Silverwind's 1st Warrior Challenge

[Silverwind]

First challenge as a member of the Warrior Guild, having just completed the level 1 Rebel challenge I'm looking to maintain and continue to build some momentum towards completing my Main Quest (being in the best shape of my life by my 35^th birthday – 25 June 2015).

 

In the past, when I've abandoned fitness, it's usually been because working out changed from being fun to a chore. So, in the spirit of keeping things fun, I've devised a point based game for me to complete this challenge and “level up.â€

 

My reward for successfully leveling up? Increasing my badassity quotient. My penalty for failing to level up? I will shave my beloved beard. And what is a Warrior without a badass beard?

 

So those are the stakes. Here's a rundown of the basic game rules I'll be following:

 

Total points needed to Level Up: 300

 

Ways in which I gain points in this challenge:

-Complete a StrongLifts weight session, +10 pts

-Complete a dedicated conditioning session, +10 pts

-Walk, +1 pt per mile

-Bike, +1 pt per mile

-Hike, +2 pts per mile

-Pushups: +25 pts per 1,000 pushups completed during the challenge. My goal is 4,000 for the challenge, which would require me to average almost 100 every day. If I get all 4,000 pushups I will award myself an additional 50 bonus points (in addition to the 100 pts I would already have earned from the 4 – 1,000 pushups completed)

-Yoga class, +25 pts (I've never done yoga. It's been something I've wanted to try for a long time, so if I motivate myself and actually take a class, I'll award myself a healthy bonus for kicking ass and getting out of my comfort zone).

-Successfully reach 250lbsx5x5 barbell squat, +25 pts

-Successfully reach 225lbsx5x5 bench press, +25 pts

-Successfully reach 315x1x5 deadlift, +25 pts

 

On this quest, I may encounter enemies who drain points thusly:

-Any eating of the “Forbidden Foods†will deduct 50 points. My Forbidden Foods for this challenge are: pizza, chips (any kind: potato, tortilla, etc), hot dogs, and bread.

-If I drink alcohol more than 2x per week during this challenge, I lose 50 pts for each additional day

 

 

So that's it. Those are the parameters of this challenge. To be successful, I need to hit my StrongLifts sessions 3x a week for 6 weeks (180 points), and supplement this with conditioning sessions, low impact walking and biking, and working towards my pushup “vanity†goal of 4k pushups in 6 weeks. As long as I remember that I can't out-train a bad diet (avoid Forbidden Foods and moderate my drinking), I should be able to reach 300 points and retain my beard, and move onto the next challenge in my Quest to become one BAMF by age 35.

[wildross]

Well, as someone who is bald and beardless...I still like your challenge.

[Silverwind]

Well, as someone who is bald and beardless...I still like your challenge.

After taking a look at your challenge thread and the weights you're moving, I'm electing to withdraw my initial instinct to judge your lack of facial hair.

 

(Why do I now feel like my beard is the equivalent of driving a convertible sportscar trying to make up for the fact that I'm not squatting 315 yet?)

[wildross]

After taking a look at your challenge thread and the weights you're moving, I'm electing to withdraw my initial instinct to judge your lack of facial hair.

 

(Why do I now feel like my beard is the equivalent of driving a convertible sportscar trying to make up for the fact that I'm not squatting 315 yet?)

Ok.  I've tried a beard once or twice.  It was pitiful.  Mustache wasn't too bad, but got tired of it after a while.  You want to see weak?  Go here

[Brovatar Korra]

Yay stronglifts!

[Silverwind]

Ok.  I've tried a beard once or twice.  It was pitiful.  Mustache wasn't too bad, but got tired of it after a while.  You want to see weak?  Go here

 

Heh, thanks for posting the link. Good to see so many people making serious gains.

 

I've mucked around in the weight room off and on since I was about 18 (I'm 34 now). Never made any real progress with strength or physique until I started messing around with progressive loading schemes in 2011. Did pretty well mixing it up for about 2 years (SL, GSLP, and 5/3/1) until late 2013, when I inexplicably gave up and stopped working out completely for the next 7 months. Started lifting again with the June 9th challenge, and am pretty bummed about how weak I got.

