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Gonna spend another month with y'all building on the foundations of last month. My work hours have stabilized for the most part so itll be a little easier (I hope). Good things I need to continue: drinking water isn't as much a problem so keeping that up will help. I workout fewer days a week now but they feel more productive (I lift noticeably higher volumes) so I'm going to try to keep that system up until I plateau again. Things that need work: I still eat small meals and sometimes skip meals altogether. I need to work up to higher calorie goals and hitting my macros. I'm going to keep tracking macros but overall calories I'll estimate for now (tracking every single thing got too much). I'll be back with more specific goals soon.

"Tempered by the fires of Hell, his iron will remain steadfast through the passage that preys upon the weak. For he alone was the Hell Walker, the Unchained Predator, who sought retribution in all quarters, dark and light, fire and ice, in the beginning and the end, and he hunted the slaves of Doom with barbarous cruelty; for he passed through the divide as none but demon had before." - UAC Report File 9REIZDUR Hello fellow Warriors!! Some of you already know me, but for those that don't: my name is SheriffWolfpool or Wolfpool or Wolfie, lol. I've been around Nerd Fitness since 2012 and challenging pretty consistent since 2015. I've been a Ranger during the last 4 years because my focus was on being a jack-of-all-trades. I did a little bit of everything. I've ran Spartan races, dabbled in parkour, done lots of calisthenics and even played some Quidditch and Gaelic Football. My main focus was to be as active as possible and trying my best to be the most badass version of myself. Now, my focus has shifted a little. My focus is now on gaining size and strength and I thought there was no better place to achieve that than the Warriors Guild. There's still a level of badassness I want to achieve, but it involves gameifying my life and harnessing the "rage" of a video game character called, the Doom Slayer. Recently, I've become obsessed with the Doom Slayer. I played through and beat DOOM (2016), (the remake to the classic 1993 Doom), on the medium difficulty called "Hurt Me Plenty" and loved the game. Now, I'm streaming Saturday nights with a buddy of mine as we play through the next hardest difficulty called, "Ultra-Violence". I call it #SlayerStreamSaturday ;). Believe it or not, there are two more difficulties after that lol. One of them, the last one, being called Ultra-Nightmare is a permadeath play through. One death sends you back to the beginning...unless you beat the level you're on and save. No checkpoints. No respawns. Plus, the enemy A.I is just stupid hard. Anyways, DOOM Eternal, the sequel to the hit 2016 remake, comes out November 22nd of this year, a week after my birthday! I actually had the chance to go hands on with the demo this past weekend at QuakeCon and was just blown away by how awesome and gory it is! The game devs have redesigned the Praetor suit for the Doom Slayer in Eternal and this is the "bulk" of my inspiration... As you can see, the dude is JACKED! #curlsforthegirls Last challenge I started training harder in the gym than I have in over a year, hitting certain PR's I've yet to achieve in my short lifting career. I've always sucked at deadlifts but that's because my form sucked. I've since fixed that and have brought my 4RM up to 225#. It's the most I've ever deadlifted and that's without testing my 1RM, lol. I've been consistently kicking butt the last 2+ months, but really dialing in with nutrition and workout consistency the last 5 weeks. I want to continue that trend with an added dose of intensity as I start the journey of a brand new program from Athlean-X called: BeastX. It's a 12 week program focusing on hypertrophy, athleticism and strength gains, and I'm soooooo excited to start! I have a good baseline now and I'm ready to take my "Unchained Predator" mindset and completely unleash the beast within. There are also some other crazy changes happening in my life. I'm getting a second job at Costco. I'm pretty excited about it because I love Costco and I actually used to work for them about a decade ago. Being the father of 5 beautiful kids and having an amazing wife that watches after them is just one reason for needing this second income. I want to get us into a bigger place, possible a house in the next year or less. I also want to get debt free and have a little more cushion with our finances. Working 2 jobs and still wanting to maintain a training schedule is going to be physically and mentally demanding, so, I need to be on my A-game. The last 2 challenges, I have been focusing on 3 qualities: Relentlessness, Focus and Calm Under Pressure. Combined together, I have been able to set goals, achieve them and kick ass in the process. This challenge is no different. In other words, "Don't fix what aint broken!" Goal 1: A Predator's Mindset-Relentless It's no surprise that juggling the many things I have going in my life is going to be tough as hell. But, with the right mindset, I can (and will) be victorious. The nice thing about the BeastX program is the workouts are no more than 60 min long. Training at the gym is therapeutic for me and something that needs to continue even in the midst of working two jobs. Fueling my body and my mind is going to be just as important for all the "in-between" stuff. To have a Predatory Mindset, I need to: Keep up with weekly training on the new BeastX program. Get swole. Fuel my body and meal prep/plan better. Post pic. People like food porn . Have a good attitude about it all. Don't be a dick. Possible Points: +4 STR, +1 DEX Goal 2: A Predator's Restful Slumber-Focus Sleep. Ohhhhh, how sleep is going to be the most important goal of this whole challenge. Not just sleeping at night, but napping during the day and taking advantage of the opportunities to get some shut-eye. There may be nights where I don't get home from Costco during the week till almost 11pm...and then I want to get up by 4:30 AM to be at the gym so I can make it to my other job in time? Yeah, it's gonna be nuts. I'm salary at my day job which gives me a little leeway on sleeping during lunch, which, needs to be a daily thing. I always eat at my desk, so, I will continue doing that, but take the time to nap during my actual lunch break. Possible Points: +3 CON, +2 CHA Goal 3: A Predator's Might Roar-Calm Under Pressure I'm a member of the Toastmasters Club at my day job and I love it! Public Speaking has always been a big fear of mine since I was little but I am overcoming that fear and really enjoying giving these speeches. I am about to complete my level 1 pathway for my focus on Presentation Mastery with this weeks Toastmasters meeting when I evaluate one of the members on his speech. After that, I'll dive right into my 2nd level pathway and begin knocking out those speeches/goals as well. During this challenge, I want to "lean in" and make sure to fill a role for every meeting over the next 5 weeks. I also want to give at least one speech in that time frame. Being calm under pressure is crucial to the success of this goal. Possible Points: +2 CHA, +3 WIS And there you have it folks! Thanks for letting me hang here for the next challenge+!! I I look forward to kicking some ass and making the Warrior guild proud of all my gainzzzz Wolf

