Anivair's Boar Life Challenge

[Anivair]

Holy balls, where did that come from?!  The challenge started and I missed it?!  Odd, since I've had the game plan ready for a week or so.  Ahh well.  Best laid plans. 

 

So here's my challenge. 

 

 

I'm going to train like a boar.  that means strength, bursts of speed, good diet, good sleep.  It also means some sort of spiritual connection to the boar that i'll cover later. 

 

For now:  

 

Boars are strong.  If I want to be strong, I'd better train like it.  I have been shifting my training away from 5x5 lately into a "get strong" type pyramid.  I start with an empty bar and do about 12x2.  Then I add a bit of weight and do a set of 8.  I add a bit more and do a set of 4.  I keep adding weight till I can only do 2 reps, at which point I do about 3-4 sets at 2, with good rest.  Then, when i'm pretty tired, I descend, taking off some weight and doing 4x2 and then taking off more and doing 8x2.  I usually don't finish with more bar work, but if I feel like my muscles need the stretch, I will.  This is 3x a week lately with each day being a lift (squat, dead, press) but I think i might start shifting these a bit just to see where it goes.  

 

Boars are explosive.  If I want to be explosive, I should train like it.  I'll do sprints once a week.  Exercises where appropriate will be explosive.  John Wellbourn says, "train fast, be fast."  I'm on it. Boars are also good on all fours, and in order to get there, I'll be adding crawling into my warm ups and cool downs.  

 

Boars eat naturally.  I will, too.  My diet will be paleo, of course, and I'll try to focus on things I need.  Meats for satiety and muscle, roots and tubers for carbs, and green veggies for variety.  Berries and fruits for sweets (I just came off a second 21 day sugar detox ... I liked it, but I can feel it making me a bit neurotic, so I'm going to chill out a bit for now).  

 

Also, I'll be taking a cue from the boar and sleeping as much as I can.  I'll need the rest if I'm beating myself up physically. 

 

Finally, there's the boar itself.  The boar is sort of my totem, and through that I've taken to doing prayers to Neit (an Irish god of the hunt) and Arduinna (a Gaulish goddess of boars and wilderness and the hunt).   I'm going to do devotionals to them daily, even if it's just a fast prayer.  I hope to have myself ready to start learning to shoot a bow soon, because one day I'd like to hunt my own food (I'm in Ohio, so we can do that sort of thing).  

 

I also, in the back of my mind, am getting going on moving the gym idea forward.  I'm not going to jinx myself and start feeling accomplished about it, because I haven't really done enough work yet, but I want to start taking on clients and doing the work.  

 

 

SO .... how do I test my progress?  

 

Strength:  I want to up my numbers.  That's the goal, right?  Weight on the bar. So: 

• Bench @ BW
• Squat @ 1.5 BW
• Deadlift @ 2x BW
• Press @ .75 BW

That's my starting point.  1 strength for every lift I make it on, plus an extra strength for every 15 pounds over (up to the max)

 

Speed:  I need to be fast. I'm going to time a spring today and then another when I'm done.  I'm not sure what a good spring time is, so my goal is to shave 25% off my starting speed.  2 Dexterity if I succeed, flat.  No prize for second place. 

 

Diet:  This is pretty easy.  I keep a food log.  If I hit 90% I did well.  +2 Constitution. 

 

Sleep:  Also easy.  Rest and recuperation.  8 dark hours a night at least.   I keep a log.  if I hit 90% I did well.  +1 stamina, +1 constitution. 

 

Devotionals:  I do these daily.  Every time I miss, I will note it here (I'll try to note when I do it).  If I miss less than once a week on average (so 0-5 times) I pass.  +2 Wisdom.  

 

That's it.  Tune in in a few moments for progress report. 

[Anivair]

Day 1 (we'll start today and I'll just give myself a few days on the outside of the challenge ot make up for it).  

 

I got up and did my devotional.  it was a short prayer.  Yesterday was a lifting day (bench press maxed out at 145, my current squat is 225.  My current deadlift is 300, because that's all the weight I have. My OHP has not been measuerd in some time, so that's next).  

