Jormungand: XII - Zer0 (New-U)

[Jormungand]

There is only one thing worse than respawning, and that is not respawning.

 

Things sort of fell apart in the last half of my last challenge, so I am dusting myself off and re-lacing my boots for another round. I am sticking with Zer0 from Borderlands 2 as my inspiration, and, like last time, I will be pulling a quest from each of his skill trees. More focus on running and bodyweight training. But, most importantly, just more focus on a whole.

 

 

First Quest: B0re - Not much to this one. If I want to get better at OCRs, I need to get better at running. The best way to do that is just to grind it out and do more of it. I want to start getting more acclimated to the cold and dark, so I am aiming for three morning runs before work each week. No excuses. Just get up, get out, and get after it.

 

Second Quest: Tw0 Fang - I did a push-up quest last challenge, and I liked the idea of it, but I put them off too long and ended up doing most of them in the last week of the challenge. This time, I'm modifying the goal. I will do 30 push-ups and 30 burpees every day of the challenge. That way, if I do absolutely nothing else that day, I will still have that under my belt.

 

Third Quest: Be Like Water - I started working on some yoga poses last time, and I found an article on various poses to work on to develop for OCR racers. I liked what I read, so I will practice these poses three times a week. There are six areas that the article focuses on: balance, core strength, upper body strength, breath control, endurance, and flexibility.

 

I am looking forward to this challenge as a way to end this year strong and swing right into the new one.

 

Striking from nowhere / Killing with accuracy / This is who I am.

[FatboySuave]

Awesome challenge! 30 pushups and burpees a day sounds intense. Following of course! And I love the nod to Bruce (whether intentional or not)!

[Jormungand]

4 hours ago, EternalJourno said:

Awesome challenge! 30 pushups and burpees a day sounds intense. Following of course! And I love the nod to Bruce (whether intentional or not)!

 

Thanks, man. Definitely been trying to channel the Dragon lately.

[Ryuu1011]

Looks like some strong goals for your challenge, easy to understand but challenging enough to really push you to your limits. Definitely following along! 30 burpees and 30 pull ups per day is pretty intense do you have a game plan in terms of when you'll do them?/ Are they all to be done in one set or can you do them anytime throughout the day? And in terms of your runs are you planning to go three times for the whole challenge or three times each week? 

 

[Jormungand]

On 12/2/2016 at 7:49 AM, Ryuu1011 said:

Looks like some strong goals for your challenge, easy to understand but challenging enough to really push you to your limits. Definitely following along! 30 burpees and 30 pull ups per day is pretty intense do you have a game plan in terms of when you'll do them?/ Are they all to be done in one set or can you do them anytime throughout the day? And in terms of your runs are you planning to go three times for the whole challenge or three times each week? 

 

 

Ideally, I'd like to do the burpees and push-ups in one set each. Though if I need to break them up, I can. In the back of my mind, I guess if I happen to miss a day, I can make up for it later, but I'd hate to try to make up the difference in the burpees. And as for the runs, good catch - I'd meant to say that I would go out running three times per week. I fixed that in the original post. Thanks. 

[Jormungand]

Well, so far so good. I'm staying on track so far for this challenge. I've been to the fitness center twice this week before work. I may take a day off of running tomorrow and do some running on Saturday. Not technically before work, but I'll count it. I'm staying on top of my push-ups and burpees. I was a little worried that I might get too sore from them doing them day-in and day-out, but I haven't felt any of that yet. Mostly, I get them done in the mornings, and then I don't have to worry about them the rest of the day (it also helps me keep from forgetting them). I did my first round of yoga for the challenge yesterday evening while watching some Futurama. I did the following poses:

• Tree
• Boat
• Plank
• Lotus
• Chair
• Forward Fold

 

Boat Pose is nothing to sneeze at. So, starting out, I had to hold the back of my knees with my hands. With that one, I kept my focus on keeping my back straight. I will get there. It will just take some work.

 

Hope everyone is having a good start to their challenge.

 

[FatboySuave]

Awesome start to the challenge! I friggin' LOVE Futurama. I watch every episode on Netflix like twice a year, lol.

Why does a moon rock taste better than an Earth rock? Because it's a little meteor!

