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Big goal: complete one unassisted pistol squat with each leg I'm currently on Level 5 of the NFA bodyweight workouts. This is where I was placed after the initial benchmark test when I joined back in June. I was doing my own workout routine at the time and wanted to keep going on it, so I didn't follow along with the prescribed workouts. I ended up giving them a shot last week and was humbled a bit. After looking them over a few times, I had been pretty confident that I could do everything except the unassisted pistols. They actually ended up being tougher than I expected! So, my plan is to follow the level 5 workouts 3 times a week, with a planned rest week in the middle. I'm also going to try and incorporate some of the tips found here: http://ashotofadrenaline.net/pistol-squat/ here: http://www.startbodyweight.com/p/squat-progression.html and here: https://breakingmuscle.com/learn/whats-preventing-you-from-doing-pistol-squats-how-to-progress-pistols I'm also going to be working on my mobility, focusing on my ankles and calves, following the mobility prescriptions in Kelly Starrett's Deskbound. My life goal is to complete my continuing education credits to maintain my professional engineering license.

[She's] alive, Damnit! Females are strong as hell! Yep, it's Kimmy Schmidt time! With the new series coming out this month, I had no option, and I'm loving it So last I had a good challenge, but having so many guests definitely hurt my progress. I also had several times when I just didn't want to do my quests, I think because they were too long. So this month I'm going for short tasks, done often. Simplify and hit it hard! I do once again have people visiting in the 2nd week, so I'm modifying the goals for that week. (Iowa, not Indiana, but it works ) Quest 1: Crow pose again! 5 times a week I'm going to do a minimum of 5 crows a day, just to get into the groove of it. My goal is a 5 second hold. My current crow video is in the spoiler from the end of last challenge. Quest 2: Pistol squats! Again a repeat from last round, which I'll be modifying a bit. At least 5 times a week I'll do assisted pistols and at least 15 reps of modified shrimp squats per leg. Hopefully I'll get to a intermediate shrimp squat and a full range of motion on my assisted pistol. Quest 3: Stretching/splits. 5 times a week I'll do stretches with the goal of improving my splits (side and middle) and my squat depth/flexibility. My current plan is: Sit in deep squat - 1min Frog - 1 min Hamstring stretch - 30 sec each Pyramid - 30 sec each L/R splits - 30 sec each Middle splits - 30 sec Quest 4: Pushups. Like last round, I want to work on my diamond pushups. 5 times a week I'll work on those, doing as many reps as possible, with the goal of doing at least 4 pushups on the floor. Quest 5: Abs. A few days ago I started a daily ab challenge from Bloglates because I'm missing my regular ab work. So everyday I want to keep up with it. I'm super excited for this challenge, and I'm digging my theme, so bring it on April! Tracking Quest 1: 0/5, 0/3, 0/5, 0/5 Quest 2: 0/5, 0/3, 0/5, 0/5 Quest 3: 0/5, 0/3, 0/5, 0/5 Quest 4: 0/5, 0/3, 0/5, 0/5 Quest 5: 0/7, 0/5, 0/7, 0/7

Well, not gonna make a big deal of it, but things kind of fell apart last challenge. A lot of the things that I wanted to do... they just didn't get done. The biggest problem, really, was one of schedule, and of not paying my dues daily. So. Gotta set this up differently than I did it before. Goal 1: Apply to One Gig Daily I refuse to call it job hunting. The days of the job are dead, at least until I level up. But to go from one gig to the next? Okay. I can do that. Goal 2: One Codecademy Lesson Daily Last time was too big. Need to learn from this. Go smaller. Goal 3: Writing Daily To the tune of my standards. I have set up minimal, nominal, and maximal goals for me to hit. It's worked before, but I've been slacking. Need to get back to doing this because I love it and I am poorer without it. Goal 4: Pray Daily For better or for worse, it's the Lenten season. So, since we're in the spiritual training season so to speak, I figure it's appropriate to make a thing of it. I haven't missed so far, but I'm feeling paranoid, so I'm going to make this a part of the challenge going forward. I beg y'all's pardon if I sound terse. I promise, it hides nothing. Just... really excited to get to work on getting everything put back together again. So. Let's go to work.