 

I had some hot dogs (bunless) for breakfast and tea. 

For lunch, I decided to take a walk, so I walked to the store and picked up some lunch:  a small salad with olive oil, vinegar, and walnuts; olives for later; carbonated water and lemon for drinking; nuts for snacking.  

 

Walk back was great.  Did a lot of balancing on curbs. 

 

Later tonight the plan is a bike ride with the wife, shopping at a new international supermarket, and dinner. 

[Anivair]

Yesterday was a rest day, but that didn't stop us from getting out the bikes and taking a ride.  Towards the end we stopped at a new international market nearby and got stuff from there for dinner:  new york strip steaks, seaweed, baby bok choy.  it was delicious. 

 

We watches a lot of Community and went to bed with the windows open letting the night air in.  it was sort of perfect. 

 

Today I forgot to do the devotional before I left, so I did it when I got to work.  No breakfast, though about a half a cup of nuts as a snack.  

 

Lunch was the ghost of meals past:  some slices steak and seaweed from last night, some chicken wings from earlier in the week (they were really too old to eat so I mostly ditched them) and a lot of veggies (carrots and brussles sprouts that I roasted last week).  All good. 

 

Later on:  Friday workout.  it's usually a mix of stuff, but I intend to at least do a mix of movnat stuff, some deadlifting, and a press.  I don't want to overdo it because I have group movnat time tomorrow. 

[Anivair]

Update:  I didn't do a full workout Friday because I knew I had MovNat training for the Mud Ninja on Saturday.  That was a good call.  I'm going to outline the workout for you below, but  before I'll do that I'll say this:  

 

Daily devotionals are still good (still have to do today's)

Food has been good

Sleep has been legit and good

 

Okay, so here's Saturday. 

 

• Backwards drag a 50# sandbag up a hill
• Carry it back down
• Crawl up a steep muddy hill
• repel down via a big rope
• vault a big rock x3
• balance on a log
• Leap over a creek
• Leap back over a creek (I did this at a wider point)
• Jungle up/crawl up a tree branch
• Climb a wall/patio
• jog to the tree line
• leap another creek
• army crawl to a tree
• shoulder crawl to another tree
• run to the back of the course
• crawl/evade/maneuver through a patch of shrubs and mud
• crawl/evade/maneuver back out
• sprint back to the beginning

 

... and then we did it AGAIN!.  

 

After 1 circuit, I thought I'd probably die. 

After 2, I knew I would. 

 

Then we had to collect the gear and carry it back .... but before that we did some balance work on a curb.  Walking, running, crawling, jumping, etc.  

 

Snacks after (for me) were avocado and beef jerky. I was whooped but I managed to get a chin up in anyway. 

 

Sheesh!

[Anivair]

Edit:  Ate non-paleo dinner (the wife and I ran through taco bell because we were zeroes out on time) but the rest of the night was epic.  Big workout: 

 

• Heavy bag warm up (punches, kickes, etc)
• crawling (ow my abs)
• squats starting with the bar and ending at 255 (12,12,8,6,4,2,2,4,6,8)
• bicep curls (dumbbell)
• OHP (dumbbells)
• push ups (alternating hands on a sandbag)
• heavy bag cool down

At that point I thought I was mostly done, but the wife wanted to go to the library, so we broke out the bikes and rode there and back (like the Hobbit?).  We made it in 30 minutes there and about 25 back.  I believe it was about 5 miles. After was the taco bell (because it was like 8:30 already). 

 

Then we watched Doctor Who and Game of thrones and now it's bed time.  Boosh. 

[Anivair]

Today:  Got a decent amount of sleep.  Forgot my devotional in lieu of a shower (I needed it) so I'll do my devotional right now ..... 

 

..... okay, done. 

 

Breakfast was organic paleo-friendly chicken hot dogs. Not sure about lunch. 

 

Having some kombucha at my desk. 

 

Feeling good.  Not nearly as sore as I'd thought I'd be from the bike ride. 

[Anivair]

Usually I’m not into the idea of “arm day†or “leg night†but tonight was arms and chest all the way. 