[Jormungand]

On 12/9/2016 at 0:11 PM, EternalJourno said:

Awesome start to the challenge! I friggin' LOVE Futurama. I watch every episode on Netflix like twice a year, lol.

 

Thanks, man. It is one of those shows that is much smarter than some people might realize. The writers for that show had humor and intelligence in spades. I love it.

[Jormungand]

Whew, this thread is getting musty. I really need to do a better job of keeping it updated.

 

Week 1.57 Recap:

 

For B0re, I've been keeping pretty active in the mornings, but even on the days that I don't go in to the fitness center before work, I've been going afterwards, and I haven't strung too many "rest" days together. My weekly running mileage isn't breaking any records, but it's been steady. I have been doing the Nerd Fitness Winter is Coming workout here lately, and I freaking love it. The first day I did it, it kicked my ass, and I could barely move the following day. The ally and I definitely spent a day on the couch that Saturday. It was well deserved though.

 

For Tw0 Fang, since the challenge started, I've managed to get in my 30 push-ups and burpees each day except for one day (the aforementioned Saturday). I thought it would be harder to keep up, but I've found it's not as bad as all that. Just got to stick with it.

 

For Be Like Water, it's unfortunately not been much in the yoga department so far. I've only worked on my yoga one day for this whole challenge. I'm not really sure what it is, but I just never seem to get around to it. I'm not making excuses though, because I know the reason I don't do it is wholly to do with the person in my mirror. Doing yoga on a regular basis is still new to me. I think that I'd like it to become a regular part of my fitness regimen like running and strength training have become. I think honestly it just comes down to lack of structure. I know that our fitness center offers yoga classes, so maybe this is something I can look into for the future.

 

So, yeah - more good than bad. Something that's come up recently with the ally and I has had to do with her sugar intake. We've been analyzing a lot of our (mostly processed) sugar intake, and it is definitely something that could be adjusted. I know that this is a difficult time of year to be making these decisions, but I'm definitely trying to be more mindful of how much I am consuming in order to help her with her own goals. I know I can only do so much for her, but she's making a conscious effort to eat better, and I can't be the one to hinder that. Any suggestions on tackling the sugar beast are welcome and appreciated.

 

Keep killing it, everyone.

 

[Ryuu1011]

15 hours ago, Jormungand said:

Any suggestions on tackling the sugar beast are welcome and appreciated.

I know that you can track sugar on MyFitnessPal but if you're like me this time of the year is when you get a lot of hand made sweets and those are almost impossible to track since you've no idea how they were made or what is actually in them. 

[Jormungand]

3 hours ago, Ryuu1011 said:

I know that you can track sugar on MyFitnessPal but if you're like me this time of the year is when you get a lot of hand made sweets and those are almost impossible to track since you've no idea how they were made or what is actually in them. 

 

Exactly. I feel like I've done fairly well considering the amount of food and goods floating around the library this time of year. I need to do a better job of keeping it out of the house. While I know that it's impossible to outrun your fork, I do take some solace if I eat some treats after a workout. All part of the balance I guess.

[Jormungand]

Week 2 Recap

 

Last week was more of the same: succeeding where I'd been succeeding but still falling short in the other areas.

 

For B0re, I'm still chugging along, mostly with the GoT workout. Last week was a mix of mostly morning workouts with at least one after work. I'm feeling pretty good about this, though I want to push myself to include more outdoor running in spite of the wintry conditions.

 

For Tw0 Fang, I hit the push-ups and burpees every day.

 

For Be Like Water, I completely fell off. Nothing new really to say that I haven't already mentioned.

 

On a positive note, (and I'm not quite sure) but I think I went all week last week without having any alcohol. I don't remember what I did for dinner each night, but I'm pretty sure I went without it all week. I've got some bombers of my favorite beer in the fridge, but I want to save them, and I'm waiting on the right opportunity to enjoy them. I even went to a liquor store on Saturday to browse, but nothing jumped out at me, so I just saved my money for later. I really wanted some, too, because now is the time of year that all of the stouts and porters are in full swing, which are my favorite kinds of beer. I wanted to try all of the ones that I saw at the store, but since all of them sounded good, none of them ended up standing out.

