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Hi all. Callanthae here. I had a previous account on Nerd Fitness a long time ago, so I decided to skip the Level 1 Challenge and come straight to the Rangers. My challenge doesn't really have a theme, but it does have an inspiration. My favourite anime of all time, the reason I got into tennis, Baby Steps. For those who haven't seen it, Baby Steps is a tennis anime. What makes it so fantastic in my opinion is a host of factors: - Maruo Eiichiro, the protagonist, doesn't have impossible skills. He starts out as a complete beginner to the sport. While his eyesight and his studious nature are big strengths, they're strengths that need to be honed and trained to be of any real use. Because of this, we see his journey from the very beginning. - Maruo loses. Like...a lot. You really never know how any match, no matter how important or plot-crucial, is going to go. Maruo could easily lose at any time, and it makes it all the more thrilling when he wins. - The realism of the anime shines through in a thousand other small ways. The shots and feats of athleticism are almost never superhuman, they're very much achievable for skilled players. Maruo's a very analytical player, and you get to understand his thought process as he plays. When he ascends to a new level, it's never because of just "powering up" or "wanting it more"...it's always a result of some useful insight that occasionally even proves useful on the court in real life. You really feel like you're in a match, and you get an understanding of how strategic tennis really is. - Last but not least is the title of this challenge. "Baby steps to giant strides" sums up the mentality of this anime perfectly, and it's an expression that appears in Season 2. The protagonist doesn't have lofty goals...he just wants to get better at tennis, and over time, as he keeps working hard, he end up doing better and better in competitions. That's how I'd like to do as well. A series of baby steps that lead to giant strides as each one is steadily accomplished. Because of this, a week or two after I watched Baby Steps for the first time, I found a local tennis club and started playing. That was about six months ago. I now want to add in off-court training, getting back to running and lifting on a regular basis - and that's why I'm back. So, Baby Steps gets full credit for getting me active again, which is yet another reason I'm such a fan of it. Goal 1: Practice my serve twice a week. I don't think you're legally allowed to have a challenge here without at least one GIF. I already practice tennis with other people a couple of times a week, and on Fridays I compete with the juniors (12-14 years old). Being 5'4" and relatively new to tennis, I'm a pretty fair match for them despite being an adult. So that's 2-3 sessions a week already, and I need no motivation to keep attending them. However, sometimes you need to get some solo practice in and really drill something, and for me that's my serve. It lags significantly behind my groundstrokes, and I really need to dial in the new serve I learnt a few weeks ago - a solid pace on the first serve, and a spinning second serve that manages to be reliable without being easily attacked. My current first serve misses too much, and then I have a weak second serve with no spin or pace that's easily taken advantage of by better opponents. Goal 2: Lift weights at least twice a week. (Ideally 3x) For weights, I'll be following Phrakture's Greyskull LP variant. The Big 4 compound lifts, plus pulling added in as Pendlay Rows and Chin-Ups. (Assisted chin-ups for the time being.) I'll be tracking it using the Personal Training Coach app on Android, which has a bunch of workout templates, including the Greyskull variant I'm doing. I've started relatively light, but over the last couple of weeks the workouts have gotten harder. I'm still getting 10 reps on the last set for all the exercises except Chin-Ups though, so I've got plenty left in the tank. Over the next few weeks I expect that to change as the weights climb back up to my old levels of strength. Goal 3: Run at least twice a week. (Ideally 3x) For running, I'll be using Zombies, Run! to keep things interesting. For the first two weeks I'll be running 4 km (2.5 miles), and for the second two weeks, I'll be running 4.5 km (2.8 miles). At my peak I was running 5-6 km 4 times per week, but I went from 3 days a week to 4 too fast and got injured. I never really got back into it. The goal is to run at an Easy pace (Based on an estimated 27-minute 5k time from a recent max-effort run I performed) 2 days a week. On Saturdays, I'll be doing story runs, where I run faster. I allow the Zombies Run story to determine exactly how fast I do run, though I don't plan to run faster than Threshold pace (Comfortably hard) except at the very end of the challenge, where I'll be doing an all-out max-effort run if everything works out, probably a 5k time trial. I could fill plenty of words with various details, but I figured I'd leave it nice and short...and it'll give plenty of stuff to talk about throughout the challenge this way. Looking forward to the start of the challenge!

I'm a thrower in track. It meets Tuesdays, Thursdays, and Fridays. I don't know before hand if the practice will be strength, endurance, or form, so it is difficult to plan workouts. I'm looking for a day-flexible workout plan that will help me be a better thrower (focus on shot put). I also workout on Sundays with a friend, so there is no need to worry about that day. If you need more info tell me. This is my first post, so I'm sorry if it's poorly written.

