Moving!

Me and Versace are in the process of packing up our old house, and moving 300 miles North of here.   We just thought we would let anyone know not to expect a video or update for a few days.

For a quick update, Versace has survived level 43, so is now the 6th (tied) highest Ironman Rogue in the world.

See you soon!

Physical Challenge 7

Hey all!

Last night while I was sleeping, a house fly flew down my gaping mouth, and rubbed the inside of my throat with sandpaper.   Then as he left, he flew out my nose, and left the booger generator on max power, breaking it so it can't turn off.  At least that's what I theorize happened.  Science...bah!

I looked for that bastard fly all morning, but he must have escaped into the night.  I'll put up some flyers around town, and hopefully track down that malicious insect if it's the last thing I do!

On a more normal note, I have released Physical Challenge 7, that being the Diamond Push Up!  Along with the challenge, is a video update for Versace.  Check it out!  Don't forget to subscribe, like, favorite, and tell your friends!

A Diamond Push-up is similar to a regular Pushup except it's more expensive, and ranges in carat, colour, and clarity.   It is also different in that you bring your hands closer together while in the standard push up position, they call it the "diamond push up" because if your hands are touching, you make a diamond shape with your fingers and thumb.

This variety of push up stresses on your triceps more than a regular push up.

Physical Challenge 7:

Adjust your push up into a diamond push up so you can only do between 10 and 20 push ups before failing.

You can adjust the diamond push up the following ways to make it easier:

• lengthen the distance between your hands
• go on your knees

By doing those adjustments, you should be able to get in the range.

Do 10-20 diamond pushups 4 times, with only 2 minute breaks between sets.

On the Ironman Challenge front, Versace has reached an all new high of level 41, and is now the 7th highest Rogue in the world for this challenge.  She is listed on page 3 of 51 now on the general listings, behind about 2 million hunters it seems.

That's it for now.  Cross your fingers that Versace continues her ascent.  In the meantime, keep fit and keep gaming.

Versace

Physical Challenge #6 and Versace the third

Impatience is going to be the death of me.  I was rushing too much to get the next Versace up to the same level that I rushed through the Hills of Stranglethorn quests and ended up making a pull that proved too much for an Ironman Rogue.

I pulled King Bangalash on top of a hill, and he ended up pulling 2 elder tigers with him, and then spawned his two guards.  I made an attempt to run away, but vanish was down, and I got dazed.  Pretty soon I had 4 bleed dots on me, and I knew the gig was up.  Versace the next generation lays to rest in Northern Stranglethorn.

I've succeeded in getting another Versace up to level 29 quickly, and I'm going to take my time, and avoid Stranglethorn altogether now.  I think that area was revamped too much in cataclysm, with the developers expecting people to have great gear.  I'll be sticking to the Arathi Highlands and Hinterlands for this attempt.

Check out my latest video, it's very simple, and non-climactic, but I felt I should put one out, since it had been a couple days, and I had promised another Physical Challenge.

Physical Challenge #6 provides us the opportunity to work our Triceps, another important muscle in the push up.

We are doing Tricep Dips, another body weight exercise.  You're going to need at least one chair or stool, or you can use the stairs if you have to.  Two chairs is ideal, but the higher your feet are, the harder the exercise will be.

Tricep Dip:

Sit on a chair, with your feet straight out in front of you, on another chair or the floor.
Place your hands beside your butt on the chair, palm down.
Lift your butt of the chair, and scoot forward, so if you lower your body, your butt will not hit the chair.
Lower your body until your elbow makes a 90 degree angle behind you.
Lift your body back up.

Physical Challenge #6:

3 sets of Tricep Dips until fail, with 2 to 3 minute rests in between.

We have another 4 physical challenges focusing on Push ups, and then I will be working on some weight loss techniques.  This will also in turn help our body weight exercises, because the lighter we get, the easier these exercises will be!

