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Becoming a Norse Warrior - LEVEL 1 (part 2) “I’m not afraid I’m not alone I feel in my veins Desire rage I’m awoken, I’m awoken Night of the warriors I’m awoken, I’m awoken Everything inside me I’m awoken, I’m awoken Theory of madness I’m awoken, I’m awoken This is my final stand” Becoming a Norse Warrior - LEVEL 1 Welcome to the next level of my challenge! Technically it stays the same, I am just gonna continue what I was doing previously. I am gonna report about my progress casually and post some motivational stuff and music too. If you support me, I’ll try my best to return the favour. Let’s unite our powers! I am gonna level up on the path of a warrior. These are the values of the Vikings’ Code of Values I am gonna pursuit and how I am gonna do it: 1. Strength “It takes a certain kind of warrior to be able to row for hundreds of miles on the open seas and then go raiding for riches. Raw power is necessary, along with endurance and functional strength. Having a physical presence and mental fortitude was essential in surviving.” Strength: -Full body home workout with dumbbells 3 kg 2 times a week, cardio 1-2 times a week - abs exercise (10 min) - Do exercise to strengthen the joints every day (was injured recently, need to prevent future disasters) (10 min) -Eat garlic every day (if anyone has any advice about other effective ways to boost the immune system, let me know) 2. Discipline “Discipline, again as part of a total way of life, refers to self-discipline. If one is going to live by ones own standards, they are responsible for and must be willing to control your own actions. “ Always do what is planned unless seriously sick or unwell. Never slack off - especially studying. Study every day for at least half an hour and more on the weekend. 3. Courage The Vikings were known for their courage and bravery in battle. Courage actually applied to every part of ones life. It take courage to do what you know is right, especially when those around you disagree with your point of view.” Do at least one thing that scares you. 4. Self-Reliance “Warriors are by nature independent beings, they strive to ensure that they don’t have to depend on others for their survival. Indeed family was at the center of Viking life. A Viking is responsible for taking care of himself and his family; this is his first and foremost duty in life. Being frugal and prepared for hardship, as with a long upcoming winter, was an important part of being self-reliant.” Don’t spend more than 1000 yuan (it is 156 American dollars) for personal expenses every month. Save the rest for future adventures and possible hardships. 5. Stay in tune with the gods “The Vikings had a deep connection to nature, to the Earth and the phases of the moon, and Norse spirituality has many similarities with shamanism around the world.” Turn off your phone for two hours a day (on the weekend). Admire the nature. Connect with it and search for that feral feeling deep within. Reach to your roots, to the roots of humanity.

Hey there! So I decided to go after the so called Holy Grail of Fitness - abs. It has been my dream for many, many years to have a six-pack. I can remember myself sitting on the carpet in my parents' dining room and watching a music video on tv. In that music video there was one girl dancing and she had a very distinctive abs. I thought, wow, I would love to look like that! I shared that thought with my mum or dad (can't rememebr because it was something like fifteen years ago) and he/she replied: "Forget it! Do you know how much hard work and sacrifice it costs?! No way!" And just like that, the spark of the dream had been extinguished as soon as it appeared. But hey, here I am again, stronger, more disciplined and level-headed than ever. And I won't give up until I achieve my goal, no matter what. Even if I had to crawl to the finish line. Not only because it is cool to show off on the beach and take some awesome selfies (but hell yeah, let's not be a hypocrite, that's a part of the fun too), but because having a body like that is a proof of incredible inner strength, self-discipline, dogged consistency and grit and that's all I stand for in life. So that's my plan: - stay in calorie deficit - don't eat any snacks, sweets, sweet drinks, bread, etc until the objective is complete (I don't believe in cheat days) - workout: abs + cardio or HIIT - every other day, however I plan to slowly increase to 5-6 days a week - work around my wrist that has been injured recently and is still healing (it means only lower body workouts) The challenge has started on the 5th of October. I lost some pounds and cm around my belly and got some muscles (really little though). Not very satisfied but I guess the muscles won't just appear there overnight. Keep fighting!

