Search the Community

Quarantine and isolation! Even an introvert like me can get stir crazy when the only people I get to see are my parents and occasionally the Amazon delivery guy. Here's how I plan to entertain myself, effective immediately PLP Challenge (but different). Starting point: 15 Bulgarian split squats per leg, 10 knee push-ups, 15 inverted rows, 10 dead bugs, 60 seconds side planks Thermo studying. 1 hour every day. No excuses. I need to do well in this class. Bible reading and prayer. I'm stuck at home, I've got the time for it. Working afternoons. I'm lucky my college is allowing me to work from home online. Making dinner (and make enough to have leftovers for lunch). We're still on paleo ish as much as we can be, as long as the local produce stand is still open and has vegetables and eggs. Meat is a bit harder to come by. We'll make it happen. Clean something. Tracking sheet I also have some incidentals that need taking care of. File the damn taxes. Read The Silmarillion. Funness.

The Target: Muscle-Up Teh Skillz: Redevelop explosive high pullup Redevelop controlled dip Redevelop controlled tiger pushup & russian dip for transition Develop kip

Remember Romney? That champion of feminism with his sensitive remarks about how much he values hardworking women? One day, I'll be that on point with my phrasing. Until then, I'll be reporting on my daily progress this month with the help of a pantheon of female comedic greats. Warrior lyfe 531 programming 4x a week Chiropractic weekly MFP daily Assassin nonsense Modified PLP (handstand practice in lieu of push-ups) Ranger nonsense Running and accessory circuits 4x a week Druid nonsense Daily meditation, yoga, and journaling Adventurer Nonsense Daily language practice Read a trashy German novel Mess with pencils and sketch pad at least weekly

This challenge is focused on destroying @Br0din in the PVP challenge ending March 1st. For inspiration, I’ll be looking to Goliath and the mighty Manhattan Clan in their struggle against Odin and his evil schemes. Odin also hated cardio and loved all things that go pew-pew, basically the same as our fearless moderator - whom I will kill. With death. Cardio hating Br0din ^ Pew-pew loving Br0din ^ Br0din slaying machine ^ Non crazy version: This challenge is going to be a simple one: drop 4-6lbs, run my modified 531 program and don’t get greedy. Yoga on rest days, self-care ramblings as they happen. Daily numbers for the program and diet will show up on the metrics battlelog (link in sig) and the program is below. 4 week cycle of 60%, 75%, 85%, and 95% of max; one main lift a day, 4 days a week; sets of 0, 5, 3, 5-3-1 on the ascending intensity weeks; big but boring (BBB) sets of 3x10@60% following the main work; accessories in supersets with good morning/front squat and dumbbell incline press/dumbbell row days, and barbell lunges/hanging leg raises and chin-up/dip days alternating. Cardio alternating between incline and flat dreadmill. Intervals for the first week or two, steady effort thereafter; yoga afterwards. We're not reinventing the wheel here, but we are squatting 3x a week and keeping the total number of trained movements to 16, and daily time in the gym at or under 90 minutes. I'm open to input.

Brutal Bears Tanks Diablo Intro: Keep Your Footing -Track meals/calories every day and stay on top of Rising Heroes Keep the Sword and Board Strong -Lift 3x a week and do PLP daily Battle Cry and Pull Aggro -Practice Language Every day and Keep up the Apollo Philosophy daily posts Dodge attacks -Run Twice a Week Keep Threat Up -Support your NF peeps, stay up on here, and try to find time to help on other peoples Reward: Armstrong's Family Tunic Begging Weight: 198.6 Pic:

This is still my over-riding goal. Top ten in the Wausau 24 - 6 hour category. In 27 years of racing I've never podiumed. I've been close, but I've never made it. Last year Wausua podiumed 10 people; I was 19th after a year of lackluster training. This is going to be my year. I have a busy, full summer of mountain bike racing planned. In order to do well at biking you need to bike. It's hard this time of year because I live in Minnesota. It's also hard to get riding in because my wife works evenings. I've tried doing GPP work over the winter with kettlebells and that works fine, but fine isn't going to cut it. Goal 1: Ride myself into shape. This will mostly, perhaps entirely, be on the trainer. Monday & Friday: Intervals Saturday & Sunday: Long aerobic threshold ride Tuesday & Thursday: Just ride some Goal 2: Get jacked like Bruce Lee 2a: Kettlebells I'm still working on this. I'll probably do kettlebells twice a week, most likely on Saturday & Tuesday 2b: PLP Push Ups, one more than the day before. Lunges, one/one more than the day before. Pull Ups, one more than the day before. Repeat until jacked. My old man back is getting better, but it still derails my training fairly often. Goal 3: Do Your Damn Abs Every day: mobility circuit followed by ab work. My belly is trying to kill me. There is a list of foods that tears out my belly lining (dairy, coffee, sugar, fake sugar, deep fried anything, nuts and seeds). I've finally faced up to the fact that I just can't eat them at all anymore. I've been on a restricted diet for six weeks and it is going well. My belly hasn't felt this good in a year. Goal 4: Eat Like an Adult Continue to eat grown up food made from ingredients that don't include the list of forbiddens. Continue to track in order to deduce what else is hurting my belly. Make an appointment with a doctor if things don't continue to improve. This is largely a copy and paste of my last challenge with refinements. Thanks for following along.

