I hate this game so much but for some reason I can't stop playing

[Leego]

That is what I said about the game Trove while in it's global chat. A guy replied saying it sounded much like his life, and now that I think about it, it sounds much like my life as well.

 

My name is Warnamon, or at least for now. It was the RP name for my Warden from Lord of the Rings Online. I loved that class. It was the best experience with a class I have ever had in an MMORPG.

 

The Warden

 

It had it all: Strong melee capabilities (although not the hardest hitter), decent tanking (in the hands of a good player who knows how the Warden works), great solo capabilities (one of the best in the game), some useful ranged skills (mostly for debuffing and weakening the enemy before engaging them in melee/CQC), decent mobility and utility skills (like one that made him march faster), a short but still useful stealth skill (not as cheap and easy as the Burglar or Hunter's stealth, but allowed for powerful ambushes), and the biggest, most difficult, and most fun trade-off for it, was that it utilized a combo attack system, called "gambits". For some, it made the class hard to play as solo, and horrible to tank with, but for me, it just made the class several times more fun.

 

Having to think of complex combos on my feet to access the skill I needed for the situation, performing a quick chain of combos to bolster my defenses, build aggro if tanking, and quickly stacking DoTs when going on the offense, being able to bombard my enemies with javelins for a short amount of time before charging them with my spear and unique Warden shield, healing and protecting my allies when they were in need, and generally, blocking, evading, and parrying my way to victory.

 

So, basically, it was kind of like what you might call the Ranger, or exactly like the LoTR equivalent of Leonidas I from 300. Sparta kick and everything.

 

I honestly have not thought about this until I made this thread, but the character actually sounds much like who I want to be in real life: Capable of saving and protecting others, being able to save a life using first aid, being able to hold his own and defend himself and others, and in general just be really strong and really fast, and pretty smart.

 

My Life

 

Right now, I am a college student studying Engineering Technology who just finished his 2nd year of college, and the first semester of Eng. Tech courses. I chose the major because I want to be good with my hands, and be able to repair things and build things, and I also have an interest in robotics and vehicles. Besides that, I also believe that the major will prepare me to think with ingenuity and math skills that can be useful in the work place, at home, out in public, and in the wilderness.

 

Besides that, I really have an interest in doing something like Firefighting or Search and Rescue, because by my logic (which is most likely heavily flawed), at least jobs like SAR not only pay well (or at least should), and not only do they garner more respect than some office job (but I have much respect for people who work in cubicles and offices), but it's also the closest thing to being a real life hero without becoming some vigilante or nut, and the closest I can get to some form of action while helping people without becoming a soldier, or a cop, or a surgeon. I can't see the moral conflict in rescuing people from disasters or bad guys.

 

Also, I don't really like the idea of working some desk job. I like the idea of working on vehicles and machines and robots, but I like the idea of doing field work more.

 

My dream job would be some kind of SARs Technician: Someone who will go into the field to find missing persons and rescue them, while also utilizing drone technology (the good, fun, scouting camera drones. Not the giant flying metal death birds) to search for people in unstable locations, and operating and repairing rescue vehicles and tools, and with the advancements in technology, increased use of drone technology, and the increasing demand for people with specialized skills, I have to believe that a job like this will come into existence soon, if not already.

 

So, I guess you would say that my goal is to become a Ranger, with a secondary class of Assassin or Monk, and a profession of Gadgeteer-ing?

 

Sadly, I have not done too well in the major. I know I can do the work, but I ended up spending most of the semester playing games and trying to avoid people I don't like and don't trust. Having been homeschooled, I wasn't ready for the culture shock that ensued when going to school in a big city, and I still have not fully picked up on social ques, norms, and conventions. something personal has been holding me back.

 

The first semester was great! It had it's ups and downs, but I enjoyed it. Then suddenly, in the second semester, I just had a hard time socializing, and had a hard time with my chemistry class, and just, didn't feel happy. I can't even remember what it was, but it was just a constantly downward spiral until my fourth semester, where I pretty much lost touch with nearly everyone I knew at college, but also while forming new connections. The entire semester, I just felt spent, and like I didn't want to do any of the work. A friend of mine told me it's because I went home last summer and didn't do anything, so I don't feel refreshed or like I've found anything to motivate me.

