Suzaqu is Unbreakable!

[Suzaqu]

[She's] alive, Damnit! Females are strong as hell!

 

 

Yep, it's Kimmy Schmidt time! With the new series coming out this month, I had no option, and I'm loving it  

 

 

So last I had a good challenge, but having so many guests definitely hurt my progress. I also had several times when I just didn't want to do my quests, I think because they were too long. So this month I'm going for short tasks, done often. Simplify and hit it hard!

 

I do once again have people visiting in the 2nd week, so I'm modifying the goals for that week.

 

(Iowa, not Indiana, but it works )

Quest 1: Crow pose again! 5 times a week I'm going to do a minimum of 5 crows a day, just to get into the groove of it. My goal is a 5 second hold. My current crow video is in the spoiler from the end of last challenge.

Spoiler

 

 

Quest 2: Pistol squats! Again a repeat from last round, which I'll be modifying a bit. At least 5 times a week I'll do assisted pistols and at least 15 reps of modified shrimp squats per leg. Hopefully I'll get to a intermediate shrimp squat and a full range of motion on my assisted pistol.

 

Quest 3: Stretching/splits. 5 times a week I'll do stretches with the goal of improving my splits (side and middle) and my squat depth/flexibility. My current plan is:

• Sit in deep squat - 1min
• Frog - 1 min
• Hamstring stretch  - 30 sec each
• Pyramid - 30 sec each
• L/R splits - 30 sec each
• Middle splits - 30 sec

 

Quest 4: Pushups. Like last round, I want to work on my diamond pushups. 5 times a week I'll work on those, doing as many reps as possible, with the goal of doing at least 4 pushups on the floor.

 

Quest 5: Abs. A few days ago I started a daily ab challenge from Bloglates because I'm missing my regular ab work. So everyday I want to keep up with it. 

 

I'm super excited for this challenge, and I'm digging my theme, so bring it on April!

 

 

Tracking

Quest 1: 0/5, 0/3, 0/5, 0/5

Quest 2: 0/5, 0/3, 0/5, 0/5

Quest 3: 0/5, 0/3, 0/5, 0/5

Quest 4: 0/5, 0/3, 0/5, 0/5

Quest 5: 0/7, 0/5, 0/7, 0/7

 

 

[Mad Hatter]

Great challenge! I'm unofficially working on splits too this challenge.

 

[Suzaqu]

6 hours ago, Mad Hatter said:

Great challenge! I'm unofficially working on splits too this challenge.

 

Thanks! I love yours, food is wonderful  This is my 3rd splits challenge and I'm loving it!

[Suzaqu]

Challenge time! 

 

 

This Sunday start is confusing me, so I'm taking it slow. I did my ab work and that motivated me enough to do some time on my stationary bike too, so yay fitness! It also helps that I have a really good audiobook right now, perfect level of interesting that you want to pay attention, but simple enough it's okay to miss a few details if you get distracted.

 

 

I'll get some starting measurements for stretching tomorrow and really get rolling on the other goals then.

 

My Nerdiversary falls during this challenge (April 13th) so I took a page from SuzyQlou's book and changed my profile pic. 

 

Tracking

Quest 1: 0/5, 0/3, 0/5, 0/5

Quest 2: 0/5, 0/3, 0/5, 0/5

Quest 3: 0/5, 0/3, 0/5, 0/5

Quest 4: 0/5, 0/3, 0/5, 0/5

Quest 5: 1/7, 0/5, 0/7, 0/7

 

 

 

[tenaciousglee]

Good luck on your challenge! I'm working on pistols, too.  And I dig your quest tracking mechanism!  I may be employing that for my own challenge.

 

 

[Suzaqu]

21 hours ago, tenaciousglee said:

Good luck on your challenge! I'm working on pistols, too.  And I dig your quest tracking mechanism!  I may be employing that for my own challenge.

 

 

Thanks! Those pistols are harddddd! I'll have to check out your challenge!

 

I stole my mechanism from someone I can't remember who, I saw it before I joined and was stalking people's threads to figure out what this was all about. I like google docs when I'm tracking numbers like calories etc, but this is nice and compact for # of times a week goals, which seem to be what I do a lot of.