Well, I wanted to try to continue story stuff, but the moratorium on spoilers at this point means that I can't risk it. Yet. I'll hold it until 1/18. Maybe in the meantime that'll help me figure out how to integrate storytelling with the epic quest. Basically, the epic quest this time is to spend the year more fully integrating martial arts into my life. I already do a lot of different training on a day by day basis, but I get a lot of different things from my sensei to do. And I want to take each of these challenges and just add one more piece to the puzzle to complete my training. Why? Reasons. I like the training that I do now and its ability to prepare me in general for a lot of different things. And I hate the feeling of being behind where I want to be in my training. I want to move farther along, and instead of flipping out and feeling like I'm stalled out, I'd rather be able to further. Since the best I know to do is to keep touching base, the most realistic way to improve is to give myself more things to practice daily. Yeah, it'll never get me a six pack or in the octagon, but the events of the past year have made such ideas seem small and unimportant. I have bigger fish to fry. So, starting point. While I was away, I managed to get to the point where I hit the Simple part of Simple and Sinister - full routine at 53 pounds. And I managed to lose 13 pounds of excess tissue last year by letting my training be my training and letting my diet be my diet and work in conjunction with it. The folks did their best to make me gain it back (Kishi, we don't think you have the weight to lose!) and they made a pretty valiant effort at it... but I still finished 7 pounds down. Measurements indicate it's a net loss of excess tissue, and not the lean stuff that makes me stronger and better. Very good. So, let's keep this simple. Continue GPP Training I don't do well training for fat loss or flashy, look-good-naked type goals. I do well looking to develop skills and attributes. GPP for me means continuing to work with the kettlebell I have until I can get a heavier one - crazy expensive, unfortunately, but that's what you get when you have to ship 70 pounds of metal. The other two parts of it are greasing the groove with pull ups and push ups, and working toward freestanding handstands and pistol squats. This isn't necessarily easy, but as a matter of practice it is pretty easy to do and keep up with day by day. Non-Write One Page Per Day Defined as 250 words per day. Pretty self-explanatory. But at the same time, I can't always write. I want to still do at least one thing per day to keep in contact with the manuscript and keep that thing going. Work Shadowboxing Back In to Rotation So when I was practicing with the kettlebell, it was easy for me to work shadowboxing into the routine. I kept myself fresh and if I got tired, I shadowboxed as a means to refresh myself. That's no longer necessary from a GPP perspective, though - I go from lift to lift super-easily. So the real trick is to figure out how to work this in elsewhere, which I mean to have figured out and running by the end of the challenge. 64 Fluid Ounces of Water Per Day Pretty self-explanatory. This is on top of everything else I drink in a day. Just to keep it simple. Okay guys. Let's get to work.

