The 12 Labors of Ryuu1011

[Ryuu1011]

The 12 Labors of Ryuu1011

Challenge #8: December 4- 31, 2016

Inspired by the greatest trials by the most legendary hero in ancient Greek myth this challenge will mirror the 12 Labors of Hercules. For this challenge I am going to try and accomplish all 12 labors of Hercules (which took him 12 years) in just the 12th month of the year, by using my four main goals for this challenge, and then to breaking them down into manageable Mini-Boss Battles. Unlike the original Labors I will be working on all 12 labors at the same time and my labors will still count ever if I get some help 

 

 

There was only suppose to be 10 labors for Hercules penance, but two of his labors (Killing the Hydra and cleaning the Stables) didn't count because he got help with the hydra and then "technically" didn't clean the stables himself. If you've never read up on the 12 Labors they are pretty cool and you can get a great overview from just the Wikipedia article on them and for a little bit more in detail this is a great site even if it looks a little bit dated.
 

 

Hopefully I will be able to accomplish all 12 labors by the end of this challenge but because of the craziness of the winter holidays I'm ok with this being a two part challenge considering the original took 12 years, 8 weeks seems pretty good.  

Ultimate Challenge Goals 

1. Exercise Everyday in Someway

2. Continue my Handstand Training

3. Record my Nutrition in MFP and Track my Food Intake (to loose weight)

4. Meal Prep for the following and current week

The 12 Labors 

1. Slay the Nemean Lion: An lion who's fur can't be damaged by weapons, I'll need to use pure strength to beat it

    To Slay: [0/12] Complete 12 1h Strength Training Sessions 

2. Slay the Lernaean Hydra: A toxic multi-headed serpent who's heads multiply when cut off, I'll need to be flexible to avoid its poison breath and fangs

    To Slay: [0/9] Complete 9 1h Yoga Sessions (two 30min session, and four 15min sessions will count as 1)

3. Capture the Ceryneia Hind: A golden Deer who runs faster than an arrow in flight, I'll need to be exceeding fast to capture this beast

    To Capture: [0/8] Complete 8 30min+ Cardio Workouts (30min + Walking or getting 10,000 FB Steps will count 1/4 credit)

4. Capture the Erymathian Boar: A fearsome giant boar of unknown whereabouts, I'll need to an excellent tracker to find and capture it 

    To Capture: [0/26] Complete 26 diary entries for my MFP

5. Clean out the Augean Stables: A gross stable filled with divine, immortal cows that made a shitload of dung, I'll need to clean up my diet to purify it

    To Clean: [0/4] Loose 4lbs 

6. Slay the Stymphalian Birds: Man-eating, bronze beaked birds that can launch their metal feathers, I'll have to shoot them out of the air

    To Slay: [0/4] Complete 4 30min+ Target Archery Sessions

7. Capture the Cretan Bull: A slightly angrier than normal bull, I'll need to prepare diligently to capture it

    To Capture: [0/16] Pre-Prepare 16 Lunches 

8. Capture the Mares of Diomedes: Mad, man-eating horses that breath fire, I'll need to prepare and strategizes to capture them

    To Capture: [0/16] + [0/4] Pre-Prepare 16 Dinners and 4 New Meal Prep Recipes tried

9. Obtain the Belt of Hippolyta: A magical belt worn by the queen of the Amazons, I'll need to impress her if I want to get it

    To Obtain: [0/15s] 15 second strict handstand hold (w/ video)

10. Obtain the Cattle of Geryon: A huge herd of magnificent red cattle guarded by a multi-headed giant, I'll need to perceiver to get all of them back

    To Obtain: [0/16] + [0/4] 16 GB Handstand workouts + 4 long hold skill tests

11. Steal the Apples of the Hesperides:  Golden apples that granted immortality, guarded by a dragon and Atlas, holder of the world, I'll need to prepare to trick Atlas  

    To Steal: [0/4] Prepare 4 weeks worth of snacks (1 per week)

12. Capture Cerberus: The 3 headed dog and guardian of the underworld, I'll need some fat to entice him to come with me

    To Capture: [0/1.25%] Loose 1.25% BF

 

Starting Measurements

Weight = 164.2lbs 

FB% = 17.3%* according to spread sheet 14.8*

Abs/Waist: 33

Arms (unflex/flex): 12.5/13.5

Calf:13.5

Chest: 39.5

Hip: 34

Thigh (R/L): 22/22.5 

Butt: 39

Neck: 14

[Manarelle]

Nice use of mythology! I read the Labors of Atlas in high school, had forgotten most of them. I like how you integrate your own goals, that's really neat. Following for the mythology and impressive feats. 