Hey ho warriors, I'm usually with the rangers or monks, but I've decided to add some muscle onto my frame so I figure this is the place to do it. I'll be adding baselines, and quantified goals over the next few days, but overall I'm looking to add about 10 lbs over the next few months. I'm a notorious hard gainer it took years to get from 150 lbs to my current 165 and it's because I constantly miss my macro and calorie goals every day. Things to focus on: -hit my macro goals. Priority on protein and fat (carbs are easy to hit) - drink more water. (32 oz not including my daily protein shake. Training water or coffee) - avoid testosterone disruption as best as I can. I work in a blood bank so there are some things i can't avoid (mostly cleaning supplies) That's it for today. I'll come back with more details later. Also I work nights so expect updates at strange hours

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!

Hi friends! I'm new here and really excited to join a community of fitness-obsessed nerds like myself It was like a light switched on in my brain when I realized I could actually train myself to do the things my favorite movie/television/video game characters do instead of just sitting on my couch wishing I were that cool. It's been a long and ongoing journey of constant change and self-improvement, and I'm really proud of how far I've come. I feel like parts of me belong in each of the guilds but I picked the adventurer guild because I lost my first 50 lbs when I discovered my love of hiking, and adventuring outdoors is still one of the most peaceful and inspiring parts of my life. My current workout regime looks something like this... 5 days/week : lifting heavy ~40 min (I'm on week 2 of Ashley Horner's Charlie Mike program right now) 2 days/week : 1 hour bootcamp classes or other cardio conditioning 3 days/week : 45 min cardio (run or elliptical) *or* trail run I really enjoy working out - it has been more effective than any anti-depressant or talk therapy My main struggle is with nutrition (I am a sucker for sweets) so I've been working on maintaining a diet at 1400 cal and 50-60% protein. It's going well so far and the nutritional guidelines I'm following don't make me feel hungry, deprived or lacking energy. I just started eating meat again to help meet my protein goals. I really liked being a veg but it's hard to meet my goals that way, so I'm just trying to get responsibly sourced meat/eggs. STRENGTHS: - Healing/Herbal Lore - Lifting heavy things - Hiking/outdoor sports - Endurance WEAKNESSES: - Cookies, Doughnuts - Running - Charisma - Agility (mediocre, looking to improve) GOALS: - Improve my 1RMs by at least 10 lbs in 6 weeks (I picked this kind of arbitrarily but I think it's doable?) - Weight loss 2lbs/week (I don't usually condone numeric weight loss goals for anyone but I'm giving it a shot because I already have a substantial base of lean muscle mass and I'm trying to cut fat) - Meditate 3x/week for 7 minutes - Stretch every day - Foam roll at least once/week - Trail run or hike once a week (5+ miles) - All-around badassery I'm also a beginner climber so if any assassin friends have tips for n00bs, please share TIA my lovelies, looking forward to meeting everyone!