In a real life note, I am getting ready to move to another community, so I will try my best to keep everything updated, but if you don't hear from me for 4 or 5 days in a row, be aware that I am SUPER busy trying to organize everything for my transfer.  I only expect a 2 day period without internet, but things may go sour.

In the meantime guys, keep fit and keep gaming.

Versace

Ironman Rogue Guide

Hello and welcome to Athletic Gamer!

I have finally clipped together and narrated a guide for playing an ironman Rogue.  Check out the wowironman challenge rules if you're not familiar with what the restrictions are.

This video took me much more time to produce then my usual ones.  Usually my videos consist of just hitting the record button, and blabbing while playing.  For this one, I made 4 clips, and narrated clip 2 and 3, adding some freeze shots and such.

I also made the leap to dedicate myself to this project of making videos and such.  I purchased the software I use to clip and convert videos, instead of using the demo version.  If anyone is interested, I use NCH Videopad and NCH Prism for editing, narrating and converting video, and it works great so far.

I have been using music from the talented Daniel Yount who namely produces the music for the Shadow of Israphael series by the Yogscast, who I take a lot of inspiration from.  Daniel Yount has made his music available on iTunes, and it is royalty free, which means you don't have to worry about copyright issues when using them with your videos.

I have been working to try to improve the quality of my videos, and I feel that my quality is improving.  I still want to work on making the videos more entertaining, and keeping a better camera position while playing.  I think the only way to continue improving is to simply continue producing content:  Practice makes perfect!

It has been a couple days since the last challenge, and if I have time, I will release a quick video for Physical Challenge 6.  We're going to be working on our push ups for another week or so, and then we'll spend some time and challenges working on improving our %body fat at around Physical Challenge 11 or so.

I hope you all enjoy the videos so far.  If you like what you see, help get my videos some views by hitting the Like / Favorite button, share it on social media sites, and subscribe to my Youtube channel!

Until next time, keep fit.  Keep gaming.

Versace

Versace: The Next Generation

You saw the end of Versace, the heroic Ironman Rogue.  At level 35 she met an untimely end at the hands of an idiot.  Can this really be the end?  or shall she be reborn... IN FLAME!

The new Versace is well on her way to giving the name the respect it deserves.  She has stepped in the shoes of the last great ironman Rogue, and even threw down some new tricks of her own.

Never have I felt more confident of this challenge.  There is just something about this new Versace that gives me the perfect balance of confidence and wisdom.  She has yet to come close to death in her journey to 20, and leveled up with a smooth constitution.

Join me in my newest adventure, as I continue keeping updates as the new Versace reaches new heights on her way from level 1 to 85 in the World of Warcraft Ironman Challenge!

Don't forget to click like, and subscribe to my youtube channel if you like what you see!

An update to the Physical Challenge #5 that I issued yesterday.   I was able to do 72 push ups today, which is a 7 push up increase, or 10% increase!!  That's huge, and not what I expected.  My end goal is to get to 100 push ups, but 72 is a great number to be at now.  Again, don't worry, I have no expectations that most of you will be at the same number I am, if your number seems abysmally low, keep in mind that at one point, I was there with you!

Keep it real.  Keep fit.  Keep gaming.

Versace

Hardcore Minecraft: The adventures of Grimble the frog

Ribbit everyone!

So while I recover from the horrible loss of Versace, I created a new hardcore minecraft world where I will be recording the entire adventure start to finish through video.

Grimble the frog was born blinking into a strange new world, covered in snow.  Grimble, being a tree frog, understood that he had to quickly leave this snowy area, or else he would be frozen, and die.  Luckily, around the corner, stood a beautiful jungle!  He began a search for a new home, and was eventually able to reach the top of a great jungle tree to build a platform for a home.

In this video, I also release Physical Challenge #5


Physical Challenge #5 means we have spent 10 days working on our pushups, therefor should be able to see a significant improvement already.  That means Physical Challenge #5 is the same as #1, find your maximum again.

I know I said it was physical challenge #6, but that's because I live way up north, and you've all heard that Eskimos have 20 different words for snow?  Well they only have one word for both the number 5 and 6, so sometimes I get confused...