 

It wasn't until after my fourth semester of college and being in the city and doing things like volunteering to deliver food to homeless people, joining in on protests, and learning about the history of this country, and learning so much about the world and people in general, that I learned that the world, even just the city itself, is a very interesting, great, but also dangerous and tragic place. I kinda figured that, but I've never got up close and see it for myself.

 

I also learned that college life is very cutthroat and superficial, most of the time, yet I feel like I've yet to see the REAL throat-slitting action.

 

Without going into too much more details about my personal life, due to some unwise spending mistakes that I will not be making again, I came back home this summer for the 2nd time in a row with only $500. I can try to get a job, but with me not having a driver's license yet and living out in the country, my work opportunities is highly dependent on my mom's work location and schedule.

 

So I decided to invest my $500 into weightlifting and supplements, and whatever other things I may need. I've already invested a little more than $100 into a gym called the "Lif+ Center", and it was on that very day I paid that fee that my dad revealed that he got a bench press set from some guy for $50.

 

I still find the gym a useful investment, because it's a place where I can focus on myself without interruptions and distractions, a place where I can walk around downtown, and it's a nice alternative to having to lift weights and run outside on a hot day with all the insects out. Still, I can't honestly say I'm always thrilled about going to it. It's kind of an "Imperial" gym, and the only friendly and immediately helpful people I've met so far there are some of the older people.

 

Most of the younger people there are actually men and women who are in their early 30s to early 50s, and maybe it's just my negative outlook on certain groups of people (which college has not helped, but volunteering and protesting has), but most of them aren't the most friendly or genuine people. Plus, most of the women are vastly older than me and either have kids, a husband, and/or are old enough to be my grandmother.

 

This is okay, though. I am not there to make friends, and I'm tired of looking to others to try and motivate me or help me. It's a nice gym that gives me nearly everything I want and need (even a pullup machine), except for more than one squat rack. I think there are more in the gymnasium, but I can't remember. Also, I don't like machines. They feel too easy and rigid, and half of them I'm not even sure how they work.

 

The Mission

 

That last year of college just taught me that who I am now, physically, is not going to cut it in the college world, let alone the real world, and that who I am and who I want to be on the inside, does not match who I am on the outside. I'm tired of feeling slower than most people, inferior to most guys. I'm tired of feeling helpless and defenseless when walking off-campus because I'm not allowed to carry any form of self-defense (while in one of the most dangerous cities in the country). I want to be able to lift and carry people, jump from rooftop to rooftop, scale buildings, run faster than the fastest man alive, and I have nothing but good reasons to change who I am physically, which I will go over briefly:

 

To defend others (SARs, Firefighting, unexpected scenarios)

 

To defeat enemies (robbers with knives, rivals in sports)

 

To evade and escape unbeatable threats (robbers with guns/cars, police)

 

To show others that I am no laughing matter (appearance is everything)

 

To survive

 

For these reasons I want to be ready for anything the world may throw at me, and that's why my goal is to class change from an Adventurer into a Ranger/Warden, and then take a secondary class in Assassin, and if time and resources permit me, Monk. To me, that means building a lot more strength, and enough muscle for it to really show, but not too much, so I can remain functional.

 

To me, that means running and weightlifting to lose weight, build stamina, build speed, and build strength, but I could be wrong. I've started doing Starting Strength for the sake of getting stronger, and hopefully developing "explosiveness", with some of the workouts. However, I'm not sure how 3x5 reps is going to do me much good, and it leaves me feeling like I want to do more, even though I don't have to be sore and exhausted to get results.

 

Also, I'm still a bit confused on the whole calories-counting thing, and friggin' hate it (which is what makes the Paleo diet sound so good), even though it's not hard. I'll go over it in another thread, but I'm still confused in some ways. Like, what are carbs? Do I need to eat 2,500 calories a day and burn that same amount, or do I burn slightly more than I consume to lose weight? but then wouldn't that lead to malnutrition and halt my progress? And how does weightlifting adjust my calorie need?

