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Hey rebels, long time no talk. My name's Justin. I was on the Facebook men's group for a while but ditched Facebook at the beginning of the year indefinitely. Freedom never felt so good Anyways...on topic. I've been doing Stronglifts more or less on the proper schedule for...3 months plus now? Here's the numbers so far... Squat 205@5x5 Deadlift 235@1x5 Bench 130@5x5 OHP 105@5x5 Row 130@5x5 My last squat attempt, I made it to the 4th set at 210 and chickened out. Deadlifts are still going strong. Bench feels like it is starting to top out, but no failures yet. OHP I've failed 3 times now, but not in a row. I started failing quite early...85lbs I think. The row is also going strong still. I feel very under-stressed on this lift. The SL bible says that I'm supposed to have 3 de-loads before essentially changing up the rep scheme for a given movement. But that requires 3 failures in a row for a single de-load. I haven't really found any other literature that supports that much failure before changing things up. On top of that, I'm not sure I have the patience. On squats, I'm having to wait 3-5 minutes between each and every set to get them done and it is stretching the length of the workouts beyond what my schedule can manage. Back when each lift was hyper-easy, I could get the whole thing done including warm-up and cool-down in 40 minutes or less. I've had my wife, who is a certified trainer and CF coach put my form for various lifts under a microscope to make sure there wasn't something obvious holding me back...nothing really to report there. My primary intention was to build a foundation of strength and then begin a more varied routine to help me lean out more and increase intensity/explosiveness (vs just strength or endurance). So the big question...what should I explore from here on? Should I adopt a SS 3x5 scheme? What kinds of thresholds should I be looking for with each of these lifts? Any help or guidance would be useful. Many thanks!

One of my favourite Shakespeare lines, I don't imagine you could say that out loud without sounding like a badass, and I need more badassery in my life, so I shall endeavour to embody all that is encompassed in that line. Goal 1 ~ Set Up for Success Go to bed at 11 on work nights, midnight on non-work nights. Up with the alarm all mornings on which one is set. It really clicked for me in the last challenge how much easier things are to accomplish when I've had good rest (I mean, I knew this, but apparently I didn't really KNOW this). My job is such that I will have disrupted sleep some nights, since I'm on call and could be called out for emergencies at any time, but when that happens, I need to find a way to persevere the next day and do the thing anyway. The 'getting up' part is harder than the 'going to bed' part, but I struggle with both at times. Score: 0/28; 0/28 Goal 2 ~ Stretching and Physio and Yoga, Oh My! I'm doing physio for some hip/glute issues I've got going on, so the goal is to do that plus some stretching every day. I also quite like the NF yoga (though I've only done Water A so far), but it takes longer than my regular stretching and I don't always have the mental energy needed to do it, so I'll aim to do it 2x/week in place of regular stretching. Score: 0/28 (overall); /8 (yoga only) Goal 3 ~ Stick to the Workout Plan My schedule for the next while will be a bit all over the place, since two coworkers are going away for 6 weeks of training and I'm the only person available to train the new people. I'll go back to making weekly plans based on my work schedule, and then I'll stick with them. See above for persevering on less-than-ideal days. The plan will consist of 2x strength workouts/week and 2x regular runs/week and 1x intervals/week, in some order as to fit between work shifts. If I have to run on the treadmill when I'm on call, I will, but as many runs as possible will be outside. I will also be playing hockey once per week, on Sundays, staring in May. This can't replace any other workout during the week, it's extra. Score: /4 Goal 4 ~ Pushups I'm putting it separate from the workout goal, since I keep forgetting. I can get 10 good ones, plus another 5-7 wobbly ones, so I think I'll start by doing 3 sets of 10 every other day for the length of the challenge, then retest my max. I need to increase my numbers to being able to do at least 37 in one set, for future police testing. This one isn't as urgent as the running, but slow and steady will get me there eventually, and I find I tend to stall easily on these, even when I'm consistent. This time it's about consistent practice, and I'll work on increasing numbers from there. Score: /14 Goal 5 ~ Stick to the Food Plan I signed up for 2 months of Eat to Perform about 1/2 way through the last challenge. So far I'm doing well at sticking to their prescribed macros (mostly), and I'm not anticipating having too much trouble with this one. However, the aforementioned wonky work schedule leads to some weeks where I don't have 2 days off in a row, so I'll have to make sure I'm buckling down on the meal planning in those weeks. Score: 1/28 Note In the last challenge I said I wanted to go to a Monday-Sunday week, so I had 2 days at the end to catch up if needed. With the wonky work schedule, that doesn't matter so much, so I'll stay with the Sunday-Saturday week for now. When I get my weekends back, I may change again, we'll see. (Edit: changed the order of the goals to reflect my priority, and fixed the scores on pushups and stretching goals)

This is not a themed challenge. They have their place, and I will probably return to them in time, but this one is about self-discovery just as much as self-improvement. And for that, I think I need to take a step back from themes, or creating goals with characters like Aragorn in mind. I don’t wish to sound self-centred, but I do wish to increase my self-confidence, self-believe and self-worth. Goal the First: A healthy body to nourish a healthy mind - Two Stronglifts workouts a week. Include assistance work like push ups and planks - One dedicated bodyweight workout a week to build strength in exercises like push ups. I hate not being able to do full ones. - Running twice a week. Now that I’m considering running a 10k with a friend in July for Race for Life, I need to increase distance. Not sure how that will work yet. Maybe a 5 k run a week and one longer run, edging up the distance weekly? Not too sure yet. Goal the Second: A healthy body needs healthy food Simple. I hate MFP. Just… I can’t. I won’t. I don’t know why, I just don’t log. I may log breakfast, sometimes even lunch. But it’s rare I actually log everything and that means it doesn’t work for me. The plan, therefore, is not to count calories, or even macros at this stage. It is simply to be mindful at mealtimes, with no distractions if I can help it (TV, Work, uni) and to follow a nutrition plan I got from Break Point. - Follow Nutrition Plan 7 days a week (they include a ‘cheat’ or variance’ day) - No distractions at meals, be mindful of both what I’m eating, when I get full and portion control. Goal the Third: A healthy mind to nourish a healthy body - This one I don’t know what to do with. I’m edging towards visualisation, meditation and trying to revive my journal. The aim, whatever I do, is to ease the pressure off myself about the future, and what I am going to do. I just need to take some time daily to figure me out. Basically, relaxing. Breathe. Recalibrate. Deliver (a Break Point mantra I’ve taken particularly to heart…) - 15 minutes daily working on whatever I need to to get my mindset right.

