Urgan Breathes Fire, Vol. III

[Urgan]

So, another round of 4WC format, huh? Won't it be interesting to see what they tweak for the next challenge format? In the meantime, I'mma abuse the privilege and return to a well-loved franchise...

 

 

Oh, yeah, Breath of Fire 3. Ryu and the gang are back and this time...it's personal. Or something. I dunno. Let's go rob some guy so we can eat tonight.

 

 

Ryu (STR+3)

 

Ryu returns, and in rare form. He's got to fight giant unseen forces and uncover the truth surrounding the Brood, and he's only just been blasted out of his chysm hiding place as a little Whelp. It's going to take some quick thinking, mighty battling, and good friends to get him through this adventure!

 

It's a big push to 275 Wilks, but not without keeping an eye on my mobility. No gains can be made forever, especially not when you have knots all over the place. So here's the deal: I want to get to 275, but I'm not sure how much longer my novice phase is gonna hold out. I might not even make it into this challenge with the advanced novice program I've been running during challenge 2 of 2016. So, to compromise and still motivate myself, I'm going to set the bar at 260 265 Wilks based on my Day Zero weigh-in. While I'm shooting for the heights of Gainshala, I also need to keep up with my mobility. Not having it as part of my challenge is an excellent way of ensuring it gets pushed to the back burner. Thus I will be focusing on TWO areas with which I struggle: my neck and my knees. I have knots that form there on a daily basis, I need more than one attempt per week to address them. Combined with bimonthly massages, this should help combat tension. I assume I will be doing my hip flexibility routine in the dojo during aikido and will be logging when I do that to help keep accountable. Below is the tentative schedule for accomplishing my goals of strength and mobility--subject to change up until Day 0.

 

 

The plan:

Lifting Gains - 0/15: Lift a total of 461 lbs @ 112.2lbs bw

Neck Mobility - 3/wk: Smash shoulders/neck with barbell

Knee Mobility - 2/wk: Roll ‘dem quads

 

The grading:

Lifting gains: P/F - P = at least 12lbs of gains , else F

Knee Mobility: A = 2, B = 1, else F

Neck Mobility: A = 3, B = 2, else F

 

 

Garr (DEX+2, WIS+1,STA+1)

 

Good old Garr. He's a Guardian who is tasked with protecting the Urkan people from the Brood by order of "God"...but just who is his real enemy? As it turns out, not Ryu. He seeks to understand the truth of what has transpired these many centuries, and protect everyone from the smothering embrace of safety over freedom. 

 

What else is Aikido about but protecting the Aikidoka and the attacker from the consequence of said attacker's dangerous foolishness? I'm going to train like I mean it and get that Yellow Belt. It's going to be a hard push, because I do not have very many classes left to make this happen! Every day must count or it'll be a loooong wait to the next test opportunity.

 

The plan:

Aikido - 2/wk: Train for Yellow Belt

The grading:

Aikido: A = 2, B = 1, else F

 

 

 

Momo (CON+1,WIS+2)

 

Momo may seems like she's lost in space sometimes, and she can't hit the broad side of a barn with her cannon, but she's wicked smart. Without Momo, Ryu and the gang wouldn't have gotten past two unicorn brothers, much less cross an ocean and confront the Goddess. It pays to have someone on your team who is handy with all things mechanical.

 

Momo is smart--she doesn't do stupid things like tank up on liquids before bed and screw up her next day by using the bathroom multiple times at night, sleeping in, and throwing the rest of her plans out the window after that. Lol. So I'm going to try to make my days more productive by sticking to my drink curfew on nights I'm not at Aikido--for those nights, I will only drink with dinner if it ends up happening after 9, as it usually does. This time, I'm going to add an anti-curfew that requires I be out of bed by 8. I need to be more productive and I need to take advantage of all the hours of the day available to me, even without the impetus of work. Normally I get up 9:00 - 9:30, so this really shouldn't be that painful to manage every day but Sunday, which I give myself as time to prioritize recovery as needed. And finally, as an "incentive" to stay closer to my macro target, I will require myself to stay under 2500 calories more often than not, i.e. 5 days on target, 2 allowed offroad eating days. This of course would float if my macros change, for now 2300 calories with 200 calories of clearance should be perfectly reasonable.  

 

The plan:

Calorie Ceiling: 5/wk: Stay beneath 2500 calories

Anti-curfew - 6/wk: Out of bed by 8:00 AM

Curfew - 5/wk: No Drinks after 8:30 PM

 

The grading:

Curfew: A = 5, B = 4, else F

Anti-curfew: A = 6, B = 5, C = 4, else F

Calorie Ceiling A = 5, B = 4, else F

 

Starting Stats FTW:

Weight:  lbs

Waist: "

Hips: "

Biceps(L/R): "/"

Forearm(L/R): "/"

Thighs(L/R): "/"

Calves(L/R): "/"

 

[Urgan]

WEEK 1 DEBRIEF!

Ryu - A+

Gains - 7.5/15

N. Mob - 3/3

K. Mob - 2/2

Gains, gains, gains...mobility. Habit-building is hard, I really had to struggle to get that neck mobility in there as directed.

Garr - A

Aikido - 2/2

Prepping for the exam...we are officially go. The nerves are real.

Momo - B

Curfew - 5/5

Anti-curfew - 5/6

C.C. - 5/5

Let's be real, this is going to be the hardest quest of the challenge. Me and sensible sleep hygiene--LOL.

 

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

 

WEEK 2 DEBRIEF!

