5k in 30 minutes or less. After that we'll decide what to do next. More distance? Even faster? Who knows! Motivation: I'm tired of looking for approval. If I can find myself in a place where I really love myself, I'll have the strength to stop looking. Goal 1: Go out running and collect supplies for Abel. This means keeping a 3x/week running schedule on Sunday, Tuesday, and Thursday. The runs will be from the c25k running program until I finish it; I just finished week 7 day 1. After that, I must run 5k 3x/week for this challenge to get more comfortable with it and *hopefully* get a little faster. Grading: Percentage of the 18 total runs completed Stat Rewards: +2 CHA, +2 STA, +1 DEX Goal 2: Stretch out! We don't want an injured runner. I must stretch/do mobility work after every run. I'm bad about doing this, and one day it's going to get me hurt and off course. I'm hoping to learn some mobility workouts along the way! Grading: Percent of runs after which I stretched Stat Rewards: +3 CON Goal 3: Get your fair share of the water rations. I have a 20-something ounce water bottle. I need to drink four whole bottles of it a day to stay hydrated. I have a huge problem with properly getting my water intake. Either I'm super thirsty all through my run or I drink too much water right before I run and then have to pee the entire time. It's pretty uncomfortable, and I think my runs would be more bearable if I was properly hydrated on a regular basis. Grading: Percent of days during the challenge that I drank 80oz of water or more. Stat Rewards: +3 CON Life Goal: Less Personal Time on the Net My life goal has been changed because it really needed to. I am online almost constantly when I am awake, and a very small portion of that is for any honestly even remotely necessary reason. I would estimate that I probably spend at least 10 hours out of my 16 waking hours a day online for personal time; not for work, not for projects, not for games with friends. For Netflix, NF (as much as I love you, I refresh the page way too often), Reddit, Twitter, comics, YouTube, you get the picture. So I'm cutting way down. Here are the rules: -2 hours a day of personal internet time are allowed in the first three weeks of the challenge. 1 hour a day will be allowed in the second three weeks. -"Personal" means anything that I do alone that uses the internet and doesn't directly further my fitness goals or some worthwhile project I have. NF is personal, because it indirectly furthers those goals, not directly. Zombies, Run! is NOT personal because it is directly tied to me going out and running. Those are the closest to borderline cases, and I think from there everything is pretty easy to interpret. -Each day will be calculated pass/fail, and the grade will be percent of days passed. Things I'm going to do to accomplish this goal: -Install StayFocusd on computer and add all sites to block list that are clearly personal. Set allowed time for 2 hours for weeks 1-3, 1 hour for 4-6. -Remove all apps from phone that are clearly personal for the six week period. All personal sites must be visited from my desktop computer; it is too difficult to track the time spent on my phone. -Report on things that I have done that I am proud of that I may not have done if I was refreshing NF for the 100th time in a day. -Saturday and Sunday are free days, which may if necessary be switched to a different day if that particular Saturday or Sunday is crazy busy with work/school. Reward: +3 WIS, +1 CHA Pre-Challenge Statistics Fastest time of longest run: 4 Km in 33:16 Weight, according to my crappy scale, in my underpants, after a run and a bottle of water: 190 lbs (note, I do not trust this scale to be accurate, but I do believe it is consistent with itself) Measurements: Chest: 40.5 in Right Bicep: 14 in Left Bicep: 14.5 in Waist: 36 in Hips: 46 in Right Thigh: 28 in Left Thigh: 28 in I feel my pear shape is made obvious by these measurements.

6WC Tracking Spreadsheet Air bending= Cardio/endurance Water bending= flexibility/agility Earth bending= weightlifting/strength Fire bending= nutrition/fat burning This is my second "Avatar" challenge overall. My name is Dr3wcifer My quest is to master the Avatar State (yip yip)! My favorite color is green. No, blue. No, AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa But seriously, my Main Quest is to compete in the Crossfit Open next year. This will require mastery of all the elements: Air, Water, Earth, and Fire. This gives me nine months to figure out all the exercises I currently don’t know: the muscleup, the handstand pushup, the clean and jerk, the snatch, the holyshitwhyamIintimidatingmyselfrightnowbylistingallthesethings. Supporting Quests Air Goal: 50 Double Unders in a row (3+ STA, +1 CON) Current Ability: It's about like this: single under, double under, single under, double under, single under, whip myself in the shin. Shit! Start again. Grading: A: >50 DUs B: 40-49 DUs C: 30-39 DUs D: 20-29 DUs F: <20 DUs Water Goal: Stretch at least 3 hours/week (+2 DEX, +1 CON) I need to maintain some flexibility and keep my muscles fresh to sustain progress. Last challenge, I kind of burnt out trying to do yoga for 4 hours a week, so I'm scaling back the goal this time to make it more manageable. Current Ability: I've been taking a break from yoga the last couple weeks Grading: Every 10 minutes of stretching is 1 point. No more than 20 points can be earned per week. A: >90 pts B: 80-89 pts C: 70-79 pts D: 60-69 pts F: <60 pts Earth Goal: Clean & Jerk 135lbs (+3 STR, +1 DEX) My knees are feeling a lot better these days. I need to work on my form on this lift, though, and then start upping the weight. Current Ability: TBD (Diagnostic on Friday) Grading: A: >135lbs B: 115-135lbs C: 95-115lbs D: 75-95lbs F: <75lbs Fire Goal: Body fat % <10% (+3 CON, +1 CHA) This was the one that kicked my ass last time. I was doing pretty well 2/3 of the way into the last challenge, then succumbed to the ice cream and pizza and funnel cake and more ice cream and why am I doing this to myself? I even lost my six-pack a little bit. Anyway, goal remains the same as last time, but increasing the attribute reward, because it will be worth it. Current BF%: Floating around 13%, as of last Friday Grading: A: BF<10% B: 10%<BF<11% C: 11%<BF<12% D: 12<BF<13% F: BF>13% This will reappear next challenge as a diet side-quest AVATAR STATE (Life Quest) Goal: Be productive for at least 8 hours a week (except DisneyWorld week) (+2 WIS, +2 CHA) Productive activities include, but are not limited to: Studying for the GMATStudying Japanese HouseworkYardworkCarworkGrading: Every 30 minutes of productive activity is 1 point. No more than 20 points can be earned per week. A: >80 pts B: 75-79 pts C: 70-75 pts D: 65-69 pts F: <65 pts