Hi everyone, this will be my first time posting in this section of the forum as I just finally decided to get a gym membership, as such I have very little experience weight lifting. So I will start with my stats: Fitness Goals Not just lose weight, I want to also gain strength. Maybe size later on but definitely not a priority right now. Exercise Preference I found the 5x5 stronglifts program super easy to understand and was planning on that being my starting program, but am open to suggestions... Current Physical Stats Male 27 5'11"(1.8 m) 220 lbs (100 kg) Previous Training History I have never done weight training before. Current Training Basic Bodyweight/ max 2 pullups/ 20 pushups Past 6 Months Current Diet Normal/ no tracking but I have maintained the same weight over a year now. Current Resources/Limitations Gym Access: free weights, cardio equipment, racket ball courts sauna/ showers, 24/7 access. Work Schedule 7 AM to 6 PM I work and live and go to the gym all within minutes of each other. Limitations, my wife and I both signed up and we have kids so we need to go at different times, she is very much not a morning person so she will be going in the evening when I get home from work... which leaves me with my dilemma... I'm left working out before work, really early before work, ideally starting at 5:30 AM. So does anyone have experience with how to make early morning workouts work? My current plan is to go 3x a week, go to bed at 9:30 pm wake up at 5:00 AM be at the gym by 5:15 AM Drink plenty of water/ BCAA's - I can't eat food first thing in the morning and I heard BCAA's are good for lifting in a fasted state 10 minute sauna/ meditation session - again I have heard a sauna session can aid in warm-up which I find would be helpful since I have been awake less than an hour at this point. By 5:30 I want to be doing my program (again planning on 5x5 stronglifts) be done at 6:30 Shower be to work at 7:00 AM Either have a protein shake or hard boiled eggs or any other suggested first meal that is portable Basically, I'm looking for flaws and critiques of this program, and definitely suggestions from anyone who has worked out early in the AM. Thanks.

I'll be honest, my 48 year old self feels a little silly using words like gainz. LOL. Mixtapes, tho... After a dabble with StrongCurves after home gym acquisition, I've decided to head a little more simple and mainstream with SL 5x5. I may modify a bit for recovery if any problems arise, i.e. squats to 3x5 or eliminating the hip thrusts or increasing smaller amounts (I have really cute little 1 1/4# plates that I want to use ). Step count is mostly to get me moving a bit more outside of the weights. I sit on my butt all day and it's no good. Food/macros are Eat to Perform dictated. I put in for a coach review today, so might get a bump in food. Trying still to get more protein outside of protein drinks, but man is it hard to balance more protein without getting crazy on fat or sodium. Plus, I'm kind of digging on my midday coffee/Fairlife protein milk/protein powder treat. Heavy Metal Stronglifts 5x5 starting today, week 0. Goal: (5 weeks x 3 workouts) - 2 just in cases = 12 workouts minimum. 15=better. Hip Hop Get to stepping. Need to get my steps up to increase everyday moving. Goal: 10 days greater than 10k, 10 days 9k-10k, 10 days 8k-9k. 5 days of slack. Alternative ETP macros tracking. Goal: Hit greens (+/-10g carb and protein, +/-5g fat) 90% of days. Funk Domestic rangering complete. Goal: 3x/week, 30 minutes+.

Just like the last challenge, now with more lifting! I felt like the last challenge went well on the exercise front. I did miss a couple of runs, but only one was for no good reason. I'm seeing some progress with the runs, even if it's slow progress, but that's been keeping me as motivated as I can be. It was hit and miss with my other goals, but I still feel like, overall, it was more hits and fewer misses than it has been. This time 'round, I want to add the lifting back in. I did some Stronglifts in the past and enjoyed it well enough, so I'll go back to that, starting over at the beginning, and modifying it such that I lift 2x/week rather than 3x. I found when I was doing both running and lifting before, the slings and arrows of daily life got in the way often, so the key will be to mitigate that as much as possible and try hard to stick to the plan. Goal 1 ~ Run 3x/week One run (Wednesdays) will be sprints before soccer. The other two (Monday and Thursday) will be treadmill runs. I'll be starting at 6.6mph, and increasing it by 0.1mph each week, and will go a distance of 3.1mi (5k). Once I hit 7.0mph, I'll stay there for an extra week, to really solidify it, then start increasing my distance at that speed. Once I hit 6.2mi (10k), I'll start working on speed again. Goal 2 ~ Lift 2x/week Tuesdays and Fridays. Follow the Stronglifts protocol. Goal 3 ~ Pushups Starting at 2x15, increase by 1 rep/set/day, take breaks as needed. Goal 4 ~ Bedtime/Get Up Time Always a struggle. Getting better at the bedtimes, but the get up times are still a problem. I think the only solution will be to find some willpower somewhere... Goal 5 ~ NF Yoga Daily. Sticking with Water A for now, will try Water B in week 2 to see how it goes. The strength aspect of Water A isn't too challenging, but the flexibility sure is! Goal 6 ~ Food things Now that I've finally found a Canadian source of unflavoured protein powder (sold by a Canadian company, I don't care where it's made), I need to get back to making overnight oats for breakfasts. I've also gotten away from the batch cooking for lunches. Got a bunch of new recipes to try, I'm trying to find a way to have lots of transportable options, I find that I eat a giant lunch to the point of being over full sometimes, but I think I'd be happier with, essentially, 4 meals per day, but that means I need to bring 2-3 meals with me to work. This'll take some practice, I'm a little afraid that if I'm not careful I'll add a whole bunch of calories without realizing it, but if I can pull it off it'll reduce the times I go to Tim Horton's for a bagel or something when I'm hungry but it's closeish to dinner/the end of my shift. And if I can build this habit a bit, in terms of the preparation, it'll be easier for me to maintain through the spring/summer when it's insanely busy at work. I'd like to get back to tracking too, or at least to being aware of the calorie content of my meals, but that's going to take some doing with MFP and Google. Other Things Gonna try this bullet journal thing, or something similar. My recording, or lack thereof, isn't really working for me, and now that my work schedule is quite regular, I think I want to try a new method of writing the whole thing down at the start, so I know what needs to be stuck to and when. This is new to me, so I don't know how it'll work for me, but Imma give it a go and see.