Ryu - A+

Gains - 11/15

N. Mob - 4/3

K. Mob - 2/2

Gains happened, mobility happened by the skin of my teeth. I got a much-needed massage. This was not a good week for lifting, especially not the deadlift. I'm backing off from 207.5 to 205 to see if I can make progress, else deload 10% and ramp back up.

 

Garr - A

Aikido - 2/2

I took my Yellow Belt test and next week is promotions~

 

Momo - A

Curfew - 5/5

Anti-curfew - 6/6

C.C. - 5/5

 

  Cal/ Carb/ Fat / Protein

AVG: 2414 / 237 / 102 / 113

TGT:  2300 / 230 / 102 / 115

 

I am ridiculously proud of this week's macros. I am doing well on adhering to the curfews, but still I am plagued by waking up in the middle of the night due in large part to skin issues, but some of them are from having to use the bathroom. 

[Tanktimus the Encourager]

Following along again.

[shaar]

Oooohh testing.  Big'un.  EXCITING!!!

 

Here for the greatness~

[miss_marissa]

Are they planning on changing the 4 week format? Is this a thing that people don't like?

Sent from my D5803 using Tapatalk

[Urgan]

Are they planning on changing the 4 week format? Is this a thing that people don't like?

Sent from my D5803 using Tapatalk

 

It's being pondered...

[Urgan]

Following along again.

 

Good to have you aboard~

 

Oooohh testing.  Big'un.  EXCITING!!!

 

Here for the greatness~

 

I hope i can fulfill your expectations, lol. Fly or die...

[Sam Ashen]

Are they planning on changing the 4 week format? Is this a thing that people don't like?

 

 

 

It's being pondered...

 

I think it makes for a very busy schedule for everybody and I get the general impression a lot of people are now dealing with Week 8 Fatigue.

[Urgan]

This just in: I modified my Ryu goal a touch because 1.5xBW SQUAT F YEAH.

[Urgan]

Day 0 weigh-in comes in at 112.2lbs! Gains to 265 Wilks = 15. Nice. Tomorrow, the madness begins anew.

[raptron]

I'm here for the badassery.

[blkhole24601]

Settling myself in right here~

[Urgan]

I'm here for the badassery.

 

Settling myself in right here~

 

Let's do this thing!

[Kishi]

From IV to III, huh? Okay. I won't question it.

[Urgan]

From IV to III, huh? Okay. I won't question it.

 

I was wondering when someone would, lol. Pure caprice. These quick turnarounds between shorter challenges don't help get the creative juices flowing, either. 

[Mr_Willes]

Ever so slowly finding my way to all the new challenge threads...

[Urgan]

WEEK 1 DAY 1!

...seriously?

Ryu

Gains - 0/15

N. Mob - 0/3

K. Mob - 1/2

Rolled ma quads~ I believe even doing a little bit regularly will make a big difference.

Garr

Aikido - 1/2

Today was a review day for testing on next Wednesday. Sensei thinks I can handle it by the time it comes ‘round, so...fingers crossed I don’t choke.

Momo

Curfew - 0/5

Anti-curfew - 1/6

C.C. - 1/5 - 2183

Awake at 8, up at 8:30. No drowsing back asleep, I was completely alert. Aikido kept me up eating dinner until 9:30-ish, and because dinner included a cup of grits, a cup of water to go with it. Still didn’t get up in the night. Winning. Cleared the calorie ceiling for the day, spot on.

 

 

Ever so slowly finding my way to all the new challenge threads...

 

Welcome~

[starsapart]

I am actually going to try to follow this time, wheeeeeee!

[Urgan]

I am actually going to try to follow this time, wheeeeeee!

 

Quick recap of the last two challenges: I ate all the things, scratched out a 1.5xBW 1RM squat, still working on cutting straight after all this time, and I cannot be trusted to mobilize without an actual quest goal to do it. You're just in time for me to begin to change my programming~ 

[starsapart]

Quick recap of the last two challenges: I ate all the things, scratched out a 1.5xBW 1RM squat, still working on cutting straight after all this time, and I cannot be trusted to mobilize without an actual quest goal to do it. You're just in time for me to begin to change my programming~ 

 

I got some of the highlights with my random pop-ins, but I thank you - and look forward to the new adventures!

[Urgan]

I got some of the highlights with my random pop-ins, but I thank you - and look forward to the new adventures!

 

What's that phrase, iron sharpens iron? We shall go forth and kick Adversity's ass!

[Kishi]

The test difficulty is in your head. I'm not saying it's not going to be hard, but a lot of the difficulty comes from our sense of our expectations and how we approach it. You'll be fine. Trust your training and you'll be fine.

[Urgan]

The test difficulty is in your head. I'm not saying it's not going to be hard, but a lot of the difficulty comes from our sense of our expectations and how we approach it. You'll be fine. Trust your training and you'll be fine.

Sensei couldn't be more supportive. First-timer's nerves, lol.

[Mistr]

Sensei couldn't be more supportive. First-timer's nerves, lol.

 

Yep. The first test is mostly about not passing out when you go to bow in. If your sensei says you are ready, that means he has already seen you perform the techniques at the standard he wants. The test is about showing that to everyone else. Remembering Japanese names is the hardest part for most new people.

[Urgan]

Yep. The first test is mostly about not passing out when you go to bow in. If your sensei says you are ready, that means he has already seen you perform the techniques at the standard he wants. The test is about showing that to everyone else. Remembering Japanese names is the hardest part for most new people.

 

And they said watching anime wasn't good for anything, lol...