I fell off the wagon in the middle of last challenge. Honestly I'm not sure I was on the wagon to begin with, but I digress. TENTATIVE WEEKLY SCHEDULE: Monday - work 8h Tuesday - classes maybe, evening church group Wednesday - work 8h split Thursday - moar classes maybe, evening church group Friday - work 4h, maybe class Saturday - ???, church in evening (online ofc) Sunday - ??? probably housecleaning tbh TO-DO: Cooking Lunch duty M Dinner duty TWRF probably (dinner by 5 or 5:30 because that's when Mom gets off) Weekends are always up in the air Regain my gainzzz 100 Knee Pushups Challenge Split lunges and goblet squats (10 lb unless I can come up with something heavier. No, my cat doesn't count.) I guess inverted rows? 5-minute ab workout (crunches 1 min, plank 1 min, side plank 1 min/side, some kind of boat pose 1 min) Walk/bike with Mom when schedule allows (it mostly doesn't). Schooling Send in those forms so I can sign up for the stupid classes on May 7 Read Dune. Finish before Mom finishes Anne of Green Gables Pick up the alto clarinet at least 1x/wk for 40+ minutes (assembly and maintenance times not included) Bonus points for breathing exercises Bonus points for playing anything in boat pose. Don't waste all my free time on Animal Crossing. (Wild World - don't ask for my friend code.) 1 hour of gameplay per day, max. Spend some time outside in the sun! If I think of anything else I'll add it. Have a spreadsheet.

Initial post removed because user is 15.

12 Week Hypertrophy Quest Quest Goals: 1) Increase Muscle Mass 2) Decrease BF% 3) Increase Strength In All Lifts Overview/Details Each working set should be performed to near failure with 12 being the most reps you should perform and 6 being the lowest. This workout utilizes supersets.Take a 1 minute break between each superset. Supersets are grouped by letter before them. See Quest Objectives for context. Increase weight on each set by at least 5lbs. Increase weight from week to week as well. By the end of the 12 weeks, you should be 10lbs+ stronger in many lifts. This program can be repeated with endless variation. If you begin to plateau, seek ways of making the workouts harder. An example could be adding some dropsets. SPLIT CHEST/BACK SHOULDERS/ARMS LEGS Quest Objectives: Day 1: Chest/Back | Warm-up 5 minutes of cardio A1) Bench Press 2x6 warm-up, 3x12 working A2) DB Row 2x6 warm-up, 3x12 working 1 - 2 minute rest B1) Hammerstrength incline Chest Press 3x12 working B2) Hammerstrength lat pulldown 3x12 working 1 - 2 minute rest C1) Cable Crossovers 5-7x12 working C2) Reverse Flye 5-7x12 working Day 2: Active Rest | Start with 5 minutes of cardio if you normally don't do cardio, and add 5 minutes to your average time of the cardio you do regularly. Increase total time by 5 minutes every other week. By Week 12 you should be doing 30 extra minutes of cardio. For the sake of this program, cardio is considered 150bpm+ for the whole session. Day 3: Shoulders/Arms | Warm-up 5 minutes of cardio A1) DB Shoulder Press 2x6 warm-up, 3x12 working A2) Standing DB Curl 2x6 warm-up, 3x12 working 1 - 2 minute rest B1) DB Front Raise 2x6 warm-up, 3x12 working B2) Tricep Extension 2x6 warm-up, 3x12 working 1 - 2 minute rest C1) Reverse Flye Machine 2x6 warm-up, 3x12 working C2) Barbell Curl 2x6 warm-up, 3x12 working 1 minute rest D) Skull Crusher 2x6 warm-up, 3x12 working Day 4: Active Rest | Do the same amount of cardio as you did on your first active rest day this week. Day 5: Legs | Warm-up 5 minutes of cardio A1) Squat 2x6 warm-up, 3x12 working A2) Leg Curl 1x6 warmup , 3x12 working 2 - 3 minute rest between A and B B1) Leg Extensions 3x12 working B2) Standing Calf Raises 3x12 working 2 - 3 minute rest between B and C C1) Weighted Walking Lunge 3x12 working C2) Lower Back Extensions 3x12 failure Day 6: REST Day 7: REST Let me know what you think below!

