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I am SO DETERMINED to get both a pull up someday AND to get a solid straight legged straddle inversion in aerial so all my goals on this round are aimed specifically towards that. (I will still be squatting and push up ing and other strength training of course!) I also have a Spartan in December so running and working on jumping higher are also going to be important (that damn 9 foot wall plus my ridiculous shortness!) GOALAS (I accidentally typed it that way and I like it! Hahaha. Also I think I just accidentally found a challenge theme haha) GOALA 1 - Just Hangin: Dead hang and bent arm hang from pull up bar at least 30 seconds per day COMBINED (changed this to 30 seconds combined when I remembered bent arm hangs are kind of hard sometimes!) Does not have to be in a row/ can be in sets, and on rest days I will likely do it as sets to avoid too much fatigue! I started doing this more often last challenge and HEY I was able to bent arm hang in a spin for at least 20 seconds in class the other day and really surprised myself. I want to keep up with the gains in this area and increase my aerial endurance! GOALA 2 - Pull up and core work: Do pull up and core focused strength training 2 times per week (this is in addition to aerial class 1x per week) GOALA 3 - Running!: Run 2x per week. This is pretty self-explanatory Life Goala 1 - Eyeshadow: Wear eyeshadow 2 times per week. This means getting up at 6 and not 6:30 and thus why I NEVER WEAR my hoards of eyeshadow. But I really really want to! So this means I have to get up early. Plan is to have tentative idea of what I plan to wear the next day so I can plot out color scheme for that the night before and not when I am half asleep at 6am. Also, a sub goal of this is DO NOT DARE BUY MORE because I don't even wear what I do have. I have a definite issue with collecting all the pretty colors. Woops. Life Goala 2 - Adulting!: Clean at least 30 min per week and GET YOUR DAMN AC SET UP DAMMIT by the end of this challenge (so close! Floor is so clearer than ever before! Final push final push!)

I considered just taking another break from NF for this challenge, since I'm really busy and will be on vacation for the last week and a half. But, it's better for me to be present in whatever capacity that I can than it is for the whole thing to be out-of-sight, out-of-mind. The theme this time will be figuring out my priorities and sticking with them. For the last many months, a huge problem for me is that I'm not making the time to take care of things that ought to be priorities, and then all of those things just slip through the cracks. Priority 1: Taking care of fitness - I'll be getting at least one decent workout per week at parkour class. But it has been entirely too easy to let the rest of the week fall through the cracks. I want to continue improving at parkour, which means I need more jumping power and more pulling power. My back has been funky these days too, and I've been entirely too lax with the prehab. The goal is to give myself at least 20 minutes each day to do something fitness-wise. And also, at least twice per week, do pull ups in volume, chair one legged squats, split squats, calf raises, and some sort of jump (squat jumps, box jumps, whatever). Priority 2: Cooking & Cleaning - 15 minutes per day of cleaning, no excuses. I'll set a timer and do what I can. Also, I need to batch cook at least one meal each week, so I can eat something healthy without needing to devote excessive time to cooking. Priority 3: Family - Continue helping my daughter with her science olympiad stuff. Also, I'm going to make a point of not blowing off my kids when they want to play games with me. Yeah, if I'm truly busy, the kids can deal, but if it's more that I just would rather be doing something else, I'm going to make a point of being more involved with them. And that's it. Short and sweet for once.