Hey rebels! I have a question for you. I'm currently writing an ebook with the name "Cavemen in College". Basically, it will be a guide to all students at university on how to remain Paleo. This includes: - The basics of Paleo, what it is and why people do it - My story, how and why I became Paleo and how this book was established - How to make Paleo cheaper than a "normal" college diet - How to combine studying with an active lifestyle (sports etc, inherently a part of Paleo imo) - Tips for going out, social events,... - Meal planning and templates - Tips & Tricks (for example: Handy kitchen appliances,..) - A big collection of recipes divided in the categories: 1. Spice mixes and dressings 2. 5-minute hearty meals 3. paleo comfort foods 4. make-in-advance meals 5. packed lunches 6. sweet treats Of course, things may still change My question is now: Do you see this as a good initiative? Something that was missing? Would you consider purchasing it? Any feedback is moooore than appreciated! Have a good one rebels, rock on

Hey all! Better late to the party than never, I figured it best to get started right now rather than wait for the next six week challenge, cos hey why wait and waste three weeks of progress? So I have been here before under another name and learned an awful lot from some fantastic people, then a series of unfortunate events happened that I let get to me, rather than being anti-fragile which ended up in me going off the rails, getting injured and then going seriously off the rails. Well I'm all good to start exercising again although my strength and conditioning have fallen drastically so I will be finding my feet a bit to begin and find where my current limits are. Primarily I am looking to get healthier by losing weight, improving strength and conditioning and improving the food I put in to my body. So let's crack on! Goal 1 - Eat like a beast Eating right is the big part of the battle so I am going to take these three weeks and start going paleo. I know from the past that jumping in off the deep end and going 100% in to anything doesn't work for me so I am is for ten paleo meals a week. Goal 2 - Strong as a beast Still not allowed to do weight training for my legs or lower back so it will be all upper body for now, in particular I need to work on my shoulders which have gotten super week So three strength sessions a week. Goal 3 - Beasts Hunt And to be able to hunt beasts have to be conditioned to chase their prey, right now getting to a jog is a victory but I want to be able to run a 5k eventually so I am doing a modified c25k. 'Run' three times a week Goal 4 - Beast for Life A big problem in the past for me has been picking up injuries especially sports/fitness related injuries, so I am wanting to make a point of becoming anti-fragile by working on my self with stretches and light cardio and weight work in my problem areas. I don't want to kill myself so I am going for twice a week to start off And that's it short, sweet and simple. Feel free to swing on by to check up on me, bluntly call me out on my bullshit and enjoy my ramblings of this thread.

Good monring everybody I used to play basketball in high school and we were pretty good, I used to be able to dunk the ball in my best years. now it is been a long time since my last dribble. being 6'2" takes me very close to a dunk, but I'm still short for a very little. does anybody know about a quick workout to improve my jump height, I think I need 2 or 4 more inches. Thanks Fabian R.

Alright so for my last challenge I ran into some difficulties. The main one being I did not really put in anytime for active recovery (who needs to recover right?!) When I did take some time off, I ended up making huge improvements on my running time. So this challenge I am going to build recovery time into my workout plan. I am also noticing that nutrition is..... lacking. I am also going to try a point system for tracking my progress this challenge. Goal #1 - Create a workout plan, and stick to it, that involves a recovery week. The plan will focus on time active, with a couple specific workouts done on certain days. Each week the amount of daily active time will increase, and than drop for a week of recovery. It might be 2 hours a day week 1, 3 hours week 2, 4 hours week 3, and than 1.5 hours week 4. The point is recovery, but it is called ACTIVE recovery for a reason. Each week I stick to my plan = 100 points! Total possible score = 600 points! STA = +3 STR = +2 Goal #2 - Pick 1 day each week, track my calories, and find 1 thing to improve. For me I just feel better when I am eating healthier, and it turns out you can still be unhealthy when your a vegetarian! I want to be able to know what is healthy, but teach myself to do it intuitively. Every day I track, I need to pick one thing I could have improved, and post about what I have decided to improve. Each day tracked = 100 points! Each improvement = 100 points! total possible score = 1200 points! CON = +2 Goal #3 - Reduce weekly screen time (not related to fitness goals) If I am going to be spending more time active, I need to cut out time somewhere. Each week I will monitor the amount of time I spend in front of screens (not bug screens) and reduce that by 15 minutes. Reading books on kindle does not count towards screen time, as long I only read 1 book every 3 weeks. each 15 minutes reduced = 100 points! total possible score = 600 points! Wis = +3 There's no major changes here really, which is what I am going for. Although I do have a goal I am working towards, part of the point of this is to be healthy, and smaller changes will be easier to try and sustain than larger changes.

All right Nerds, who do you think is going to win?