 

And then there's all this about measuring your arms, your legs, your waist, your head, your feet, your ears, your man/lady parts, etc. It seems like 70% of fitness is just a numbers game and the extra 30% is the actual working out. Lifting weights and running are the easy parts.

 

But anyways, I'm not going to give up now. I want to have something to show for it by at least mid-August of this year. I can deadlift 100 lbs, but I can only easily squat about 40 lbs or 50 lbs, and I can sort of bench press 60 lbs, if I remember correctly, but I don't like to go too hard with bench pressing, since I have no one to spot me, most of the time. Same with squatting, which I am having a hard time doing because my bench press setup doesn't have hard enough bars for me to get underneath it really well, and the bench is partially in the way.

 

Right now, I am 280 lbs. My end goal is to get down to 200 lbs within a year or two, and to be able to lift 200 lbs within a year, but I'm not sure if those are good enough goals. Your class systems kinda helps with that, honestly.

 

It's funny, because I've spent several hours on BodyBuilding trying to find a name for what I want to achieve and be, and there were several different tabs with different names (athletics, speed and strength, parkour, gymnastics, bodybuilding, running, sprinting, etc.), and every time I'd click one, I would get, hundreds of different articles, all saying different things. Every time I would research anything, it was pure information overload. I just followed the most common themes I managed to pick up on.

 

And then I found this site that explains these things in terms that I'm familiar with. It works with my mind, which has been on an RPG diet since I was 14. I love that.

 

 

I apologize for all the text, but that is pretty much me, right now.

[Hyperion]

Problem with bodybuilding.com is the fact that there are lot of broscience guys and guys who compete in bodybuilding. Everyone has training method that works for them and all just don't understand that it doesn't work for everyone. I got to the gym with a guy who was around your size but third of my strenght. He did training with me for two months and lost 40 pounds but it was hell for him as he just wasn't physically able to keep the intensity or mentally able to admit it. It was too heavy start for him even though he managed to get good results.

3x5 is good for short amounts of time but i suggest you try volume type of training as the 3x5 doesn't consume much calories and development becomes slow after a while and it mostly drives your nervous system to the edge. That means that you don't gain much/any muscle but you learn to control the muscle you have

If you wish to build stamina and burn fat, check out the HIIT system. It is less hard than simply jogging around and burns even more calories.

Carbs are fuel for your body. You need them or fats to remain functional. If you eat less calories per day than you use, you start slimming down. Malnutritioning isn't going to happen unless you eat something body can't use. This is it very simplified. I'm bad at nutritioning sso i let prosfessionals decide what i eat. I suggest you take your time to read about food around here. Paleo isn't perfect but it is a good diet. It gives good guidelines for what you should avoid if you want to slim down.

don't worry about getting so muscular that it becomes non functional. Muscle goes slow and nonflexible only if you don't practise those traits. There are 270 pound bodybuilders who cound compete in sprint runs and modern mr olympia competers can do a split quite easily. And you never grow very big or very strong without right medication even if everything else is perfect.

I wish you very best with your training and i'm looking forward seeing what you achieve. If you ever feel like you need any advice or someone to push you forward, feel free to send me a message.

[Princess Pineapple]

Hi, I'm one of those women at the gym who's vastly older than you, married with kids. We're not all horrible people! Just say hello and smile when you see us.

Good luck with your training. Are you going to make some short term goals? Join in the next six week challenge. I look forward to seeing what you achieve.

[Leego]

Hi, I'm one of those women at the gym who's vastly older than you, married with kids. We're not all horrible people! Just say hello and smile when you see us.

Good luck with your training. Are you going to make some short term goals? Join in the next six week challenge. I look forward to seeing what you achieve.

 

Lol, I don't remember saying you're horrible people! But yeah, I'll try talking to some of them while at the gym.

 

I'm going to start making short term goals, I suppose. They're easier to pin down and track than simply saying "I'm going to lift x pounds by y", and ultimately lead up to the ultimate goal.

 

I am strongly considering joining the six-week challenge. I'm a bit anxious about it, though. But regardless, I need to be ready to commit, and I'm already committed to my fitness goals at this point. I mean...I've invested nearly $500 into it!