So Hollywood has decided to make a blockbuster movie, a spinoff of Game of Thrones, called the Clash of Khal's. The story centers on Khal Drogo's rise to power and features many epic battles with rival Dothraki hordes. Jason Momoa told them to fuck off because they didn't offer him enough money, so now I'm playing the lead role. Of course, to play the lead in a blockbuster action movie, I have to get in shape to play the part. I'm gonna need to get ripped. I'm gonna need big showy muscles to look good on camera. I'm gonna need endurance to get through long days on set, and the coordination and agility to perform my own stunts and participate in fight scenes. Brogo goes to Khal-E-wood is going to be a series of challenges designed to get me in shape in much the same way that Hollywood actors use to train for their movie roles. I've been reading some of the articles about how these guys have been training to get in shape for their roles: How The Rock trained for Hecules, how skinny Jake Gylenhall trained for Southpaw, Hugh Jackman → Wolverine, and how Chris Pratt went from being Andy Dwyer to Peter Quill and Owen in Jurassic World. Most of these workout programs center on barbell training using strength and hypertrophy, and use additional circuits or complexes to increase weightloss and work muscle simultaneously. They may also incorporate fighting or martial arts work depending on the role. Basically, by supplementing my current strength routine I can make my workouts start approaching the rigor used by actors to prepare for action roles. So this series of challenges will take me around the guilds a bit. Where I'm at: My big 2016 goal is to bench press my bodyweight. I'm at 263 now, and plan to take a short break when I hit 250 to maintain weight and increase my bench and see if I can hit it. My best bench ever was 235, and I'm currently benching 180 for 3x3.I've spent the last two challenges nailing down my nutritional needs and figuring out how to manage steady weight loss. I've mostly been successful with losing a pound a week and keeping it up the last two months. More on this stuff later. I've also been reconditioning my big three barbell lifts. I have been successful with this as well, but progress has slowed since I'm getting closer to where I was before my 5 month lifting hiatus, and I'm cutting. Since I'm cutting, the big strength gains will have to wait a bit. But while I'm doing that, I can focus on some other conditioning work and bringing some of my current weaknesses up. Lately, of concern are my core strength and mobility. Plus I really want to get chins and pullups going and hopefully get more comfortable with jumping onto, up to, or over stuff. I'll be starting in the Assassins to try and condition myself to be more “Spry” by focusing on bodyweight exercises, core work, some agility, and mobility. Sounds Assassin-y enough to me. Here goes: Meta-Goal 1, Getting Spry: Goal 1, Stretch. Basically go through the stretching equivalents of squat, bench, and deadlift for stretching every day. Hip flexor stretch and/or couch stretch Thoracic extensions (palms up, arms back, head back) Forward bends If I just put a few minutes into each of these every day while I'm brewing coffee it'll pay off. And it should become routine, and I can start building on it by throwing some foam rolling and yoga poses in. Grading: 1 point for each day of the challenge. Goal 2, Core. I want a stronger and better coordinated core. I found this progression: http://jasonferruggia.com/gymnastic-secret-stronger-abs/ It looks like a decent place to start developing better coordination. These exercises will be my go-to's. And some of what this article says I think will help me with developing strength. http://www.elitefts.com/education/training/seven-rules-of-highly-effective-core-training/ And I really want to follow the hanging leg raise progression video at the end. Grading: 1 point for each core workout Goal 3, Jump. Box jumps, jump rope, distance jumping. Whatever gets the spring back in my step. 1 point for each jumping exercise. Goal 4, Pullups In my last workout, I was able to do 5 pullups with 40 lbs. of assistance. I'm going to keep shooting to decrease assistance until I can do an actual pullup. 1 point for each pullup workouts Bonus: +5 points if I complete one pullup from a dead hang by the end of the challenge. Bonus: +1 point if I do all 4 in one day. Meta-Grading 1: <25 F, 30 = C, 40=B 50=A Meta-Goal 2, Maintain. I still need to stay focussed on getting my bodyweight bench press. 2 strength workouts per week. (1 pt. Per workout) Keep average caloric intake at or below 3200 kcal/day. (1 pt per day <= 3200) Bonus: +10 points for a bodyweight bench press. Meta-Grading 2: Percentage of the <25 F, 30 C, 35 B, 40 A Meta-Goal 3: Circuits and Complexes I really like doing barbell complexes based around the Oly lifts which should help make me spry and encourage fat burn. Plus, when I do assistance work I usually organize it into supersets or circuits. But I want to do this more often and really up my game. Whenever I am working on the above and/or other assistance work, I'll perform them as a circuit or complex. It counts if there's no rest between exercises until the circuit is done and I've done it at least twice. Bonus: +1 if I do a circuit with all my spryness goals Meta-Grading 3: 1 pt for each circuit or complex. <4 F, 6 C 8 B, 10 A LUYL: Soto Zen style Zazen Meditation Enduring the lotus position with a straight back, a steady breath, and a still mind. Start with 5 min. per day. Add 5 min each week. tl;dr - I'm gonna jump, and do core, and hang from stuff, and work on being less of a slouch, while I'm cutting for the sake of a bodyweight bench press. Scoreboard: (as of ocho de Mayo) MG1: Stretch: 10 Core: 5 Jump: 1 Pullup: 2 MG2: Strength: 4 Nutrition: 0 MG3: Circuits: 2 LUYL: Zazen: 0

Main Quest: Get the Lead Out Consistency in all subquests A. Annnd we're walking... Begin the journey to Mordor (at least 10,000 steps per day) B. Get my flex on 30 days To the Splits Challenge http://www.blogilates.com/blog/2015/06/28/30-days-30-stretches-to-splits-journeytosplits/ C. Jump Around, Jump Up & Get Down 100 jump reps (25/wk) of any combo of the following: *broad jumps. *box jumps *tuck jumps. *jump squats Exercise Rotation Day 1: abs. Day 4: obliques Day 2: arms. Day 5: legs/thighs Day 3: total body D. Meditate: Don't Vegetate Meditate 5+ minutes every day E. The Innkeeper's Challenge Minimalise using the 30-day Minimalism Game as a guideline

Who I am: Christian, bibliophile, perpetual student (I'm always learning something) Stats: Age--48, Height--5'2", Weight--134 lbs What I like: dancing, frisbee golf, tennis, Pilates, cosplaying What I watch: Star Trek, Batman, animated movies What to know more? Ask me.