This is still my over-riding goal. Top ten in the Wausau 24 - 6 hour category. In 27 years of racing I've never podiumed. I've been close, but I've never made it. Last year Wausua podiumed 10 people; I was 19th after a year of lackluster training. This is going to be my year. (Not me.) I have a busy, full summer of mountain bike racing planned. In order to do well, or even just survive it, I'll need to have a deep base of fitness. I'm putting in the work now, slow and steady style. A little bit every day will serve me better than big bouts of training followed by periods of sloth, which was my former habit. In order to do well at biking you need to bike. It's hard this time of year because I live in Minnesota. It's also hard to get riding in because my wife works evenings. I've tried doing GPP work over the winter with kettlebells and that works fine, but fine isn't going to cut it. Goal 1: Ride myself into shape. This will mostly, perhaps entirely, be on the trainer. Day 1: Intervals. Day 2: Slow and steady style. Day 3: Active Rest (Yoga). In order to keep biking I'll need a strong and sturdy body. I like, and have done well with, high frequency training. If one HFT program is good, two must be better. Both kettlebells and body weight training seems to make me more immune from injury. I'll be combining the Strength Aerobics variation of Simple and Sinister with PLP. Charles Bronson will be my spirit animal here. As an old man (50's) he got jacked in a lean and wiry way on a diet of push ups, pull ups, and plate push aways. Goal 2: Get jacked like Bronson 2a: Strength Aerobics variant of Simple & Sinister Day 1: 5 X 1/1 Turkish Get ups + 10 X 10 Kettlebell swings. Day 2: Long sets of singles of KB clean, press, & squat. Shovelglove may be substituted. Repeat until strong. 2b: PLP Day 1: Push Ups, one more than the day before. Lunges, one/one more than the day before. Pull Ups, one more than the day before. Repeat until jacked liked Bronson. Managing fatigue with two different training programs and riding might be a problem. The plan for both is to train every day, but I'll be playing this by ear. Minimal acceptable standard will be two days on, one day off. My old man back derails my training far more than I'd like (old injury). In order to keep it at bay I need to do a daily mobility circuit. I will add in a Yoga session every third day. Goal 3: Get Flexy Every day: mobility circuit Day 3: Yoga. My belly is trying to kill me. There is a list of foods that tears out my belly lining (dairy, coffee, sugar, deep fried anything, nuts and seeds). I've finally faced up to the fact that I just can't eat them at all anymore. I've been on a restricted diet for two weeks and it is going well. My belly hasn't felt this good in a year. Goal 4: Plate Push Aways. Don't eat the stuff I shouldn't eat.

Cultist Have Attacked You And your only Hope is to unravel the mystery of the Dragon Cult This quest is to unravel the mystery of the Dragon cult and defeat Mirakk, the original DragonbornTo do so you must become strong and unbreakableThis will be done through the quest of PLP (Push-ups, Lunges, and Pull-ups)If you can do 10 of each: on day one you do. Then day two you do 11 and so on. No rest days, it is time to become unbreakable!If you can not do 10 of each: start with one and add one each day.The quest will take 60 days-Please update the thread with your progress, as you complete quests, plan, starting reps, and reward! Day 1-10: DragonbornUnraveling the mystery of Solstheim's Dragon CultBy completing 10 days you have unraveled the mysteries and are ready to move on in your quest Day 11-20: The Fate of SkaalFree the villagers and the city of Skall-so that the people can aid you in your quest Day 21-30: The Cleansing StonesPurify to the All-Maker Stones to Prepare to enter the Deadric Realms Day 31 through 40: The Path of KnowledgeRetrieve the Black book From the Oblivion Realms-you are almost strong enough to defeat Miraak Day 41-50: The Gardener of MenBraving Apocrypha: Traverse the Oblivion Realm and get reach the Summit of Apocrypha to finally battle Miraak Day 51-60: Defeating MiraakThis is where things get real and it all comes down to the final ten days!Defeat the original Dragonborn and save the world How far can you go in the quest to defeat the Dragonborn?

Some of you know me from my threads over in the Rangers camp. My time there was well spent but I wanted to switch to the Assassins since you mission lines up with my goals so if you will have me, I would be honored to join. For those of you who don't know me, my name is Mikroftt (like Sherlock's brother but my own spelling since my real name is Mike). I have a bucket list of exercise stuff (link in my signature) and love doing anything athletic. I signed up for a Spartan Sprint in Indy on May 16th, so I am in training right now for that. Goals for this challenge: 1) PLB everyday (+3 STR, +2 STA) I started this the other day as the normal PLP that Steve suggested but changed it up to do burpees instead of just push-ups cause let's face it, a burpee is just an extended push-up. Plus the penalty for failing an obstacle in a Spartan race is typically 30 burpees so I figured I should practice them. 2) Stretching 5x per week (+2 DEX, +2 STA) I am horrible with flexibility so I am making an effort to work on it. I plan on doing yoga at least once a week but I want to do stretching more often than that. My goal is that if I am watching TV then I am stretching. Favorite shows currently are The Big Bang Theory and Agents of SHIELD. 3) Read 3 books (+2 WIS) Right now I plan on reading You'll Know at the Finish Line, SealFit, and The Millionaire Next Door. You'll Know is a guide to running your first Spartan race. I read Spartan Up last challenge and loved it. SealFit sounds interesting mostly for the mental training aspects. SpartanUp just did a podcast featuring the founder of SealFit and it was interesting to listen to. Millionaire was recommended by a friend and talks about why millionaires got to where they are. The kinds of habits they have with money and the like. I threw it in there to expand to something beyond just exercise related books. 4) 20-40-40 (+2 CON, +2 CHA) This one is going to be the hardest for me. I have been struggling with looking as good as I feel and most of it is due to the high amount of carbs that I am consuming. So the goal will be to eat 20% carbs, 40% fat and 40% protein each day. Right now the number are more like 47% carbs, 37% fat, and 16% protein. This is going to be a challenge for me but I know it is the healthier way to go. 5) Bonus goal: working on running form (+1 DEX) This one I don't expect to make much progress on but I need to start working on it. I need to work on form while the winter is here so that when I go out in the spring and start running outside, I am doing it right so I will not injure myself. I have the time and resources to work on this but have not made it a priority yet.