The content of this interview over at RunnersConnect.net is killer: Phil Wharton, along with his father Jim, pioneered a standard known as Active Isolated Flexibility, or AIF, that delivers the benefits of stretching without the muscle damage. The short version of AIF is that you need to dynamically stretch in order to achieve proper musculoskeletal balances that will allow you to stay healthier and train in a more consistent fashion for a longer period of time. The long version? That’s what's covered in the interview. Phil Wharton was a young runner when he developed a particularly bad–and painful–case of scoliosis (curvature of the spine). In his quest for correcting the problem, he and his father became musculoskeletal specialists and therapists with a “secret†to allowing the body to work on it’s own. By the way, Phil, through AIF, corrected his scoliosis and THEN was able to train himself to a 2:23 marathon personal best, too! Here are some of the things they talked about: The best practices of stretching.How to use active isolated flexibility to avoid injury.The role diet plays in your training, beyond your overall health.How to deal with and heal an ever-irritating malady, such as plantar fasciitis.

Hi all, I'm Anna. I'm new to NerdFitness, but not new to nerdery or gaming, and I'm excited to combine the two in my pursuit of leveling up my life. Starting Stats: [sTR: 1] [DEX:5] [sTA:1] [CON:3] [WIS:3] [CHA:2] Before I set into my goals though, there's a big reason I'm a Druid and not one of the other classes - I have some pretty major physical limitations that keep me from doing a lot of things, so balance is HUGE for me. I have Ehlers-Danlos Syndrome (type III - hypermobility, see Dexterity score of 5), so my types and duration of exercise are limited, and I deal with a substantial amount of chronic pain. I'm mid-meds-tweak-cycle with my rheumatologist, but he is adamant that exercise needs to be part of my life, since strong muscles help protect wibbly-wobbly joints, so I figured I'd jump into the challenge and see where it gets me. I am allowed to do bodyweight strength training, but right now that causes me too much joint pain, so I'm holding off on that until I get a little better at walking. I'm also Walking to Rivendell (for the second time! First time out, I got all the way to Lorien, but I've decided to start over, since that was a few years ago and from before I had all the pain issues) - Right now I'm just past the village of Bree (Highly recommend the hard cider at the Prancing Pony, by the way) My next milestone is Weathertop, some 170 more miles. It is appropriate that I will be crossing the midgewater marshes, because I live in the swamp southeast of Houston. It's mosquito-ey around here. My primary exercises are walking and gentle yoga (and swimming when I can find a pool) and I'm an active meditator, to help deal with mental illness as well as the chronic pain. I'm only setting myself three goals, with one stretch goal just to see how far I get, since this is just the beginning. Walk 6 days a week - but only so far and so fast as my joints allow. Walking 1 mile gets the same credit as walking 5 for this challenge, because I've promised my doctor that I will exercise daily, regardless of pain. This means some days I don't get very far, but its the going that counts.Stretch/yoga at least 20 minutes after every walk, and at least 30 minutes on any days when walking is impossible. This helps reduce joint inflammation, and decreases my recovery time.Meditate at least 20 minutes, at least 3 times a week.Major Edit: After seeing my Rheumatologist, I need to adjust my goals to better match what he thinks I need and what I am able to do with my pain/exhaustion levels. These are my adjusted goals: Walk 4 days a week, no more than 2 miles on a weeknight. Weekends are for longer walks. As with before, no set distance is required.Stretch/yoga at least 20 minutes after every walk, but gentlyMeditate at least 20 minutes every weeknightI'm not setting a speed goal for the walking just yet, but eventually I'll be varying walking speeds depending on pain levels as well. Also depending on how god damn hot it is here, since I live in Texas. Still, it's good to exercise outside, even if this is the most miserable time of year to do so, right? My stretch goal is related to the Walk to Rivendell - I'm not sure how realistic it is, but if I say I'm going to average 10 miles a week, then my stretch goal is to go 60 miles over the next six weeks. I don't know right now if my pain levels will decrease (which will increase my mileage) or increase (which means I won't go as far) so this isn't an official goal - but we'll see how far I get. I'll try to post at least weekly updates here on my progress. I'm two weeks into a promised "exercise daily for one month" with the Rheumatologist, and so far I only had to truly miss one day! Here's hoping a little bit of community support will help keep me on track.