 

Also, Vegito, thank you for the imput, and now you have me curious: If not 3x5, then what kind of volume training do you recommend? And even though it was Hell on the guy who trained with you and lost 40 pounds, what was it that he did? Losing 40 pounds in two months sounds insane. I'd be happy just to lose 5 pounds a month, but it would be nice to lose it quicker.

[Hyperion]

We did volume type of training that puts huge amount of focus on explosiveness and stamina. + HIIT sprints

i'd suggest you'd try 3-5x10-15 With about 15 second rests. Try to find a weight where that 15 feels rough and push it up with everything you got, everytime you push. This way you will exhaust the muscle and it does get just enough rest to still do more but it does not get back to normal state. Do not look at the maximum lifts, they are meaningless in about anything else than powerlifting and keeping book of the results. When i went to gym for the first time, i could hardly bench press a bar. If you fear the bench press and squat now, use leg press and maybe do the bench with dumbells or use machines. This way you will minimize the possibility of accidents.

from what i've read here the leg press isn't respected machine at this forum but for guys with too little leg power like you, it is about perfect. You can fully focus on the legs without fearing the weight and possibility of breaking the body with wrong technigue is minimal.

Most of the weight loss comes from the right nutrition and guys here have better tips than me because it is better to assume a lifestyle than sprint to the goal by very hard diet.

This being said, remember that every body is individual. This might not work for you even if it works for me. 3x5 didn't get me pretty much anywhere and workout i do now does. 5x15 might tire you up with insane speed so remember to listen to how your body feels. If you feel tired in a good way, rest well and lower the rhythm a little. If you feel tired in "bad/unnatural" way, rest for a while and don't go to the gym until you feel better.

Beware of joint pains. they are never mark of anything good, so if your elbow hurts when you do biceps and it feels wrong, stop. And if you have possibility, get leg and wrist straps and good belt. It's better to have safety measures than lay at sofa for 6 weeks for pain in the back or knees.

[Leego]

Whoa, whoa, now. I have plenty of leg strength...just not by any measurable or weightlifting standard. It's not really my legs I'm concerned about, it's the getting into proper position and form, and not dropping the weights on myself or trapping myself, but I will take your advice.

 

It kind of sounds like something like CrossFit is what I'm looking for anyways. I just get an odd feeling in the back of my head because CrossFit seems to get a bad rap because of it's commercialization or something, but from what I read, it's a really good form of exercise for someone who's looking for functional strength and weight loss.

 

So, volume levels do help increase strength and muscles? Because I am thinking of taking Tanuki's advice for at least another week and just work on getting stronger, and then focus on increase in volume for explosiveness and stamina.

 

Or is it better to just pick one?

[Tanuki]

I'll say hi from the LOTRO Warden camp! I've been a LOTRO nut for 7+ years, my main was a warden for much of those (and I'm resurrecting her), I'm Lilka on the forums there.

[Why not?]

from what i've read here the leg press isn't respected machine at this forum but for guys with too little leg power like you, it is about perfect. You can fully focus on the legs without fearing the weight and possibility of breaking the body with wrong technigue is minimal.

The reason leg press isn't particularly "respected" is because it's vastly inferior to the squat as a method of building lower body strength. There is no exercise that is better than the squat for that. Is there a lower chance of injury with the leg press, compared to squatting with improper technique? Certainly, however, a decent coach/trainer, or even a few instructional Youtube videos can help with that quite a bit.

 

Whoa, whoa, now. I have plenty of leg strength...just not by any measurable or weightlifting standard. It's not really my legs I'm concerned about, it's the getting into proper position and form, and not dropping the weights on myself or trapping myself, but I will take your advice.

 

It kind of sounds like something like CrossFit is what I'm looking for anyways. I just get an odd feeling in the back of my head because CrossFit seems to get a bad rap because of it's commercialization or something, but from what I read, it's a really good form of exercise for someone who's looking for functional strength and weight loss.

 

So, volume levels do help increase strength and muscles? Because I am thinking of taking Tanuki's advice for at least another week and just work on getting stronger, and then focus on increase in volume for explosiveness and stamina.

 

Or is it better to just pick one?

