Ryuu1011 Travels Across Hyrule

[Ryuu1011]

Ryuu1011 Travels Across Hyrule

My Flexibility and Travel Adventures

(Now with an added Boss Battle!)

Challenge #7- October 30th - November 26th 

I made a lot of great progress towards my goals during the last challenge and my hope is that I can continue the momentum during this challenge during some tough Boss Battles coming up in a couple of weeks. This challenge is going to be crazy busy for me because of all the traveling that I'm going to be doing plus all of the things I have to do for my job before Thanksgiving.Therefore I've tried to make these goals possible no matter where I am which should allow me to prevail during this challenge.   

Goal One: Improve my Flexibility = Complete 3 1h+ Yoga sessions per week  ____/12 

And Gymnastic Bodies Fundamentals 6 days per week  ____/24

Link has to be very flexible to accomplish all his tasks and save Hyrule both mental and physically, so I'm going to be primarily focusing on that for this challenge.

I've been getting better about stretching and my flexibility over that past challenge but for this one I'm really focusing on it and trying to become significantly more flexible. I also began doing a quick 20min yoga session in the morning and at night that have been very beneficial. If you're curious I currently use the Yoga Studio App on my phone and it was probably one of the best purchases I've ever made. I'd love to add some more metrics to the goal, but I'm not entirely sure on how to measure my flexibility by myself but some of my pose goals for this are:

Heels on the Flood during Downward Dog- I'm about 1, 1 1/2 inches off right now

Elbow and forearm on the ground in Lizard- I'm super close to this and can tap it to the ground currently, but would like to get to a comfortable hold. 

Improve distance down the wall in full Standing Back-bend- I need to get a baseline for this measurement 

Full head to knees compression in Seated and Standing Pike- I can already tap my head to my kness but I'd like to be able to hold it there comfortably

Lower chest closer to floor in Pancake/ Seated Straddle Split- Probably one of my worst, I just can't seem to get my torso lower on my own without having someone push.

[Place Holder for more]

Goal Two: Gain a Heart Container = Loose about 4lbs and 1.25%BF

Since he is running around and fighting constantly I'm betting Link is ripped, but also has super functional muscles, just like my ideal body.   

Start: 164.6lbs Goal: 160lbs

Start: 17.3% BF Goal: >16%

I made great headway on getting back into the body (and clothes) that I wanted and I want to continue towards that this challenge. I'm going to continue to use my Scale as well as the body composition sheet to get a closer to accurate picture of my body fat. As well as body measurements and pre/post pictures. It is going to be exceptionally challenging because of all the travel that I am going to do but I am committed to making healthy choices and continuing to track my nutrition on MFP (as much as possible) while I'm away from home. 

Starting Measurements 

Abs/Waist: 32
Arms (unflex/flex): 12.5/13.5 
Calf:14
Chest: 40.5
Hip: 33
Shoulders: 46.5
Thigh (R/L): 21.5/ 21.5 
Butt: 39.25
Neck: 14

Goal Three: Improve my Handstand= Practice my Hand balancing* 5x per Week ____/20  

Ultimate goal= Solid 10 sec (not moving) Handstand w/ Video Proof ____/10

Link seems to be the perfect master of his own body and what better way that to show that off than with a handstand. (I'm sure he could do one if he tried ;P )

I've been trying to get a solid handstand for most of the time that I've been on the forums and I think I'm now in a position to finally make this goal. The last time I specifically worked towards my handstand goals I'm pretty sure I over worked my wrists by trying to practice everyday, while I did make significant progress during that time it also made me take a long break from hand balancing while my wrist recovered. So to alleviate something like that happening again I'm going to only try to train for 5 days and also allow for specific wrist training days to count too. I've also created a Hand Balancing playlist on my Yoga app and would like to try and complete that at least 1-3 x a week to "cross" train other hand balances for my handstand. And because I really need to get over and start posting progress videos this is only going to count if I post the progress video here (yay for you guys ;D ) 

Goal Four: Sleep like Link= Raise my average sleep time per week by about 15min per week _____/60

Link has got this one down to an Art. I'm pretty sure he starts every game sleeping or napping. 