Greetings, Assassins! After 3 successful challenges as a visiting Ranger, I have decided to officially jump guilds and join you all here! I figured that if I want to fit in, have everyone like me, and always be happy, I'd better to turn to Lego for some instructions. As I said, my last 3 challenges have been pretty successful, so I want to keep the momentum going. I've built some good habits and found a workout routine that works for me, so I want to stick with those. For this challenge, I'll be adding some goals to accentuate what I've already accomplished as well as build some more assassin-y skills. Goal 1: Strike a balance There are a variety of bodyweight skills I'd like to learn, and while striking the pose pictured here would be awesome, my immediate goal is a bit humbler. I really want to master the pistol squat. I found this tutorial on Rowan's thread this past summer and will be following the progressions. I can currently perform 20 good form narrow squats with my arms in front. My next step will be 20 narrow squats with my hands behind my head. I tried these this week and found my balance to be severely lacking, so I don't anticipate mastering the pistol during this six weeks, but I want to continue to progress. Edited to write out the progression so I don't have to keep referring to the external link: 30 second Grok Squat50 bodyweight squats20 Narrow squats20 clean deep narrow squats with hands behind my head10 Seated Pistols10-15 Assisted Pistols Goal 2: Sculpt some muscle My last few challenges have focused on getting lean and building strength, which I will continue to do, but I also want to address some of my lagging body parts. My current workout routine includes 2 "work" days and 1 "play" day, based on Anthony Mychal's 242 method. So on my "work" days, I'll focus on my 6 main lifts and I'll use my "play" day to give some extra attention to areas like my calves and triceps. For this particular goal, I'm actually going to try this calf raise workout every day. The goal will be 6 weeks of single-leg calf raises, 3 times a day. Goal 3: Use the right building blocks I was very happy with the results of my goal last challenge to lose 5 pounds in an effort to take an inch off my midsection. I'm going to continue to follow Kinobody's intermittent fasting scheme in hopes of losing another inch. However, if I do lose another 5 pounds, I'll be down to about 150 and the last time I was that light, I lost a lot of muscle, too. So, in an effort to keep muscle and just lose fat, I'm going to focus this goal on THE muscle building block - protein. Greg from Kinobody recommends 0.82 grams of protein per pound of body fat. I'll be shooting for about 120 g/day and then balance out fats and carbs depending on my training vs rest schedule. This goal will be graded based on number of days I hit my protein number. Goal 4: Be buddies! My last goal is a social one. I've been super busy at work for a while now and unfortunately it looks like it will not slow down for at least the duration of this challenge, so I'm setting a goal of having at least 2 date nights with my wife and 2 guys' nights over the next 6 weeks. It will take some effort and planning to pull off, but I think it's do-able and very necessary for my sanity and IRL relationships. Double decker couch optional. There you have it! I'm anticipating another successful 6 weeks with the Assassins. Thanks to all who stop by and I look forward to all the impending awesomeness I'll see on your threads!

The Main Quest - Be inspired and inspire others Last challenge I set out to find my Inspiration. Inspiration was found from my husband, Lexphoenix, and dancers in general. Despite my inspiration and my great start I struggled with illness, stress and life issues in general. I stopped reading the forums and disengaged from the NF community (which I am not happy about). A fortnight again I revamped things and changed how I was thinking and started again with the mantra "Fall down 7 times, stand up 8" The life quest remains and I am standing up again! Inspiration - YouTube I have been watching a range of workout videos and bodyweight work with my husband. Our comments range from "WTF" to "No Way" and after a few seconds "I want to do THAT!" Goal 1 - Pistol Squat A - unassisted 2 per leg B - unassisted 1 per leg C - assisted 3 per leg Goal 2 - Forward walkover A - Practice 3 times per week and successfully do a forward walkover! B - Practice twice per week C - Practice once per week Goal 3 - unassisted handstand A - 10 seconds B - 5 seconds C - 3 seconds How to stay on track This challenge I am going to measure these exercises each week to see my progress. My husband and I have started a spreadsheet where we record a range of exercises including my 3 goal exercises this is to keep us accountable, on track and allow us to see progress. I am also going to post my starting stats and weekly achievements here each week! Inspiration - Music On Sunday I went to listen to some free live music as part of our yearly city festival. I cried, laughed and smiled. The evening of entertainment was exactly what I needed as I had a horrible week. After the show I went up to the singer and thanked her for making my day and reminding me of my musical past. As part of starting NF I have noticed other parts of life that are lacking and music is one of them. I am currently working with a friend to record my own CD of covers and I need to improve before then. I know that I am putting a lot into this goal but I am not happy in my life and I need to change it now! So I have picked one area to work on for now even if my goal is ambitious. Life Goal - Practice my vocals 3 times a week and write 1 song per week. A - 5 times and 2 songs B - 4 times and 1 song C - 3 times and 1 song Progress Base - Pistol Squats - assisted using beam 11 each leg Front walkover - assisted from standing to bridge but I can't get up from bridge Handstand - on wall 60 seconds, 1 second unassisted