1. Track all the foods 2. Track all the weights, even embarrassing weight gainz 3. Stronglifts 3x per week until lifts back up to previous max 4. Alan Thrall's 10 min mobility video once a day, preferably before evening shower to create habit Changed #4 on January 12 to: Check and maintain a daily work to-do list.

Hi all! I'm looking for advice for picking accessory lifts to do as a complement to a 5x5 program. I'm a competitive ballroom and latin dancer, so my goals with strength training are a mix between physique - achieving a leaner, more muscular one - and strength, especially in my back, legs, glutes, and abs. Upper body strength / muscle definition is good for my ego, even if it doesn't directly help with my sport. I've been following the stronglifts 5x5 program for about a month, switching over from sporadic use of the first google result from men's fitness when I looked for a basic strength training program (not a great choice, past me). I've made decent gains on back squats and bench press (last set for each was 220 / 135 and felt good on both), though I'm starting to stall on deadlifts and press (did not succeed at today's 220 / 115, respectively). I weigh 170-175 lbs, for context on these weights. I hadn't thought about it until recently, but I'd like to add some accessory work onto the end of my 5x5 sessions. I saw a post on an earlier thread suggesting the base program is relatively light on work for the back, biceps, and abs. I'm tackling abs via Pilates - the emphasis on control and body awareness helps with my dancing, and the program I'm currently following for it allows me to pretty easily see progress week to week which reduces the odds of me getting discouraged and quitting. I have a couple questions on the remainder: For the back and biceps portion, would I run into any issues pairing chin-ups with one day and pull-ups with another? Similarly, would I run into any issues doing the same with dips and push-ups/push-up variations? Finally, is there any accessory work I should be doing to help with the stall I'm starting to see on press and deadlift?

Ok guys, you can read or ask about me in the Introduction topic. First a few thing simportant for this log. - I started SL 5x5 two weeks ago, except for my second day - I had to move a lot of things at school that day - I went to every workout. - I have a handicap. Some form of Spina Bifida. Due to this: my left legmuscles are shorter than normal: so my right muscles are under a lot of stress, Also I have a very sensitive back. This is why I changed the Overhead Press, to SHoulder press, to stress my back less. - From time to time certain weights in my gym go missing (probably some wizard experiment) so this is why I'll add 5k instead of 2.5k. 19/09 SQUAT5x5x20kBENCH PRESS5x5x20kBARBELL ROW5x5x30k 23/09 SQUAT5x5x22.5kSHOULDER PRESS5x5x20kDEADLIFT1x5x40k 26/09 SQUAT5x5x25kBENCH PRESS5x5x25kBARBELL ROW5x5x32.5k 28/09 SQUAT5x5x30kSHOULDER PRESS5x5x25kDEADLIFT1x5x45k 30/09 SQUAT 2x5x20k 1x3x30k 5x5x32.5k BENCH PRESS 5x5x30k BARBELL ROW 5x5x35k

December is the last month of my superhero year. I am going to take this month to transition from being a hero into next years theme… SO my final superhero of the year has a dark side, she has vengeance in her heart. Thus she is a good fit for the end of this year that has seen many trials and obstacles to overcome. I am tired of always being good and trying to do what I should do rather that what I want to do. I needed to take care of many things in 2016 and I did. With any luck my life will stop being played in “epic mode” and I get back to something moe manageable. I will focus on taking care of me in 2017. (Not that I’m ditching my family or anything like that but I have slid backwards towards the end of 2016 and it stops here, now!) Katana >> She is a highly skilled martial artists and weapons specialists. She wields that sword with lethal precision! She has taken vengeance for the death of her husband and children, yet she is striving to find a way to release the soul of her husband who is caught in her katana. She cherished the family she once had and is loyal/protective to the friends she has found in the Outsiders, Birds of Prey and Suicide Squad/ Sergeant Flag… She has overcome hardship and loss to be a strong and amazing hero!!! Skills/goal 1 - Skilled martial artists >> I will start being more focused in BJJ class and spend time watching skill videos with my hubby. This is where I start working towards earning my blue belt and developing my skills. The blue belt is coming… I want to make sure that when I get it I feel like I deserve the promotion. Professor says time spend in the gym counts, but I want to make sure the my skills are up to the belt level. Classes are offered 6 days of week and I will attend class at least three days a week. I will also watch at least one video per week with my hubby! Weekly grading: BJJ class 3x/week + 1 BJJ video = 1 per week 2 - Weapons specialists >> I will be cutting out the junk! My eating went down hill very heavily in the last two months and that must change now. I will track all my food on MFP and I will aim for a weekly average of 1500 cal per day. This allows me to have a treat if I save on other days. I will also get myself back to no grains or dairy. My digestive system has been upset lately and I know this is part of the solution to get it back to optimal functionality. Weekly grading: average of daily calories = to or > 1500. 3 - Vengeance >> I am ready to take back what is mine!!! My knee is doing well, but I must continue to rehab it. My weight started creeping up when I let stress get the best of me. I’m done with excuses! I’m done waiting! Taking care of my body starts now!!! I will do my physical therapy and start the effort to make yoga a habit, every day. Both of these things will make me stronger and more resilient in the future and that is ultimately my goad, to be ready for anything at anytime! So both of these things should be done each and every day, without fail. My PT takes at a minimum 25 minutes (15 of those minutes are on a bike) and I will focus on the simple 5 minute NF yoga mobility sessions. IF I make it to the conditioning/core class at the gym it might count as one or both of these activities, I'll make that judgement for each class attended! Weekly grading: PT 7/7 and yoga 7/7 4 - Family should be cherished >> I have an amazing family and we have been through a damm tough year! What are the things that we can do this holiday season to honor the mess of the last year while celebrating what all we have???? I will try to do something special for each member of my family this month. I will cook each person from my family a special dish for christmas dinner. I will make sure that I spend quality one-on-one time with both my girls and my hubby this month. We had a planned dinner party that is most likely to be postponed till January and we will take that Saturday night to have a date night!! 5 - Bonus lifting >> I will find a few extra minutes while at the gym and I’ll sneak into the back with the free weights and weight bench and I will start to lift more weights. I’m gonna make it simple and use StrongLifts 5x5 to get back into the habit of lifting heavy things. I miss the weight room and this will be a great bridge into next years focus on lifting more!!! Weekly grading: anything here is a BONUS and will add $$ to my reward! How will I make sure that these things happen? My goals aren’t new but I am going to approach it as habit building and see if that approach doesn’t help. I will do two new things to help me build good the good habits of taking care of me. First, I will make reminders on my iPad. I almost always have my iPad out while I am at home and I will have several reminders set to give me nudges towards doing these things. Second, I will make the equivalent of a star chart and post it on my bathroom mirror, where I will see it every morning and night. It sounds dorky but superhero stickers are motivating! And now a reward, yes I like having a reward at the end. I will reward myself with a new outfit, or a new pair of boots or a new purse. Something that I really want and I’ll break it down to give myself something smaller each week that is successful and a large reward for a successful 5 weeks! But the reward will be depended on a 90% success rate. Each lifting bonus will make up for one other missed item. an older version of Katana Aside: I found an interview of the actress who plays Katana in the Suicide Squad and it struck a cord with me. Here it a part of it where she was asked if Katana is the deadliest member of the Suicide Squat: "I think she is the deadliest. Yeah. She is the deadliest. Yeah," Fukuhara told Comicbook.com and other press during a Suicide Squad set visit. "Fact. I could fight it with you. Her character, she's not into fighting for herself. That's the giri-ninjo part; it's for someone else. When someone doesn't care about her own well being, to kill someone else, and to protect someone, that makes her the scariest one, because she doesn't ... Try fighting someone that doesn't care about what the outcome is for them. You're going against someone that is going to give it their all, no matter how many times you shoot at them, and that's why she's so badass and awesome.” So Katana is fighting for others and often puts little value on her own wellbeing. I definitely feeling like that these days, but it has to stop. I am not risking my life fighting in epic battles but I am not taking care of myself.