[Suzaqu]

Week 1 Days 2-3

 

Oops, forgot to update yesterday, but I got all my goals in Monday and Tuesday! My abs are loving this daily work, I forgot how good it feels to work my core. Plus, having a sore core is reminding me to engage it during crow. I think I am to the point where half the time I can get a 3 second hold, so I think the 5 second goal may actually happen!

 

The mini challenge is helping me up my numbers. I did some extra leg raises and squats beyond my goals and I'm really glad they are syncing up so nicely!

 

I tested my flexibility after stretching on Monday, and I definitely lost some over the off week and from not doing as much work on it in the previous challenge. But I usually regain flexibility faster than I get it initially, so hopefully it will be back soon.

 

Starting numbers: 

Left and Right splits: 2.5"

Middle splits: 14" (I was at 11 at the end of the last challenge  )

 

In life news, I got a good lead on a job! It's through a staffing agency, so it's contract work, which I've never done before. But it's in the industry(-ish) I want to switch into, so I can try it out, and there's a good chance of being hired after, since that's how this company hires. We just have to see if the company approves me, fingers crossed! 

 

Tracking

Quest 1: 2/5, 0/3, 0/5, 0/5

Quest 2: 2/5, 0/3, 0/5, 0/5

Quest 3: 2/5, 0/3, 0/5, 0/5

Quest 4: 2/5, 0/3, 0/5, 0/5

Quest 5: 3/7, 0/5, 0/7, 0/7

[suzyQlou]

Great news on the job opportunity!   Hope it works out.

[ixaera]

OMG! I love Kimmy!

[Mad Hatter]

Ooh good luck with the job opportunity!

[Suzaqu]

On April 6, 2016 at 10:08 PM, suzyQlou said:

Great news on the job opportunity!   Hope it works out.

 

10 hours ago, Mad Hatter said:

Ooh good luck with the job opportunity!

Thank you! I'm hoping it works out, I haven't heard anything back yet, so I'm starting to get a little nervous. But I did allow myself a break on applying this week, so I'm just trying to enjoy the time off and not stress out, which is hard! 

 

 

On April 6, 2016 at 10:28 AM, ixaera said:

OMG! I love Kimmy!

IKR! I'm so excited for the new season! It's just soooooo good, approaching perfection good.

[Suzaqu]

Week 1, Days 3 and 4

 

It's the week of the car repair! I spent all of Wednesday talking to the dealer and getting shuttled back and forth, only to find out the repairs are half the value of the car, whooo! So I didn't have much time to workout, but I got everything in except the splits stretching work.

 

But, I can make that up on Saturday, so the week can still be a win.

 

Today I took the other car in and they didn't charge me for the oil change as "a welcome to the state" gift, so that was a small win! Tomorrow will be getting a second opinion on the first car, so I'm hoping I can do all of my goals tomorrow, we'll see!

 

My shrimp squats are getting a lot better, I'm doing my sets several times a day to get this mini done! Yay training!

 

Tracking

Quest 1: 4/5, 0/3, 0/5, 0/5

Quest 2: 4/5, 0/3, 0/5, 0/5

Quest 3: 3/5, 0/3, 0/5, 0/5

Quest 4: 4/5, 0/3, 0/5, 0/5

Quest 5: 5/7, 0/5, 0/7, 0/7

[tenaciousglee]

Nice job on the shrimp squats and good luck with the car stuff!

[Suzaqu]

Week 1 Day 6 (Sunday start is throwing off my counting, oops)

 

The car has been dealt with! Still a painful amount of money, but significantly less than the dealer wanted to charge. Low enough that we could justify repair instead of buying a new car, so hopefully we get another 1-2 years out of the car. Tomorrow, we go to the DMV to get our new licenses, what a fun week

 

After my 4 hours at the mechanic, I did get in all of my challenge work. The front of both my knees under the knee cap is twinging a bit, but I think that's because I'm hyper extending when I come up from my squats, so I need to pay attention to that in the future. It's definitely a problem I've had before, even just from walking, so I'm not too worried. 

 

I just got to keep up the ab work this weekend and do stretching tomorrow and the week will be good!