Marathon, done. House, moved. Time to get back into weightlifting and saddle up. I have had a lot of things up in the air, but I need to get into a groove that works for me so I can get going forward on something other than “run a lot.” Goal #1: Get back into a weightlifting routine. 3 days a week minimum, I want a schedule that works for 5. That means I get my commute manageable and find a weight room that’s accessable. 3,000 points Goal #2: Track food and weight. I’m going to try to bulk up after losing so much upper body muscle mass to my marathon training. I want to have my weekday meals planned and calories estimated every week. 3,000 points. Goal #3: Learn horseback riding. I’ve started basic lessons and I want to get to the level where I can ride a trail on my own before my honeymoon in August. I have one lesson per week and I want to do 1 day of “homework” per week (educate myself on something related to horseback riding). 1,000 points *Fun fact* this seems to be the one picture of a DBZ character on a horse on all of the internet: Goal #4: Maintain running. 5k runs at least 3 times a week an long runs (15-20k) on the weekend. 2,000 points. Goal #5: Nesting. I have random projects from moving and I want to complete at least one per week. We scaled up from a tiny 1 bedroom apartment to a 2 bedroom townhouse with a basement. I need storage in the basement, the kitchen organized, DVD/Blu-ray storage, all living room furniture that isn’t a TV stand, a table and chairs for the dining room, a drink station (dry bar), a desk for the office, and a bicycle/storage for said bicycle. 1,000 points Why are the points in thousands?

It's time to get on the famous bandwagon again! And I'm PUMPED!!!! Things has been hectic for the last couple of months but I'm finally ready to do this! I'm going to keep it simple this time around also - just going to have two goals. RUNNING! 3 times per week I will go for a jog/run/brisk walk and I WILL love it! (I actually have a race 19th of May I'm training for) FOOD! I will limit my intake of sugar to two days/week. This includes everything that isn't "food". So candy, sweets, chips, soda, you name it. And you know what? I will love it! I will also try to post pictures on here as much as I can. I will also be signing and checking off running and food as much as I can. Feel free to take a sneakpeak into my main questline also. Let me just say - BRING IT!