 

This time I'm really determined to stick with it until I hit some PRs, then figure out a way to avoid the boredom/burnout that hit me last year. I guess the goal of joining the NF forums is to try to find some fun and accountability that's been missing.

[Schmonk]

Your game seems really awesome! Good thing I'm not playing it, I would probably end up with a negative result, alone for the drinking penalty.

 

I definitely want to see you rack up those points!

[Raev]

Welcome to the Warriors, oh bearded one!

 

To answer your question as to what is a warrior without a badass beard I say go look at some of the lasses around here and the awesomeness of them!  Sick, heavy lifts AND no beards!

[MasterOfCows]

Staying tuned, rooting for the beard.  I love me a good beard.

[VTSPE772]

I am in for the Badassity quotient, your game (Points scale) is a great motivator...you tracking on a spreadsheet?  Keep it in your face (post where you can see everyday) for added motivation!

[Silverwind]

Your game seems really awesome! Good thing I'm not playing it, I would probably end up with a negative result, alone for the drinking penalty.

 

I definitely want to see you rack up those points!

Seriously - the hardest part of the challenge is going to be the drinking (or lack thereof)

 

Welcome to the Warriors, oh bearded one!

 

To answer your question as to what is a warrior without a badass beard I say go look at some of the lasses around here and the awesomeness of them!  Sick, heavy lifts AND no beards!

This is true: there are some seriously badass women in these forums. Love me some ladies who aren't afraid to get under the bar

 

Staying tuned, rooting for the beard.  I love me a good beard.

Thanks MasterOfCows!

 

I am in for the Badassity quotient, your game (Points scale) is a great motivator...you tracking on a spreadsheet?  Keep it in your face (post where you can see everyday) for added motivation!

Well, I was just going to keep track here in this forum, but you make a good point about having it somewhere I can see it throughout the day. Maybe I'll tape a sheet of paper up in my office or somewhere in the apartment as a constant reminder. Good call!

[Silverwind]

First StrongLifts session of the week completed Wednesday night:

 

Squat 220x5x5

Bench 185x5x5

Row 140x5x5

 

The weight did not move easily. Think a lack of sleep really hurt me (started the week off with crap night of sleep Sunday, then Monday went to a late night concert, and slept like crap Tuesday). On the plus side, I didn't miss a rep, though I did have to really give myself a full 4-5 minutes between sets 3 and 5 on both the squats and benches.

 

I know it's only been 3 days, but I've so far managed to avoid all Forbidden Foods.

 

Point total so far:  10

[VTSPE772]

Very nice work!  Are you doing the "StrongLifts" type of BB row, or have you adapted your own version?  Just wondering because my Low-back couldn't keep up with the weights, so I had to switch to T-Bar rows.

[Silverwind]

Very nice work!  Are you doing the "StrongLifts" type of BB row, or have you adapted your own version?  Just wondering because my Low-back couldn't keep up with the weights, so I had to switch to T-Bar rows.

Thanks Chris!

 

I'm doing the Pendlay Row, which I believe is the form StrongLifts calls for. I'm sure my form will start to suffer soon, and with a past history of lower back injuries, I'd like to figure out a solution sooner than later.

 

Mostly, I'm viewing the rows as an "assistance" exercise to supplement the more standard strength building elements (bench, squat, DL, OHP). So two options I'm leaning towards are modifying the rows to either start adding 1 rep per set and eventually try to knock out 5 sets of 10 (keeping the weight lower and manageable), or maybe abandon the rows altogether and replace them with 5 sets of 5 chin ups (and move towards strict pull ups, then weighted pull ups).

 

How do you like the T bar rows? You're doing pull up ladders as part of your challenge, right? Any recommendations?

[Silverwind]

Friday update:

 

Got my 2nd SL session in today after work:

 

Squat 225x5x5

OHP 125x5x5

DL 275x1x5

 

Haven't been active walking or biking, but have managed 620 pushups for the week as of tonight. Basically I'm doing sets of 20 spread throughout the day. One or two sets in the morning, a set or two at work, a set or two when I come home from work. By day, the breakdown for the week looks like:

M 100

Tu 100

W 80

Th 160

F 180

 

Tomorrow will be a rest day (with the possible exception of a long morning walk with the dog), and then the week's 3rd SL session scheduled for Sunday.