Kinda fell off the map at the end of the last challenge. I've been busy, and NF took a back seat, and it only ended in mediocrity anyway. So this time I'm rewinding, then replaying. Basically, I'll be copy and pasting the last challenge into this one, the goals are the same. And by 'basically', I mean that's exactly what I'm about to do. One thing I will say, before I do that, is that, during Zero Week, I actually had a good(ish) run. In the past year or so, I've lost some of my motivation. When I first started this fitness journey, I could see my goal, and every time I felt like quitting or any time it got hard, I'd picture it and it would get me through. I haven't been able to see that in some time (and when I say I couldn't see it, I mean I literally couldn't conjure up the image in my head even if I tried), but during this run, I could see it again, and it got me through. Now, that was just one run, so who knows if that will stick, but that image is in my head again, hopefully it'll stay. And now I shall commence with Operation: Copy/Paste! ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ It's been a long while since I've had a truly successful challenge, but if I'm going to do this thing, then I need to do the things. So this challenge will be about doing it, one day at a time, whatever it is I need to do. Out of necessity I will plan a week at a time, I've tried day-by-day before and it never ends well, but once the schedule is set, I'm not thinking about tomorrow until I'm done with today. Goal 1 ~ Workouts Run 3x/week, gym 2x/week. Goal 2 ~ No Chips And also meal prep on Fridays, breakfasts and lunches for the work week. Goal 3 ~ Stretch Daily, all the things. Mush as needed. Goal 4 ~ Bed In bed by 11pm/12am (work night/not work night), up with alarm. What I'm Trying to Channel Because I feel like I've been choosing quitting more often than not.

So...I'd like to add some MRT into my Stronglifts rotation to pick up the cutting/fat loss pace. Problem is, I don't know what I can do without impairing recovery on my off days or going too far on my lifting days. Thoughts? Probably best to do any MRT on my lifting days, but since Stronglifts is whole body...you see where I'm going with this?

I'm still in the fight!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Last challenge I experimented a wee bit and really enjoyed it but due to the nature of this challenge and the fact that finals are coming up I won't be able to do a narrative for this one. However, part 2 to my last challenge is coming I swear! For this challenge i'll be doing a lot of new things! For starters I got my hands on the NF superpack and will start my Jedi training consisting of handstands, meditation, and Olympic rings. Alright now onto the WAR part of this challenge!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Challenge theme music! To help combat the demon horde, tomorrow I will be starting the Stronglifts 5x5 program! I had gotten to NF Academy's level 7 gym course and really enjoyed it but wanted to change the pace a bit and since this workout series is only three days a week it is a perfect fit for my hectic schedule. I will also be participating in Novel November which will be very tough for me but I figured this would greatly help me with my writing! writing 15 minutes a day awards 1 wisdom per day -10 hp per missed day meditation 5 minutes first week then 10 minutes the rest of the challenge. Must be done a minimum of 5 days a week. awards 1 wisdom per day -10 hp per missed day stronglifts and bodyweight day, workouts 4 days a week and log workouts -25 hp per missed day paleo eating for a minimum of 5 days -10 hp per missed day