Hey all, longtime reader, first time poster here. I hit the halfway mark on the 60 Day PLP Challenge, and I'm feeling great! I never thought I could do 40 pullups, and it's surprising to me every day I do one more. I'm so glad I found this site! With the help of Nerd Fitness, I eat better, look better and feel better. I've attached my before and during photos. Each one was taken right after my workout. Along with the PLP Challenge, I'm also doing a workout routine of squats with weights, bent over dumbbell rows, dumbbell bench press, and 4 1-minute long planks. I was never athletic growing up. I'm a movie and music nerd. I was in concert band, marching band, and jazz band all throughout school. After working my 9-5, I used to love just sitting around finding new music and watching movies. Now, exercising is included on that list, thanks to Nerd Fitness. Woot! Thanks for reading, B

I'll fill this first post out more when I'm home, but here are my goals for this challenge, just to get them out there. Goal 1: Recover from the holidays...and then some What this looks like: Body fat goal: 26.25%Start of challenge: 28.27%Where I ended in 2014: 26.97%How much I need to reduce beyond 2014 levels: 0.72%Waist size goal: 38.5"Start of challenge: 39.75"Where I ended in 2014: 38.75"How much I need to reduce beyond 2014 levels: 0.25"Supported through maintaining an 80/20 Paleo diet. Having all my Non-Paleo Tokens (NPTs) for meals and snacks in one pot during the last challenge hindered me a little I think, so I'm going to separate them out and have different banks for each. So that means I start the challenge with 25 Meal NPTs and 17 Snack NPTs.If by some miracle, I blow past these goals, I have stretch goals in mind that I'll introduce when/if the time comes. Goal 2: The Superhero Trajectory What this looks like: Gym time 2-3 times per week. I'm currently still doing the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles workout, but I'm not necessarily tied to that. However, they are superheroes I can admire. Supplement with Days 5-46 of the PLP 60-day challenge. I started doing PLP on January 1st, so why not use that to my advantage!Further supplement workouts with trying out HIIT on off-days, 1-2 times per week.Goal 3: "Cure" my apartment What this looks like: Participate in "The January Cure," modified to suit my needs.Continue to lighten the load by getting rid of 50-100 more pounds of "stuff."Goal 4: Become multi-lingual What this looks like: Practice French at least 5 times per week using the DuoLingo website/app.Bonus points if I can get a 40 day streak on DuoLingo (starting from today)!I did technically start my challenge on Monday, and I definitely used some NPTs over the past few days so my bank is currently at 22 Meal NPTs and 13 Snack NPTs.

Alright, it's time to get my battle log out there for the world to see! As of last Sunday (Oct-12), I am doing the Stronglifts 5x5 program and the 60-day PLP challenge side-by-side. I was gonna start on Monday, but I was already motivated on Sunday, so I started early. Stats (10/12/2014) Age: 24 Gender: Male Height: 5'9" Weight: 150.8 lb My main goal, other than completing the programs, is to stay consistent with these programs. For Stronglifts, that means always fitting in three workouts in a week. For PLP, that means not missing a single day (if, in the event I DO miss a day, I'll just stick with the "never twice in a row" principle). I should note that this will be my second attempt at Stronglifts. I first attempted Stronglifts late July of 2013. I was off to a good start, but after 3 weeks, I wasn't able to maintain the three-times-per-week schedule (probably work stress and late nights, I don't remember). It ended up taking me three months to complete two months worth of work. My program fell apart when I completed my five sets of squats at 160 lb and suddenly got a weird neck spasm (that's the best I can remember it) and didn't go back to the gym for a week from that minor headache. Actually, that week ended up turning into three months since I went back to the gym for yoga (so glad I had a workout log for all that), but I still never got back into the rhythm for lifting until this week. Also, here were my maximum weights from the first Stronglifts: Squats - 160 lbOverhead press - 75 lbDeadlift - 195 lbBench press - 100 lbBent-over row - 100 lbSo what's being done differently this time around? I'm going to post videos of my lifts each month so I can get feedback on my form.I want to do my workouts in the morning before work. I know how easily I can postpone a workout if I wait until after work to do it. There is the risk of sleeping in, but I seem to be waking up alright so far this week.I'm starting the bent-over rows with an empty bar. I was afraid of them being unsafe from my first Stronglifts program, but I want to give them another shot.I plan to progress more slowly with the overhead press this time. I saw the idea to get some 1.25 lb plates, but then I remembered I had some 1 lb wrist weights in my closet, so no need to spend more money!I imagine the only thing to change for my diet would be to have a milky protein shake with each workout, and probably eat a little more as I progress to more strenuous workouts. My stand-alone diet is already mostly Paleo, so I'm pretty content with how it is now. I want to stick with the Stronglifts program even after I've completed the three months, at least until I start training for a half-marathon around March/April. I'll decide what I want to do when I get that far. As for the PLP, I don't know where I want to go with that once the 60 days are up, but the idea of doing 100 push-ups has always been appealing to me. Here's a link to my workout log for those who want to see my progress. Also, I realized soon after making my spreadsheet that someone had already made a Stronglifts spreadsheet that looks cleaner, but I feel like this one keeps me on track with doing three workouts each week.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GGcIkqPTHo0 Two Months. In two months I, with a bunch of other Nerds, will be running the Fenway Spartan Sprint. Now, the Sprint I can finish. I have no qualms about that. I did fine last year. Except last year I held back on pushing myself, since I had teamed up with another Nerd who was just as petrified of dying during the race as I was. So we putz along. Not. Happening. This. Year. Last year I took a long, long time to finish the race, but over all I felt pretty solid about how I performed. The between-obstacle sections where I was forced to walk/very slowly jog with my team mate are what killed my time, not performing the obstacles themselves. And when all was said and done, I only failed only three obstacles: the Wall Traverse, Rope Climb, and the Spear Toss. Problem with these obstacles? Really hard to train for without access to specific equipment. Yea, I can join a club or something, but compared to a year ago, I am much, much more active, and scheduling is already a bit tight for me. Between lifting, November Project, and Aikido, my plate is full. So I need to try and do smaller things to add to my training, rather than flat out devout all my time to some new training. So really, I’m trying to deal with a less-is-more approach in some shape or form for all of my challenges this time around. 1) Spartan Gear I need new running shoes. Badly. I’ve used my current ones to death, and I really shouldn’t have. For a pair of $30, clearance rack running shoes, they dun good. But time to move on to big boy shoes. Unfortunately, I know nothing about getting a good pair of running shoes. So I need to go to a running store, get fitted properly, and then break the suckers in. They’ll at least get used weekly at NP, but I want a second use out of them. Maybe a short run, hell, even a walk, just something to get my feet comfortable in them. ~Get new running shoes ~Use them twice a week 2) Spartan Training, PLP edition So I want to try doing a PLP challenge to help prepare for the rope climb, and a bit of the wall traverse – mainly to gain some more upper body strength. I can’t do 10 pull-ups in a single set, so I’m going to be starting at the low run of ONE. That being said, I have two trips that are falling during this challenge. One this coming week will require some tricky maneuvering (read: I’m probably going to be doing pull-ups on my parent’s garage rafters), but should be doable. More difficult is when I go to New York Comic Con towards the middle of the challenge – where I’ll be mostly on the convention floor. My friend’s apartment complex may have a mini-gym I can use, but I have to ask. I’ll figure something out. I hope. ~Complete the PLP Challenge every day, barring unforeseen circumstances 3) Spartan Fridge What, a food challenge? But RP, I thought you said you were going to try and not worry about food any more. Why yes, Self, that was the initial plan. But bear with me. The Fridge is going to be Spartan because I’m going to be eating everything. Yup, kinda doing a bulk. Goal is to help increase my lift numbers, help build some muscle, and then next challenge (or one after it) I’ll try doing another cut again. It was pointed out to another member that sometimes if you plateau you should try eating more to boost your metabolism, and then attempt another cut. I’ve been eating more regularly, and been gaining some weight – but also gaining Strength. I want to try and keep that going, and then go back to trying a bit of weight loss. Trying to be somewhat conservative, but I’ve been just feeling really solid lately. May as well make it official, track it better, and then see what happens. In the process, I need to stop eating most of the junk at my office. I’m already considered “The Healthy Guy” there, but I can do so much better. I should not be gorging myself on chips, cookies, and cake, even if they are free. Free and tasty. (Cheesecake has fueled a few of my aikido classes, though, courtesy of work.) ~Eat between 2800-3,000 calories per day ~Minimal junk food (no more than 5 ‘junk’ foods per week, as defined by myself) 4) Spartan Aikido I think a lot about aikido. Which is probably a good thing. I still want to try and do more documentation of the techniques, but I think trying to force myself into a corner by demanding something solid and static for something as nebulous as aikido techniques might be the wrong way to target this. So I’m going to try something different. Marcus Aurelius had his Meditations written as little vignettes of thought. Small fragments of questions or ideas that popped into his head, his musings about life, the world, leadership, and philosophy. So I want to try and apply that to aikido. After every aikido class, write a sentence or three on something I learned/focused/reflected on in the class that day. Hopefully that will help me unlock some ways to write about aikido more efficiently. If not, it could provide just an interesting general insight. ~Grab a journal ~Write *immediately* after each class/day of aikido a lesson/thought/musing from that class I got this.