And if you believe that, you shouldn't be on the internet.

Here's the video of the first night, where I brave the monsters to retrieve some coal:

Leave me some feedback telling me if you enjoyed this video vs. my WoW Ironman video updates.  If this is something you enjoy, I will continue.  My goal to start is to have 20 episodes per season, and regardless of the feedback, I will do an entire season.

Thanks everyone, and keep fit!  Keep gaming!

Versace

300k damage was enough...

Versace, the greatest hero I have ever known, received 300k damage from failing during a quest.  She has passed from the world of the living.  And as per the rules of the wowironman challenge, she has been deleted.

This happened this morning, as I sipped my freshly brewed coffee, and continued along in the Cape of Stranglethorn, I was doing a quest where you venture into Zul'Gurub and disrupt the raising of the undead troll priests.

At the end of the quest, you have to click a ladder as the boss is casting a bad looking spell.  That spell is not only bad looking, but it caused 300k damage when I failed to click the ladder in time.

Death is bitter, and still weighs heavily on my heart.

R.I.P. Versace.


This is not the end though!  Versace's soul will be reborn into another undead.  You may be able to destroy her already fetid body, but her soul is invincible.

Videos on the ironman challenge will resume once the new Versace hits similar levels.  In the meantime, physical challenges will still be coming out every couple days.  I will be doing some minecraft videos, and other videos of games that I enjoy while the new Versace emerges blinking into the World of Warcraft.

Time to take the rest of the day off in shame.

Keep it real folks.  Keep fit, and keep gaming.

Versace.

Level 28, and Physical Challenge #4: The Lower Ellitot Potato-jam

Hello everybody!

Versace, my ironman challenge Rogue has made it to level 28 and is still leveling up in the Hillsbrad Foothills!  In my latest video I give some tips for questing in the area, and give out my 4th Physical Challenge!

So to start everything off, I had the Cat Carrier (Black Tabby) drop for me AGAIN!  It dropped on a previous Versace who died a couple weeks ago.  If you end up getting this drop (world drop at 0.01% drop rate), unless you don't care about the gold, don't use it!  It's a rare pet that easily goes for 3000 gold.  I posted mine for 2995g for 48h, and when I logged in next, it was sold!  This pet can probably go for even more, considering in the new expansion, there are the non-combat pet arena, so people are scrambling to grab the rarest pets they can.  Not to mention that in the lull between patches, people are already geared to the teeth, and start spending their extra cash on pets and other cosmetics.

I may put out a post or two about how to get a ton of gold in World of Warcraft, I took this up as a hobby 6 months ago, and made 300k gold on my main in the period of about 2 months.  If you guys are interested, I will share my gold making secrets!

You can tell by my video that I have the "singing sunflower" pet now, and that's from a chain of quests north of the Sludge Fields.  Definitely hit this area up.  There are no quests that lead you to this area, so you just have to know about it.  There are 5 quests in this chain where you play a version of "Plants Vs. Zombies".  There is no risk of dying, and they each give you a decent chunk of experience, followed by a non-combat pet which will sing for you on occasion.  He doesn't give you any tasty seeds to roast though, the bastard!

Stay vigilant throughout the quest "A Fighting Chance" where you throw hearts at Hill Fawns.  They turn into big black angry deer that explode after a certain amount of time.  If you are in range of the explosion, it will deal a significant amount of damage, and this is how my last Versace died.  Just let them do their own thing, and explode on their own time.

To make matters worse, a large elite Yeti named Yetimus the Yeti Lord patrols the area.  There is a quest to kill him, but it easily takes 5 people to kill him, and chances are some people will still die, so don't even try him on your own, and it's against the rules to get a group to kill him.

Enough of that, onto Physical Challenge #4!