[Jormungand]

This challenge concept is flat out badass, and I love the way you've got each labor planned out. I thought last month's boss battle was impressive, but I'm looking forward to these even more. Very cool.

[Ryuu1011]

1 hour ago, Manarelle said:

Nice use of mythology! I read the Labors of Atlas in high school, had forgotten most of them. I like how you integrate your own goals, that's really neat. Following for the mythology and impressive feats. 

Thanks! Glad to have you along

8 minutes ago, Jormungand said:

This challenge concept is flat out badass, and I love the way you've got each labor planned out. I thought last month's boss battle was impressive, but I'm looking forward to these even more. Very cool.

Thanks!! I worked pretty hard to get it all figured out and think it'll make for fun challenge

 

I Always come up with better challenges and goals here on NF You guys are like my muses ;D 

 

[Terah]

Love the theme! Good luck

[Myrik]

Wow that is one awesome theme.  Following

[Grayspeed]

I love your theme and quests! 

[Ryuu1011]

Pics and Updates for my meal prep for this week:

8 Servings of Salmon and Chicken Quinoa Salad (in mason jars) [I will eat 2 serving per day for lunches]

5 Servings of Chicken Satay in Peanut Butter Sause

5 Servings of Shrimp and Chicken Pad Thai

5 Servings of Cauliflower Risotto (side)

5 Servings of Kale and Carrot salad (side)

I actually tried 4 new recipes this past Sun (probably not the best for starting out meal prepping) but it wasn't awful to prep basically an entire weeks worth of lunches and dinner it took me about 5hours and thats from prep to completely cleaned up kitchen.

Snacks for the week

5 bags almonds and reduced sugar cranraisens 

5 bags baby carrots

5 bags pretzel chips

5 single servings of hummus

4 apples (would have been 5 but I already ate one lol)

[Ryuu1011]

Week 1: Day 1- December 5th, 2016

Ryuu shrugs off watchingTV and gets a ton done!

Got a ton done today it feels like: Went to the gym, practiced my handstands, did my Way of the Tank doodle stuff, prepped my snacks for the week, and I feel like a lot of it is because I decided to not turn on my TV untill I've gotten all of the things on my checklist checked off! I'm hoping to get in some yoga tonight too, and have an awesome first day to this challenge! 

 

GB Handstand Workout

 

Warm Up Wrist Stretches 4 rounds (Front, Back, Upside down, and Side) for 10r each

Long Hollow Wrist Walk 3x2r 
Long Hollow 1st knuckle walk 3x2r
Long Hollow Wrist Rock Walk 3x2r
Long Hollow Fingertip Walk 3x2r

Tripod 5x60s
Static Seated Shoulder Flexion with Weighted Bar 3x10s  
 

 

Strength Workout:

 

5min Warm Up and Handstand Practice 

Weighted Chin Up
Set: 4 Reps: 10/5/3/1 Lbs: 0/10/ 25/ 45
Set: 2 Reps: 5/ 5  Lbs: 60/ 45

Standing Barbell Press
Set: 3 Reps: 5/3/1 Lbs:  85/ 95/ 105
Set: 2 Reps: 4/6 Lbs: 120/ 105

Seated Cable Row *with rope handle*
Set: 3 Reps: 5/3/1 Lbs: 70/ 85/ 100
Set: 2 Reps: 6/8 Lbs: 140/ 120

Lateral Raise
Set: 3 Reps: 8/8/6 Lbs: 25/25/30

Hanging Leg Raise
Set: 3 Reps: 10/10/6 Lbs: n/a 

[otterbyte]

12 hours ago, Ryuu1011 said:

my meal prep for this week

Oh my gosh, this is amazing!  You should give lessons on this stuff. 

[Ryuu1011]

4 hours ago, otterbyte said:

Oh my gosh, this is amazing!  You should give lessons on this stuff. 

Thanks!!! It's not necessarily "hard" it just takes some time. There are lots of ways to meal prep and I just decided to be crazy this week and try some new recipes out (which you normally wouldn't do). But meal prepping does make tracking super easy and dinners a lot less stressful for the rest of the week.

 

If your just starting out a great thing to do is prep a ton of chicken that you can use for a lot of different things. And as far as snacks go, you'd be amazed at how much less you eat when you pre-portion your snacks. If you have any questions i'd be happy to share what I know, and Pinterest has a ton of meal preping ideas too!