My Fitbit tracks my sleep time pretty well and I figure it about time that I start using that bank of data to improve the amount of sleep I get each week. I definitely want to try and improve by about one hour over the course of the challenge but I know it will be especially hard because of all of the travel time and jet lag. 

Current Weekly Sleep Time Average ~ 6h 30min                          Goal: ~ 7h 30min

Current Bed Time ~ 11:00-11:30pm                                                 Goal: 9:30-10:00pm

 

Mini Goals:

Cardio (walk, jog, sprints, or bike) 2x per week ____/ 8

Plan (possibly purchase) my next strength training program, [NF, GMB, or GB?] _____/ 1

Research  what it takes to become a personal trainer, compile questions and ask 2 of the Personal trainers at my gym for feedback ____/2 

 

Boss Battle: Friday Nov. 4th - Sunday Nov. 13th 

Levart Twin Fang, Dragon of the Sky 150HP (135/150HP)

I will be traveling a lot during this challenge and to see if I can over come I decided to make this into a Boss Battle. I will be headed to Denver, Colorado For 2 days and 2 nights on Nov. 4th for a Professional Development Conference and then after being home for only two days (Nov. 7th and 8th) heading to Madrid, Spain for 3 days and 3 nights on the 9th of November though Sunday Nov. 13th. Don't get me wrong I'm super excited  But I know that working towards my goals while I'm traveling will be super tricky. 

 

Levart has the power to derail and confuse all but the most prepared of adventures and will be a hard foe to vanquish. To aid me in my quest I have devised a list of task to accomplish before and during my travels to give me the best chance of fighting him. 

Battle Prep-

Tell my bank I'm going to be traveling (-5hp)

Try and try get Euro's ahead of time from bank (-5hp)

Prep Snacks to avoid unhealthy in flight snacks (-5hp)

Prepare my travel journal (-5hp)

Purchase a comfy travel neck pillow (-5hp)

Purchase ear plugs and an eye mask (-5hp)  [GF already had ear plugs so I just got an eye mask]

Purchase a travel yoga mat (-10hp) [Purchased a pack capable of carrying my normal yoga mat instead]

During the Fight-

Do yoga in Denver Co. (-10hp) [ ][ ]

Go on a jog in Denver, Co (-10hp) [ ][ ]

Attend a class at the Awaken Gym in Denver Co. (-20hp) [ ][ ]

Choose the healthy option/ Eat 1/2 portion (-10) [ ][ ][ ][ ][ ][ ]

Go on a jog in Madrid, Spain (-10hp) [ ][ ]

Do yoga in Madrid, Spain (-10hp) [ ][ ][ ]

Get 10,000 Steps (-10hp) [ ][ ][ ][ ][ ][ ][ ][ ][ ]

Go Salsa Dancing/take a Salsa Class in Madrid, Spain (-20hp) [ ]

 

Boss Loot

I'm not sure I'll have the extra $$ to get some loot specifically for beating the boss but rather I'll use my loot to help me beat him classes and such while out traveling, choosing a healthy meal option (which was more expensive) ex...

[Ryuu1011]

Space Saver

[Myrik]

Love the theme, really like the idea of a boss fight, for a time you know is going to be rough. 

[Terah]

Following

And I love how you put together the boss battle

[Ryuu1011]

13 hours ago, Myrik said:

Love the theme, really like the idea of a boss fight, for a time you know is going to be rough. 

Thanks! I've loved the idea of a boss battle since they made the articles about them here, here, and here. Then I just took my own spin on it.

2 hours ago, Terah said:

Following

And I love how you put together the boss battle

Yay! Thank you, I figured a boss battle was exactly what I needed to push through and rock out these goals. (Now lets just hope I can beat him) XD hahaha

[Ryuu1011]

I posted this over in the Assassin's Den but I'd like to get your guy's advice too. So I'm in a bit of a purchasing pickle. I just got Steve's e-mail about NF's new Rings and Handstands superpack combined program for $150 that is only good till this Friday 10/28/16.  I'm primarily interested in getting stronger and better at handstands/ handbalancing, so the rings course would purely be a bonus. The other option that I have been looking at recently is the first of the three handstand series course from Gymnastic Bodies which is $100 (the other 2 are $100 each as well). I have no doubt that the NF course will be of decent quality but I have a feeling the course from Gymnastic Bodies may be a little stronger (because it was made by the guy to trains Olympic gymnast, Coach Sommer) and more what I'm interested in. I'm also not a beginner and have been training my handstand for almost a solid year at this point. 