 

Tracking

Quest 1: 5/5, 0/3, 0/5, 0/5

Quest 2: 5/5, 0/3, 0/5, 0/5

Quest 3: 4/5, 0/3, 0/5, 0/5

Quest 4: 5/5, 0/3, 0/5, 0/5

Quest 5: 6/7, 0/5, 0/7, 0/7

 

 

[Suzaqu]

I'm back! I'm working on getting caught up on everyone's threads. I think I'm caught up on the mini, but haven't attempted individual threads yet. For the mini, I'm going to be a berserker again, it worked in well with my challenge goals.

 

I did get my stretching and abs in on Saturday and worked on everything today (Wednesday), so I'm back on track for my modified goals for the week. I realize I miscounted for quest 5, that should be 4 times this week, not 5. Getting back into it, especially the squats and pushups hurt, but my numbers didn't suffer, so I don't think the time off hurt me too badly. My knees definitely appreciated the break and they are good as new, and I think my flexibility even improved.

 

Random car news, just to complete the saga: My mechanic sent a thank you note and included a lottery ticket just for fun. And I won $50! Not quite enough to pay for the car,  but definitely fun. 

 

Tracking

Quest 1: 5/5, 1/3, 0/5, 0/5

Quest 2: 5/5, 1/3, 0/5, 0/5

Quest 3: 5/5, 1/3, 0/5, 0/5

Quest 4: 5/5, 1/3, 0/5, 0/5

Quest 5: 7/7, 1/4, 0/7, 0/7

[Grayspeed]

Welcome back! That's awesome about the lottery ticket, all I get when I take my car to the garage is disappointing machine coffee.. 

[Suzaqu]

 

Welcome back! That's awesome about the lottery ticket, all I get when I take my car to the garage is disappointing machine coffee.. 

Hahah, there was that too. I always bring my own coffee  Love your new profile picture!

 

I thought I was back, I don't know what happened...but I did watch all of the 2nd season of Kimmy Schmidt! I can happily say it's as good as the first, and Outside Bones is a wonderful song. Highly recommend!

 

I did do all my fitness stuff last week and got a good start this week already. I feel kind of stalled in my pushups, I think I'm going to have to change something up. I'm also hitting a wall on the squats, I think it's probably because of my ankle flexibility. I can't go any lower comfortably.  I found a few articles with some stretches I'm going to try out.

 

Tracking

Quest 1: 5/5, 3/3, 1/5, 0/5

Quest 2: 5/5, 3/3, 1/5, 0/5

Quest 3: 5/5, 3/3, 1/5, 0/5

Quest 4: 5/5, 3/3, 1/5, 0/5

Quest 5: 7/7, 5/5, 2/7, 0/7

[ixaera]

Challenge is looking great so far!

[Grayspeed]

Looks like you're kicking this challenge's ass, keep up the good work!

[Suzaqu]

Thanks! I'm trying to kick ass, I think I'm in a plateau (that happens with strength stuff, right?), maybe it's time to ramp some stuff up. I got all my stuff done today and was able to put up some good numbers for the mini. I haven't started any of the ankle mobility stuff, but hopefully that will happen tomorrow.

 

I was doing some reading on self-control and discovered the concept of moderators vs abstainers and it really made sense for me. Moderators are people who can easily have just one square of chocolate a day and be satisfied (chocolate is just an example), but would be terrified by the idea of not having it available. Abstainers are the people who don't want to have chocolate in the house, because once they eat it, the whole bar is gone.

 

I am totally an abstainer! I thought I was just bad at moderation and self-control, but the articles I read really reframed it as just a different set of skills, not a failure at moderation. I know that if there's stuff I don't want to eat, I just don't keep it in the house, and I thought this was the lowest form of self control, that I couldn't handle being around it. But now I see it's a skill to be able to ignore it if it's not there! I think that's why my alcohol goals were so hard, it was a moderation structure (1 per day) instead of abstaining. So I think I need to restructure and try again next round with some sort of "no alcohol on weekdays" goal or similar yes/no structure, instead of a small bit each day. So yay for random reading!