Hi, I'm Nymeria, and I generally suffer from do-too-much-itis. I've been rock climbing for a few years, I do a lot of yoga hand balancing and animal flow stuff, I still fool around a lot with martial arts and martial arts weapons (I'm kind of an ex practitioner. It's complicated), and I recently started taking parkour classes twice/week. This has also led to a struggle not to keep my body healthy, functioning, and keep my life in balance. For this challenge, I'm going to turn to one of my favorite anime characters and a fellow hot-headed, nerdy, often physically busted, do-too-much-er, Edward Elric, for some inspiration. This time, my physical schedule is pretty set, with climbing/bouldering twice/week, parkour classes twice/week, and hot vinyasa yoga once/week. (Realistically, I'll make it to 4/5 of these on average, just because between kids, life obligations, and such, that's how it seems to work). I also expect to do some playground workouts, hiking trips, and other things like that. For this challenge, all of the physical goals will be accessories to help me get stronger and prevent me from falling apart. Goal 1. Proper maintenance (fitness) My shoulders are constantly tight from the climbing and yoga. My surgically repaired knee is also starting to become irritated by the jumpings and landings in parkour (ACL reconstruction in Jan 2014 - I didn't rehab things with the expectation of this much high impact work). If I don't want my leg and arms to get busted, the way Ed's auto mail often is, I need to focus on some prehab and ROM work. So... a.) Get cozy with the foam roller and stretches: 5x/week - roll out ITB, calves, and quads. Roll out shoulder blade area. Do shoulder dislocates. Do the following yoga stretches: Extended puppy (shoulders), cross legged forward fold (ITB), hands clasping behind the back pose, reclined cow face pose (ITB-gluteus). b.) Build better foundations for jumping: whenever my muscles permit, do weighted squats, deep squats, more jumps, and calf raises. Revisit some of the physical therapy knee exercises that I haven't touched in the last 6 months. Goal 2 - Decrease the numbers (diet) Edward Elric: "Water, 35 litres. Carbon, 20kg. Ammonia, 4 litres. Lime, 1.5kg. Phosperus, 800g. Salt, 250 g. Niter, 100g. Sulphur, 80g. Fluorine, 7.5g. Iron, 5g. Silicon 3g. And fifteen other elements. Those are the elements to make an average adult human body." This goal is simple.. I want to decrease my numbers, meaning lose a little weight. Realistically, I only could lose 5-ish lbs, but those 5 lbs can mean a lot when you're hanging on to rock holds by your fingertips or trying to jump even higher. I loathe actively cutting and tracking my diet, so I'm going to keep things small and simple. Goal is Only 3 drinks bearing any liquid calories at all per week. Otherwise, all other drinking is to just be water. I train a lot and I have a lot of muscle, so I really do need to eat. The juice/alcohol/soda stuff is purely empty calories and is the easiest to trim from the diet. Goal 3 - Become less lopsided (fitness) Like Edward, I feel pretty lopsided. In part it's due to the messed up knee. Some of it is simple right-handedness. Some of it is muscle imbalances. Still, the result is that in parkour, I have preferred sides for every vault or wall technique. In yoga, I have a lot of hand balances that I can only perform well on one side (like 8 angle, flying lizard, side crow extensions). I also have a lot of standing balances that have a strong side and a weak side. Yes, I know that's normal. Still, in parkour, the side I use is somewhat dictated by the nature of the obstacle, and I really need to be proficient at both sides. For the yoga stuff, I just enjoy the warm fuzzy glow of doing things well, so I tend to do my strong side first and more often than my weak one. For this challenge, I am changing my mindset and making sure I give my weak side more attention than my strong one. Goal is to have 90% of my exercise sessions address my weak side at least equally as much as my strong side. Goal 4 - Hit the books (life) I used to read all of the time. But then I became addicted to my phone and waste my time rather than doing productive things like reading or learning. It's time for this to change. a.) Read at least 15 minutes/day. Aim for also reading at night before going to bed. b.) Continue with my DuoLingo German studies. I'm currently at 2300 XP, so the goal is to reach 3800 by the end of the challenge. 5. Daily Reflection (life) Last challenge, I had a goal of coming up with something positive or something for which I am grateful every day. While that was rewarding, I'm broadening things, such that this challenge, I just need to spend a few minutes meditating and reflecting on the day. I may or may not post the reflections depending on how relevant I think they are. I will edit later with more specific grading criteria. Let's do this!