Hello, I've started working out the last one and a half months and im noticing results but not in the way I was hoping for. My whole right side is seemingly smaller, starting from the abs all the way down to the core/lower abdominal muscles. Especially the "V line" muscles. On one side the V line is very visable but on the other side it's less. Can this be caused by a rotated hip? is the muscles on my right side stiff and have to be stretched out in order to be activated? Should i work out the right side more to get symmetry? Is this problem serious? I sit behind the computer alot so im thinking that's the cause and these problems havn't been noticed since I've just now started working out. All answers are very appreciated thank you! PS, please ask questions if you don't understand the issue properly.

I got about three weeks, right? Wim Hof 6-7/week - 2HEA 1CON Self-defence 2/week - 1BER 1DEX Cross-country running/uphill sprints 1-2/week - 1STA Abs 1-2/week - 1STR Wall walks and handstands prep 5/week - 1DEX

Main Wolverine’s goal: being The Wolverine. Fight. Train. Expose yourself to cold. Eat like a horse. Breath. New stuff Handstands!

This is it. Cold baths are here. It's been nice to know you all, I'll see you in the afterlife. Kidding. I'll post a challenge. Or something. I guess.

There’s absolutely no need to painfully inject adamantium into your body to get that beautiful, totally shiny, unbreakable adamantium skeleton you’ve been dreaming of, you can build it yourself in the comfort of your own home… yes, you can, really, no pain. Well, some pain may be involved. But not much… How much, do you ask? Hmmm, do you see that barrel full of icy water, my dear? Just get in and we’ll talk… Main goal. Complete the Wim Hof course, so as to become The Wolverine. Starting the challenge at week 5 of the course – it doesn’t seem to involve moving to Svalbard yet Thinking on how intense this is going to be from now on, points are going to be generous here. Same as last challenge, it is an all or nothing goal, I do it or I don’t do it. 2 STR 2 DEX 2 WIS 2 CON Second goal. Exercise. Anything that helps to become The Wolverine, counts: self defence, running/sprinting, dead hangs/pull-up prep, push-ups, abs… 1 STR 1 DEX 2 STA 1 CON Third goal. Don’t throw everything in the trash. I’m getting back to work in a few days, and there is big danger here of getting overwhelmed. I am quite active at this moment, with plenty of exercise, the WH course, music practice and so, and soon my free time is going to be reduced. The goal will consist on being attentive and see whether I need to reduce my activity, by how much, and how much time it takes to adapt myself to the new routine. 2 WIS If I succeed in finishing the course and I get all my points both from the course and the exercise goals, stats will change and I will start at Level 0 as The Wolverine, won’t be a Wood Elf anymore.

New challenge = new profile photo! Continuing down the PvP road with Hatter from last challenge, plus publicly available PvP ab/core torture videos this time around. Whee! Abs - PvP ridiculousness! +5 points for each completion of a weekly abs vid Inverts - I want a straight arm, straight leg invert on the silks or the rope SO BADLY. To that end, +5 points for focused practice around that. On apparatus or off, but not inclusive of the core PvP stuff above. This is dedicated hollow body work, pike reverse crunches, etc. Also (perhaps not intuitively) this is also some types of lat work--of the straight armed push down variety, so don't be weirded out when these get scored for points. Flexibility & PreHab - Flexibility is important for circus folk. So is staying healthy (shoulders in particular). To that end, I'll finally be taking my flexibility and prehab seriously. (For serious) All kinds of things count for points here--random 5-10 minute stretching at my desk because my shoulders are tight (and similar) +2 points. Actual stretching routine, such as Starting Stretching or What should stretching feel like +5 points. A real and actual prehab routine such as something from CirquePhysio or similar +8 points Choreo & Flow - Stringing together at least two skills in a clean and/or interesting fashion. Specific skill practice +2 points. If I happen to shoot a video of choreo or skill linking? +5 points. (Note: in-class stuff generally won't count for this as most things we do are at least two skills strung together) Diet - I've been hanging on to some extra fluff for way to long. I have about seven pounds to lose. From past experience, counting calories works well for me on this. Track every day, stay within calorie limits +2 points per day. Other things to know: Next week I'll be on staycation, which alters my schedule dramatically and puts a huge cramp on my ability to get to the circus gym, so lots of off-apparatus stuff going on next week. US Holiday, Labor Day is on 9/4. Circus gym will be closed (this is my usual open gym day, so boo) Destiny 2 releases on 9/6. I will be binge-playing this game for many days. Will not be attending circus class on 9/6 (Wednesday is my usual class day) I've also got some cardio work that I should be doing and at least one muggle workout per week (woman cannot live on circus alone, especially if said woman is trying to lean out a bit) Title, in case anyone is confused: tightens up = weight control; stretches out = flexy and prehab; turns over = inverts Official scoring start date TBD, but getting all this down in electrons will get it out of my brain.