 

Point total for the week: 20

 

I've been good with avoiding my restricted foods, and shouldn't exceed my 2 days of drinking limit either (assuming I can maintain some self control this weekend). So far, happy with week 1.

[Silverwind]

Sunday update:

 

Got my 3rd SL session in this afternoon (+10pts):

 

Squat 230x5x5

BP 190x5x5

Row 145x5x5

 

Rode the bike to and from the gym (8mi roundtrip), and took the dogs on a 2 mile walk tonight after an early dinner. (+10 pts)

 

Ended the week with 700 pushups, so should hit my first 1k milestone mid next week.

M 100

Tu 100

W 80

Th 160

F 180

Sa - REST

Su - 80

 

Point total for the week: 40

[Silverwind]

Wednesday update:

 

Had a pretty good stronglifts session tonight after work (+10pts):

Squat 235x5x5 (first time since late 2013 I've squatted my bodyweight! w00t)

OHP 130x5x5

DL 285x1x5

 

Felt pretty good throughout in spite of sleeping like shite the last two nights (fuggin work stress).

 

Got a 2 mile walk in before work both yesterday and today to get the pup his exercise before work (+2pts ea day)

 

After doing sets of 20 pushups during week 1, I figured I'd go up 10% to sets of 22 for week 2. Totals for the days so far:

M - 110

Tu - 110

W - 44

 

This puts my total just shy of 1k for the challenge, so I should hit the 1k benchmark sometime tonight or tomorrow morning.

 

I've done surprisingly well avoiding my restricted foods, and have somewhat amazingly stayed within my 2 drinking days per week limit so far (well, it's only a week and a half into the challenge, but apparently my evening routine has started to regularly involve crushing a few beers every night, so I'm happy to be easing out of that habit).

 

Total points during challenge to date: 54

[VTSPE772]

well done, on the Vanity goal!  BW lifts are always a good thing to give that extra motivation for the next increase of weight!  congrats!

[Arya Sapphire]

How did I miss your thread?! Nice to follow you again Silverwind! The beard is a great motivation to rock your challenge, as you have been doing. I'll definitely use something similar for motivation next challenge. 

 

Yay for all the badassery in this thread!

[Silverwind]

How did I miss your thread?! Nice to follow you again Silverwind! The beard is a great motivation to rock your challenge, as you have been doing. I'll definitely use something similar for motivation next challenge. 

 

Yay for all the badassery in this thread!

Hey Arya, thanks for checking in on me!

[Silverwind]

Thursday/Friday progress update:

 

Thursday got in a 2mi walk (+2pts), and did 4 sets of pushups thoughout the day, which put me over 1,000 so far for this challenge (+25pts!)

 

Friday walked 2mi before work with the pup (+2), got in 8 sets of pushups, and got in a stronglifts session after work (+10pts):

Squat 240x5x5

Bench 195x5x5

Row 150x5x5*

 

*Felt like I was throwing a little too much hip hinge /back momentum into the pendlay row, so I'll count that as a missed lift and repeat with the same weight next time.

 

Total points in the challenge so far: 93

[Silverwind]

Saturday was nominally a rest day, though I did help my girlfriend's sister and her bf move into a new apartment, so there was some lifting involved, but nothing too heavy.

 

Today I managed to get in a 2 mile am walk (+2pts), and rode my bike the 8 mile round trip to/from the gym across town (+8pts).

 

SL session at the gym (+10):

 

Squat 245x5x5

OHP 135x5x5

DL 295x1x5

 

 

I'm pretty encouraged by the way the weights are moving in the gym. Should hit my targeted benchmark of 250x5x5 squat this coming week, and a 315lb deadlift the week after.

 

Also happy I've been able to avoid the extra booze and my self-identified crap foods for two weeks, and that's been easier than I thought it would.

 

Total points through 2 weeks: 113

[Silverwind]

only progress update I'll have for Monday is the 5 mile roundtrip bicycle commute to work today (+5pts).

 

Have backed off the pushups for the last three days in an effort to let the chest recover and stimulate some muscle growth. Plan on resuming the pushup part of my challenge tomorrow through Friday, with a planned total rest day on Saturday.

 

Total points to date: 118

[Sabretooth-Kitty]

Your points so far look great, I like the points system you're using as well