Based on your goals, CrossFit would likely be the best program for you, since it would encompass nearly all of them. CrossFit's "bad rap" is due primarily to people bad-mouthing what they don't understand, although there are some CrossFit coaches that are not up to par with the rest and can end up posing an injury risk to their clients.

 

For someone who is a relative novice in terms of training, any exercise will improve your strength levels, but not all will do so equally. 5/3/1 is an effective system that I follow loosely and have seen decent results from.

[Hyperion]

For lower body strenght yes. but for getting strong legs i think leg press is superior. Squat works fine alone but leg press is a good starter or backup and i for example do both for various reasons. All in all, Squat is definitely a good move.

Warnamon take your time and ask for someone to check your forms and teach you proper technigue. If you can, call a personal trainer and ask them to teach or maybe if you have a friend who is lifter.

And for crossfit. It was called circuit training in the fifties. Then someone renamed it, filed a few lawsuits and made millions. It is good workout but i personally won't put 100 bucks a month into crossfitbox so that i could puke in a group... You will not get insanely big, or insanely strong, but you can get to your goals with crossfit. :-)

[Hyperion]

For lower body strenght yes. but for getting strong legs i think leg press is superior. Squat works fine alone but leg press is a good starter or backup and i for example do both for various reasons. All in all, Squat is definitely a good move.

Warnamon take your time and ask for someone to check your forms and teach you proper technigue. If you can, call a personal trainer and ask them to teach or maybe if you have a friend who is lifter.

And for crossfit. It was called circuit training in the fifties. Then someone renamed it, filed a few lawsuits and made millions. It is good workout but i personally won't put 100 bucks a month into crossfitbox so that i could puke in a group... You will not get insanely big, or insanely strong, but you can get to your goals with crossfit. :-)

[Why not?]

For lower body strenght yes. but for getting strong legs i think leg press is superior. Squat works fine alone but leg press is a good starter backup and i for example do both for various reasons. All in all, Squat is definitely a good move.

Warnamon take your time and ask for someone to check your forms and teach you proper technigue. If you can, call a personal trainer and ask them to teach or maybe if you have a friend who is lifter.

And for crossfit. It was called circuit training in the fifties. Then someone renamed it, filed a few lawsuits and made millions. It is good workout but i personally won't put 100 bucks a month into crossfitbox so that i could puke in a group... You will not get insanely big, or insanely strong, but you can get to your goals with crossfit. :-)

When it comes to getting strong legs, leg press allows you to avoid working the stabilizing muscles.

As for CrossFit, that is a common misconception. CrossFit includes circuit training, but that is just one aspect of it. The money you pay for CrossFit is for a lot more than that, but you're clearly just relying on stereotypes, so I'm not going to bother with elaborating. Don't ridicule what you don't understand.

[Rurik Harrgath]

I honestly have not thought about this until I made this thread, but the character actually sounds much like who I want to be in real life: Capable of saving and protecting others, being able to save a life using first aid, being able to hold his own and defend himself and others, and in general just be really strong and really fast, and pretty smart.

...

 That last year of college just taught me that who I am now, physically, is not going to cut it in the college world, let alone the real world, and that who I am and who I want to be on the inside, does not match who I am on the outside. I'm tired of feeling slower than most people, inferior to most guys. I'm tired of feeling helpless and defenseless when walking off-campus because I'm not allowed to carry any form of self-defense (while in one of the most dangerous cities in the country). I want to be able to lift and carry people, jump from rooftop to rooftop, scale buildings, run faster than the fastest man alive, and I have nothing but good reasons to change who I am physically, which I will go over briefly:

 

To defend others (SARs, Firefighting, unexpected scenarios)

 

To defeat enemies (robbers with knives, rivals in sports)

 

To evade and escape unbeatable threats (robbers with guns/cars, police)

 

To show others that I am no laughing matter (appearance is everything)

 

To survive

 

For these reasons I want to be ready for anything the world may throw at me, and that's why my goal is to class change from an Adventurer into a Ranger/Warden, and then take a secondary class in Assassin, and if time and resources permit me, Monk. To me, that means building a lot more strength, and enough muscle for it to really show, but not too much, so I can remain functional.