Okay! First, read this. I'll wait. http://www.laurawitwer.com/2017/06/29/post-laura-witwer-ego-smashed/ That blog post hit me preeeeetttty hard in the feels. When my circus gym reopened after >1 year, I somehow expected to pick up right where I left off. Amazingly, this did not happen. I spent a few months bootcamp-ing, aerial style and when i had some strength back, jumped back into a skills class. My ego did not take this well. I'm finally to the point where I'm feeling somewhat strong most classes, but I definitely have the "Comparing myself to myself" moments come back and bite me in the butt. So, it's time to focus on improvement from where I am now rather than comparison to where I was then. To help with keeping my focus in a forward direction, Hatter and I are going to do a PVP-ish challenge. Goals and scoring are below. Structured Circus – Class at least once per week (silks/rope) +5 points per class Stretchiness – At least 2 out-of-class stretching sessions (at least 10 mins each) per week. One of these can be body-maintenance type stuff (foam rolling, etc.) if desired. +5 points per session (additional sessions per week can count for additional points) Abs – Video Challenge at least once per week (alternating who chooses each week or we each choose one each week for both of us to do). +5 points per video completed (each video can count more than once if done in the week it is the Video Challenge) Life goal – Mindful eating. Cut the random snacking. Eat meals. Consider whether you're actually hungry or just bored. Don't eat just because it's time to eat if you aren't actually hungry. Unscored Bonus – Photo or video progress on crow pose. Eventually I'd like to get to firefly, but one thing at a time, here. Unscored Extra Double Bonus – Plan vacation. Huge work stresses mean our usual summer vacation plan has been pushed back. Something not terribly far away or stressful to get to and inclusion of some fun activity and forced relaxation all at the same time. Alrighty, aside from all that, work next week is going to be exhausting as we have a huge inspection/accreditation visit that will take up most of my working hours for the entire week. I'm hoping circus will help keep me sane. And on the fun side, the beta for Destiny 2 is out on July 18. yay! Right after hellish work week, some time to play. Is that it? I think that's it...

I'm only 17, but my parents say i'm blessed with the body of an athlete so they want me to do football. And I just don't eat right, just want to get strong enough to be a Off lineman. tbh I never lifted weights before this so I don't have enough experience to know :/ I decided to start working in a weight training class 5 months ago and I want to know if my progress is coming fast enough Height: 6'4 Weight: 295 Age: 17 How Long have I started training: 5 months Bench: 225 Power Clean: 245 Squat: 465

Hey guys, I've been out of training for a couple of years up until 6 months ago but have been training regularly since then with a program my gym instructor gave me. I'm in ok shape now but want to get ripped, sorry for the cliche but its what I want to aim for. I do want a more "natural" look. I don't want to bulk up to be huge but I do want to get rid of all residual body fat as much as I can and create hard abs, lean but very built. The attached pictures will show you exactly what I want to achieve and where I am now. I am 5'9, 76kg, and 32yr This is exactly what I want to achieve And this is me as of now I guess if you could advise me on what program I need to follow and i will study it and follow it with precision to get exactly that physique in the first two pictures I would really appreciate it. How many times a week I need to train and what program I need to follow. I am assuming there is allot of core training needed here. And A 5 meal a day min to get my metabolism going? I am very determined and focused but I just need some guidance. Thanks for any help, I will thank you a million times haha, I need to now where to start and what to do. Someone suggested body beast or hammer & chisel as programs? Shane