 

That said, I love Nerd Fitness and really would like to purchase something to show my support for Steve and the NF whole crew (Wanted to get some apparel but the shop is still down) and getting the rings class would be a nice bonuses. So I'm struggling and unsure of which to get and I figured getting some thoughts from other Nerds may help me make a decision. Thanks for any advice. 

[Terah]

I would go for the gymnastic body stuff, and buy a nf shirt if you want to support steve

[Shello]

I've been waiting for the NF store to open back up again too.  I'd love some new NF gear.   But that being said, I would still go with the GB gear as it's cheaper and more in line with what you need.  Then just keep an eye out for the NF to store to open up.  I was thinking it would coincide with camp but still nothing.  

 

and following... 

[Ryuu1011]

25 minutes ago, Terah said:

I would go for the gymnastic body stuff, and buy a nf shirt if you want to support steve

5 minutes ago, LadyShello said:

I've been waiting for the NF store to open back up again too.  I'd love some new NF gear.   But that being said, I would still go with the GB gear as it's cheaper and more in line with what you need.  Then just keep an eye out for the NF to store to open up.  I was thinking it would coincide with camp but still nothing.  

 

and following... 

Ok I'm glad you guys agree. I was thinking along the same lines especially since I don't really have $150 to drop right this second and I was thinking of getting the handstand class as the reward after I get back from my trip. (and my next paycheck has dropped lol) Thanks for the advice!   

 

[Jormungand]

This is an awesome challenge theme. I never noticed it until you mentioned it, but Link does seem to sleep a lot. There's even a game called Link's Awakening. How did I miss this until now?

 

Legend of Zelda conspiracies aside, these are some really solid goals. I struggled with my own quests last challenge due to traveling for a couple weeks. My advice would just be to focus on all of the factors that you can control and you should come out just fine. It looks like you're already got some solid plans laid out for your boss battle.

 

I was in Denver last spring for a conference myself, and it is a beautiful city to run through. If you get a chance, I would highly recommend stopping at Voodoo Doughnut on Colfax Avenue for some awesome travel food. They have a huge selection of doughnuts and each one I tried was delicious.

[Myrik]

7 hours ago, Ryuu1011 said:

Thanks! I've loved the idea of a boss battle since they made the articles about them here, here, and here. Then I just took my own spin on it.

He also mentions it a lot in his book, if you haven't read it I would recommend it.  I was looking at those courses and from what I can see most of the handstand stuff is freely available on the web.  The ring stuff is what has me intrigued because I want to do a strict muscle up on rings.

[Ryuu1011]

1 hour ago, Myrik said:

He also mentions it a lot in his book, if you haven't read it I would recommend it.  I was looking at those courses and from what I can see most of the handstand stuff is freely available on the web.  The ring stuff is what has me intrigued because I want to do a strict muscle up on rings.

I have been thinking about getting it for a while and will probably get it soon just haven't stopped by a bookstore in a while lol. Do you by chance happen to remember where abouts on the web it is? I've looked around quite a bit on the web and while have found a few free handstand tutorials I haven't found a lot that are of better that "practice...a lot" lol

[Myrik]

3 minutes ago, Ryuu1011 said:

I have been thinking about getting it for a while and will probably get it soon just haven't stopped by a bookstore in a while lol. Do you by chance happen to remember where abouts on the web it is? I've looked around quite a bit on the web and while have found a few free handstand tutorials I haven't found a lot that are of better that "practice...a lot" lol

I know the one I'm using is here on NF also Breaking muscle has a good one, that give other exercises to help improve your handstand.  

[Ryuu1011]

Ok so I decide to go for it and get the NF Handstand and Ring super pack, (*shakes fist* curse you impending deadlines!), and just put it on my credit card (better for online purchases anyway >_<) since it has a 60-day return window if I don't like it while the other only has 6- day return window. Plus it'll be there when I come back for it at a future date and this way I can just start using my rings a lot more and have a new workout program when I'm done focusing on flexibility. 