Alright, I guess it's time to put a new challenge post together. I had been debating skipping this challenge. The last couple of weeks have been hard to get motivated and be positive. So, I thought it might be best to skip this challenge altogether until I get my head screwed on straight. But, upon further contemplation, I decided throwing myself into a challenge was exactly what I needed. I need more external motivation this go 'round to break out of this funk. So, without further ado... Goal #1: Keep on runnin' Running has been good to me so far this summer. So, I'm going to keep doing it. 3x a week will be either a 5k run, sprints, or my newest favorite, a 5k run with 5 burpees at the beginning, at the end and every 1/4 mile in between. I save that one for the weekends. Grades: 15+ A, 12-14 B, 10-11 C, 9 D, <9 F Goal #2: Get stronger My strength training continues to lag behind my running. What can I say, I like running. But, I do need more strength (who doesn't?). So, I've decided to take up the PLP challenge this challenge. If you've never heard of it, you can read more from our fearless leader here, or the original article here. The long and short of it is this, every day, do 1 more pushup, lunge and pullup than you did the day before. Start with 10 of each on day 1. That's a lot of damn pullups by the time you're done. They don't have to all be in 1 set (and if you can pull off that many pullups in a single set, I wanna talk to you to figure out how you did it). Pullups will definitely be my limiting factor here as my max set currently sits at 8 reps. But, that's why I'm trying to get stronger. Grades: 42 days in the challenge so...>37 days A, 34-37 B, 29-33 C, 25-28 D, < 28 F Goal #3: Follow Dr's Orders At my annual checkup a couple of week's ago the doc said I was doing great and they didn't have anything to beat me up about. Until the lab tests came back that suggested my blood glucose was high. Doctor's orders were to watch my carb intake. Alright. I'll do that. I'll find a new macro tracking app for my Android device, and start tracking. I'm also going to work on eating more primally. So, that carb intake should come done by the end of the challenge. I'll track the first week, and then pick the percentage I'm going to reduce it each week. My ultimate goal is 100g or less/day. But, unlike times in the past, I'm going to attempt to transition rather than making abrupt changes and hope the changes stick better by just slowly becoming more natural. Grades: End of challenge <= 100g/ day A, 100-125g/day B, >125g/day F. (there's no C or D for this one, I almost made it PASS/FAIL) Side Goal: Think Happy Alright, I'm laying all my cards on the table. I'm blatantly stealing this idea from K-Dub. More specifically, I'm stealing the idea from Tim Ferris where I will use my thoughts as constructive criticism and come up with an action plan (it's in the link K-Dub provided). My daughter made me a bracelet, so I'll use that one to track the number of days I can go without having a useless negative thought -- it can be useful as long as it leads to some sort of action. Grades: This one is hard to grade, but I'm going to go with number of consecutive days without negativity. as of this update, I'm stuck at 0. So, this is going to be lenient on the grading (if it turns out to be too easy, I'll revise later). >14 days A, 10-13 days B, 8-9 days C, 6-7 days D, < 6 F. There you have it. Grading scale is done.