 

We're halfway through this challenge, so here's to finding success in the midst of struggle.

 

[Jormungand]

Week 3 Recap

 

I took some days off work last week and traveled a bit on Thursday and Friday, so my routine was thrown off somewhat. I also had quite a bit of holiday food, but I feel I'm doing better compared to how I would have approached Holiday Meals from Christmas Past, so that's something

 

For B0re, I was a little less successful with working out. I only went to the fitness center once for a workout.

 

For Tw0 Fang, I hit the push-ups and burpees every day except for Thursday. The ally and I were celebrating our anniversary that day so we were traveling pretty much all day.

 

For Be Like Water, more of the same.

 

Last week is over, so I'm only looking to this last week of the challenge. The ally got a new Fitbit for Christmas, so we're hoping that will keep her on track with moving forward. We've also had some discussions on what her goals are and what we can both be doing to help her accomplish them. I hope you all are keeping your own goals in your crosshairs.

 

[Jormungand]

Four Week Challenge Recap

 

I don't know what I will be doing tomorrow, so I thought I would go ahead and recap this challenge now. I hate to judge the whole challenge based off of the final week (which was fairly humdrum), so I won't. I liked my goals for the most part, and I remained fairly active throughout. I said that I wanted to end the year on a high note, and while it's not all all fanfare and angels singing, I stayed consistent throughout the holidays. I never lost any ground, so I am looking forward to building off of that.

 

For B0re, I was mostly successful throughout the challenge. While it wasn't always running, I spent a lot of mornings out doing something, usually the Winter is Coming workouts. I did another yesterday, and I still love the moves for that one.

 

For Tw0 Fang, I hit a snag right after Christmas, and I didn't get back around to finishing up this goal during the final week. However, I stayed consistent for the majority of the challenge, so I won't complain there. I'd like to think that doing the push-ups and burpees on a mostly daily basis would yield a host of benefits. I've also been looking into this exercise for the future.

 

For Be Like Water, not much more to say on this one. It never got off the ground.

 

I don't really know about 2017 yet. I've been putting a lot of thought into the challenges and what my goals are moving forward. I am very intrigued by some of the reports coming out from Nerd Fitness HQ about their new offerings. I will be taking next week to see what has and has not worked and making adjustments from there. As always, thanks to everyone who took part in this challenge. I wish you all the best in these coming times.

 

For now, I will leave you with this:

 

This does not end here / I have much further to go / Before I fall dead.

 

[FatboySuave]

On 12/30/2016 at 10:39 AM, Jormungand said:

This does not end here / I have much further to go / Before I fall dead.

 

I've been absent from the forums for a bit too long, but I'm so glad to see that you're still sticking with it and keep updating! As far as controlling the sweet tooth, I'm at a loss, lol. Honestly, I feel like I do better if I allow myself a few sweets here and there. I feel like I'm getting better at moderating. What I used to do is come home from work and open my cabinet where I had some "healthy-ish" snacks. I had a lower-carb nut mix (cashews, almonds and pistachios) that was a bit expensive and usually I had some blueberries in the fridge. I'd take a few moments to sort of power down from work and just stand in my kitchen and snack a bit. And I found that after I did that, the cravings were mostly appeased and I'd be good for the rest of the evening. At work I might still crave something, but knowing that I had a quick snack at home was incentive not to snack at work. Dark chocolate covered almonds do it for me too. Now I'm on to apples. 

As for the yoga, I totally get what you mean about wanting to fit it into your routine. I'm the same way but don't always get around to it. That in turns makes me wonder if it's something that I actually want or if I just like the idea of it. Do you do any sort of cool down stretches after you work out? I can't remember if you're a member of the Academy, but they recommend cooling down after every workout. They even have a routine that I could share with you. I've gotten into the habit of doing it and a lot of the moves are either yoga moves or similar to yoga, so it's sort of like a mini-yoga session. Although I don't do any concentrated yoga sessions like I'd want to, the cool down routine gives me many of the benefits. It's a nice quiet moment to focus. I usually put on some chill music (these days it's the Last Samurai soundtrack, which I find to be equally relaxing and motivational). 

Looking forward to the next challenge! Feel free to share a link here so I can find it easier, lol.