Kain's (How to train your Dragoon) challenge

[Kain]

So yesterday and today I got back into Insanity. This week is a "recovery week". So both days I did...

Insanity: Core Cardio & Resistance (38:17)

The shoulder and leg exercises at the end of the video tear me apart. Feels great!

Bought a crap load of meat at the store and am making some awesome pastrami/chicken/bell pepper poppers right now. Going to watch The Last Samurai while I wait for my wife to get home from her Brittney Spears concert.

[r3volution]

You're the man! A real winner!

[Kain]

Hey thanks!

I haven't been doing so well on the "only drink once a week" thing, but oh well. I am only cheating myself.

Logged some time in FFIV last night.

[Kain]

Another night last night of....

Insanity: Core Cardio & Resistance (38:17)

A few more days of this program and then I will move on to other routines.

[VintageGeek]

AL BHED? Badass. That's a really good idea.

I really really like this forum, especially as opposed to other fitness forums. I don't feel so very much like I'm the ONLY PERSON ON EARTH who still digs on the old-school JRPGs.

ANYway, Insanity looks like it does what it says on the tin...You're a braver person than I am. But one day I'll take it on. One day. For now I need to learn how to do an actual push-up.

Great job so far!

[Kain]

So, had to take last night off from working out because I had to cross a life goal off the list....pictures later!

[lapetitelionne]

I love love LOVE the Insanity workouts. Not while I'm doing them...but afterwards. I can't do them right now due to technical difficulties at home and have actually missed them immensely.

[Kain]

Have been slacking a little bit. Got my tattoos Thursday night so I took Thursday night and Friday off from working out...Played a round of disc golf on saturday. Went to the park on Sunday and did a lot of pullups/dips/climbing. I actually think I can feel it today in my arms. I am going to start the Insanity back this afternoon.

Also, the drinking part of my challenge is pretty much blown.

[Kain]

Last night I did...

Insanity - Plyometric Cardio Circuit (41:43)

My wife came to me because she has to be in a wedding in a few weeks and I guess they already picked out her dress. She hasn't even tried it supposedly is around a 2 size. My wife can wear from 3-7 depending on the outfit but she definitely doesn't feel comfortable in some of her smaller clothes yet so I am going to try and whip her into shape over the next few weeks. This really just helps me do better as well. Last night was the first night in quite a while that I didn't have a drink.

Also started reading again, which might kill my plans to beat FFIV but I think it is a worthy venture. Also, my Al Bhed tattoos are doing great at healing!

[Kain]

Last night we were out of town because my wifes grandma was in the hospital. Couldn't really work out but I didn't break diet.

Tonight I did -

Insanity: Cardio Power & Resistance (39:18)

and...bought a 25lb KettleBell! Mostly thanks to R3volution for opening my eyes recently. You're the man!

I did the 25 minute workout. I was using a lot of back muscles that I have never really "felt" that I was using during Insanity/etc. It was pretty nice. Also, I plan on upgrading to a 35lb Kettlebell as a reward...maybe for the next challenge?

[Loren Wade]

Kain, I can really tell progress in the photos. So awesome. I'm jealous of the NF shirt. Keep it up man.

[Seabright]

So, had to take last night off from working out because I had to cross a life goal off the list....pictures later!

Nice! When will those pics be ready for viewing?

[Kain]

Nice! When will those pics be ready for viewing?

Whoops. They are in the "ink, who's got ittttt" thread. Here they are. I suppose it is an ongoing goal to continually get nerdy tattoos, but regardless it was a goal.

I got my kids names in Al Bhed script from Final Fantasy X. The names are encoded. My daughters "Alexa" turns out to "Ymaqy" and Zack turns out to "Wylg".

[Loren Wade]

Kain, ever used a yoga mat? That's what I use, but I guess that'd drench with sweat too. (In reference to you drenching the floor in sweat on page 1) Haha. Btw, I read you did a 5k race? How did you do? Mine is next Saturday.

[Kain]

I have done two so far. I haven't really been running recently at all. Mostly focused on cardio/bodyweight strengthening.

My first one in May I did it in 26:03 which blew my mind because I was just hoping for a sub 30minute mile. My second one was a 28:01 officially (it wasn't really official, my time was less), but I did it in Vibram Five Fingers.

Yoga matt would be good except they are too small for the craziness that we do in Insanity. I also have pretty wide shoulders, and Moving Pushups just wouldn't work either. I did start using one for some of the kettle bell exercises I did last night though.

Thanks, you will do great on your race, just try not to get caught up with the "rush" and run at your own pace.

[Kain]

Workouts today.

Did the Kettlebell Konnection workout again. 25minutes, 25lbs. I could feel my legs during the sumo squats and the lunges. Going to give it a break. It was nice following it up with Insanity because my arms felt SOOO light after hurling around a 25lb kettlebell for a while.

Insanity: Pure Cardio (38:17)

Actually felt really good doing this exercise. Most likely because I was pretty warmed up already. Had the fans blowing full blast and it was cooler outside today.

[Lowenna]

That Insanity stuff looks, well, Insane! But very very tempting at the same time. Major props for sticking with it and just casually throwing in some kettlebell work because Insanity on it's own just isn't quite enough .

Also, loving your tattoos.

[Kain]

Friday night "recovery"

Insanity: Core Cardio & Balance (37:18)

and

Insanity: Cardio Abs (16:45)

Felt great tonight. I am really starting to feel a thick, solid core being built up underneath that layer of fat I have. I can't wait to get down far enough where all my muscles start popping through. My lats are starting to poke through when I flex.