Assassins! Transform! This challenge I want to try and be as precise as possible and obviously transform into a meg-awesome-assassin-of-sexy-goodness-and-tasty-loveliness and what better way to do that than with the Autobots? And then I find out that there's a Transformers Comic Humble Bundle that starts today! Coincidence?! Yes! But a good one. (Oh and a Humble Bundle link! https://www.humblebundle.com/books?utm_source=Humble+Bundle+Newsletter&utm_campaign=5254bede16-Humble_Transformers_Bundle_Presented_by_IDW&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_990b1b6399-5254bede16-95823309) I realised that I have the same kinds of goals pretty much every time Strength/Running/Diet/Writing.... and I'm cool with that So without further ado here is my Autobot/transformer challenge! Goal 1: Your Bullets Cannot Harm Me! My Muscles Are Like A Shield of Steel! Strength Training 3 times per week, with PLP training + 2 STR +1 CHA Pretty simple, do some strength workouts! I want to keep being careful with this one as ever but I'm up to pull ups and push ups and want to see how far I can get I'm trying to progress by one rep every time I do some training and that's going well. And I read Steve's article about PLP training and also TiberiusNightrise was doing it last challenge so that has piqued my interest! Goal 2: Chase Megatron! Run for pace twice a week and once for distance +3 STA +1 DEX Well not Megatron, my girlfriend.... She probably wouldn't like me calling her that But anyway, I'm running a half marathon literally the last day of the challenge so I'd best get practicing! My goal as it stands is to run my standard run (which is now 5 miles) twice a week for pacing and see if I can't do that in 45 minutes or less (40 would be awesome, but my legs aren't very long) and then slowly build up a longer run once a week, perhaps on the weekends if I'm not busy. Basically I want to run maybe a 12 mile run a couple of times in between now and the half-marathon. This goal is ongoing so it will be a combination of keeping up with the training and then I'll consider it a huge success if I can run the half marathon in under 2 hours! Goal 3: Only Eat Optimus Prime Approved Food, with added Energon! Calorie Controlled / Almost-Paleo Diet +2 CON + 2 CHA For this one, as I should be running a lot more I am going to up my diet calories to the 2000 range, going for 1950-2050 at first and we'll see how the weeks progress. I recently got a new phone plan with actual internets on it so I can update my eating via the myfitnesspal app as/when I eat, so no excuses! Bonus, I want to lower my carb consumption at the moment I'm thinking of up to 120g on days where I do a strength workout and then I also have a bit more carbs for the run which should follow the next day, and then 75g on days where I run. But we'll see how this one goes. Goal 4: The Knowledge of Cybertron Finish that book! +2 WIS +2 CHA Last time my life goal was based on writing which went really well at times and a bit badly in others, so averaged out to what I wanted This time around as I've been writing the book as a) practice for finishing/plotting/setting/characters etc and a birthday present for my girlfriend. And her birthday is in October! So I need to get this done! I want to just have the first draft finished up by the end of the challenge then might leave it for a week and then edit and whathaveyou, but that's for the future! And it also means that you guys might have to tell me which book cover looks best! Measurements will be forthcoming so I can hold myself accountable to moving in the right direction! Let's do this guys! Roll-out!

Through sheer force of will he materialized! His spontaneous appearance accented by a resounding clap of pure anger and frustration! He collapsed to the ground, the magenta hued Pandarian breathing heavily. "Curse you Goregemonger!" he swore violently, a string of curses so vile they could not be reproduced with mere words alone. "It takes more than that to defeat me!" Laughter, deep and foreboding replied as he started his third quest. <Purple_Panda has reconnected> Long story short, last quest ended swimmingly I thought, held to my goals, didn't quite complete all of them, but success across the board was had. However, sadly, we had ISP issues for the last 30 days of the challenge basically. *grumbles incoherently* This being said, the last quest was pretty tough. I think with the success of the first I bit off more than I should have. Again, while I feel I succeeded, it was by the purple fur of my butt! I plan with this challenge to revert back to my first challenges goals to get the wheels going a little easier, but tweak it slightly. Main Quest Continue to rid the country side of Gorge Monger, the Evereatings, influence! Drop 12lb in six weeks. Missions: 1: No Rest For the Wicked! Just as the forces of evil do not rest, I must maintain my activity! Run/Jog, at least, 5 miles a week. +3STA +1STR +1DEX 2: Cleanse the local Temples! Continue with Paleo. +3CON 3: Training 101 + More! Every other day do the Advanced Body Weight Workout followed by 20+ minutes of an additional work out of my choice. This means after completeing the ABWW I'll then, for example, do another circuit of it, or dumbbell routine, or stair stepper, etc. Jogging/Running does not count for this particular Mission. +3STR +1DEX +1STA Life Quest: Get the house sold! +1WIS +1CHA Realtor coming over tonight; didn't make the last goal. Blargh! Hopefully by the end of this challenge I'll be rid of it! Notes Pretty short and sweet for my goals, simplistic can be better I think; so I'm hoping this will rock. On top of the goals above, I've kind have fallen in love with the PLP challenge, I started it this morning, and while not a goal, kind of a sweet thing to do on the side. Rocking out 60 Pull-ups through out the day is pretty awesome! I never thought I'd be able to do 10 in a row! Trying to get to 12 in a row at the moment. *cheers* Starting Stats Weight: 267lb