It's the Godwin's Law of Anime...at some point, somebody's gotta break out this reference. Three, two, one--LET'S JAM! Now with NO food-related quests and NO measurement tracking requirements throughout the challenge. How will we cope?!?! Spike (STR+3) Let's keep this short and sweet, shall we? Spike takes many jobs as a bounty hunter throughout the story, but his one drive is chasing after Julia and Vicious. He has great perception and fighting chops to help him get the job done. My one job is to help my 3RM chase after my 1RM lifts while I work on building up my squats and figure out what's going on with my deadlifts. I'm probably very close to being forced onto Texas Method on yet another lift, we shall see! My lifts look like the below, the number on the left is my current 3RM for the respective lift while the number on the right is my 1RM. I'm only going to aim for closing the gap by 15lbs, pretty sure I can do that and then some: Squat: 157.5 > 169.5 BP: 81 > 85 OHP: 60.5 > 65 DL: 205 > 207.5 The plan: 3RM Gains: 0/15 The grading: 11-15+lbs = A, 8-10lbs = B, 5-7lbs = C, else F Faye (DEX+4) Talk about someone who takes setbacks and hard knocks, Faye is an amnesiac in space. That is the worst place to be with no real memory, methinks. She had to take care of herself while on the run before growing attached to the crew of the Bebop and eventually confronting her past. Not to quote a Chumbawamba song, but this quest is all about getting knocked down and getting up again. Put it another way: Every Day Is Ukemi Day. That's right, I'm falling down (reeeeeally gently) every day that isn't an already scheduled day at the dojo, where presumably I'll be doing a bit of that there, too. Hence the quest title. Also, to compliment the falling down, there's that nagging need for full body mobility sessions. That time is now. I'm breaking this daunting task in half--on lifting days, I roll my hips to ankles. On non-lifting days, it's all about hips to scalp. Simple as that. The plan: Every Day is Ukemi Day - 0/20 Full Body Mobility: Upper - 0/16, Lower - 0/12 The grading: Every Day is Ukemi Day - 18-20 days = A, 15-17 days = B, 12-14 = C, else F Full Body Mobility: Upper - 14-16 = A, 11-13 = B, else F, Lower - 10 - 12 = A, 7 - 9 = B, else F Jet (WIS+1, CON+1, CHA+1) Ah, the responsible one. He cooks, he minds the money, he adopts a child and dog. Pity about the fridge... Ah well, I won't be making that mistake. Because I'm going to Clean Something around the house five days a week. Dish-washing and laundry don't count, because I already do these things and they're basically mandatory. Anything that adds up to >10 minutes counts. The curfews make a return as well, because #recycling. I'm tweaking the drink curfew to be defaulted to 8:30 OR two hours' space between my last drink and lights-out. The plan: Clean Something - 0/20 Drink Curfew - 0/20 Anti-Curfew - 0/24 The grading: Clean Something - 18 - 20 = A, 15 - 17 = B, else F Drink Curfew - 18 - 20 = A, 15 - 17 = B, else F Anti-Curfew - 21 - 24 = A, 18 - 20 = B, else F

Anyone else go for some innocent clothes shopping and find yourself in a clothing war? I find that most/all women's shirt sleeves are way too tight. They fit everywhere else, but they just can't contain my guns! I'm not saying I'm super crazy swole or anything, but I would like some work shirts that don't look like the the sleeves are about to explode off. I know guys have this problem, but seriously, do clothing manufactures expect all women to be afraid of getting any muscle (or fat, for that matter) on their arms?

My plan from the start was to drop some weight and body fat percentage until I have the fat composition I want, then start adding muscle. I started this year at 178# and 22% BF. As of today (March 26), I'm at 162 lbs and 18% BF. Pretty soon I should be around 158# and 16%, which I think will look right for my body (I'm a shorter guy - 5'6"). Though I've been working out consistently, I think the weight loss has mostly been the result of eating well - I've been taking in about 1500 calories a day, which represents about a 500 calorie deficit. Enough to lose a pound every few days. My plan is to start adding muscle once I look trim enough. I know that that will mean switching to a caloric surplus. But I'm sort of at a loss for how to do that. Should I just calculate the new caloric intake and start eating that much from Day 1?Should I ramp up to a new daily caloric intake over a span of days or weeks?Do I eat the high calorie diet every day, or just days when I'll be strength training in the gym?After about 12 weeks of eating less and being happy with it, I'm not sure I can just jump up to eating 3000 or more calories. I frankly don't even know how to do that. I want to be careful not to jeopardize my body fat percentage while gaining muscle. I've worked hard to get my body to the point where I'm happy (happier, anyway) with how I look shirtless, and I don't want to undo all that work.