[Ryuu1011]

Would you guys like me to go into more detail about my meals/ meal prepping? I could post progress pics or step by steps and links to the recipes that I'm using if that would be of interest to those following along

[otterbyte]

1 hour ago, Ryuu1011 said:

Would you guys like me to go into more detail about my meals/ meal prepping?

 

Yes! Camping out and following for the details.... 

[mediaguy99]

Your meal plan looks amazing.  What an idea--I usually just throw a bunch of things in a crock pot and hope it still tastes good on Thursday.  OR, hope that my family hasn't eaten ALL of it...

 

Really though, I'm here for the archery.  Bring it!  I've the hardest time getting to the outdoor range when it's so cold, or so dark after work.  Maybe an indoor session is in order?

[Ryuu1011]

13 minutes ago, mediaguy99 said:

Your meal plan looks amazing.  What an idea--I usually just throw a bunch of things in a crock pot and hope it still tastes good on Thursday.  OR, hope that my family hasn't eaten ALL of it...

 

Really though, I'm here for the archery.  Bring it!  I've the hardest time getting to the outdoor range when it's so cold, or so dark after work.  Maybe an indoor session is in order?

Yay archery! Yeah the cold can put a real damper on the fun of target shooting especially when your fingers get super cold >_< I don't even have an actual range just a small area out back of my apartment complex where I don't think anyone will call the cops for me shooting a target hahaha

[Snarkyfishguts]

Your challenge is super cool and I'm following!! also, I declare you Ruler of All Things Meal Prep. well.... we could probably have a snazzier title, but seriously...that is some awesome prepping.

[Ryuu1011]

Week 1: Day 2- December 6th, 2016

Ryuu continues a decent first week and tweaks his Resume

One of the nicest things about meal prepping is that it significantly helps with those dieting/ calorie restriction hunger pangs because you can tell yourself that you've got all the food that you can eat for the day prepared and at least for me it really helps in that mental battle not to go beyond what I made for myself. I also spent about two hours today tweaking my resume for a position that I want to apply for, I don't want to say anything yet but I'll let you guys know if I get it or not

 

Completed 1 hour of intermediate flexibility yoga and another GB Handstand Workout for the week. I also played around with some yoga flows after finding this Arm balancing PVP on the forums yesterday and found that I can do crow > tripod headstand > headstand > tripod headstand > crow (ish messed up a little on the ending crow) and that flows are WAAAY harder that I initially thought they would be and a great yoga + strength workout when incorporating with arm balances and holds

GB Handstand Workout

 

  Hide contents

Warm Up Wrist Stretches 4 rounds (Front, Back, Upside down, and Side) for 10r each

Long Hollow Wrist Walk 4x2s 
Long Hollow 1st knuckle walk 4x2s
Long Hollow Wrist Rock Walk 4x2s
Long Hollow Fingertip Walk 4x2s

Full Tripod Headstand 3x12s

Static Standing Shoulder Extension with weighted bar (5lbs) 3x 10s

[Ryuu1011]

Just got this sweet book from a friend at work for the holidays! Might just have to switch up my Doodle reading and give this book a try

[Ryuu1011]

Week 1: Day 3- December 7th, 2016

Today was a pretty great day. Started off by mailing my Doodle Secret Santa gift, then I got to go into work late because I'm doing a thing in my county where teachers go to local businesses once per month and today we went to the local Newspaper company. It was pretty awesome to be able to see how newspapers are made. 

 

Then since we got out early I was able to take a leisurely walk to the gym (about 25min each way) and then practice some of my hand balancing flows once I got there before my workout. I've posted some videos of me trying them over in the hand balancing PVP if you're interested in checking them out. Since I'm coming off of my 4 week flexibility challenge I've been focusing seeing if I've lost any strength before I try to add any new weight and I'm pretty happy to report that I've lost almost no strength while I worked on my flexibility, so now I can re-focus and go for those gains ;D 

 

Strength Workout:

  Hide contents

5min Warm Up and Hand balance Flow Practice 

Squats
Set: 3 Reps: 5/3/1 Lbs: 135/155/185
Set: 2 Reps: 5/ 7  Lbs: 215/200

Deadlift
Set: 3 Reps: 5/3/1 Lbs:  155/185/205
Set: 2 Reps: 6/8 Lbs: 245/225

Standing Calf Raise
Set: 3 Reps: 5/3/1 Lbs: 255/275/295
Set: 2 Reps: 4/6 Lbs: 355/315