Meesa Gets a Clean and Clear Run Up To Christmas [Level 3] So my first two challenges have been pretty interrupted; by injury and by shitty life things. I’ve had a really bad run the last few months. Speaking of runs; I still have two left from my last challenge - although running; especially not distance won’t be a focus of this challenge/ 16th November City2Sea - 15km 23rd November Health.com.au Spring into Shape 3 - 10km Main Quest To have a pre pre-season before the soccer club pre-season starts and the Australian summer gets too hot. To be working on the power and abilities that my body will need as a GK; so that when the pre-season starts I can move onto skill work. Goal 1. Jumping - I need to be able to jump and dive for the ball. I want to work on my jump strength and height. During this challenge I will be building up my Body Weight Squats towards Jump Squats and where/if possible (I usually train inside in my kitchen/living room) box/bench jumps. Goal 2. Upper Body and Core - I need to be able to get up fast and strongly palm or punch the ball away. Keep working towards being able to do push ups that are not on my knees. Also once that is accomplished I would like to work in balance work by doing them with my hands on a soccer ball - which is a challenge set to me by my coach. I will be continuing doing an adapted version of the BBWW but working on these progressions. I will also do yoga 3-5 times a week focussing on upper body and back to improve my flexibility. Goal 3. Sprinting - I need to be able to come out hard at my opposition and when I have the ball I need to be able to sprint to the edge of the box. I will continue to be running in intervals but I would like to be working in some more serious sprints - and now that the weather is getting nicer I should be about so start doing a few beach runs. I have a specific exercise that I have in mind to bring all these together into a few keeper specific movements and programs which I would like to start working into the program but they require someone to be able to kick a ball at me. So not yet. Although I’m sure I’ll post some of them as I go. Life Quest Keep the diet clean. Part A - Sugar and Junk At the end of my second challenge I quit sugar and junk food as a stress/boredom option. I and not giving up the idea of having a piece of cake at Christmas. As well as full on cutting out soft drinks and fast food (I also don’t count things such as a handful of jelly beans after a super hard workout in 30 degree C heat because that is about blood sugar). But I have a reward program for the days I don’t partake in the bad sugars. $2 Everyday I don’t have it + $6 every time I make it 7 days; so basically $20 a week. I’ve made it 3 weeks now and I’m feeling a lot better. Part B - Nails I’m going try stop biting my nails. Exercise of willpower. Ideally I’d like to have nails by the time I turn 24 (January 2015). I’ll probably still wear them short but it will also be better for my teeth. I hate wearing makeup but nail polish I don’t mind so I’ll be looking forward to being able to paint them.