 

As such, look forward to lengthy descriptions and reviews of how well I incorporated handstands and rings into this challenge! I'm looking forward to delving into these new programs.  

[Grayspeed]

Ha, I did the same thing! Lifetime access means I can (and will) use the handstand section later on, in fact I definitely will now because I paid for it 

[Ryuu1011]

So, unfortunately, what I guessed was accurate. I've spent most of today checking out the rings and handstand package and I honestly think I'm too advanced for it >__< According to the program I can already do the level 20 (max) stuff for handstands [basically 2 sets of a 5 sec free standing hold] and level 18-19 for handstand pushups, [HSPU on paralettes]. Even on the rings course I'm between level 16-19 in the muscle up course (the last 3 levels are just various assisted muscle up positions with lv 20 being a full un-kipping ring muscle up) and maxed level (11) on the L-Sit course [2 sets of 15 second L-sit hold on rings]. The only program where I'm fairly low would be the front leaver course and even there I'm between levels 14-16. :/ 

 

Don't get me wrong it is a very high quality program, (great graphics, good videos, easily laid out, and easy to follow) and I would highly recommend it to anyone who is novice-intermediate categories, especially if you'd never considered handstands or doing work on the rings before. It is just a little lacking in the very advanced categories, so I may end up returning it and checking out the gymnastic bodies course instead.

 

 

[Ryuu1011]

Decided to just throw my money around and go ahead an buy handstand series one and fundamentals one to see how they go. The programs that they have set up are quite cool and honestly very similar to the NF ones only without actually calling them levels, only on GB they have a smiley (like  :/ smileys ) system that lets you say if the workout they have scheduled for you was too easy, too hard, or just right. Then they use that data to populate your workout's load for the next week. 

 

I feel like I've hired a badass mercenary and am excited to give their handstand program a go. I'm pretty use to scheduling my own workouts at this point so it'll be interesting to see how I do just following exactly along with what the program says to do. Since the program recommends consistency rather than intensity I'm going to be using their handstand workouts to count as my 5x per week hand balancing practice for my goal too. And the fundamentals course looks to be daily mobility and stretching trying to find and fix imbalances so I've switched my flexibility goals to reflect completing each day's session.

[jmk]

Following fellow waffle!

 

[Grandkai_NL]

Following again. Gonna post my new challenge today.

 

[Ryuu1011]

18 hours ago, jmk said:

Following fellow waffle!

 

Yay!

13 hours ago, Grandkai_NL said:

Following again. Gonna post my new challenge today.

 

Awesome I'll look out for it so I can follow you back

[Ryuu1011]

Week 0 Review October 24th -October 30th

TL;DR Ryuu takes the term "rest week" way to seriously >_< 

This week wasn't the best for me in terms of moving towards my goals, I probably took one big step backwards instead of setting myself up really do well in this next coming up challenge. From getting hardly any sleep on Monday, to binge eating candy on Tuesday this week was just BAD. Unfortunately, I think my mindset was one of the biggest reasons to blame, since I basically kept telling my self that this week was my "rest" week and that it didn't count. Probably shouldn't have done that because it just made me so much less likely to make my goals priorities. But that is all changing now since the challenge is on and it's time to go! 

Goal One: Improve my Flexibility = Complete 3 1h+ Yoga sessions per week  ____/12 

And Gymnastic Bodies Fundamentals 6 days per week  ____/24

While I did do at least a little about 20min or so of yoga each day, all of the insanity of this past week and trying to prepare for this coming up week plus all of the things I had to do after school left me with getting only 1 1h+ yoga session done this week.

Goal Two: Gain a Heart Container = Loose about 4lbs and 1.25%BF

Start: 164.6lbs Goal: 160lbs

Start: 17.3% BF Goal: >16%

My nutrition was pretty poor this week, I kept having super bad sugar cravings and giving into them :/ I need to focus especially since diet will be much more demanding since my workout schedule isn't going to be as rigorous for this challenge. 

Goal Three: Improve my Handstand= Practice my Hand balancing* 5x per Week ____/20  

Ultimate goal= Solid 10 sec (not moving) Handstand w/ Video Proof ____/10

Got actually a decent amount of practice on my handstands this week and am really excited to start GB's handstand training program too.