• Warmed up with the heavy bag and crawls
  
• Negative pulls/chins
  
• Bench press (12/12/8/4/2/2/2/2/6/8/10) maxing out at 155
  
• OHP (2x5 @95)
  
• Dumbell Curls (3x10 @25 each arm)
  
• OHP with Dumbells (2x10 @ 25 each arm)
  
• Push ups: 3x10
  
• Heavy bag cool down
  
• Meditation
  

Holy cows.  Now I’m tired and sad.  Time for dinner.  Pork chops and eggs with broccoli. 

[Anivair]

Last night:  plenty of good sleep after eating pork chops and broccoli (thanks, magpie).  

Today was meat for breakfast, leftover pork chops and broccoli for lunch and lost of water and tea. 

Devotional slipped again, so doing it now.  One day soon I'll get used ot doing them when i wake up, but in the meantime doing them when i remember is getting there. 

[Anivair]

Remembered my devotional first thing this morning. 

Found bacon jerky.  Where has this been all my life?  is it paleo?  Actually, it is.  It's cured in some sugar, but ( for those of you who don't know the chemistry behind curing) that sugar doesn't actually wind up in the end product.  it's just protein and fat.  Yum.  Probably low quality bacon, but whatever.  It's the healthiest thing in that gas station. 

 

the grove had a grieving with the kindreds workshop last night that my lovely wife lead.  It was epic. 

 

Sleep was only okay, so I'm not counting it.  I had caffeine too late and was up till around 1. 

[smazzon1]

Omg, bacon jerky?  That sounds like heaven. I got into jerky for a while but couldn't stick with it. I eat bacon/sausage links in the morning with my homemade omelettes. 

 

I love the boar-inspired goals! Sprints especially are a good idea. It looks like you're sticking with it and making progress so far! Yay!

[Anivair]

So far so good ... but wait, here's my worst day yet (and why I won't feel that bad about it). 

 

I always knew last Saturday was going to crush me.  It was breakfast at Der Dutchman day, which always includes donuts.  (for those of you not following at home, when i went paleo my caveat was "except these donuts" because they're delicious and I get them about twice a year.  this was that day).  It was also my nephew's first birthday party with homemade cake and no real paleo food in sight.  then it was straight to the last night of a very long standing game with a party after. 

 

Needless to say, I did not eat well (though I DID go to a Movnat jumping and barefoot running seminar and it was amazing, even if it made me sore as hell).  

 

The next morning I woke up at about 6:30 sick to my stomach, feeling like all that crap wanted to get out at once and it wasn't being too particular about how.  Also my feet were super sore and so was the left knee that I cracked pretty good at the jumping workout. Overall, not great.  I whined and cried, but I made it through. 

 

I don't feel bad about the donuts.  Everything else was probably a bad call.   the workout was great.  I did a devotional in the morning.  Overall, I'll live. 

 

Tonight is supposed to be squat night, but my legs are still sore, so I think it might become bench press night. 

[rogaecia]

Boars are awesome. 

I think this is the first challenge where spirituality has been included. I like it, especially since it ties into the boar theme. 

[Anivair]

Loren Wade and I are sometimes known for throwing our (pretty different) religious ideas into challenges.  I dig that I can do that here. Glad you dig it. 

 

Also of note:  food was good today, heading to bed soon to make sure rest is good.  Looks like tomorrow is going to be a lifting day, though, because today was a drool while napping on the couch day.  Apparently the weekend took more out of me than I thought. 

[Anivair]

Devotional:  done. 

Sleep:  legit (even though I had a dream that my ear was cut off and the doctor's, rather than, stitching it back on, just told me to hold it there while it healed ...)

Fitness:  nothing yet, but I'm working there. 

Food:  good still.  

 

I think that it's time i started taking my devotionals more seriously.  Saying a nice prayer to Torc and Neit and Arduinna is nice, but maybe some offerings or a physical practice is on order.  Anyone have any thoughts? 

[Anivair]

Devotional:  doing it now.  It was interrupted.  that's why I try to do these at home.  Ahh well.  Still did it. 

Sleep:  Good.  Slept in, even.  Took a comfy nap with the dog till 8:20.  Oops!