Aaaaaand I'm back for another one! I'm feeling very good still about how I did last challenge, and am looking forward to accomplishing even more this challenge. So here are my goals for this one, shaking things up a little bit from the last 2 challenges... Goal 1: Lose pounds, body fat and inches Most of my past challenges, I've focused on one or the other of these individually. This time, I'd like to go for the combo! A win for me would be to see all three of these numbers go down, even marginally, this challenge. These may be a bit ambitious, but I'm willing to try to see where this leads. The good thing is that if 2 of these go down, they generally will be positively affecting the third metric. Starting weight: 186.4 lbs Max goal: 180.4 (6 lbs lost) Starting body fat: 26.86% Max goal: 25.36% (1.5% body fat lost) Starting midsection measurement: 38.5" Max goal: 37" (1.5" lost) Points available: 1 CON, 1 WIS, 1 CHA Goal 2: Gym time 3x per week Last challenge, this fell by the way side for the last week or two when I got sick, and I haven't been back since. But I've actually been itching to get back into the gym. I will be doing my regular routine of pushup training (wanting to work slowly towards handstand pushups), graduated pull-up training (hopefully finishing that and moving more permanently into full pull-ups and chin ups), and planking. I'm gonna shake up my leg routine, since I admittedly do not love assisted pistol squats, which is what I had been doing. So I'll be moving back into barbell squats. If anyone has any good leg exercise suggestions, body weight or otherwise, I'm open. Oh yeah, the one potential wrench thrown into this goal, is that the last 5 days of the challenge, I will be in India (part of a month-long trip). My intention is to keep up my normal workout schedule, which is why it would be helpful to have a couple of bw leg exercises I can be working on when I'm not able to do barbell squats. Points available: 2 STR, 2 DEX, 1 STA Goal 3: Supplement gym time with PLP I'm behind on my blog reading, but I just recently read Steve's article on PLP, and I got really excited about it. I started Day 1 today. Because I'm nowhere near being able to do 10 pull-ups, I'm doing the 1 rep on day 1 for each exercise and progressing from there. I have enough strength to be able to do at least 1 not so great pull up, so I'm looking forward to seeing how this helps me, in addition to the graduated pull-up training, be able to do more pull-ups with better form. Ordinarily, I would hold off on something like this until I was able to do them better, but this seemed like a good opportunity to get better at a skill I've been working up to for a long time. Points available: 2 STR, 1 DEX, 2 STA Life Goal: Back to Paleo Paleo during Lent completely rocked! Since then, I've been trying to keep my non-Paleo meals to 1 per day, which has helped me keep on track. But I have definitely noticed that my progress, while still being progress, slowed way down. I also like how I feel when I eat Paleo, which is much less sluggish, more energized and generally more healthy. Last time I tried to work in new recipes, which I had marginal success on. As part of this goal, I want to finish what I started and try another 3 new recipes. This goal will also be a challenge once I'm in India (Indian food is amazing!!), as Indians cook a lot with yogurt, and there will be many vegetables I won't be able to eat due to water conditions. Any suggestions here would be welcome as well. Points available: 1 STA, 1 WIS So there you have it! Feeling inspired and ready for this fight.

So, yes. I'm not exactly new here but I haven't been active for a looong time. I've competed one or two chalenges way in the past, started at least two I can rember that I jsut dropped out of. This time I'm going to do better. This time I also have a much better motivation to keep going, because its not just about me One of the things which features in this challenge which I don't think I've ever mentioned on here is that I'm busy picking up Karate again. I actually have a 1st Dan Black Belt in Shotokan karate, but have not actively practised for about 12 years until I started up again in Janauary this year. Starting physical stats: Height: 190cm Weight 91 kg Rest to be completed later So I know I'm not in terrible shape, but things could certainly get better Main Quest: Get in better shape before I get married I'm getting married on 16 August this year, so um, I'd actually like to a) be consistently eating healthy before we move in together, so I don't have to adjust after she moves in LGN, because well honeymoon and all So this is what the goals are aimed at achieving. I think that combining these three is acceptable given what I've accomplished in the past. A new quest shall be selected once we return from honeymoon, but I will continue to follow this one after the challenge till the wedding Goal 1: Execute PLP program without missing a day for the entire challenge So I started with this yesterday (5 June), so I will be on PLP Day 5 when this challenge starts. I can still do a pull-up, so this should be doable. Should there be a day I don't get in all the reps it counts against my score just as much as if I had skipped the entire day. A: No missed days B: 1 or 2 missed or DNF days C: 3 or 4 missed or DNF days F : >4 missed days Goal 2: Regularly attend karate classes So our Karate lessons are twice a week, but the days I can attend aren't in our dedicated practice hall, so they sometimes get cancelled due to other things there. The goal here is to practice karate twice a week. So if a normal lesson is cancelled I either need to attend one of the other classes or train by myself for the full time the lesson would have been A: No missed lessons B: 1 missed lesson C: 2 missed lessons F: >2 missed lessons Goal 3: Follow a low-carb diet Diet make-up is going to be based on the 4-Hour body prescription, so low-carb, legumes allowed, no dairy. One cheat day per week will be allowed. 2 penalty points will be earned for the first non-diet allowed item on any day, with an additional 1 point for each additional item. This is designed to penalise cheating at all on day more heavily, but prevent the "Oh I already messed up, may as well have another" A: 4 or less penalty points B: 5-7 penalty points C: 8-10 penalty points F: More than 10 penalty points Life Goal: Declutter my house We are moving into my place after the wedding, so I won't be moving. But we do need to go from only me having stuff there to two of us. So this means seriously reconsidering what really belongs there. Scoring is TBD, I need to think a bit more on how to score this. Note: Attribute points for goals is still to be decided, will be updating that before monday.