Goal Four: Sleep like Link= Raise my average sleep time per week by about 15min per week _____/60

This was definitely not something I was focusing on during Week 0. I had some horrible bedtimes this week (Monday 2:30am and Firday 12:45am) One of the main troubles is that my GF and I have to be up at different times and she normally wants to say up later (because she can sleep in about 2 h later) and therefore I end up staying up too :/ hopefully we can come to a good compromise by the end of the challenge. 

Start Weekly Sleep Time Average (WSTA) ~ 6h 30min    Current WSTA: 6h 34min                      Goal: ~ 7h 30min

Start Bed Time ~ 11:00-11:30pm                                       Current Bed Time: 10:45+              Goal: 9:30-10:00pm

 

 

Boss Battle: Levart Twin Fang, Dragon of the Sky 150HP (115/150HP)

Thankfully one of the few things I did make some good progress on was against Levart. I managed to check off almost all of my Battle prep goals and I'll hopefully be able to check of my last two tomorrow if I'm able to make it to my bank.

Battle Prep-

Tell my bank I'm going to be traveling (-5hp)

Try and try get Euro's ahead of time from bank (-5hp)

Prep Snacks to avoid unhealthy in flight snacks (-5hp) Purchased some Quest Bars and made some trail mix for the trip this week 

Prepare my travel journal (-5hp) Got it and I'll post some pics of it later for you guys

Purchase a comfy travel neck pillow (-5hp)

Purchase ear plugs and an eye mask (-5hp)  [GF already had ear plugs so I just got an eye mask]

Purchase a travel yoga mat (-10hp) [Purchased a pack capable of carrying my normal yoga mat instead]

During the Fight-

Do yoga in Denver Co. (-10hp) [ ][ ]

Go on a jog in Denver, Co (-10hp) [ ][ ]

Attend a class at the Awaken Gym in Denver Co. (-20hp) [ ][ ]

Choose the healthy option/ Eat 1/2 portion (-10) [ ][ ][ ][ ][ ][ ]

Go on a jog in Madrid, Spain (-10hp) [ ][ ]

Do yoga in Madrid, Spain (-10hp) [ ][ ][ ]

Get 10,000 Steps (-10hp) [ ][ ][ ][ ][ ][ ][ ][ ][ ]

Go Salsa Dancing/take a Salsa Class in Madrid, Spain (-20hp) [ ]

[Grandkai_NL]

Rough start, you'll get it upcoming week. 

 

oh btw my challenge is up: 

 

[Terah]

5 hours ago, Ryuu1011 said:

since the challenge is on and it's time to go! 

Good luck!

[tenaciousglee]

Following along with the intent of actually staying active in other people's threads this time!

 

Also, thanks for the comments on the Handstands & Rings courses.  I was sorely tempted to jump in and buy them, but I kept telling myself that they don't really apply to my current goals.  It was just the urgency of "If you don't get it this week, no one knows when it will be available again!".  I hadn't even considered the leveling aspect and it being potentially too elementary for me.

 

Now try and shake off your rest week and attack Week 1!

[Ryuu1011]

9 hours ago, Grandkai_NL said:

Rough start, you'll get it upcoming week. 

 

oh btw my challenge is up: 

 

Awesome, Already Following

7 hours ago, Terah said:

Good luck!

Thanks! 

3 hours ago, tenaciousglee said:

Following along with the intent of actually staying active in other people's threads this time!

 

Also, thanks for the comments on the Handstands & Rings courses.  I was sorely tempted to jump in and buy them, but I kept telling myself that they don't really apply to my current goals.  It was just the urgency of "If you don't get it this week, no one knows when it will be available again!".  I hadn't even considered the leveling aspect and it being potentially too elementary for me.

 

Now try and shake off your rest week and attack Week 1!

Yay! I'll probably not be around as much this challenge because of all the RL stuff but I'm going to try and update regularly.

Yeah I figured there had to be at least a few people who were in the same boat as me and unsure to buy or not. Oh yeah "buy it now or maybe never" model they were using really worked for making me whip out my wallet >_< hahaha but I'm really happy that I switched over to the GB program since the NF one was basically maxing out at a 5s strict hold and the GB program talks about 120s+ hold.