We're doing what I called the "Lower Elliot Potato-jam", a position named after Sir E. Potato-jam.  The position is the standard pushup position with the following adjustments:

• Hands shoulder width apart, instead of wider than shoulder-width
• Hands / wrists parallel with your body.
• Hands in a fist, knuckles on the ground:  the ground should be in contact with your first two knuckles only, with your last two almost touching the ground.
• Lower your body so you're at the bottom-most part of a pushup.
• Stay there!
• Do 10 minutes of this position throughout an entire day, depending on your ability.  So do 1 minute, 10 times, or 20 seconds of it, 30 times.  You have the entire day to do it, so keep track until you have 10 minutes total in that position.

Okay you got me, it's a plank (modified slightly), but there's so much stigma around "planking".  Just don't go around town doing this in weird places, and no one will make fun of you.

We use our hands in fists, because this is easier on your wrists while in this static position.  If you take any martial arts that uses punching, you'll be familiar with this position, as this is how you should be punching something, to minimize injuries to your wrist, and to have the maximum impact possible.

If you haven't done it yet, click follow on this blog, or create a youtube account (if you don't have one yet) and click subscribe on my channel.  And please, leave comments!!!! I love feedback and I want to be a little more interactive with the community.

That's it for today!  Keep it real!  Keep fit!  Keep gaming!

Versace

Physical Challenge #3 + Versace reaches level 26!!!

Hello everyone!

Welcome again to Athletic Gamer where we try to balance fitness and gaming.  We're still working on our push ups, and doing challenges that help us get our max push ups even higher.

On another note, Versace is still going strong in her World of Warcraft ironman challenge.  For a recap of the rules:

• only white or grey gear, 
• no enchants or gems, 
• no specs, talent points or glyphs, 
• no professions except for First Aid.
• no food buffs or other player buffs
• no groups or assistance from other players
• no dungeons or battlegrounds
• no guilds except for level 1 guilds created for the Ironman Challenge
• NO DEATHS

So if you die, game over.

Here is the latest video following Versace's journey through this challenge.  The video takes place in the Sludge Fields of Hillsbrad Foothills.

Physical Challenge #3:

Physical Challenge 3 is quite straight forward, and we are working our core a little bit more for this one.  Do three sets of:

50% of your max, and on your last push up, hold yourself at the bottom of your push up (so a couple inches off the ground) for 20 seconds.

Do this three times, and you're done!

That's it for now guys!  Keep fit.  Keep gaming.

Versace

Push up form demonstrated by Berard the Moon-Crazed

I wanted to do a demonstration for proper Push Up form just so everyone knows exactly how to do it.

Fortunately, Berard the Moon-Crazed, a rare spawn in Silverpine Forest, nobly volunteered to demonstrate for me.  Unfortunately though, he doesn't listen too well, and his form is horrible...

All joking aside, here is some tips to make sure you have proper push up form:

1.  Get on your hands and knees.
2.  Place your hands flat on the ground, slightly wider than shoulder width.
3.  Now move your feet back, up on your toes
4.  Ensure your back and legs are straight.
5.  Lift your head up and look ahead of you.
6.  Lower yourself, to a couple inches above the ground, then back up.
7.  Profit.

Thanks for watching the video!

Please subscribe and like the video, tell your friends, I'm working hard at improving my video quality, and they're going to keep coming!

Along with this video, I released a Tera Online video talking about my Warrior Versace, and my initial impressions of Tera Online.  I talk about the importance of taking a rest day when your muscles are sore, to help them rebuild.  Check it out!

Keep fit.  Keep gaming.

Versace

Physical Challenge 2 Recap, and Quality Control

Hello everybody and welcome to Athletic Gamer, where we try to balance fitness and gaming.

To make a long story short:  This attempt at a lengthy video was a bit of a clusterf**k (sorry kids).  I was not at all satisfied with the quality of the video, and I'm still working on getting my account verified by Youtube so I can upload longer videos, instead of splitting it the way I did.

I decided to do a quick video recapping the 2nd Physical Challenge, and to show off that Versace hit level 19!  Check it out.

Keep it real.  Keep fit.  Keep gaming.

Versace