The sun burned orange through her eyelids. Devyn groaned and rolled over, burying her face in the warm sand. Sand? She pushed herself up, though she was blistered and sore. The bright light shone upon the white sand, blinding her for a moment. All she could see through her tears was an ocean of white contrasting with an ocean of blue. Ocean? She rubbed her eyes and tried to slowly get used to her blinding world. The sun was hot and she felt as if she had been the subject of its fury for a while. A bird screeched through the jungle. Jungle? A sudden and worrisome thought stabbed at her brain, more painful than the light in her eyes. She forced her lids open and saw that she was on a beach. Behind her was jungle. All around her was sand, ocean and trees. There was no sign of civilization anywhere. She walked around for a bit, difficult because the sand was so deep and she was so small. She trudged toward the trees and shouted. “Hullo?†A loud bird answered. She walked around some more, calling out her name, introducing herself to anyone who might be around. But it was only the animals and the sound of the waves that greeted her in return. An island. She was deserted on an island. That Blerch. That sunnabitch! That’s right. I’ve got to survive on a deserted island! How do I do this? By adopting a primal lifestyle of course! It’s the only way. Until I find a way off, it’s the only way. How do I do this? 1. Primal diet - I’ve got no choice. They don’t have a supermarket on the island. I have to eat off the land. Hunting, fishing and gathering. There’s no other way. I must follow a strict primal lifestyle. 2. Distance - There of course will be a lot of walking. Not only do I have to hunt, gather and fish, but I’ve got to find a way off this island! I’m also a kender, so staying put is not an option for me. The total circumference of this island is 150 miles. I must reach this distance through running, walking, swimming, rowing (or biking, shhhhh). This means I have to do one of these every single day. 3. Jumping - Because. Surely there’s got to be a lot of jumping involved. I’m not sure why yet, but I’m sure it will come up during my stay here. My jumping, because of all my problems in previous battles, has become a bit rusty. I can jump 12†but I need to level up. I will work on squats, box jumps, broad jumps and other lower body exercises to level up to an 18†jump. 4. Pull ups - Climbing trees, climbing rocks, running from large predators and accidentally running too far and falling off a cliff but saving myself by grabbing onto a lucky random branch hanging out off the side of the cliff. All of those things take upper body strength. And I have to do it to survive on this island. Or else large predator will eat me or I will not be able to hold onto the branch. I need to strengthen my upper body. To do this, I will do pushups, dips, weight lifting and assisted pull ups. My goal is to go from 75lbs to 35lbs on the assisted pull up machine. If I don’t do these things, I will not survive. But wait! There’s more! Luckily, I was stranded with my backpack. These are the only things that will keep my entertained. In it are books, pens and papers. I can read and write (OOC: because I’m a student of literature and creative writing) to keep myself entertained. I will be keeping a journal (either here or in the battle logs section) because that’s what stranded people do. On top of that, I have to build and maintain a shelter. This means daily work is involved. I need to keep my environment optimal for survival. And I must remember to play. Play to keep sane. So what’s the typical day in the life of a kender stranded on an island? From sun up to sun down, I will do my best to live the primal lifestyle. I have been doing it in bits and pieces in the past, but this is where I bring some of the most important elements together. I’ll wake up with the sun (my natural sunlight alarm clock) and hunt for some breakfast. I may or may not find any. Then I’ll probably do some reading or writing. Then I’ll have to take down my shelter. When I finish, I’ll walk around, trying to discover a way off the island. this might involve some adventuring which will lead to using my jumping and pull up skills. During this time, I’ll try to find some food. At the end of the day, I’ll rebuild my shelter, cook some dinner and then read or write until the sun goes down. Then I get a good night’s sleep until I do it again. Sure, that might sound dull, but I think it sounds kinda peaceful. And when a kender is involved, who knows what the next day might bring. tl;dr Got stuck on a desert island, now I have to eat good food and exercise to survive.

