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Last challenge period coincided with a rough patch in my life. Lot's of 'little' stressors came together to build a Stress Boss Monster, and I felt just like the warrior in the bottom left corner of this pic: We fall down - we get up. That's what Warriors do, right? Even though I have good reason to expect August to be less nutso than July was (I'm way less overscheduled) I do have some residual effects hanging around and a few big events to deal with during this challenge period, so I am keeping my expectations as realistic as I can manage. One Goal. ONE. Get Up. Literally. I covet a Turkish Get-up. I have never successfully done one. I have a pretty decent Half Get-Up, but it all comes apart for me in the last transition - I am unsteady (therefore unsafe) going from kneeling to standing. It kinda makes sense - my very worstest, weakestest, and most despised exercises are all of the one-legged leg moves. Lunges and split squats are anathema. Bulgarian Split Squats make me wish I was having a root canal instead. But if I want to be able to get from kneeling to standing up, with enough stability to do it safely while loaded, then the time has come for me to take those hated one-legged exercises and make them a priority. Pass/fail - by the end of this challenge, I want to be able to do a full TGU with at least a 5# KB (the lightest my gym has). I will have to be very confident in my movements unweighted before I try this. At least two sources I have read recommend balancing a shoe on the top of the closed fist when doing it without weight, to give obvious feedback about whether you are really keeping the arm straight up and down. No loot this time, because I have a lot of stuff and don't need more (a.k.a. none of my wants reach a level of "worth it" at present.) But if I have a Turkish Get-Up, then ... I'll have a Turkish Get-UP!!! <internally squeee-ing> If I do it, I'll post a vid. It probably won't be this impressive, but I've decided to go ahead and be impressed with myself anyways. Details - I have three weeks of 'back to normal routine' and then I will be on travel again for the last challenge week. For the weeks of normal gym routine, I'm doing a super-stupid-simple A/B pattern, three workouts/week: Workout A: Front squats OHP Lat pulldown Split Squats Workout B: RDL Bench BB Row Lunge My right shoulder and right knee are both feeling middleaged and creaky, so: VERY light weights, medium-high reps, at least starting off. The Split Squats and Lunges I am starting with bodyweight. I really really suck at these. If it gets easyish and the ol' joints feel okay I'll add poundage for sure! When I leave for Virginia, I'll be in a hotel for a whole week and I historically go into those situations with Big Plans that I don't execute, so that is where I will need some super duper Warrior accountability action, because I totally can do pushups and split squats and other BW stuff in a hotel room, but I usually don't.

Just got back from a 2.5 week trip to Colorado for work. While there I hit the following PRs: Snatch: 200# (10# PR) Jackie: 6:55 (44s PR) Thruster: 225# (20# PR) Turkish Get-up: 120# (5# PR) Snatch was also a long-term goal that I set shortly after I joined NF a couple of years ago. Also, my thruster is now only 20# below my max clean and jerk. Clearly I'm doing something wrong on C&J...

Hi everyone! I'm a longtime receiver of NF emails, but this is the first time I've actually gotten in there on the forums and decided to do a challenge. I'm a South Carolina native recently transplanted to Denver, CO. I'm a major nerd in the band sense and also in the foreign language sense, but I also enjoy fantasy, specifically LOTR and comic book movies. When I'm not music-ing or language-ing, you'll find me mountain biking, hiking, cooking, reading, or just hanging with my peeps. Main quest: Lose 5" total off my body measurements Goals for this challenge: take advantage of my kickass work gym and do kettlebells (Simple & Sinister routine) min 4x/week during lunch break turkish get-up with 35-lb bell by end of week 6 drink no more than 1 beer/week by the end of week 6 (I moved to Denver about a year ago and it is the beeriest city I've ever known!) make & bring lunch to work min 4x/week Side quest: Keep my house clean; specifically, make sure kitchen counters are clean and ready to go at all times (lunch prep!) and bed is made every day Motivation: I live in Colorado and want to be badass (read: lean & strong!) enough to do as much of the outdoor stuff (skiing, mountain biking, hiking) as I can cram into a weekend. Edited to add that I've been doing Simple & Sinister for a few weeks already and I've made it to the 26# bell on the TGU. That in itself is thrilling, but I've also seen some increase in definition in my arms and shoulders, which I LOVE LOVE LOVE and that motivates me to see if I can make them slightly less fluffy so that I can really see definition! Recording of results: My S&S routine tracking can be found here. I may add my beer & lunch-bringing goals to that as well, just for ease of tracking. Reward: Two new pairs of pants for work. Happy quest-ing, y'all!