 

When I dallied in LotRO I primarily focused on my Dwarf Champion and to a much lesser extent my Race of Man Warden, so I have an inkling of where you're coming from.  As another who is inspired by character classes from various games and has endeavored to mimic some of their abilities and motivations in my personal life (and Nerd Fitness challenges) of late, I can echo your enthusiasm, if not share your particular goal take-aways.  Where you strive to be the protector of man, I feel a similar way toward the wilds. 

 

There isn't a thing wrong with taking inspiration from a character class in an RPG when it strives you to change your life for the better.  Speaking toward my own interests, I ought to seek employment along the lines of Park Warden or Conservation.  I have always taken toward the Barbarian/Shaman and Hunter/Ranger archetypes, and keeping the aspects of those classes close to mind has greatly improved my life.  Borrowing from those inspirations has forced me from the couch, into my gym, and regularly outdoors to enjoy nature and the fresh air.  I've found I enjoy things I never even knew until I followed in the tracks of some of my favorite game characters. I explore more now, and do silly things like climbing trees to watch traffic while hidden from view.  I've even began studying bush craft and survival skills more in depth as a nod toward those same interests I've borrowed from simple character classes in a video game.

 

Also, I'm still a bit confused on the whole calories-counting thing, and friggin' hate it (which is what makes the Paleo diet sound so good), even though it's not hard. I'll go over it in another thread, but I'm still confused in some ways. Like, what are carbs? Do I need to eat 2,500 calories a day and burn that same amount, or do I burn slightly more than I consume to lose weight? but then wouldn't that lead to malnutrition and halt my progress? And how does weightlifting adjust my calorie need?

 

And then there's all this about measuring your arms, your legs, your waist, your head, your feet, your ears, your man/lady parts, etc. It seems like 70% of fitness is just a numbers game and the extra 30% is the actual working out. Lifting weights and running are the easy parts.

 

Just remember to take everything from bodybuilding.com with the standard grain of salt.  I'm sure there is a hearty wealth of information and science and facts to be found there, but you would have to dig through the mountains of bro science and chest-thumping to find it.  You can take me at my word when I say this, and it's coming from a fellow who spends entirely too much time researching and not enough time taking action on that research, but there really isn't all that much you really need to know for fitness and weight loss.  Just start exercising and minding your nutrition.  As simple as that.

 

Check out the app MyFitnessPal, and if you can't for some reason, search for a calorie calculator online.  From your level of activity and current weight I would hazard a guess that you probably fall in around 2500 calories with your 500 calorie deficit.  That means you'll be eating around 500 calories under the maintenance level for your body to run itself.  Your body automatically burns x amount of calories just running itself through the motions before you even put exercise on the table.  Any further calories expended through exercise is above and beyond that total.

 

I'll try to cut an example using myself to answer as many of your questions as possible in one fell sweep.

I started this 'game' at 230 (ish) lbs and entered my then-sedentary activity level into MyFitnessPal along with my height, age, and goal of losing 1-2lbs per week.  It gave me a daily calorie intake of 1900 calories, which matches what other research I did from other calculators that suggested my maintenance level would be around 2500+.  So I plug all of my meals into MFP to hit my macronutrient levels (200g protein, about 100g carbs, and the rest in vegetables and fats) from Paleo sources.

 

I wouldn't concern yourself about measuring body parts unless you're super interested in the math of your progress.  I joined a couple of 10 week weight loss challenges here that had me weighing in every Monday, but ultimately the bottom line comes down to whether or not you're seeing progress at your waist line, and that can only be measured freely by whether or not your pants still fit.

 

For lower body strenght yes. but for getting strong legs i think leg press is superior. Squat works fine alone but leg press is a good starter or backup and i for example do both for various reasons. All in all, Squat is definitely a good move.

Warnamon take your time and ask for someone to check your forms and teach you proper technigue. If you can, call a personal trainer and ask them to teach or maybe if you have a friend who is lifter.

And for crossfit. It was called circuit training in the fifties. Then someone renamed it, filed a few lawsuits and made millions. It is good workout but i personally won't put 100 bucks a month into crossfitbox so that i could puke in a group... You will not get insanely big, or insanely strong, but you can get to your goals with crossfit. :-)

 

There's a reputable article on t-nation.com (of all places) that examined the differences between elite Crossfitters and elite powerlifters.  Even by weight class, the Crossfitters were very comparable in the Olympic lifts.  So, no, you won't deadlift 1000lbs through Crossfit, but then you won't be 380lbs like strongmen and professional powerlifters are either.