Barbell Curls
Set: 3 Reps: 5/3/1 Lbs: 20/25/30
Set: 2 Reps: 5/4 Lbs: 40/35

 

Hammer Curls
Set: 3 Reps: 5/3/1 Lbs: 20/25/30
Set: 2 Reps: 5/4 Lbs: 40/35

[mediaguy99]

On 12/6/2016 at 0:58 PM, Ryuu1011 said:

Yay archery! Yeah the cold can put a real damper on the fun of target shooting especially when your fingers get super cold >_< I don't even have an actual range just a small area out back of my apartment complex where I don't think anyone will call the cops for me shooting a target hahaha

 

Wow, that's awesome.  I feel like I'd get arrested if I were to go out with my target to practice anywhere within two miles of my townhouse.  It's Boulder, after all.  

[Ryuu1011]

9 minutes ago, mediaguy99 said:

 

Wow, that's awesome.  I feel like I'd get arrested if I were to go out with my target to practice anywhere within two miles of my townhouse.  It's Boulder, after all.  

Yeah when I first started setting up my stuff and shooting I was super worried that I was going to get in trouble, but after having a few people stop by they all thought it was cool I loosed up a little and stopped worrying about it. I think it's all about the area that you find. The area near the back of my apt is just a ton of woods so their not much concern if I miss except loosing an arrow.

[Asa Pond]

This challenge is incredible and your meal prep skills are crazy. 

 

Teach me your ways, paidotribe.

[Ryuu1011]

23 hours ago, Asa Pond said:

This challenge is incredible and your meal prep skills are crazy. 

 

Teach me your ways, paidotribe.

Thanks! Its mostly just a matter of making a huge amount of food and then having a large amount of Tupperware to store everything in (having the same Tupperware helps a lot when trying to portion everything out). I'm hoping to write up a longer post this weekend about meal prepping when I prep for this coming up week   

[Ryuu1011]

Week 1: Day 4- Thurs December 8th, 2016

Today I had to help out the athletic department and got concessions duty for our school's first home basket ball game so I didn't get home till much later than normal, fortunately I stated strong and didn't eat any candy at the concessions booth (we're allowed one for free for working). I basically kept repeating our doodle mantra in my head "I am Ryuu1011, I am a Doodle, I am an Assassin. I am a good person. I am in control of my choices, and I CHOOSE to be healthy." So I owe @Tanktimus the Encourager for this victory

 

Then when I got home I decided to try out the custom class function of my yoga app for a double dose of hand balance practice. It took a while to tweak it so that it wasn't too intense but I think I got a decent 50min hand balancing workout with some important stretches in there too. (I ended up finishing my workout at like 9:15 lol) If you have the app and would like me to send you the custom class, just PM me your e-mail address and I'll send it right over  Otherwise a simplified version (transitional poses, child's pose, and down dogs taken out) of the workout is below: Feel free to ask if you have any questions and the actual class flows waaay better I just didn't want to type all the extra poses and flows out >__< 

 

I'm actually pretty happy with how well I did on all of the hand balances I don't normally practice. I'm probably most proud of my flying crow hold which I was able to hold for the whole 20s I have a long way to go on 8- angle post (like a long long way to go) I couldn't even figure out how to get into the dang thing >_< lol and I've got quite a ways to go on my side crows as well

 

 

Cat/ Cow 1:30
Chest Opener- R/L 0:20
Crow (working towards) Crane 2s 0:30 and 0:35 [bent arms vs straight arms]
Shoulder Opener R/L 0:30
Threading the Needle R/L 0:45
Half Tripod Headstand 0:30
Tripod Headstand 0:30
Dolphin Plank 0:35
Peacock 0:35
Standing Side Stretches + Standing forward bends 3:00
Side Crow R/L 0:20
Standing forward bend w/ yoga lock 0:30
Flying Crow R/L 0:20
Eight Angle pose 0:30
Upward Plank 0:15 x4
Half- Lotus R/L 0:30
Full - Lotus R/L 0:10
Pendant 0:10 (The lotus version not the tuck planche version)
Cobra 0:15
Cobra Twist R/L 0:10
Extended Puppy 0:45
Wheel 0:15
One Legged Wheel R/L 0:10
Plow 0:45
Fish 0:10
Adv Fish 0:20
Knees to Chest 0:15
Reclined Twist R/L 0:30
Reclined Goddess 0:30
Corpse pose with Meditation 0:30

 

[Tanktimus the Encourager]

Well done, that's great!