Fitness:  getting back on the schedule today.  Feeling okay. 

Food: Fine.  A tiny bit of rice for lunch.  Is that okay?  Not sure, but it felt okay. Mostly it was to stop chicken from slopping around. 

[Anivair]

Last night I was talking about how I felt like I needed to add some offerings or something to my morning devotionals, so I did.  Boars eat roots and tubers, so I made an offering of a carrot (one part to each kindred).  Also, at each altar I did (in order) a right lunge salute, a left lunge salute, and a squat salute. Good stuff. 

 

Food was good (a few corn chips at dinner, but they were mostly a vehicle for guacamole). 

 

Workout was actually a lot of fun. 

• Heavy bag (of course, though it felt a bit weak).  
• Crawling (left leg is still a bit tender from the jumping and running seminar)
• Bench press (12,12,8,6,4,2,2,2,6,8 ending at 155 again)
• bar curls maxing out at a whopping 75 lbs
• OHP (10,8,4,2,2,6 maxing out at 115)
• Some additional dumbbell curls
• banded pulls (just 3) 
• push ups (3x5 from my knees, as I was wiped from bench press)
• meditation

I also read a lot of The Paleo Coach last night.  Not only am I enjoying it, but he said something that made me think about every cheat I've ever had:  he had a client who said she cheated on her diet because deep down she didn't believe she would attain her goals.  I think I've been in that place for a long time and it's time to get out. 

[Anivair]

holy crap .... went to bed at 9:10 (thank you, unisom) so that I could get up at 5:45 and go to MovNat Ohio for the Friday Morning Men's Cross training Workout. 

 

it was epic.   I'll see if I can remember everything we did. 

Warm up was just us learning movements (I knew them, but not everyone did, of course).  Then we did the circuit: 

 

• 10 KB swings
• 1-5 Turn-Ups (basically pull ups from a sit using a thick rope over a bar)
• 10 ring rows
• single leg KB lifts (3x each leg)
• Decline push ups (3-5)
• Warrior ropes (x10)
• Sandbag drag and push (down and back the gym)

 

I figured we'd do 2-3 sets.  We did 4.  I was pretty wiped out.  

I hit the heavy bag for a cool down.  Breakfast after was some paleo snacks (nuts and banana chips) and hot dogs (sans bun).  Added in a Lara bar for replenishing glucose a bit.  Plus water and now tea. I could eat a horse, but I'm holding off a bit. 

 

Did a devotional in the car when I got there.  No offerings, but I dedicated my workout and it actually helped me get through it.  Anytime I wanted to quit I became the boar.  Done.  No quitting. 

[Anivair]

Update:  took a long walk at lunch and looked for places for a MovNat gym. 

[Anivair]

So ... the weekend. 

a: Saturday made me mad in the AM.  We met the wife's family at 6:00 in the morning to go to her sister's graduation from college (yay!) and so we said, "Are we going to run in and grab breakfast?"  Of course not.  they wanted to go to McDonald's.  grr.  they said we were on a really tight timeframe and couldn't afford the time.  So fine.  We got McDonald's to be team players.  I didn't like it, but it happened.  Then, exactly 2 miles later, we pulled into a Speedway (where they sell passable food like bananas and meat) for gas.  thanks.   The rest of the day was fine, food-wise.  Also we got there an hour and half early.  real tight schedule. 

 

b: Food was good Sunday save for one exception that I'm going to talk about in greater detail, because I love it.  Sunday was Beltane.  We had a potluck after the ritual.  There was a metric TON of paleo food so it was really easy to eat clean.  that said, someone made (all from scratch) a honey, cardamom, and saffron cake.  It looked amazing so I cut myself a one inch square of it.  Exactly one small bite.  It was, I do not mind saying, perfect.  I happily told the creator that it was amazing.  

 

At that point, of course, my "yum center" wanted me to go back and eat all of it.  I did not.  I had the experience and I let it go.  And in my book, that's a win. I didn't miss out on a really good creation, but I also didn't damage myself with it. Win. 