Around eight weeks ago I started roller derby with the Middlesbrough Milk Rollers as part of their newbie sessions. I'm currently working through to pass my 'Minimum Skills' which is the minimum level I'm expected to achieve before I'm able to join the team and join in with the bouts. I'm not sure I've ever started something I love quite as much as this. It's painful and hard and tiring and I'm ruining my already crapped out knees, but it's amazing! Therefore, my goal this challenge is: Be the best gorram derby player I can be! I have four ways I'm going to do this. Fitness Goals: Due to vacations in the next 6 weeks I have a possible 9 practice sessions to get to (instead of 12). I intend to get to all of them. (STR + STA)Do 2 off skate workouts a week - focusing on strengthening my left leg in order to perfect right knee falls (STR)Do 3 physio sessions a week - my left knee is a little ruined, so I need to do everything I can to stop hurting myself any further (CON)Life goal: Study derby rules and attempt to pass minimum skills written test (WIS)Ideally in the next 6 weeks I would like to achieve the following of my minimum skills: Perfect my right knee fallsAchieve 27 laps in 5 minutes (I'm sitting at 22 & 3/4 without crossovers...)Be able to do crossoversGet faster at skating backwardsPerfect my plow stops & T-stopsThere are other things I'd like to get better at (giving hits, stepping and jumping) but those are what I'd really like to get ticked off in the next 6 weeks.

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Hello everyone! I want to introduce to you a sport that I began playing about a year ago and that I love with all of my heart. This sport is called Johnball. Johnball is relatively new, having been invented in 2005 by some friends in Lakeville, Minnesota while they were in middle school. It started when they were bored one day, and they played it all through high school. When they graduated from high school, the friends brought Johnball to their own respective universities all throughout the midwest. This is how I found out about it; one of the friends goes to my college and brought it here. The simplest way to describe Johnball is this: dodgeball with bats. It gets much more complicated, but that is the core of Johnball. Players hit these balls at each other with these bats. There are literally an infinite number of possible "gametypes," but here are my personal favorites: Free for All This is the most basic gametype, typically played first in a "session." Players each have a specified number of lives. If a player gets hit by a ball (really if they touch a ball for any reason) they lose one life. This includes accidentally hitting yourself, kicking a ball, falling on a ball, etc. The only part of your body that does not count if hit is the hand that is holding your bat. Once a player loses all of their lives, they are "out." The last player with lives remaining is the "winner." Notes Like I said, this is the most basic gametype in Johnball. This is generally the first one that we play when we get together, as well as the type that we use to introduce new people to the game. One thing we've noticed, at least in our chapter, is that newbies tend to win their first game. This has held true almost every single time we have a single new person play with us. If we have several new people, it's almost guaranteed that one of them will win. This is only something that I've seen or heard of in our chapter, so I don't know about any others. Medusa Medusa (or "Deuce Meduse", as we call it here) is an interesting spin-off of Free for All. Each player starts with two lives. Once a player has lost those two lives, they must drop their bat and become a "Medusa." This means that the player cannot take any more steps. The player has two things that they can do: kick balls at people, or catch balls hit by "humans." If a Medusa kicks a ball and hits a person who is still in, that person loses one life. If a Medusa catches a ball in the air that a person has hit, the Medusa comes back in the game with one life and the person loses one life. To clarify, if a Medusa kicks a ball and hits a person, it does not do anything beneficial to that Medusa except give them the satisfaction of hitting somebody. No lives are gained unless a Medusa catches a ball in the air off of a human's bat. If a Medusa catches a ball kicked by another Medusa, this does not count for anything at all. Medusas may only move as if they are carrying a basketball in a game of Basketball; that is, with a pivot foot, and without walking. Medusas may also dive for a ball if they so choose. Notes Medusa sucks to play when it's windy, but it's my favorite because even if you're the first person to become a Medusa, you could still win the game. It's also really funny when a Medusa kicks a ball and hits one of the last two people who are still in, ending the game. Bank of Lives This gametype is one that can be played with any number of "teams" with any number of people on each team. It may also be played in what we call "doubles", which is just teams of two. Each team or partnership shares a specified number of lives among them. This means that if three people are sharing five lives, one of those three people could lose all five lives and lose the game for their entire team. Notes This is always a fun game to play to get people together who usually wouldn't talk to each other, or are too shy to talk to people without some sort of catalyst. It's also fun to make fun of the teammate who loses the most lives Last but not least: Detonation This game is also team-based, with two teams. Each team starts with two balls, each a different color. The balls must correspond with each other, which means that each team must have the same colored balls . To clarify this further, if one team has a green ball and a yellow ball, the other team must have the same. The object of the game for each team is to make the two balls of the same color touch each other. So if we are to use the previous example, one team wants to touch the two green balls together and the other team wants to touch the yellow balls together. Each person has one life. Notes This is a really tiring gametype because of all the running that goes along with it. However, it is definitely in my top 5. Generally each team kind of splits into groups: defense, aggressive defense, offense. The defense will stay back with the ball that the other team is trying to get. They are in charge of keeping that ball safe from the other team. Anyone who is in the aggressive defense group will attack the other team's offense group, trying to get the ball so that they control both of the other team's balls. The offensive group will attack the other team's defense with the ball that they want to touch. Depending on how many people get out on your team, it can be quite tiring trying to chase the balls around. There are 3 major rules in Johnball. Follow these three rules and you will be golden. Honesty. This is number one because Johnball is completely self-regulated. If you get hit, even a little bit, you need to be honest and count it. If you don't, you're just a big poopy-head. Plus it's pretty obvious if a ball hits you and you don't call it out. People will be able to tell, and they won't be happy. However, if you see someone get hit and not call it out, don't call them out on it. The point of Johnball is to have fun and make friends, and calling people out only causes arguments. It's not fun for anyone. So why not just call out your hits? It's much easier than yelling about it. Sportsmanship. This goes hand in hand with honesty, and it's pretty self-explanatory: don't be a dick and everyone will be happy. Documentation/Friendship. We've combined two into one here, because we don't know which one is more important. Documentation matters because of the fact that Johnball is relatively unknown. The more pictures and videos we take, the more the good word can be spread. As for friendship... well, do you really need an explanation? Ok, that got a lot longer than I expected. However, I still have a couple of things to talk about. First off, how do we start games? Well, here's the John of Johnball, the Johnfather himself, to explain that to you. Here is the Johnball highlight video, which, if you are an avid reddit user, you may have seen on /r/videos recently. Here is an imgur album with my favorite Johnball pictures: http://imgur.com/a/aC9Gu#0 And finally, here is the official Johnball website: http://www.playjohnball.com Let me know what you think; any questions, comments, etc. are welcome! Here is the International Johnball Association Facebook page. Thanks for reading! Nannoo