I'll be blunt. I'm looking for truly extreme levels of improvement. I'm already in fairly decent shape and eating 99.5% paleo. My current program is as follows: Monday: Bench Press 5x5. 135 as of this week, increased by 10 pounds each week that I hit the 5x5. Tuesday: Squat 5x5. 135 as of this week(today's lift), increased by 10 pounds each week that I hit the 5x5. Wednesday: Dead Lift 5x5. 125 Last week, 135 being attempted this week, increased by 10 pounds each week that I hit the 5x5. Thursday: Overhead Press 5x5. 95 last week, 105 being attempted this week, increased by 10 pounds each week that I hit the 5x5. Friday: Rest. Saturday: Rest. Sunday: Rest. Every day: Handstand training, PLP Challenge. I am aiming for anything and everything that will take me to next level. I'm looking for that Leonidas, DBZ character physique and strength. I am looking to literally count my abs in the mirror. I'm taking any and all ideas and suggestions.

Hello! I'm Phoenix and this is my first NF Challenge! Walk to Mordor - I started this a couple months ago and am on mile 355. It has been super fun and I love Lord of the Rings! I may reach Rivendell in this time and if I do, I will reward myself by watching the movie and having a hobbit-themed dinner with friends. 90 Pushups - Not consecutive... Just 3 sets of 10 regular, 10 diamond, and 10 wide everyday to work on strength. Running - Run 3 or 4 times a week. 6min Abs - Do daily: 1min crunches, 1min flutter kicks, 1min penguins, 1min scissor kicks, 1min Russian twists, 1min plank (or similar) Spanish - Start to learn Spanish for a trip later this year I'm soo excited and glad I found NF!! Let's do this!!

Hi Rangers one and all, old and new! Some of you may remember me - i joined NF this time last year and it has made a real difference to my fitness. I've had a bit of a break, for various reasons, and this month is going to be challenging again - I'm booked to have minor surgery on September 15 and am told I have to take it easy for a couple of weeks after that. Hmm so better do as much as possible before then! I've taken it fairly easy over the summer and have definitely eaten and drunk a bit too much, so I need to burn off a little bit of fat, rediscover my abs and get back to running - I have signed up to do a 10k at the end of November. Challenges are fairly simple: Row 100 metres in under 30 seconds (I think I can do this but want to check!) Run for 10 mins without stopping Complete 20 full push-ups NOT spend any money unless strictly necessary. Looking forward to catching up with all you lovely Rangers!

Hello! I'm Phoenix and this is my first NF Challenge! Walk to Mordor - I started this a couple months ago and am on mile 355. It has been super fun and I love Lord of the Rings! I may reach Rivendell in this time and if I do, I will reward myself by watching the movie and having a hobbit-themed dinner with friends. 90 Pushups - Not consecutive... Just 3 sets of 10 regular, 10 diamond, and 10 wide everyday to work on strength. Running - Run 3 or 4 times a week. 6min Abs - Do daily: 1min crunches, 1min flutter kicks, 1min penguins, 1min scissor kicks, 1min Russian twists, 1min plank (or similar) Spanish - Start to learn Spanish for a trip later this year I'm soo excited and glad I found NF!! Let's do this!!

Hello everyone! I'm looking to get abs, and I found 2 videos that seem to contradict each other - may I have your opinions please? Which should I follow? Should I be doing these exercises to get abs? https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hxjKZcOT17E or Should I be working out the rest of my body? https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5WQNuWwWQX4 It's really confusing! Thank you! xx Stef

