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Hey warriors - a bit of an intro since this is my first time as a warrior. i've been in and out of challenges all year, never quite finding something i can stick to that i enjoy. when i first started i loved body weight, found that i hate cardio, circuits are good but lacked motivation. Not at home from 6am - 6pm so finding a time to workout is difficult, unless it's short (cardio, blergh) or is just on the weekend. Boyfriend (who i work out with) has been thinking about strength training for a while. I asked a friend of mine who is a personal trainer and competes in judo professionally for a good place to start. Enter the German Body Comp, which we've done for the last three weeks. Love it! Boyfriend then spends vast majority of the day reading up on strength training. And this brings us to Strong Lifts 5x5 A simple workout, done three times a week, relatively quick, and we enjoy strength training. Sold! And so shapes my next challenge. 6 weeks of doing 5x5, 3 times a week. Always good form. And adding in some pull ups/chin ups as an extra thing to do - assisted at first. I have the strong lifts 5x5 app on my ipod to use at the gym, will also set up the spreadsheet on google docs to keep track of my progress overall. Will add in chin ups too. I say this every challenge but i am excited about starting this, in that i feel like i've finally found something i enjoy that i can see good progress doing - which gives me a reason to keep doing it.

I've named this challenge after "Phenomenal Woman" By Dr. Maya Angelou, may she rest in peace. If you don't know it, you should read it. This is in comic form if you're more of a visual person. Main goal: For this challenge I want to get down to 155lbs and my ultimate goal at the moment is 150lbs, which means 12lbs in 6 weeks. I've been loosing about 2lbs a week, so as long as I can keep it up, I should get there with some dedication. Goals: 1. Keep lifting 3x a week with SL5x5, I want to keep making progress on my lifts as well as loose weight. 2. Stick to 1,300 calories a day. I usually let myself have a few beers or something every few weeks with friends, but I want to stay really strict for this challenge. 3. Drink at least 3 water bottles full a day. I'm usually really good about water, but for the last few weeks I've been forgetting and I can see the difference. Life quest: This might be odd, but I really need a project. I'm bored to tears waiting for school to start, and without something to work on I just watch Netflix all day. My mom needs a dining room table set sanded and painted so I'll probably do that. I really like working with furniture and building things. Plus it's nice outside, so working outside should be fun. Motivation: This challenge is pretty simple, but it means a lot to me. This is the most in shape I've been in my whole life, and I'm not even at my goals yet. I'm so excited to see what else I'm capable of and what I look like in shape. That's pretty much my motivation. Also, 3 weeks into this challenge is Seattle Pride and I've always wanted to look awesome for pride. I'm hoping that with more specific but doable goals I can be more successful this challenge.

First post is copy and pasted from last challenge thread to define the main quest that I am. Goals for this challenge can be found a bit down the page. Quest for Spartan Strength I have always identified with being a runner. I grew up a runner. I got away from running and allowed life to consume me. I became soft. I put on weight. I got reeeal slow. For the majority of 2013, I have been focused on reclaiming my body and my athleticism. I set the goal to become a member of the 2013 Spartan Trifecta Tribe. And, I completed that goal last challenge period. As we close out 2013, I'm starting to prepare my performance goals for 2014. And, as I put them together, one thing becomes clear. I want and need to be stronger. When people think about runners, they don't think "strong." They think of the skinny/lean marathon type. Well, I want to be a strong runner. I want to lift more than I am currently able to. I want to hit obstacles at Spartans and complete them faster because I am stronger. When my legs tire on a run, I want to be able to focus on my arms and know that they have the strength to continue to propel me forward. This doesn't mean that I am looking to change my body type. I am not focused on any vain reasons for getting stronger. I need to get stronger to perform better. Since, I am a Spartan Ranger, I believe a great measuring tool of my strength-level can be the Spartan 300 Workout. 25 Pull-ups 50 Deadlift at 135 lbs. 50 Push-ups 50 24" Box Jumps 50 Floor Wipers at 135 lbs. 50 Kettlebell Clean and press with 36 lbs KB (25 each arm) 25 Pull-ups Main Quest Goal: Complete the Spartan 300 Workout in under 30 mins

As an assassin, we need the ability to throw our own body weight around pretty easily. This is still at times a difficult task, considering 175 pounds isn't the easiest weight to throw around. So I am coming to a fellow guild for this challenge (and possibly the next one also, to build up more muscle, I was doing SL5x5 last challenge, but I never really pushed myself like I will do this challenge. How will I do this? Off days will be 1700 calories (Yes, I know what you're thinking. And yes I am aware), gym days will be 2300-2500 calories. So 4x1700 and 3x2500 averaging at about 2000 calories a day with a minimum of 170g of protein and 250g of protein respectively. Until recently (last few weeks), I'm actually starting to fall in love with the appearance of my body, it's the best thing ever and like any long lasting friendship/relationship, I'm aiming to strengthen it. (ha, pun intended) For the fun stuff, GOALS! See this post for updated goals. http://rebellion.nerdfitness.com/index.php?/topic/39213-duality-throwin-around-some-iron-to-be-a-better-assassin/page-2#entry767890 Goal 1 : NOM NOM NOM properly. Eat 1700 calories / 170g of protein minimum on off days and 2500 calories / 250g of protein minimum on gym days Goal 2 : Stronkin' Strong Lifts 5x5, 3 times a week like the plan. M,W,F. Goal 3 : Chemicals For this 6 week cycle I will be taking a few things to help with my progress. Gym days (2 scoops, 2+2 caps and 2 pills), off days (2 scoops, 2 caps and 2 caps). Goal 4 : Zzzzzz..... Get to bed at latest 10pm the day before workouts. Goal 5 : Budgetize Recently at work, we're not doing so good for November, so I need to plan out a budget because they cut us 4 hours a week until Christmas. Template for updates 1 - (1700/170 0/4 - 0/4 - 0/4 - 0/4 - 0/4 - 0/4 - 0/24) - (2500/250 0/3 - 0/3 - 0/3 - 0/3 - 0/3 - 0/3 - 0/18) 2 - 0/3 - 0/3 - 0/3 - 0/3 - 0/3 - 0/3 - 0/18 3 - (2/2/2 0/24 - 0/24 - 0/24 - 0/24 - 0/24 - 0/24 - 0/144) - (2/2+2/2 0/18 - 0/18 - 0/18 - 0/18 - 0/18 - 0/18 - 0/108) 4 - 0/3 - 0/3 - 0/3 - 0/3 - 0/3 - 0/3 - 0/18 5 - 0/1 - 0/1 Legend Red - unbolded = not met yet, but week not done. Bolded = not acheived for the week. Green - bold = acheived Blue are totals Starting Stats Height - 5'11" Weight - 175 lbs (±1.5 pound) LBW - 150.38 lbs Body fat % - 14.07% (kind of arbitrary, not focusing on the number itself, focusing on getting it lower, either if it's right or not) Past challenge start BF% : 17.29% After calculations using http://www.linear-so...com/online.html, I lost 3.22% BF since the start of last challenge! Caliper measurements (Gray = not needed for calculation) 11.66mm Chest 24.66mm Abs 19mm Thigh 10mm Tricep 14mm Subscapular 12mm Suprailic 10mm Midaxillary 9.83mm Bicep 12mm Calf 16mm Lower back