 

Tracking

Quest 1: 5/5, 3/3, 2/5, 0/5

Quest 2: 5/5, 3/3, 2/5, 0/5

Quest 3: 5/5, 3/3, 2/5, 0/5

Quest 4: 5/5, 3/3, 2/5, 0/5

Quest 5: 7/7, 5/5, 3/7, 0/7

 

 

[Suzaqu]

Happy Wednesday!

 

I tried something new! Instead of my pistols to my coffee table, I tried them in a corner with two ledges I could hold onto for balance. I had my heel up on my math dictionary (*cough*NERD*cough*) which is about 1.5 inches and was able to work on my negatives (3 each side), and even do a positive (is that what's it called? I got back up) on each side. Yay! It feels good to be making progress. I think I need to drop down a level on my pushups to keep the good vibes going!

 

Tracking

Crow:         5/5, 3/3, 3/5, 0/5

Pushups:   5/5, 3/3, 3/5, 0/5

Squats:      5/5, 3/3, 3/5, 0/5

Stretching: 5/5, 3/3, 3/5, 0/5

Abs:           7/7, 5/5, 4/7, 0/7

[suzyQlou]

Phew.  I'm an abstainer, too.  Just never knew the name for it.  It's nice to hear I have skills!

[Suzaqu]

 

Phew.  I'm an abstainer, too.  Just never knew the name for it.  It's nice to hear I have skills!

Yay! We are awesome! (Moderators are awesome too!)

 

Oooowwwwww, I felt the squats from yesterday. This jump up was good for me, I like that I'm actually doing the full ROM, I feel like it's more effective training. I'm not sure if it is, but we'll see over the next few challenges.

 

The past week or so, I've been trying to get a walk in every day (between 1.5 and 3 miles). I'm loving finally getting to listen to my podcasts (inspired by ixaera, for some reason I always call you "Ixi" in my head, I hope that's okay ). The sunshine is wonderful and I'm getting my achievemint points, gotta make that money! But when I get back I'm definitely not in the mood to then do my squats, pushups etc, so I need to work on order and timing. Currently I'm doing both in the afternoon, I think one of them needs to become a morning activity.

 

Tracking

Crow:         5/5, 3/3, 4/5, 0/5

Pushups:   5/5, 3/3, 4/5, 0/5

Squats:      5/5, 3/3, 4/5, 0/5

Stretching: 5/5, 3/3, 4/5, 0/5

Abs:           7/7, 5/5, 5/7, 0/7

[Suzaqu]

Success! Separating the walk from the challenge tasks worked great. I got the pushups etc done in the morning, and did my standard afternoon walk. It also made the whole process feel shorter, which is nice. I should get my ab sessions in this weekend and then be able to power though the final week! I'm thinking I want to switch things up next challenge and do some different things other than straight bodyweight reps goals.

 

I think I'm also going to do some crow research this weekend, I'm stalled at about 2-3 seconds in the air. I'm starting to be able to actually adjust my balance while I'm on my hands, but I need more practice and want to see if there are any tricks out there.

 

Tracking

Crow:         5/5, 3/3, 5/5, 0/5

Pushups:   5/5, 3/3, 5/5, 0/5

Squats:      5/5, 3/3, 5/5, 0/5

Stretching: 5/5, 3/3, 5/5, 0/5

Abs:           7/7, 5/5, 6/7, 0/7

[Suzaqu]

Not much to report, I had a successful weekend. I was so close on Monday to not doing my stretching, the only thing that got me to do it was I didn't want to do my final measurements over the weekend. The mini is all that's keeping me going on the other stuff, the abs, squats, and pushups all contribute to my numbers there, so I'm getting them in everyday, even if I don't want to.  I'm definitely losing motivation, but the fact that it's the final week is keeping me going. 

 

I haven't done my crow research yet, but I think I will do that tomorrow. I'm ready to move on to some new goals, or at least some new goal variations. I definitely want to keep up the stretching work over zero week, last time I lost so much flexibility by not doing it at all last round, not this time!

 

Tracking

Crow:         5/5, 3/3, 5/5, 2/5

Pushups:   5/5, 3/3, 5/5, 2/5

Squats:      5/5, 3/3, 5/5, 2/5

Stretching: 5/5, 3/3, 5/5, 2/5

Abs:           7/7, 5/5, 7/7, 3/7