 

Crossfit is quite a bit more than mere circuit training with a brand name, but I won't try to sell you on what works for me.  There's plenty of unbiased information out there should anyone wish to pursue it with interest.  Another excellent idea for you would be the Stronglifts 5x5 program.  It's mapped out for beginners in any sort of gym with access to a squat rack and barbell.  If you feel the need you can supplement your lifting with light cardio to speed your weight loss along.  I have put months into both Stronglifts and Crossfit and have little to no negative comments for either.

[Hyperion]

I have nothing against crossfit. I tried it for a while when a friend of mine opened a crossfit gym in our city and it is definitely good workout. And as i said, crossfit doesn't make you "insanely big or strong. It makes you strong though and it Gives good stamina. i don't claim that squat is shitty move. But if guy squats half of the deadlift record, problem isn't in the back but legs. Leg press could help getting legs back to the level and it doesn't mean that one shouldn't do both. And once again. I can only tell what got me 1000 pound record. I won't claim that it is the best way or that it works for everyone. I respect powerlifters, bodybuilders, strongmen and crossfit athletes equally.

[Leego]

My idea of being a protector of man is mainly defending the good men and women and myself from the bad ones., and helping them survive nature, but I have had some concern about wildlife and the environment, as well, and have also had an interest in doing some kind of Park Warden job. Mostly in some place like the Rocky Mountains or the Savannas. Park Warden just sounds a bit better than Park Ranger, for some reason.

 

I will admit, Rurik, that some of my motivations as of lately for learning and doing things like parkour are for self-defense purposes. I figured that if, say, a robber or robbers had knives and are (most likely) not athletes, I would be able to escape them by simply moving to a place they can't reach, or at least by outrunning them. Sadly, unless I were to be in some place like Bangkok or maybe Japan, and I'm not, chances are at least 5/10 that the robbers will have guns, which is where things like the Monk path would come in, albeit still risky.

 

But besides all of that, I do love the idea of doing parkour like an Assassin just for the sake of being able to do it, and for exploring the world in a new way. It seems very freeing. I even remember watching a video of someone doing parkour in a forest, and they just seemed so fast and free, I almost...shed a treat.

 

 

I thank you for doing some number work for me, but I'd rather make sure. One site told me (based off my gender, height, age, and a very overly-simplified activity chart) that I need about 2,696 calories a day to lose 1-2 lbs a week, which will take me to 200 lbs by the end of next year, (more specifically, December 9th, 2016), and if I'm very physically active everyday, a bit over 3,000 calories a day.

 

Only 1-2 lbs a week would have sounded discouraging to the old me, but now that I understand the math, nutrition, weight training and other things behind it, it sounds like a very reasonable goal with a huge result: Eighty pounds gone in just one year. Of course, that's without taking into account my living conditions over the next year. Plus, just the strength I gain over that time and the 10, 20 lbs I DO lose during that time will still make a big difference.

 

And then of course, there are some sites (usually with less details) that tell me I need to eat 1,500 calories, but to me, 1,500 is a bit of a challenge. It's certainly possible, but it's a nuisance. I feel like just one meal with no accurate calorie count can screw me over. 2,500 calories a day plus exercise every day sounds like a much more reasonable goal.

[Princess Pineapple]

Can I just say, who wouldn't like the idea of parkour? Even my elderly parents would like to be able to do it.

[Rurik Harrgath]

And then of course, there are some sites (usually with less details) that tell me I need to eat 1,500 calories, but to me, 1,500 is a bit of a challenge. It's certainly possible, but it's a nuisance. I feel like just one meal with no accurate calorie count can screw me over. 2,500 calories a day plus exercise every day sounds like a much more reasonable goal.

 

I would hazard the guess that 2600 calories is exactly where you need to be with your goals in mind. 

 

You have the information and seem to sport the motivation, now it's time for the action.  The next NF challenge official starts on June 8th!