Avengers Assemble!!! Last challenge there was some misguided intentions.... but then a glimmer of hope and a new direction. So, what I need to do is take hold of this glimmer and run with it. And so I shall!!! With a little help and some charting and graphing, things shall be better. And it so greatly helps that I now have more freedom than I have had in almost a half decade!!! So now, time to call on my support system (goals)!!! War Machine War Machine is donned by Lt. Colonel James Rhoads, friend of Tony Stark. War Machine was originally one of the early Iron Man designs but was beefed up with enough armaments to level a small country. Last time I started with one very vague plan but then someone gave me the inspiration to try one of the Darebee workouts and it was going very well. So, what I NEED to do is beef up this workout program. What I will do is reset that workout and add onto it. Yes, it might sound like I'm going to possibly overdue it but I am confident that I will be able to grab onto it and run with it So, I'm going to reset the Foundation workout (hopefully to push myself into Level 2 on some of those workouts) and I'm going to add the Total Abs 30 Days of HIIT Darebee workout (after trying one day of it last week I feel that the Total Abs workout isn't going to go well because I didn't feel like I had good form... and that's just day one!!). So, here's the preview of the new workout: The plan: Do both workouts Daily, DOMS be damned!! (1 pt/each per day) Falcon Falcon, friend to Captain America (and no, I didn't purposely put both War Machine and Falcon back to back for the sake of Civil War..... or did I?!? ), was a paratrooper, using the Falcon Exo-skeleton for combat missions, until his partner had been killed in action. Sometimes, when tragedy strikes, you refocus your energy onto other activities (he decided to support others with PTSD). What I need to do is also refocus my energies again when it comes to my food choices. My new direction on food needs to be this: Firstly, I'll get back to tracking my food to visually see what I'm eating. Secondly, I'm going to give myself extra credit for not eating garbage (garbage being defined as fast food, including take out, and excessive amounts of snacks). The plan: Track food consuption (1 pt/day) and good food choices (1 pt/day) Ant Man Scott Lang was a 'thief' that was given an opportunity to help himself, his family, and Hank & Hope Pym. Donning the Ant Man suit, he is able to shrink down in size, still retain his strength, and be able in interact with ants, having them help him. I like this picture of Ant Man for two reasons: it's the first time he uses the suit and it looks like he's giving the thumbs up The other portion of this scene is him dealing with the power for the first time, which involves him running like hell from water. A great place to restart my need to drink more water in my life. While it's not the amount suggested for daily consumption, my goal is to get in 48 ounces of water daily. I clearly do not drink enough water daily and it needs to change. The plan: 48 ounces of water daily (1 pt/daily) The Vision The Vision is J.A.R.V.I.S (the computer system of Tony Stark's) uploaded into a body originally intended to be the final form for the automaton Ultron. With the Mind Stone embedded into him, he has a sense of humanity's chaos but also a compassion for humans. The Vision, to me, seems to be the wise despite everything the world has in it. So what I need to do is get back to really committing to the community and staying there with my comrades in arms. I remember back in the day that I will support the newest Rebels and keep up fully with my Assassins and other Rebels. I need to wade back into the water of that commitment to my fellow men and women! So what I will do for this is interact with no less than 4 of my fellow Rebels DAILY!!! And Likes don't count, I have to put something down in words. The plan: 4 interactions daily with my fellow people (one-quarter pt/daily) Time to get classy and in shape!!!

Brothern and SwoleMaidens, It is time to focus on a body part that a lot of us neglect. We even go as far as justifying the neglect with weak excuses like: "I do abs when I squat" or "All of my lifts work abs," or my favorite... "abs are made in the kitchen." This sounds like Broki weaving his web of lies to entice you to never meet your potential. Let me tell you a story about the time I helped an above average lifter become extraordinary. Let’s call him “C.” “C” was strong as a train, but it just wasn’t good enough. I asked him what kind of training he did, but all he talked about was some log lifts he used to do and throwing a football. That just wasn’t good enough. So, I got him on supersets to strengthen his core. Your Challenge is to add 3 sets of core work as supersets to your normal workout. Do this for 4 separate workouts to reach next level, and post your work here. This is in addition to what you normally do, so if you start or finish off your workout with core, then you are just going to do more of it. Go try something new, or tell us your awesome core exercise. Level 1 = +.5 wisdom; +.5 Charisma Level 2 = +.5 Strength Level 3 = +1 Constitution Level 4 = +1 Strength, +1 Charisma You keep all the rewards of each level achieved. You have to the end of the current Challenge period to compete in this challenge. You do this every workout and you won't care how cold it is outside, you'll want to show off your abs. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Suggested Core exercises but not limited too. The only rule is it needs to be hard for you, so push yourself. Planks, situps, crunches, V-ups, leg raises, pelvic raises, lateral walks Anything from this Article or this one. --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Admin note: If you have an idea for a challenge please tell Gainsdalf or me. PM us or post it in the water cooler. It doesn't even have to be a complete idea or write up, just a body part to train or a spark of an idea. If not, I got some great bench and curl challenges to dust off.