I posted this on reddit but I'll post it here too maybe it will be able to help a few of you So what is a plateau? a plateau is a sticking point where the body refuses to respond like it used to making it very difficult to build muscle or lose more fat. Plateaus are a part of the process, you will encounter them at some point. It’s inevitable. The thing you need to do is know how to respond to them when they come. Most plateaus can be overcome with a few simple tweaks to your training or diet plan. Most of the common causes of plateaus are stale routines and over training. Today we’re going to fix that. So let’s examine a few tweaks you can do to get past them. Take a week or 2 off from training: If you have been training hard for the last couple of months, you might be over worked. This is pretty common and is a major cause of plateaus. The best thing to do would be to take a week or 2 off from training, continue to stick to your diet. Just limit the training. This will allow the body to recover fully and will allow you to hit the gym harder when you go back and start seeing those gains again. Try a deload: Another thing you can do if you don’t want to take a few weeks off from training is you can do a “deloadâ€. What is a deload you may ask. Well a deload is basically going light for the next few weeks. You will not use the same weights you normally use. You will also go a bit higher in the reps. Think of it as more of an active recovery. You will want to make sure that you don’t max out or go to failure in this deload phase. This technique also allows the body to recover and after a few weeks you can jack up the intensity to where you were before. This should cause the body to respond and produce some results. Change routines: (http://builttodominate.com/2014/11/without-workout-plan-youre-lost/ ) A very simple tweak is to try change routines. Since the body adapts very easily to the current you may want to switch it up by training on different days, maybe do some exercises you may never do. You can also even switch up your group on the current exercises you currently do. This will cause a new level of stimulus and will hopefully cause the body to respond by growing more muscle. Diet issues: Believe it or not but another major cause of plateaus is due to diet. If you are in a fat loss phase and you have been sticking to your diet for a long period of time and you are really struggling to lose that last bit of fat. It might be time to increase the calories for the next few weeks. This will allow your hormonal levels and metabolism to recover from the hard dieting you have put your body through. Don’t worry you won’t put on any fat during this time, you will actually continue to lose more fat since your body will begin to function optimally again. Here’s a case study (http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/23412685) of a natural bodybuilder going through contest preparation. You can see how his hormones were affected. On the flip side. If you are trying to gain muscle and are training hard trying to make those strength and muscle gains you might find that you are eating too little. You may need to increase the calories for the next few weeks and see how your body responds. I know most of the times I’ve hit a plateau it was because I wasn’t eating enough. As soon as I increased the calories my body exploded with new growth and strength. That being said don’t over do it and eat so much you get fat. Just increase your calories by about 500 more than what you are currently eating. Monitor your body for the next few weeks if you are noticing too much fat gain then cut back a little bit and see how your body responds. Last but not least sleep: Make sure you are getting enough, its that simple. Heres a study on how sleep affects athletes http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/24791913

Namaste Druids!!! Main Quest Stronger than before! OK, so thats an inside joke with my friend but for this challenge I want to be healthier in everyway. As always, time to be my own hero. Side Quest See how long I can avoid alcohol and my other sins, time to cut back on things that are considered vices so I have more time to focus on what matters Instead of drinking and what not, when Im stessed, I need to workout! Strength Quest I can barely bench 135, lets get that down and increase 1 point for every lift over 10 the amount of pushups I can do from barely 15 to twice that 1 point for every pu over 15 Ill achieve this by doing pushups twice a day and benching atleast every other night. Flex Quest Palms flat in a forward fold 6 points Bend over! but for realz it should be easy if I stretch whenever I think of it. Health Quest Continue using my fitness pal everyday 12 points Continue going to yoga twice a week 6 points Drink so much more water!!! 2 points Keeping up with these habits will definitely increase my overall health my name on myfitnesspal is Samboski5 add me!!! My motivation will be to be the stud I see myself being in my happy dreams. To be the person I deserve to be! Success will be how many points I get out of 40!!!

I recently finished my undergraduate degree and now have a couple of months to wait until I can start my internship. I was in a similar situation last year in terms f time frame and that's when I started my journey in fitness and also when I met the Nerdfitnes community and fell in lub. I have learned so much and really eager to learn more.For the last challenge on the last day I injured my self on some squats (No power racks at my gym), so now I have an anxiety when squatting so I'll be working on that during the challenge and possibly finding a new gym. Always wanted to join the warriors guild and finally can; welcome 2015 and welcome Ultra HDlevs. Main Quest I want to get bigger and stronger by September 2015 and I really want to focus on using proper form throughout my lifts. Side Quest 1 Lift at least 3x every week. (Tracked using either stronglifts app or bodyspace app) Side quest 2 Get adequate rest and log atleast 7.5 hours sleep everyday. (Tracked using Sleepbot app) Side quest 3 To eat atleast 2700 calories each day. (Tracked using Myfitness pal) Life Quest I want to read some pharmacy related information for at least 15 mins each day.