In my challenges so far the focus has been on trying to master a narrow choice of skills - handstands, backflips and Spanish. I've had some good progress, but there seem to be a few dangers with focusing too narrowly: even the most well-intentioned training can fail to produce success on a specific skillthere's a risk of overtraining (haha maybe not with Spanish, but seriously I can feel I've stressed out my sternum with excessive handstands this year)adding more variety to a narrow choice of hobbies makes it all extra funTherefore, the theme for this challenge will be variety! My motivation will remain to become proficient at gymnastics/tricking and related interesting Assassin skills. You know how in some video games they have those bonus levels, where you just run around like some beserk Supermarket Sweep contestent collecting extra point or lives within a short time limit? Well this challenge for me is going to be like that. I have 43 days and a checklist of items to collect. I'll never get them all, but the challenge is to get lots of them I'm going to have to take it easy with the handstand-type skills, so the minor injury in my sternum disappears rather than becomes a major problem. for that reason, I'm taking a three-week break from anything of the sort. Challenge #1: Make as much progress as possible with a variety of acrobatic skills! Rules: each item selected is worth 0.25 stat pointsthere are 4.00xSTR, 6.00xDEX and 3.00xCHA availablemaximum possible loot: +3 STR, +4 DEX and +2 CHA (and I'll be astonished if I get anywhere near this!)I'll mark each one with an 'X' if/when I achieve the goal __slackline: a friend bought one and so I have an opportunity to learn this! So far I can only balance for a few seconds and taking a step makes me fall off DEX (X) : walk a full 10 metres without falling off CHA (X) : + bonus points for doing this DEX (X) : consistently change direction without falling off __frontflips: currently doing them from a springboard to a crashmat but they look more like a forward roll that somehow avoids the ground, so I need to work on actually jumping before the flip DEX (X) : get some height so these are landed consistently on crashmats DEX (X) : no longer need springboard for this move DEX ( ) ; can consistently land onto the thinner mats CHA ( ) : + bonus points for the item above DEX ( ) : can safely land on thinner mats without needing prep beforehand (only counts if it's safe) CHA ( ) : can safely land on grass CHA ( ) : + bonus points for the item above __hopak: there's this crazy move some Ukrainian dancers do that requires some insane leg strength and I want to learn it: STR ( ) : learn to do this half-decently STR ( ) : able to keep this going for 20 seconds __cartwheel: embarassingly, I never learned to do these, and when I try them my feet only go to shoulder height. Time to learn them! DEX ( ) : some definite progress DEX ( ) : can sometimes do proper straight cartwheels CHA ( ) : can consistently do proper straight cartwheels DEX ( ) : can do these properly on both my left- and right-hand side __round-offs: cartwheels with extra movement! DEX ( ) : decent examples on the tumble track STR ( ) : can do these well on hard surfaces DEX ( ) : can do these properly on both my left- and right-hand side __backflips: I've been practising these for ages and still need a spotter to make it around safelyDEX (X) : any definite progressDEX (X) : no longer need spotters on the tumble track!CHA (_) : + bonus points for the item aboveDEX ( ) : safely unassisted on a hard surface (only counts if it's safe!)DEX ( ) : + bonus points for the item aboveCHA ( ) : safely unassisted on a hard surface without needing any prep beforehandCHA ( ) : + bonus points for the item above __handstands: had myself balancing for 4-5 seconds before taking a break to avoid over-trainingSTR (X) : 5-second holds again after taking a breakDEX (X) : 6-second holdsCHA ( ) : 7-second holdsDEX ( ) : 8-second holdsSTR ( ) :10-second holdsCHA ( ) : + bonus points for achieving 10-second handstandDEX ( ) : comfortably handstand into a forward roll (I only pirouette or bridge flop out of handstands so far...) __front handsprings: I can do poor handsprings on the tumble track. I should learn to do good onesDEX ( ) : considerably improve at doing theseSTR ( ) : have good form and powerful front handsprings on the tumble trackDEX ( ) : become able to do these without the tumble track for supportCHA ( ) : become sufficiently consistent at these that they can be done on grass __backwards walkover: going from a bridge to a handstand and going over the other side... I've never tried this!DEX ( ) : some useful practice of kicking up in a bridgeDEX ( ) : some useful practice of backwards walkovers from a raised position (to make it easier)CHA ( ) : able to do this moveSTR ( ) : + bonus points for doing a backwards walkover __muscle-up: I can do 5-10 pull-ups with good form. Next step is to learn a muscle up:STR (X) : some decent practice of the different componentsDEX ( ) : learn to do a "kipping" muscle-upSTR ( ) : able to muscle-up with less leg swingingSTR ( ) : able to muscle-up with good form __L-sit: tried this for the first