Air bending= Cardio/endurance Water bending= flexibility/agility Earth bending= weightlifting/strength Fire bending= nutrition/fat burning The Avatar's Progress (Spreadsheet) Book 0: Air Goal: Swim 1k < 25:00 (2:30/100m pace) [+3 STA] "But Drew," you may ask, "Shouldn't swimming be a waterbending goal?" Nope! Swimming is a tough cardio endurance activity. And if you're in the pool and don't have air, you tend to drown. Doctors have informed me that's bad. Starting ability: My last 1k swim time was 26:52. That was a month ago. How will I achieve greatness? Get to the pool; it's freaking summer! Swim Tuesdays, Thursdays, & Saturdays. This was originally a run goal, but my knees need a break; my run goal will reappear in the sequel. Grading: A: <25:00 B: 25:15-25:30 C: 25:30-26:00 D: 26:00-26:30 F: >26:30 Book 1: Water Goal: Stretch (static stretches, yoga, etc.) at least 4 hours a week [+3 DEX] Starting ability: I do yoga maybe 20 minutes to half an hour in the evenings maybe 2 or 3 times a week. I haven’t really been very committed yet. How will I achieve greatness? Attend a yoga class on weeks 1, 3, and 5 to get guidance from someone that knows better than I do; other than that, ½ hour at wake up, ½ hour in the evening 4 days a week. Grading: Each hour of stretching is 4 points. Max points in a week is 20. Points accumulate over the 6 weeks. A: >90pts B: 80-89 pts C: 70-79 pts D: 60-69 pts F: <60 pts Book 2: Earth Goal: Do a muscle up [+3 STR, +1 CON] Starting ability: I'm at 9 on both my deadhang pullups and dips. This was originally a clean & jerk goal, but my knees need a break. The clean & jerk goal will reappear in the sequel. How will I achieve greatness? Pullups and dips in the morning Mondays, Wednesdays, & Fridays. Grading: A: Muscle up achieved! B: PUs & Dips > 15 C: 14-13 PUs & Dips D: 12-11 PUs & Dips F: PUs & Dips < 11 Book 3: Fire Goal: Reduce body fat to <10% [+2 CON, +1 CHA] Starting ability: Various calculators online gave me a median BF% of 13.3% based on measurements. How will I achieve greatness? Diet & exercise, friends. Drink only water & lots of it, stick to low glycemic carbs, and I need to up the protein so I burn fat and not muscle. Grading: A: BF<10% B: 10%<BF<11% C: 11%<BF<12% D: 12<BF<13% F: BF>13% Avatar state (Life Goal) Goal: Study for the GMAT at least 4 hours per week [+2 WIS] Starting ability: Math's great, reading comprehension's good. Vocab & writing are the neediest areas. How will I achieve greatness? Study an hour per night two nights during the week, and an hour a day on the weekends. Grading: 4 points per hour of study. Max points per week is 20. A: >90pts B: 80-89 pts C: 70-79 pts D: 60-69 pts F: <60 pts Currently training for: Brigade Combatives Tournament (late August)Warrior Dash (early November)I look forward to doing this 6-week challenge. I'll be in Disney World during week 6. That should make things fun & interesting. Don't expect too many barbells there. -Drew

My Fourth NF Challenge GOAL ONE: RUNNING I'm registered to run in the Lansing Half Marathon on Sunday, April 21, 2013. I'm following a beginner's training program with 4 runs each week, and I will be tracking my training runs in this spreadsheet. As a side goal, I'll try to achieve at least one new personal record time during the six weeks. I also plan on running in a 5K race on Saturday, April 6. GOAL TWO: STRENGTH During the last challenge I successfully completed at least 50 sets of strength exercises each week (body weight, free weight, or machine). This time around I'm setting my goal for 70 sets each week. I'll track my sets and reps in this spreadsheet and I'll continually push for new personal records. Included in this goal will be at least 20 squats a day for Streak Club. GOAL THREE: STRETCHING One area I really need to work on is my flexibility. My goal is to stretch every day of this challenge, and in particular following each running workout. At a minimum, I will do the following 10 stretches each day: back, chest, left side, right side, hamstrings, quads, outer thighs, inner thighs, calves, and toe touches. I'll track my stretching here. GOAL FOUR: HYDRATION Another area I typically fall short on is drinking enough water. My goal is to drink at least 64 ounces of water every day of this challenge. This will be in addition to (not including) whatever I drink during running workouts. I'll track my hydration here. In addition, I'll be participating in the Scouts Mini Challenge and the Scouts Race Around the World.