I can't believe my Pokemon journey began a year ago today. I never thought it would take this long, but after defeating the indigo league only to be knocked out by the champion, I had a grudge to settle. I recouperated in Pallet Town before embarking on another journey, seeking strength and wisdom across Kanto's coast, under the mountains, through cyberspace, into the deep dark forest and amongst the islands. Now I'm ready to return to take out the Elite 4 and challenge the Champion again. Personal story (skip if you want to): In 2014 I worked hard to move past depression and anxiety. I thought I had succeeded until... In early 2015 I had a mental breakdown and lost my job and vocational education. I decided to give my life a major shakeup by planning a year-long international travel adventure on a shoestring for 2017. (Travel is a major cause of anxiety for me, so this is extra daring.) This gave me the rest of 2015 and 2016 to save up and prepare. One of my goals was to go from overweight and completely sedentary, to being fit enough to do seasonal farm work to pay my way while traveling. Somewhere along the way I joined NerdFitness and was surprised to discover a love of weightlifting and other badrangerassery. Exercise was not a magic bullet for me, but resistance training did help my depression, alongside other changes. A major motivator was laying down a base level of fitness in order to start Krav Maga (a martial art). In early 2016 I finally felt ready to start Krav Maga. But on my first lesson I tore a tendon in my (good) knee, setting me back both physically and mentally. (In my challenges, this is where I lost to the Champion). I eased back into fitness very slowly, being busy and afraid of re-injury, but about 7 months later, I am fully recovered and approaching my PRs again, on-track with financial goals and about to book plane tickets. There's just one thing left to do: smash this challenge. Week 0 - Lorelei (Ice type) Time to Unfreeze I've been feeling frozen in place and overwhelmed by all the things I have to do and could be doing. It's time to sort them out and make a plan. I'll be updating soon with specific goals. Also drinking a lot of iced tea (that goes for every other week too). Week 1 - Bruno (Fighting type) I will make sure I go to kickboxing this week and put in a solid effort. This is also the week to fight the mess in my room. Week 2 - Agatha (Ghost type) I will do something that scares me. Also, I will work extra hard on mobility this week. Week 3 - Lance (Dragon type) I will do something that makes me feel badass. And I'll have my birthday this week! Week 4 - Blue, the Champion This week I will pull it all together for a 100% week to completely, unambiguously beat the everloving daylights out of that Champion.

Hi guys. I've been laying low and recovering after my leg injury caused a subsequent loss of motivation in my challenges, and the narrative associated with them. For that reason, I won't be doing a narrative this challenge; the jury is still out on whether or not to change my username. (If I do, it'll be to Callanthar, my World of Warcraft character, who happens to be a hunter, the WoW equivalent of a ranger.) For this challenge, I'll be channeling the various abilities of a D&D party, emulating the various strengths that make them so successful. And of course, absorbing the strength of an entire party of adventurers in a single person is exactly what we Rangers at Nerd Fitness like to do! Here's our party: Goal One: The Fighter. The fighter relies purely on his skill of arms and armor to protect him from foes. In a world of magic and supernatural creatures, only the fighter's training and martial prowess save him from being a dragon's lunch. A fighter must be ridiculously strong in order to protect his friends and battle his foes. To emulate the Fighter, I'll be doing strength workouts thrice per week. I'll be using the Stronglifts program, but I'll be adding chin-ups to Workout B, and replacing barbell rows with chin-ups in Workout A. I really want to get better at chin-ups. Survived the adventure: 6 workouts. Quest complete: 9 workouts. Natural 20: 12 workouts. Goal Two: The Ranger. The ranger acts as the party's scout, travelling farther and faster than anyone else in order to protect the party from ambushes, and let them know what lies ahead, in any terrain. A ranger must be swift, versatile, and untiring. To emulate the Ranger, I'll be doing cardio at least thrice per week. At least one workout must be on my bike, and at least one must be on foot, running if possible. (Things look good so far, but I'm not going to tie myself down to running if I feel the leg is going to play up again) Survived the adventure: 6 workouts, 2+ of each. Quest complete: 9 workouts, 3+ of each. Natural 20: 12 workouts, 4+ of each. Goal Three: The Monk. The monk can perform one of several roles, depending on their specialisation. A monk lives an ascetic lifestyle, and must remain in peak mental and physical form to accomplish their incredible feats of athleticism and focus. Their fists and self-discipline are both hard as iron. To emulate the Monk, I'll be working to lose weight. I'll be tracking my calories needed, calories eaten, and calories burnt through exercise over the course of the challenge. Survived the adventure: 8,000 net calories burned (~300 per day). Quest complete: 11,000 calories burnt (~400 per day) Natural 20: 14,000 calories burnt (~500 per day) Goal Four: The Wizard. While the rest of the group relies on their bodies to perform their tasks, a wizard relies solely on their mind. By understanding the world on a deep level, they can perform feats that would otherwise be impossible. Theirs is a life of intense study, minds grappling with the nature of the cosmos. To emulate the Wizard, I'll be working on my programming. I'll be studying an hour per day, working through the game-making books at inventwithpython.com, but I'll also be translating the programs featured within into Java, since that's the language taught at my university. Survived the adventure: 14 hours studied. Quest complete: 21 hours studied. Natural 20: 28 hours studied. Completing the quest: In order to complete the quest, all four party members must complete it. Should a party member survive, but fail their quest, a natural 20 from another member can prop them up. Success means the party earns 500 gp, and a magic item worth up to 1,200 gp. 10 gp = 1 Australian dollar, so that translates to 50 dollars to spend on whatever I like, and up to 120 to spend on equipment. Should the party fail their quest, but everyone survives, they manage to earn 250 gp for their efforts regardless. In the event that a party member dies, all funds acquired must be spent on the Raise Dead spell, giving the party no reward for their attempts. Let the adventure begin!