Main Quest Death Squad Approach’s! - Lose another 14 Assassins that are within close proximity! I’ve lost the first 12, and rooted out an additional four on the first leg of my journey; but the forces of Gorge Monger are persistent!I’m going to try for 14lb lost in six weeks. I crushed it the first challenge, so I’m upping the ante by an additional two pounds.MissionsOut Run the Assassins! -The assassins of Gore Monger are slow; one of the best ways to lose them is by endurance and speed; to put more distance between them and myself, I’ll need to run at least six miles in the course of a week!\1 DEX and 2 STAIncreasing the distance I need to run each week by a mile. The end of my first goal I was able to achieve five miles by mid-week; adding an additional mile should push me just a little bit further, as once I complete a goal, I typically like to grind it into the dust.Stay Hidden! – The assassins have the ability to track by the food their prey consumes. While the Paleo diet reduces the range in which they can track. I must remain 80% Paleo for this tactic to work!1 CON and 1 WISContinue to remain Paleo, I achieve very good success in my first challenge, but I could do even better I think. I'll also use this goal to try and refine what I've learned.Strength comes but one day at a time! – If my first quest taught me anything, each day may not seem significant, but over the course of 42 days their fruits are plentiful! Continue to train as denoted below.Morning - Advanced Bodyweight Workout – Every other day.2 STR and 1 ENDI enjoy this workout quite a bit, it gives a good overall workout that leaves me well winded and really picks me up in the morning.Evening - Dumb Bell Routine - http://www.bodybuilding.com/fun/wotw3.htm2 STRI used this Routine the last half of my previous quest. I cycle this, so I don’t really take a break from this particular routine. I consider the Abs Only day as the break.Throughout Every Day - PLP – 60 Day Challenge 1 STR, 1 END, 1 STAThis was something else I started near the end of my first quest. Currently on 29 Push-ups 29 Lunges and 19 Pull-ups (yes I started at one Pull-up, cause there was no way in hell I could do 10! J) I’m pleased to say I’ve been able to complete 5 pull-ups with fair form now; but getting to 19 in a single session is brutal, I bought a pull-up bar (Iron Gym) so I can do it at work (off the I-beams in the basement) and at home. I do not plan on restarting at 10/1 for this challenge, I will continue to the 60 day mark; and then? Probably restart.Life QuestSell That Castle!1 WIS and 1 CHAThis is a multi-step Life Goal; and something due to weather has been hard to do; it is also a big agro (the house in general) for my wife, so I need to get this done.Complete Kitchen by April 18st.Complete Master Bedroom by April 23thComplete Front Porch by May 28stComplete Painting Work (whole house) by April 30thGet House on Market by May 1st = A. Every 7 Days after = Lower Grade.This might be a little complicated; but the first steps are to just keep me on track. If I miss the deadline for the Completion parts, each one missed is a half letter grade drop. The On the Market is the primary goal.Starting Weight: 265 Lbs. as of 4/15/2014 Measurements as of 4/16/2014 Neck: 17" Chest: 46" Waist: 47" Hips: 44" Thighs: 26.5" Calves: 18" Biceps: 15" Wrists: 7.25" There you have it; does it look good? Any comments/suggestions/criticism is welcome! Is your overall quest achievable (over a short or long period of time)? Is it reasonable? I believe it is, admittedly I set the goal higher than the last one; but I view this as a challenge, not something I should simply succeed because I set it too low, or don't need to make effort. Do your 3 main goals all build towards it in little ways, or are you taking on too much? Cardio, Diet, and Strength Training; I believe when these three decide to dance it is mind-blowing. Are your main goals realistic? Can you scale them to smaller steps to fit your life better, even if it will make it take a little longer to achieve them? My first, and second goals (running/paleo) I certainly think are realistic, I'm hesitant, to a point with the third. I have a lot of lifting/BW going on between the increasing amounts of PLP; we'll see how I do. Realistic? Yes. Pass with flying colors with no problem? Maaybe not? Challenge accepted. Are your goals able to be measured and tracked? What will you use to track them? Yes. I have a spreadsheet at work for my weight and body measurements, along with my schedule for working out in Outlook. Paleo there is more Grey area, since I've stopped logging all my food. How are you grading your goals? Are they pass/fail (“every dayâ€, “not even once over the six weeksâ€? Is there a reward for the effort, or are you only grading yourself on whether or not you “lose the weight†or “run the distanceâ€? While I did not specifically say, days I miss I'm logging with the above spreadsheet; and I'll attempt to 'make them up' in some way worst case scenario. If I don't work out 'exactly' to my scheudule I'm not immediately slamming my score; I'll work that out in more detail near the end. I'm pretty brutal when it comes to judging myself, so I have no issue with doing it in the end. I like the 'grind'... I don't like getting stuff simply for showing up (well not entirely true) Give me 8 hour 1/2 blue grind in Upper Spiders in EQ rather than 5 levels in WoW for the same time... I'm weird I guess. What is your plan for continuing/altering/grading those goals if you become ill or injured? If I am unable to run, or complete certain exercises for my goals I do have back-ups, walking, or lightening the load, or being even more strick with my diet. Again, viewing this as as game. X-COM for example, you make a bad choice in the beginning; or roll bad so you injure your best guy? You try and sluff by with a newbie; that injury might cost you the game in Hardcore... or in this case, it may cost me a Level if I fail to complete it. Run 6 miles. I plan to adhere to it even if I break my leg, I don't see myself changing the goal itself. Did you take into consideration any special occasions (Passover, Easter, Cinco de Mayo, birthdays, anniversaries, etc) that may occur during the challenge? What modifications do you need to build into your goals for those? I don't forsee an issue actually. Do any of your main goals conflict with each other? I don't believe so? If so; please anyone reading them shout it out! Do you already have the time in your schedule to actually complete the goals you’ve set? If not, what are you planning to do to make time for them? Yes, I have a busy schedule but I believe what I have lined up can be fit in. I can workout for an hour at work, which allows me to complete running or my exercises as needed, and I can always squeak in 30minutes in an evening... if I can't? Well, I'm doing it wrong. Are you trying to build multiple habits, or is all your energy focused on your main quest? My main quest is the result of building multiple habits I believe. I don't need to focus my energy into my main quest because focusing it into my goals will, I hope, feed the main quest.