@Lowenna, Thanks! I plan to follow the KettleBell workout that came with it for a few times then make my own workout and possibly supplement with Insanity.

Today - Saturday, I am giving my self a rest day and I think I will do my final "Fit Test" on Sunday. One of my goals was to get better results so we'll see what happens.

[Kain]

Ok, have a few more workouts to add but I will do that tomorrow at work. I felt really intense during my workout tonight so I decided to take a picture or two. Sorry if anyone goes blind. While my weight actually went up since my "biggest loser challenge" due to drinking/slacking on eating, I have actually been building up muscle and eating correctly again. More on this in my summary post.

[Kain]

This was my FIRST challenge and I enjoyed a lot. The thing is, I learned a lot about myself and what I wanted my goals to be. They shifted somewhat which adversely affected my results but also I think improved my overall life-style

Starting weight: 212lbs

Fastest mile: 7:56

Fitness:

Run a 7:30 mile - Grade F. Never even tried to find my fastest mile. I was going to use my "old" running shoes to do it but honestly I find it hard to run in anything but VFF's anymore.

Continue with Insanity workouts and complete the "Fit Test" with greater scores Grade B+

Final Fit Test scores followed by my improvement from the first fit test. Honestly I could have done better but I was slightly hung-over when I did my final fit test on Sunday. But again, no excuses so those are my scores. These are "do as many as possible in a minute with either 30 second break or 1 minute break".

Switch Kicks - 135 +35

Power Jacks - 40 +9

Power Knees - 79 +21

Power Jumps - 30 +10

Globe Jumps - 6 +4

Suicide Jumps - 13 +3

Pushup Jacks - 24 +4

Low-Plank Obliques - 32 +28

Drop below the 200lb mark - C- My weight did some funny things. I dropped down to 203 unhealthily for my competition and then went on vacation the following week. I also started drinking more so that hurt me too. I weighed in at 209 today. I have been focusing this past week or two more on eating FULL healthy meals and have been building muscle. I still want to get below 200lbs in the future though.

Win Biggest Loser challenge at work and donate money to Japan - A+

I won! I donated my money to Japan the same day I found out. WOOT

Finish a 5k with my Vibram Five Fingers A+

Finished my 5k and even though my calves were sore a few days later I enjoyed every minute of it.

Diet C

Mostly Paleo, not interested in counting calories

Drink only once a week, if at all

No grain at all

More fresh fruit/veggies

I gave my "Diet" a C because I felt that I held fairly true to this. I didn't ever have a single slice of bread. I had some grain via chips or an occasional energy bar. I have eaten more fruits and veggies. However, I failed completely at the "once a week drink". Ugh.

Level Up

Return to Mt. Hebo and get to the top (was restricted due to snowfall April 30th) A

Returned and conquered! Booya. (Have a much bigger mountain/volcano in mind for the next challenge. Details soon

Work on budget - Save approx $200/month C

Kind of shot the budget on my trip to California. With that said, I recently took measures to lower monthly costs by shopping around for internet and cable/satellite TV. I plan to give further details to minimize cost in my next challenge

Beat FF4 without sacrificing workout time or sleep F

Just straight up failed on this one. I decided part way through that I wanted to start reading again. I haven't read a book in 8 years it seems like. All in all I think that reading was a healthier decision and I did manage to finish Ender's Game.

Overall C+

I loved being held accountable and making positive changes in my life. I have come to grips that there is just not a lot of budging room in my life and diet for drinking and eating. My next challenge I will improve greatly and hopefully have some ABS poking through. I have been eating a lot more healthier items lately and of course am still drinking a ton of water. Overall I am not too disappointed with myself.

I think my mentality is a lot different going into this next challenge. Hopefully I will continue to inspire others as well. Final Picture update...

Before:

After:

[lwow]

Ender's Game is awesome, I would think a really good book for thinking about training, are you going to go for the rest of the series now? Ender's Shadow is pretty great too.

Nice work on the challenge Looks like better than a C+ to me

[Kain]

Ender's Game is awesome, I would think a really good book for thinking about training, are you going to go for the rest of the series now? Ender's Shadow is pretty great too.

Nice work on the challenge Looks like better than a C+ to me

I have the quartet. I have actually read Ender's Game and Ender's Shadow before. I am starting on Speaker for the Dead next. It will be part of my next challenge. I gave myself such a bad grade since I failed at so many things. Perhaps I am being too hard on myself, but I am just mad that I have created such setbacks for myself, mostly in the drinking.

[Crooked]

Have to agree with lwow. You might not have completed some of your goals, but you definitely killed it in certain areas, and I think you need to cut yourself a little slack. It seems like you were reevaluating what you wanted and making good choices (minus maybe the drinking) to maximize your health and fitness. For example, you decided to revise one of your goals (FF4 --> reading) midway through the challenge, which isn't the same as getting an F on it! And you switched to Vibrams and are getting used to those, so not checking your mile pace was a result of trying to do something better for your body.

[prefect42]

Great first challenge. I'll agree with crooked and say that changing your goals does not constitute failure. Unless you change your goal from "eat healthier" to "have 4 milkshakes a dayomnomnomnom."

Looking forward to seeing where you can take it with the next challenge. That being said, you do still have to beat FFIV sometime.

[Crooked]

Great first challenge. I'll agree with crooked and say that changing your goals does not constitute failure. Unless you change your goal from "eat healthier" to "have 4 milkshakes a dayomnomnomnom."

Wait, is that not a legitimate diet goal? I guess I have to revise my plan for next challenge...