So last week for the second year in a row I got to spend an amazing 5 days (+2 extra in Atlanta) in the woods with THE MOST AMAZING NERDS ON THE PLANET! Camp was yet again one of the most mind blowing experiences of my life, and the things I learned and the people I met and reconnected with will stay with me always. There's a hashtag on social media we use #CNF365 to represent bringing all the goodness we got there into our every day lives. My goals this challenge, and until the end of the year, are to do this hashtag justice. October is also going to be in INSANE month for me. I'll be going to Maine to check out wedding venues, then traveling for work for a few days, and then going on a southwest vacation with Mr. Raxie to hit up some national parks, followed by hopping by Camp Ranger Fitness with Tank and Wolfie, and visiting some nerds in Austin and Dallas in the next zero week. So really, I don't have many "normal" days this upcoming month. It will be interesting. So I'm going to keep things kind of flexible as in I have to do things a number of times per challenge - not per week. I also realized at camp that part of my blah feelings lately have been that I have a great habit base set up right now for my work outs, and now that I've been doing it for so long I need something fresh and new. So I'm going to be forcing myself into doing archery once a month from now on (I LOVE ARCHERY I just never let myself find the time to do it) and also try to check out boxing at my gym which I absolutely fell in love with thanks to @Cheechoe and her amazing classes! I've never taken any fighting classes before but somehow after that first class I found myself taking kung fu, Tai Quan Do, and self defense. This isn't something I think will turn into my number one thing (I love lifting too much) but I definitely want to explore my options here at home with getting it in as a fun side activity! Maybe eventually even once a week. Here are my goals for the entire challenge this time around: 11 SL workouts 2 Boxing lessons 1 Archery session 4 mobility focus days (with brand spankin new Kate G stuffs for my hips and more ROMWOD!) 4 Zombies, Row! workouts 16 meditation sessions Start my travel blog I've been wanting to start FOR EVER. And add an entry about CNF 2016 that I'll share with you guys too! But here's my real goal this challenge, which isn't something trackable. It's more about attitude towards MY LOVELY TRIBE OF NERDS. So confession: when I first joined Nerd Fitness in 2013 I did my best to keep my real self separate from my NF self. I didn't post any pictures, I wouldn't tell anyone my real name, but I did make progress. Then in 2015 I started making real friendships with some of you guys, added some of you on facebook, and started really diving into the community. I signed up for camp, came back, and was like screw it I will add everyone on facebook and post pictures of myself here and I DON'T CARE. But a small part of me has still kind of been like, my nerd tribe is separate from my "real" life - if someone called me Raxie on my facebook page (outside of the camp page) I was like OH GOD WHAT IF MY COWORKERS SEE THAT... or something I honestly don't know what I was afraid of. But after this year at camp, and the most unbelievable trip to Hawaii earlier this year with other nerds I am finally ready to admit it. You guys are my tribe and my people - my REAL life people. And you all do nothing but support me and help me along in this amazing journey. So, I will keep these connections open and I will approach fitness with the attitude that I am doing it with this amazing group of people who can call me Raxie all they damn please - because you all have leveled up my life. Even those of you I haven't had much interaction with - you've helped this community be what it is AND THANK YOU FOR THAT. I'm going to start being more honest with myself this challenge about all of that. If my "real life" friends and coworkers aren't cool with me being me, putting my health and fitness first, and loving some amazing folks I met on the internet that's too damn bad. And that's freakin that. I think this attitude will also help me get out of my blahs, because it will help me be less self conscious about diving head first into fitness and all the stuff I have grown to love over the past 3 years being a rebel here. So yeah, here we go!

Howdy Rangers! This will be my third challenge with the Rangers. For those of you who didn't follow my first challenge, this challenge will be written a little differently than most. The majority of the posts in this challenge comprise a story, written in-character by Ranger Five. In character posts will be in green. These posts make up the story. I'll be writing about a zombie apocalypse setting, with a lot of inspiration from Zombies, Run! the app, but my own plotline. So don't worry about spoilers outside the first mission. If I've done my job, you won't be able to tell what's from the app and what's not unless you go through the app's story yourself. Most of what I use from Zombies, Run! will be characters and the basic premise, not the story itself.The story began in Chapter 1: Rebel Five Outruns Zombies, continued in Chapter 2: Rebel Five Seeks Answers, and this is the third chapter. However, the previous challenges have a lot of words in them, so for people who weren't following along with it, I've written the story so far for you.The Story So Far: Cast of Characters: Ranger Five: Our protagonist. Hails from Mullins Military Base. Major de Santa: Leader of Abel Township. Samuel Yao: Radio operator. Runner Seven: Head of Runners. Ranger Nine: Head of Rangers. Monk Two: Head of Monks. Has been giving Five fighting lessons. Emily: Head of IT. Janine Myers: Formerly Abel's doctor. Turned traitor at the end of Chapter 2. Currently at large. Louis: Works for Janine's mysterious employer or colleague. Henchman. Now that we know the narrative, let's look at the goals for this month: Goal 1: Lift weights at the gym up to thrice per week, using the Stronglifts program. (Exception in Week 1, where I can only make it to the gym once) Minimum: 6 workouts. Solid: 8 workouts. Great: 9 workouts. Excellent: 10 workouts. Goal 2: Run up to three times per week. Minimum: 6 runs. Solid: 8 runs. Great: 10 runs. Excellent: 12 runs. Nothing new here. I'm dialing my running back to thrice a week to prevent further injury. I'll run 5 km thrice a week (two slow, one fast) for Week 0-2, then I'll up the slow runs to 6 km for the remainder of the challenge. Goal 1 remains unchanged except for my scheduling issue; why mess with something that's working. Goal 3: Stretch up to three times per week. Minimum: 6 sessions. Solid: 8 sessions. Great: 10 sessions. Excellent: 12 sessions. I've been neglecting my stretching recently, and there's no excuse for that. If I can't do it at the gym due to time constraints, I can do it before I run, after I run, or at any other point in the day. Three sessions a week is a good start. Goal 4: Write up to three story posts per week. Minimum: 6 posts. Solid: 8 posts. Great: 10 posts. Excellent: 12 posts. Due to my injury, I got out of the habit of a solid Tues/Thurs/Sat schedule for writing story posts last challenge. I'd like to get back to it; there's quite a bit I'd like to write about this month. The plot's continuing to heat up, so I need to keep the posts coming! Scoring system: Minimum = 1 point. Solid = 2 points. Great = 3 points. Excellent = 4 points. 8 points or higher, all minimums met: Minor reward, worth up to $30. 12 points or higher, all minimums met: Major reward, worth up to $100. The first story post, explaining Chapter 3's title, should be up tomorrow.

This challenge started on Sunday, I just noticed it today but I've been going to the gym since last week with a strength-increasing goal in mind so I think I qualify to participate in this challenge. My goal for this challenge is really just to go to the gym somewhere between 6-7x every 2 weeks and work on increasing my strength using the Stronglifts 5x5 program (with a couple of minor modifications). The basic Stronglifts program is 5 exercises: "A" day = back squats, bench press, barbell rows, "B" day = back squats, overhead press, deadlifts Modification = replace back squats on "B" day with front squats. Increase by 5lb each new workout. Modification = find a suitable starting weight for each exercise and stay at that weight for a couple of workouts to learn/relearn the exercises before moving up in weight.