My introduction post can be found here Well almost at the end of my first work week during the challenge! Eating is going extremely well, I wasn't expecting to have any serious cravings and I was right. I actually haven't had any cravings really, except for a brief overwhelming desire for a latte. It's really helped that I've been trying to get my finances in order lately and be better at managing my money. I wrote out a new budget this week and was very realistic about my spending. Trying to stay under $20 a week for entertainment when I go to concerts so frequently was just an absurd thing to do last year. Anyways the point is, I'm refusing to put anything on my credit card besides bills that are automatically charged, or if it's something within my budget that can only be purchased online. Speaking of online purchases, I ordered a set of fractional plates this week to bring with me to the gym! My upper body strength is difficult to build up, so adding 5 lbs each workout to my bench, row, and OHP is not realistic. With these I'll be able to progress 2.5 lbs each week, making me less frustrated when I fail at the end of my sets. I failed on my OHP again last night. My first three sets of five at 55lbs were tough, but I got through them with 3 min rest in between, but my fourth set I failed on my last rep. I rested five minutes, then did all five reps of my fifth set, but I'm still frustrated. I think a big part of why I'm having a hard time making significant gains on my lifts is that I've been eating below maintenance for about a year now when I was doing a lot more calorie counting, and now that I'm not, the only amount I really know how to eat is that amount, which probably isn't enough to really fuel my workouts and allow me to build muscle. I'm trying to figure out how much I should be eating and following my hunger cues, but I don't know how reliable they are. I also decided to add in Romanian deadlifts at the end of my workouts to really target my hamstrings and glutes. I did 5x5 at 65 lbs of the hamstring variation yesterday, and tomorrow I'll do the same weight but the glute variation. I'm also focusing on really driving through my heels for my squats to make sure my form is good and my glutes are engaged. I've also added in a half hour walk at the end of my workout, which I'm using as time to read on my tablet to help me achieve my reading goal! The Foucault is a lot denser than I thought it would be, so it may take more time, but I'm happy as long as I'm working on it. Anyways, I'll do another report back on Sunday with how I'm feeling and any changes in my appearance.

Hey y'all, so I've been following NF for over a year now, but this is my first time participating in a 6 week challenge. I've been lifting on and off for about a year or so, but just got back into it with a solidly structured program (Strong Lifts 5x5) about a month ago. I tend to eat mostly paleo, but the last two months I've totally gone off the rails with holidays, weddings, and general laziness. I'm currently doing my second Whole 30 as a bit of a nutritional reset, but it's mostly how I eat anyways, so that's not a huge thing for me to deal with right now. Anyways, here are my three goals for this challenge: 1. Gym 3x a week to follow my program, which should lead to these lifting numbers for me: Squat - 195 lbs Bench press - 82.5 lbs Barbell row - 92.5 lbs OHP - 72.5 lbs Deadlift - 210 lbs 2. Clean paleo eating every day, but also eating enough (4 meals a day with ~6oz protein at each meal) 3. 8 hours of sleep every night My life goal for this challenge is to read 3 books over the course of the challenge. I recently got quite a few of Foucault's works and would like to make a decent dent in them over the next 6 weeks. Alexis_not_thecar, level 1 Amazon Warrior STR 3|DEX 1|STA 1|CON 3|WIS 3|CHA 4

Hey, So recently I've noticed a bit of an imbalance with the left side of my body. My right side does most of the work on my exercises (deadlifts, pullups, squats, push press). I've been reading up on unilateral training and decided to try it out, I incorporated it into my workouts but found that it extended my workout times from 45-50 min to almost 2 hours plus I found that after doing the unilateral exercises I was so tired that I had trouble lifting my usual weight on the other stuff. My question is two-fold, A) Should unilateral moves be incorporated into a program with fullbody movements or should I set aside a day for them or for a time strictly focus on unilateral movements? and Does anyone know of a program that's worked for them or if there is a criteria for building a program around fixing imbalances? Now I have done some research, I found one method which broke down exercises into a upper body day and a lower body day. Before finding NF I did a similar program with minimal gains, and what I tried on my own was to do one unilateral movement and follow it up with a corresponding barbell exercise. What I'm aiming at is if anyone has any hands experience with unilateral training that can give a bit of advice. Thanks in advance.

I'm want to get some perspectives on milk. When I was a globo-gym going person, a surprising amount of my fellow gym rats swore by milk, hailing it as the sweet nectar of recovery and gains. So what do you think the deal is: miracle liquid or dairy industry conspiracy?