 

That said, the ritual was exceptional.  Our Beltane is dedicated to the nature spirits.  I gave offerings (pretty good ones) to Neit and Morrigan (whiskey), Brigid (herbs for the fire), Arduinna (water for a tree) and Torc the Boar (the bacon fat from breakfast).  We took the dog.  he was pretty cute (and he got the leftover bacon fat).  Plus he got to play with a giant turtle.

 

Then I did a guided meditation to spend time with nature spirits and totems. And here's how it went. 

 

I entered a glade and saw Neit and Torc.  And I was challenged.  Neit is a spear-bearing god, so I took his spear to fight the Boar.  It did no good.  The thing just got tied up between us and I had to ditch it (Neit is also a dead god .... this is probably not an accident).  So I had to fight the boar like a human animal and not like a warrior.  And I lost.  bad. 

 

And that was a lesson.  I'm not where I need to be yet.  A human is an amazing animal capable of almost anything and I'm not doing it right.  not yet.  I told him that by next Beltane, I'd be stronger and I'd win that fight. And I will. 

 

After that was a nap with the wife is the meditation room (cool breeze and all.  it was great).  I got up and furminated the dog and then he and I played Frisbee for a while.  He's learned to catch it now and he's super excited about it. 

 

Then was the Sunday game (it was okay) and dinner at BW3 as usual.  12 wings and carrots. 

 

Not enough sleep last night, but I'm excited that today is squat day. 

 

Devotional:  about to begin. 

[Anivair]

Update:  starting Humanity Anonymous again, too.  Fire under me today.  I'll also be doing Google Hangouts for that, so for those of you who are not local to me (that's almost all of you) you can get online and talk it out if you dig. 

[Anivair]

Tomorrow I may regret this, but here was my workout tonight: 

• Warm up on the heavy bag / crawling
• pulls/chins (x4)
• Squats (12,12,8,6,4,2,2,4,6,8 maxing out at 255)
• bicep curls (30 lbs) 3x10
• Dumbbell Press (30 lbs) 3x10
• side raise plates (10 lbs) 2x8 side and front
• 35 pound plate high pull
• heavy bag cool down
• meditation

Worth noting:  I think I was wrong about my squat weight last time.  Pretty sure it was 235.  Either way, the difference may be small, but the larger plates LOOK intimidating.  It’s a psych out. Also:  tired

I also moved the squat bar to the inside of the rack, just in case.  I have catch bars in there so I can bail at the bottom. 

 

Dinner:  paleo meatloaf and roasted veggies!

[Anivair]

Already a little sore and sleepy.  Watched Game of Thrones (wow) and read some stuff for the Initiate Program. 

[Anivair]

Today:  devotional done. 

Feeling:  Sore.  Holy low back, Batman.  I think i let the bar get too low when I was squatting and still went ATG.  Not my best idea.  I'll get over it. Too much rounding on a low bar squat for that shit. 

Also:  Too much Natural Calm.  Wow. 

[Anivair]

Yesterday:  Rest day.  Food was spot on, though I got less of it than i'd have liked.   Not sure I got a full 8 hours, but I got at least 7.5. 

 

Today:  Devotional was good.  So far, i'm drinking tea.  I'm a little hungry.  It's a bench and press day, but today is also the first day back of Humanity Anonymous, so that's good stuff. 

[Anivair]

OMGsBENCHPRESS

Seriously, this is blowing my mind. 

First, today’s bench press (I’m leading a MovNat seminar later, so the rest of the workout is below, but I haven’t done it yet). 

full set, maxing out at 165.  12,12,8,6,4,2,2,2,2,2,6,8,12

I followed some advice from the Hodge Twins to pin my shoulder blades back while pushing … and it’s like a while new exercise.  It’s like I’ve never done one before.  In the past, I always just felt like I was stressing my shoulders and if I used my chest, it was an accident.  Now it’s like 90% chest.  Excellent!

The rest:  some teaching, some crawling demos, and then a combo: 

• Get up (look, a bear!)
  
• Crawl (pretend to be a bear!)
  
• Jump (That didn’t work, so quick, over this chasm!)
  
• Turning squat (taunting the bear)
  
• Walk away (from the bear)
  

Followed by group rock passing.