I'm on a Pokemon journey seeking true power in the wild and mysterious corners of Kanto (superimposed on my town). For the story so far see my battle log. I sure love my points systems, averages, targets and grading. I want to set a goal, laser focus and smash it. But right now that's not the most effective approach. I have a well-established fitness routine and it's more important to try to balance my mental and physical effort to avoid burnout than to tick off a checklist. So I will be grading each week on effort rather than points. My routine: M - lift T - / W - lift, shopping T - gym/aqua, kickboxing F - nature walk, lift S - gym/aqua S - / The first week of the challenge I'll be returning from travel on Tuesday and having to work extra time to catch up, so my only goal will be to bounce back from that. I made and froze 2 meals and the ingredients for another batch to give myself a head start. My workout buddy has a weekly general workout program for the gym now, so we can go any time rather than being constrained by class times, though I'm still hoping to get to some aqua classes. I'd like to do some more pull exercises on the machines to balance out the amount of pushing and sitting at a desk I do. Also a bit of mobility work on my feet is becoming a necessity, and I've got an itch to go rucking. And the garden needs attention. Should be a fun/crazy time!

Hey everybody! In case you´re wondering, I took a while off and used week zero to think about life, lifting and love. Which takes me to my challenge: You´re used to me filling my threads with tons of gifs and pics (because more gifs is more gainz u know), you´ll be surprised. No funny gif themed stuff, I´ll keep it simple this time: BarbarianBassBro starts success simply living, lifting, loving - short BBBSSSLLL Quest 1) Lift 3 times a week and don´t forget the accessorys Quest 2) Eat selfcooked meals and drink at least 2 liter water, avoid fast food and such. Ah and stop drinking soda! Quest 3) Get at least 8 hours of sleep, before early shift at least 6 hours Quest 4) Meditate daily for 15mins Bonus Quests as needed I´ll try to get up to date with your challenges and update mine daily if possible. Now I need something to blow my headache away...

Last challenge went so-so for me. I have been doing really well in terms of continuing on with what habits I have built up for a while now, but I can't help but feel like I am coasting. I have 5 weeks to finish (i.e. start and finish) real training for the PL comp at CAAAAAAAMMMPPP! I've been powerlifting for almost 2 years now, but due to some unrelated injuries, some emotion stuffs, and a bit of just general slacking I have not progressed nearly as far as I would want to by now. I regularly deload or don't increase my weights when I'm feeling meh and just don't really push myself, in addition to cutting back from lifting 3x/week to 2x/week since I started a rowing program. I tried to ramp it back up to 3x/week last challenge but it just didn't work out because reasons. I also have been eating TERRIBLY. Well OK, not really that bad, but it most definitely cannot be classified as "eating clean" and I think this has been making my attempts at kicking more butt harder since my fuel source has been subpar. I even had a short moment of whininess where I tried to convince myself there wasn't enough time to train for the PL comp and I should just not do it. But that was brief, and I quickly convinced myself of otherwise. If it gets to be time for camp and I'm not feeling it, I'll assess the situation then. But for now I'm going to train HARD up until the last minute! How am I going to train hard you ask? I'm going to become a robot! Due to some budget constraints at work (which is paying for my PhD) I am not taking any classes this semester. I'm sad about it but I'm not going to let this extra time go to waste! I'll be using the bonus time during the day and weekends to hunker down and do what must be done like a well oiled machine. I will stop coasting, I will lift 3x/week again, I will increase my weights per my programming, I will not debate whether or not I will do these things on any given day because I am a robot and a robot doesn't question it's programming. I will eat clean food, because it is fuel, and that's what I need to keep it going. In short, I will get things done because I'm a Ranger and that's what we do. So, on to my specific goals. 1. Lift More & Lift More Often. Objective: Stronglifts 3x/week with prescribed weight increases (currently set to 5lb/workout but I do reserve the right to lower this to 2.5lb/workout at any point) Threshold: Stronglifts 2x/week with prescribed weight increases OR Stronglifts 3x/week but without the correct weight increase 2. Continue to be Rower 5 and Escape Those Swamp Zombies. Objective: Row 2x/week on the erg using the Zombies, Run 5k program Threshold: Row 2x/week on the erg, but one of the two times not being a ZR5K workout. 3. Go Hard Every Day. Objective: In addition to the 5 real workouts/week laid out above, have active rest days. This can be rucking, hiking, vinyasa yoga, ballet, swimming, a long walk, seriously anything that isn't just sitting on my butt. Only one of the two days can be restorative yoga/yin yoga. Threshold: Same as objective but both active rest workouts are restorative/yin yoga or something like it in terms of being not really that active. 4. Oil the Machine. Objective: Wake up with a yoga flow every morning. Anything more than 5 minutes counts. Also do a 15+ minute mobility routine every day before working out (i.e. immediately upon getting home from work). Mobility routines can be a long foam rolling session, a free ROMWOD workout (which I am debating subscribing to!), or something from Fit for Real Life. Threshold: Still yoga every day, but mobility sessions 5x/week only before "real" workouts and not on active rest days. 5. Fuel the Machine. Objective: Batch cook every week. 1 variance allowed per week. Also eat 100+ grams of protein per day. Threshold: Batch cook every week. 2 variances allowed per week. I'll be starting TODAY and making this a 5 week challenge. The only caveat to this is next weekend I am almost certainly going on a long weekend trip to NH to climb Mt. Washington. A lot of these goals won't be attainable on the trail or in camp, but as long as I don't eat terribly I'm preemptively giving myself a pass for those 3-4 days.