Hello there, I'm Alicia. I've been lurking for a few days debating whether or not to join this challenge. See, I love making goals. Setting time frames. Writing up ultimatums. It gives me a great feeling of accomplishment. The only problem is that I rarely (okay never) follow through. I get enough of a boost from starting, I don't need to finish. I'm going to change that. My Main Quest: Become More Athletic Like many of you, I was a nerdy kid who would rather chill in the library than get teased outside. Trying to play sports embarrassed me and I just never got over it. But now I'm in my twenties and I think I'd like the camaraderie of a recreational sports team. Missions: Do three strength-based workouts per week Cut out added sugar from my diet Hike 24 miles (4 miles/week) I work with teenage boys and thus have lot of sports equipment at my disposal so I'm enlisting some of my athletic coworkers to teach me some basic stuff. Thanks for coming with my on this journey

I'm starting this out and I'm going to start talking here. I've attempted to start an accountabilibuddies thread but that did not seem to work out so well. So I think I'm going to just get all my thoughts, work out feats, defeats, and all around daily struggles here. Be prepared for what might come because my mind tends to really scatter. But I think this will be a new and very well needed adventure. I welcome all beneficial criticism/comments/concerns. Optimism encouraged. Negativity left at the door. If you have questions about me, look me up and check out my current challenge. Or my accountabilibuddies page pretty much is a good explanation of myself. I don't feel like typing much about myself. Basically because it's 11 pm. Ugh. Gotta get to sleep. first thing is first.... some numbers: 7/30/13: BF% of 29.78 8/13/13 BF% 29.4 I'm slightly on target with my goal. However, I think I gotta kick it into high gear. What do yall think? I think I'm gonna look up my macros after reading some threads. I've always attempted to do a food journal but have never followed through. I think it's finally time to really commit. Any tips on how? I know to use MyFitnessPal. I guess just eat the same things all the time that way I just have to put in the same things and not have to worry about measuring things out. Macros found.... Calories: 1740 Carbs per day: 208 g Protein per day: 100.1 g Fat per day: 56.4 g Fiber per day: 28-35 g Calories per meal: 580 Carbs per meal: 69.3 g Protein per meal: 33.4 g Fat per meal: 18.8 g Fiber per meal: 9-12 g

So I saw that there were some Nerd Fitness Fantasy Football leagues around last year...but I didn't see any mention of them for this year. Is there any interest? I was in a (non-NF) 10-team league last year, and am going back for more this year, so I have some experience being an "owner", but not much in terms of actually setting up or managing a whole league. I didn't know if the people who did it last year were already planning on doing it again this year, or if the people who missed out would want another opportunity? I'm only familiar with ESPN's system, but I'd really just like to play, if someone else is drooling to take charge and set everything up! But I could wing that too, if need be