This challenge is going to be an unSMART D.U.M.B. goal version of what I've been doing anyway. 1. Ride my bike - most days, do some intervals sometimes, mostly on a trainer. 2. Push Ups, Pull Ups, & Abs - once in a while, I might do some mobility while I'm at it. 3. Project: Best Ass Twin Cities [P:BATC] - when my legs have some freshness in them, I'll do some goblin squats, lunges, and of course glute bridges, maybe some jumping jacks for Wolfie. 4. Eating - Don't eat stupid stuff, try to keep track.

So I'm struggling to lose fat particularly around my hips and would really appreciate any suggestions for exercises which build muscle around the lower waist (i.e. love handles, lower abs/stomach). I mostly do leg raises and use the abdominal machine to work my abs and have just started doing Russian twists with a medicine ball too. One of my long-term goals is to have a v-line/defined hips - does anyone have any advice for achieving this? [if relevant, i'm a girl, 5'6", 61kg/134lb]

I'm going to take advantage of the shorter challenge duration and try a little experimentation with my training and diet. Plus, I have a Spring Break trip planned for the end of March and I'd like to work on my beach muscles. So, bring on FE-BRO-ARY Quest 1 - Pack on some pounds Eat at least one pound of meat every day. I tried eating at a surplus and counting calories last challenge and my weight dropped a little. And I disliked counting calories. So this month I'm going to try and simplify my goal by just ensuring I eat 1 pound of meat every day: chicken, beef, pork, turkey - bring it on! Quest 2 - Before Bed Benjamins I recognize that it's foolish to try and pack on pounds while also honing my six-pack, but I'm not trying to get shredded to show off my abs. I have to build some abs first. To that end, I'll be attempting the Before Bed Benjamins: 20x knee touch20x toe touch20x reverse crunch20x reverse crunch cross20x "butterfly" Since my core really needs some work, I'm going to ramp up for this one. My goal will be doing the BBB's once during Week 1, twice during Week 2, thrice during Week 3, and four times during Week 4. Quest 3 - Treasure Chest Quest What's a bro-tastic challenge without a little emphasis on the chest? My goal is to have a dedicated chest day each week as well as to include at least one chest-focused exercise in each workout. Quest 4 - Break a mental sweat In order to fit in my Chest Day, I'm dropping Deadlift Day. I have other reasons for that, though. I have gotten kind of bored with the traditional sandbag deadlift. I got up to 5x250# at the end of 2015 and a 250# sandbag is just a pain to deal with. I have heard a few podcasts with Josh Henkin, the inventor of the Ultimate Sandbag and Dynamic Variable Resistance Training (DVRT) and he keeps talking about how there's more to progressive overload than just adding weight. So, my goal for this quest it to read all of the DVRT book that I bought several months ago. It's about 290 pages, so I'll need to complete 10-15 pages a day.

Hello, I'm Bluethunder.... I joined NF last month in between challenges and started a Battle Log, but was encouraged to join a challenge....so here I am. I'm using the template for level 1 Rebel Challenge sorta.... I have one major diet challenge and that is cinnamon toast which I have a bad habit of eating til I explode. So I need to stay away from that at all cost. My next goal is fitness and diet?... I'd like to lose 4 pounds by the end of this... Last goal is fitness related.... I just recently upped my treadmill speed to 7.5 which is slightly out of my comfort zone. So I'd like to make it all 4 weeks at that level My "level up my life" goal is to read one book in the next 4 weeks Below is a condensed version of my goals LEVEL 1 REBEL CHALLENGE: Diet Stay away from cinnamon toast! Baaaaaaaaaaaaad Fitness Run at 7.5 speed on treadmill (slightly out of my comfort) Lose 4 pounds Level Up Your Life Read one book in the next 4 weeks. Well....I hope that its ok if I crash the Rebel party with my lame goals..... I'm ready for the REBEL CHALLLLLLLLENGE!!!