(I'm pretty happy the MSPaint editing came out so well!) Goal 1: Continue with Stronglifts. Zero week is week 10 of Stronglifts. At the end of the challenge, I’ll have completed week 14. I’m doing a 2 week deload on squats to work on form a bit. I’m going to keep going on the other lifts. I’ve been working on my bench form a bit as it’s now the lift I probably have the poorest form on. My elbow angles change between sets. I’ll be interested to see if I can make it through this challenge without missing a bench rep. Goal 2: Accessories – I’ve got to start doing a couple accessories in order to keep my squats progressing and get ready to start up a new volleyball season. Good mornings. During the deload weeks, I can start doing these (maybe 3sets of 8, fairly light), to work my back extensors. Calf raises. When you play on the net a lot, you need strong calves both to jump and especially to cushion the landing a bit. Face pulls – targeted upper back work. This requires some home depot/amazon hardware shenanigans. Goal 3: Dietary goals – I’m coming into this challenge at about 271#. My only goal, really, is to eat enough. However, some of the lifts are going to start moving into progression territory that previously weren’t. That might trigger a little weight gain. It’s smaller muscle groups, so I’m aiming to finish the challenge around 273#. Goal 4: I’ve dropped walking from the challenge goals. I’ll still walk here and there, but I want to use the time to be productive. The substitute will then be 15 minutes of thoracic mobility twice a week. Goal 5: I'm going to switch up my "adulting points" system to an effort based score. I want to spend 16 hours over the (4) weeks working toward goals: 1. Home/Gym improvement 2. Costume prep 3. Other justifiable efforts This will actually be pretty difficult because (fantasy) football season starts during this challenge and draft season tends to require a lot of time.

Run, run, run Late again. But it's nothing new this time around, just trying to clean up my diet further and and in more positive habits. I have a 20-mile and a 23-mile training run during this challenge, so I'm trying to not hyperventilate at the thought. I call it 'running' even though I do run/walk intervals. I may be going to France for 2 weeks during this challenge, and would have to adjust the training plan accordingly. A major mini-goal is to avoid deviating from the plan as much as possible, because I tend to get distracted/seduced by other plans easily. Overarching Goals: Body fat 25%. Making very slow progress. Marathon 11/5. Just aiming to finish. Be happier and more energetic This is mesmerizing to me Goal #1: THE FOOD 1a. Meal prep weekly - make breakfasts, and lunches including protein and veggies 1b. Limit alcohol - 3 days/wk max worked well for me last challenge 1c. Veggies at dinner - this is the area I want to clean up. I'm fine with some dairy/carbs, but want to at least get produce into every meal. hahahhaha nope Goal #2: THE WORKOUTS 2a. Run 3x/week per Jeff Galloway marathon training plan 2b. Lift or strength workout 2x/week 2c. Foam roll + stretch 3x/week Looking at sleeping puppy pictures = guaranteed mood boost Goal #3: THE BRAIN 3a. Sleep 8 hrs/night or as much as my body will allow me. I struggled with this last challenge 3b. Meditate. If I get through the free Headspace sessions I may subscribe, or just use calm.com 3c. No solo TV. I can watch with bf or other people (social-ish activity), but stick to music (for background) or reading on my own. If I succeed at this then I will upgrade my Spotify to the commercial-free version for a month.

Challenge under construction! This is my town, Pokemon-ified. For backstory visit my Battle Log. I'm currently suffering from Rangerbrain, busy-ness and low energy. So, this challenge I will try to find a sort of balance. Things I need (ok just really want) to do 3x Stronglifts (mostly just maintenance as I build my squats back up) 2x Gym visits 1x kickboxing 1x Bushwalking (rucking?) 4+ hours of Lynda lessons ? Hatch 10km of Pokemon eggs each week Knee strengthening (tbd by physio) My possible week: Monday - ugh Monday Tuesday - lift Wednesday - gym by bike, housework Thursday - morning Aqua fit by car, evening kickboxing Friday - lift, work from home Saturday - bushwalking, possibly gym by car Sunday - lift, mourn the weekend passing Or, Mon-Wed-Fri lifting.

Hello Rangers! I still need to post the recap to my first challenge, but the new challenge went up faster than I expected, so I decided to put mine up sooner rather than later. This will be my second challenge with the Rangers. For those of you who didn't follow my first challenge, this challenge will be written a little differently than most. The majority of the posts in this challenge comprise a story, written in-character by Ranger Five. In character posts will be in green. These posts make up the story. I'll be writing about a zombie apocalypse setting, with a lot of inspiration from Zombies, Run! the app, but my own plotline. So don't worry about spoilers outside the first mission. If I've done my job, you won't be able to tell what's from the app and what's not unless you go through the app's story yourself. Most of what I use from Zombies, Run! will be characters and the basic premise, not the story itself. The story began in Chapter 1: Rebel Five Outruns Zombies, and this is the second chapter. However, the previous challenge has a lot of words in it, so for people who weren't following along with it, I've written the story so far for you. The Story So Far: Now that we know the narrative, let's look at the goals for this month: Goal 1: Lift weights at the gym up to thrice per week, using the Stronglifts program. Minimum: 6 workouts. Solid: 8 workouts. Great: 10 workouts. Excellent: 12 workouts. Goal 2: Run up to four times per week, according to my schedule. Minimum: 9 runs. Solid: 11 runs. Great: 13 runs. Excellent: 15 runs. Goal 3: Keep up with my uni schedule. Minimum and above: All assignments done on time, all marked assignments passed. Solid: All work caught up at the end of the challenge. Great: All work caught up on at the end of each week. Excellent: All work caught up on at the end of each day. (1 off day per week permitted) Minimum: 1 point. Solid: 2 points. Great: 3 points. Excellent: 4 points. 6 points (Solid average), all minimums met: Minor reward, worth up to $30. 9 points (Great average), all minimums met: Major reward, worth up to $100. I also have some objectives, in terms of what I want to achieve physically during the challenge. These won't be graded, since I'm grading myself on process rather than results. But they will give me an idea of how well my training's increased my strength at the end of the month. 5x5 Squat goal: 57.5 kg -> 70 kg 5x5 Bench goal: 40 kg -> 50 kg 5x5 Row goal: 37.5 kg -> 45 kg 5x5 OHP goal: 32.5 kg -> 37.5 kg 1x5 Deadlift: 75 kg -> 90 kg Bodyweight: 63 kg -> 65 kg (+/- 0.5 kg) I'll be keeping my running goals for the month secret, since those goals will end up defining Ranger Five's mission at the end of the challenge. For those who weren't following along with my first challenge, at the end of each challenge, I assign a mission to Ranger Five. Last challenge, it was to rescue a survivor from the red zom. The catch is that success in this mission is tied to my real-world running performance. I set a goal for myself (26:00 5k last challenge) and Ranger Five only succeeds if I do. If I fail, so does Five, and the story goes in a different direction. I'd say that just about sums it up! Ranger Five's first story post should go up tomorrow.