Fellow Nerds, I have been excited about this challenge for weeks now! It is finally time to put up or shut up! My name is Chris, and I am FINALLY not scared anymore! Not scared of the gym, not scared of failure, not scared of my abilities! I have been lurking for the past few weeks, getting ideas for the goals of my first challenge. What amazed me the most, was how much support everyone received...so I am here to support and be supported. Let's make some habits! Main Goal: (Reward Driven...) Get down to 220 lbs. I haven't weighed 220 lbs. since 2000, when I got out of US Army Bootcamp.Mission Goals: (I have a partner...) Weight train 3x per week, plus at least 1 full Cardio ONLY session per weekM-W-F: These are the exercises I have been/will continue to do. I have them broken up into push-pull partners for Super-sets, and typically do 4-5 exercises per session. Although I am a big framed guy (6'4", 259 lbs.) I keep the weight low, I need to keep the form perfect to avoid re-injury.Deadlift, Squat, Overhead Press, Incline Dumbbell Press, Uni-lateral Dumbbell Press, Bent-over Barbell Rows, Hip Thrusters, Push-ups, Inverted Rows, and Calves (Calfs ?)Cardio: Minimum of 60 minutes on any/all of the following: Elliptical, treadmill, bike, hand-bike, stair-stepper, etc.Complete a modified version of PLP-60 programI started on March 27th so that the PLP end will coincide with the challenge end date of 5/25Why it's Modified: Well the only "P" I can't do is the pull-up. So I bought a dip bar, and am doing inverted rows with the hope of being able to do pull-ups by the end of the program. Once finished, I hope to start over and do the program with pull-ups (maybe next challenge)!By May 25th, I will only drink one mug of coffee per day (not the triple venti, candy coffee type, BUT BLACK COFFEE)Typically I stop at Starbucks and get a Venti coffee (black), and then have at least 2 more mugs at work before 11 a.m. I am drinking a venti right now!Motivation: Wife & Kids: I want to be around for my wife and kids (I have 2 boys, 6 years and 10 months). And I NEED my kids to know the value of exercise, and the benefits it brings! My 6 year old is my partner...he is doing the modified PLP with me (because he wants to and he is COMPETITIVE), and he likes going to the "Kid's Club" at the gym, so we go on the weekends (sometimes both days) and I do my cardio!Pills: For the past year and a half, I have been on high blood pressure medication, high cholesterol medication, and am considered a pre-diabetic. I want off those pills! I go for my physical on April 24th, and will use the blood test results as a point of departure.Seersucker Suit: MY REWARD...I don't know what it is about a seersucker suit, but I have to have one. White w/ Navy Stripes...bow-tie...suede shoes...That just screams cool to me!I have already started on my goals. I joined the gym in January, I began eating Paleo in February, I started PLP in March, so I am on my way to building good habits. Before I started eating Paleo in Feb. I weighed 280 lbs. Now I am 259 and primed to continue! I do, and will continue to, keep spreadsheets with my bodyweight stats, PLP progress, and will probably make more...Nerds like graphs, right? I have those!

Last challenge I did started redefining some habits that were bad and creating better ones. This challenge is a continuation of that. A couple of the goals are to complete what I started last time (PLP and HASFit Warrior Program), and a couple are new. The overall goal of my challenge is still to prepare for my Warrior Dash that is coming up in July. I have it planned out that this challenge will finish up the same exercise plan I started last time for building strength, and then the next challenge will be about running and getting the cardio in order with a little strength also. If my calculations are correct, this challenge is April 14-May 26. Then there will be a week off between challenges (May 26-June 1). June 2-July 11 will be a second challenge (the running/cardio one) and then I will have 2 weeks before my race. 1) Complete PLP Challenge (+3 STR) I started this in the middle of the last challenge. I am doing it with a friend and we are on 36/69. I have seen great improvement with this workout and want to see just how much strength I can gain from it! 2) Complete HASFit Warrior Program (+2 STA +3 DEX) I started this last challenge and want to see it through to the end. I will actually complete it the week after this challenge is complete currently. My “rest†days toward the end will be the days I play softball. 3) Walk with wife and puppy 4x per week (+2 CHA) I wanted to include this as a goal because we both work and our dog is in her cage all day. With it being spring, the weather is typically nice enough to take her out and give her some exercise. Also it will give us some time away from electronics to talk and spend some time together. As a mini bonus, I plan on wearing my Vibrams and weight vest while we walk to get some exercise out of it. 4) (LIFE) Finish reading “Drive†and “Teaching with Love and Logic†(+3 WIS) I have started reading both of these books but have not finished them yet. There is an idea in the back of my mind about a new way of teaching that I think would be helpful not only to my wife, since she teaches, but also for when I teach to the high school students that I volunteer with. 5) (DIET) Eliminate pop (+2 CON) I have fallen off the no/few pop bandwagon this year and I know that part of my struggles with my BF% is because I am drinking pop still. So my plan is to do a ladder system for stopping. Week 1, I will be allowed 6 pops throughout the week. Week 2 is down to 5 and so on. I will allow myself to drink as much real fruit juice as I want during this time, but eventually I know that drinking too much fruit juice will also keep me from my BF% goals. But one dragon at a time. Side Experiment: Fast 1x per week for 24 hours. I have done intermittent fasting in the past but doing it by skipping breakfast, eating only between 11am and 7pm. After listening to Brad Pilon talk about what he meant when he started intermittent fasting, I am going to try his 24 hour 1-2x per week fast. I will start with once a week starting on Saturday at 1pm and starting again on Sunday at 1pm. This is normally a time where I am not exercising and can take a break for my body to reset and repair.

This challenge I'm going to take on 30 days of PLP (Pushups, Lunges, Pullups), starting on Monday 3rd June (this Monday). I'll be following the plan here: http://www.t-nation.com/free_online_article/most_recent/plp_the_60day_challenge It's a 60 day challenge but I'm only committing to 30 days initially as I don't want to over train as I'm ramping up strength this challenge. If I get to the end of 30 and feel capable of more I may do the extra 30. Basically you do sets of Pushups, Lunges and Pullups every day for 30 days. You start at either 0 or 10 reps depending on your current level and add one extra rep each day. You can do as many sets as necessary throughout the day to reach your total for the day. Anybody willing to join me? [Title edited to add the duration of the PVP - Nuala]