time last week and it's haaard to even do a cheat version... This will be awesome for training my core:STR (X) : 10-second tuck holdDEX ( ) : split-second L-sitSTR ( ) : 5-second L-sit __plyometric pike jumps: jump up and touch your toes with straight legs on every consecutive jump. Excellent leg, core, and active flexibility exercise.STR ( ) : able to do 20 consecutively __powerlifting: in my first challenge I wanted to get to a combined strict press + bench press weight of 100kg, but abandoned this because of an injury. I'm now at 41kg (90lb) strict press and 56kg (123lb) bench press and have a small plateau to fight through in order to accomplish this:STR ( ) : improve at all (98kg total)STR ( ) : succeed (100kg total)STR ( ) : + bonus points for achieving 100kg Challenge #2: consistently do conditioning exercises 5 times per week. I must do 3 conditioning exercises each day for this to count. Suitable examples include:gymnastics, weightlifting, capoeira class etc,pull-ups or variations in the parkcore exercises such as V-sit sit-upsplyometricsanything else suitable (grip trainer doesn't count as I found it to be ineffective)+3 STA: A: 30 times in 6 weeks B: 28 times in 6 weeks C: 24 times in 6 weeks D: 18 times in 6 weeks __Progress: week 1: ___+_++ (3) week 2: +_+++++ (6) week 3: +_+++++ (6) week 4: +_+++_+ (5) week 5: __+_++_ (3) week 6: +_+++_+ (5) (B) Challenge #3: explore food! I eat pretty healthily, and also in huge amounts. Especially vegetables and porridge. However, I don't know how much I actually eat in terms of macronutrients, so I'm going to find out, by tracking everything I eat for a week and calculating the following macronutrients: carbs (all)carbs (sugar)fatsproteintotal caloriesI'm also going to experiment with Intermittent Fasting to see how that works. There are several ways of doing it, so I'm going to briefly try two contrasting ones, and report back with my experiences. +1 CON, +1 WIS: track macros A: accurate track for a week C: something less that is still useful to me tracked macros on 01 May - 07 Mayanalysed it for conclusions and posted results to this thread (A) +1 CON: try IF A: try two ways C: try one way tried "skipping dinner" fast on 30 Apr - 01 May (19 hours, successful)tried "skipping brunch" fast on 9 May - 10 May (14 hours, didn't work so well)tried "skipping brunch" fast on 16 May - 18 May (16 hours, felt lame afterwards) (C+)

Hi! Kinda new to this place so bare (Engrush gewd yah??) with me but umm, yeah! I need an accountability buddy who'd help me reach my goals. Accountibility buddy? Isn't it a very odd term, no? How about a friend/buddy in general? Yeah! Well, about myself first: I am turning 19 tomorrow (yippee!) and very much would like to shed some pounds (10 of them for starters)I love running and I'd love advices and tips from any person also I would love some diet tips as well because, as I said, I am a child when it comes to "clean eating" (what's that??) ! DONT FRET! We'd talk about other stuff too! Hobbies; I love video games, music, arts, languages etc and we'd have fun! Any WORTHY person (because,you know, girls share/understand problems?? But whatever just kidding) who's up for some fun and WORK! A..and such REPLY, Kay! (did I mention I am funny? Isuckatfunnyyeahuhmsorry ) P.S: Don't worry, I'll make sure that my buddy follows their dreams!! (For now their diet/workout plan). We shall discuss our communication medium, yes? Whatever makes us feel comfortable? (P.S: Lifting/strength training works too! I love lifting too! Even though I've not done it much but yeah, strength is a useful trait to work with, no?)

Mic testing! 1..2..3.. Okay~ Hi, My name's Haniya (Hun-nee-yah) but you can call me Hans or Hun; whatever. I am from a place called Pakistan, aspiring to be so many things! But Maxillofacial surgeon is something I shall narrow it down to for now (yup, I am a dentist but don't be fooled because monotony is a word not existing in my brain. Yeah, I have so many dreams and wish lists that sometimes everything gets jumbled up into one big confusing story of my life, to say the least).. MOVING ON TO THE BIG PICTURE! My life story is a bit long but summarising it: I wasn't obese to begin with but when I left myself at the mercy of my unhealthy ways, I got big, my family and friends started "pointing" it out which made me nervous and all, clothes became tighter, I became more nervous etc etc... BUT! NOW! I want everything to change! NO MORE BAD HABITS! I WANT CHANGE! That's how I came about Nerd fitness's awesomeness! I learned so much from this site! ABOUT LITERALLY EVERYTHING! THAT'S WHY, I've decided to join in so that I'll learn and get help and seek guidance from you all and a little bit of support because I don't know what or how to go about this weight loss business c: Anyway, if you ask me: my journey with Nerdfitness will be a good one! I KNOW IT because you all seem, to me, to be pretty welcoming and heroic; fighting off your demons and helping others fighting theirs! PRETTY AWESOME, YOU GUYS! I HOPE YOU'LL HELP ME LEAD MY BATTLE WITH YOUR GUIDANCE, SUPPORT AND EXPERIENCE AND I HOPE THAT SOME DAY I'LL HELP YOU OUT TOO JUST AS YOU ALL DID ME!

Sorry I'm late to the party. We just returned from vacation This challenge is dedicated to my Mario-obsessed 5 year-old, who, along with her younger brother, will be underfoot all summer. Since I didn't want to just stick them in the gym daycare every day or feel annoyed when they interfere with my workout, we're going to try a Mario-based, pretend play fitness adventure. 1. (fitness) Mario can jump, and so will we. We will pick our Mario characters (meaning, my daughter will decide that she's Princess Peach and will dictate to me and my 3 year-old what roles we're playing), and then we will leap chasms (broad jump), reach for high coins (high jump), land on small platforms (precision jump), and jump over piranha plants (obstacle jump) in our quest to defeat Bowser. They'll either try to do a follow-the-leader circuit with me or they'll just jump at the same time. Goal 1a - increase broad jump by 6" (I'm at 5'8", so goal is 6'2"). A = 6" increase, B= 5" increase, C = 4; F=anything less 1b - increase high jump from fingertips on ceiling to palms flat on the ceiling. A= palm flat; B= top of palm and the fingers flat, and so on 1c - be able to precisely jump from anywhere in about a 5' radius to a designated target spot This one will just have to be a judgement call on the grade. 1d - running jump completely over a folding chair. A=achievement of this; B = over an object 4" shorter than the chair; C= jumping over an object 8" shorter than the chair. 2. (fitness) Mario also does a lot of climbing, and unlike me, he can probably do so even when the footing is poor or not quite there. More and more bouldering routes around my level have campusing moves (basically climbing without using feet at all), and my lack of strength is holding me back. The plan: We have some ropes that attach to the ceiling, and our Mario group will "climb" the vines during our adventure. I can practice offset pullups, lock-offs, and arms only climbing on the rope, which will help me increase my strength for campusing. I also have rock rings suspended 12" below my pull-up bar, and while I can technically do campusing pull-ups, I find them hard and avoid them. I need to greatly increase my volume with these, using a resistance band support if I find that I don't have one in the tank. It's likely that the kids will want "their turns" too with the pull-up bar, but we'll just incorporate that into our adventure. Of course, I'll also work on the moves while bouldering. Goal 2: Be able to campus on the bouldering wall when the holds have a vertical separation of 18" (which foiled me on the last V3 I tried). A = campusing the 18". B = campusing 15"; C = campusing 12", F = less. 3. (diet) Mario keeps score - I've had huge problems with any sort of nutritional tracking, so I'm taking baby steps. It's summertime, it's hot, and dehydration will be a problem. So, I'll track my water intake and make sure I'm getting at least 10 glasses of water per day. I'll also track my liquid calories (excluding protein drinks), and determine whether I'm consuming more calories than I thought and whether some sort of action needs to be taken. For the kids, I'll keep a better eye on their fluid intake and encourage healthier choices, like water over juice. Goal 3: Track liquids at least 5 days of the week for myself and the kids. Grade: A = over 25 days of tracking; B = 23-25 days; C = 20-22 days; F = less than that. 4. (level up life) - Mario is always prepared with the right power ups for the right situation. He would feel pretty silly if he only had his frog suit on a sky level, or packed his propeller hat on a water world. The kids and I have had this tendency to just head outside, and then kind of decide where we're going. As a result, we will end up at the super sunny park with no sunscreen and hats, in the woods with no long pants or bug spray, or romping along the creek in our tennis shoes. As a result of this unpreparedness, I managed to get poison ivy twice over the course of the last 6 week challenge. The plan: We will make sure we have the right power ups in the right situation by deciding as a family where we are planning on playing before we've left the house, and then as a group figuring out what items we need to pack to be fully prepared for our outdoor adventure. This should be a great exercise for my 5 year old as well as me. Goal 4: always have our hats, sunscreen, water bottles, proper footwear, proper attire, etc. when we head out to play. Grade: A = 0-2 times caught unprepared. B = 3-5 times; C-6-9 times; F= 10+ times. Of course, I'll still be continuing with my playground workouts, bouldering 2-3 times/week, swimming with the kids, and some yoga when I can. The Mario adventure will also include Yoshi rides (i.e. weighted squats, weighted frog or squat jumps, and some weighted QM with both 35 lbs and 45 lbs of children on my back, but there isn't a way to fit this into a goal.)