The treasure hunt sale has returned! Back and better than ever before!
If you’ve not participated in the treasure hunt sale before, here’s how it works: as you browse through the site, you will occasionally see a treasure chest pop up! These chests contain discount codes for all kind of stuff in The Armory, good until the end of the month! However, unlike previous years, there’s MORE than one kind of chest to find! Check it out:
The standard chest is our old friend from previous hunts. It will contain modest coupons for most items in the store, decent savings, but nothing too MAJOR. All coupons can be combined, however, so it’s worth clicking this chest every time you see it so you can couple it with more powerful chest rewards!
The ice chest is a guardian of knowledge. It’s rarer than the standard chest, but it contains steeper discounts, particularly for eBooks like RPG Fitness or Boss Battles. Again, these coupons can be combined with other chests, so you might get a standard chest and an ice chest coupon for the eBook you’ve had your eye on (if you’re lucky!)
The fire chest holds hot deals on physical BaGC items! T-shirts, shaker bottles, and headbands are all the purview of this chest. You might get a discount on an item itself, or maybe free shipping! Again, you can combo the coupons, so keep trying your luck until you get what you’re looking for!
Finally, we have the GOLD chest. These chests are SUPER rare, but they offer savings on your entire CART. These chests could double or triple the value of your other chests, depending on what you’re looking to get, so CLICK THIS ONE WHENEVER YOU SEE IT!
As I mentioned above, the chest coupons are good for the entire month of December, but they’ll be USELESS come January 1st, so get them while the getting is good, and write down every coupon you get! If you’re super nice, you can also share coupon codes with your friends (or you can just let them find the codes themselves. =P)
While we focus a lot on workouts and fitness here on Be a Game Character, there is more to becoming a larger-than-life, super human individual than just physical fitness. We want to focus on total personal development, not just physical development. That’s why our character breakdowns feature skill tutorials and personality examinations as well! Now, wanting to improve yourself is great, but I find that one of the main obstacles people come up against in any pursuit is overcoming procrastination, and remaining productive. So, for today, I thought I’d share one of my favorite little hacks to remain productive and on task, even though I tend to be a terrible procrastinator and time manager.
A checklist, Dan? Seriously? That’s the big productivity secret? FEAR NOT, DEAR READER! I have not deceived you with anything so mundane as a simple “checklist!”
What you have here, is a Dopamine Chain.
The Dopamine Chain
Without going into too much detail, dopamine is a chemical that your brain produces that makes you happy. It’s not the only chemical that does this, but it is one you encounter quite frequently. When you get a notification on social media that someone’s liked your photo? Dopamine. Feeling good after an exercise session? Dopamine. Enjoying some music you’re listening to? Dopamine.
However, dopamine also triggers when you complete a task. And this is where the secret of the dopamine chain checklist comes in.
Now, a lot of people set up checklists to maintain their schedules/goals/what-have-you throughout the day. However, just having a checklist is not a guarantee for success. In fact, people very frequently only put super important things on their daily checklists, and then finish their day with NOTHING checked off (at least, that’s what I used to do.) Usually, the super important things to get done are also the most difficult or stressful, which makes you want to do them the least. I mean, if it was something easy that you wanted to do, you probably wouldn’t even need a checklist to get it done, right?
What we’re going to do with our dopamine chain checklist, is get rid of that silly “do the hardest thing first” notion. I’m going to talk about how I make my own daily check lists, and how I chain together success to finish strong. Now, your goals and tasks may be different from mine, but all proper dopamine chains have a few specific, key elements. Let’s get into them now!
Easy, Simple, Quick Tasks
On my list you see “Order from Century,” “Marinate Chicken,” and several other pretty simple, straight-forward tasks. Now, the tasks you may set up for yourself are probably different from mine, but some of them should be the same in that they are easy, simple, and quick. It’s important that the task is ALL THREE of these, not just one or two. Ideally, you want something that you can bang out with a sleepy brain and ten minutes of your time. This can be something like “make bed,” “shower and shave,” or “take trash can out to the curb.”
These are the kickers, your “starter tasks.” Completing these and then crossing/checking them off your list (VERY IMPORTANT!) are the beginning of your chain. Completing a task triggers a little bit of dopamine, and checking it off your list does the same. When I woke up this morning, I knew I wanted to get the Century order in before the business day started for them, so that was the first thing I did after I had my coffee. From there I went on to quickly bang out the Studio Space Ad and Yoga inquiry that you see as well, because I was already on my computer, and they were quick, painless tasks.
BOOM! Three things done, right off the bat, and I barely needed to think about it. That gave me the gumption to move into the next phase of the dopamine chain…
Medium-Hard Tasks with Little Setup
The next thing I tackled was, oddly enough, this blog post! This is a task that requires a good amount of brainpower, time, and effort. However, what it didn’t require was significant setup. I just logged into wordpress, got my workspace set up, put on the Halo soundtrack and started typing. Time from deciding to do the task to actually doing it was maaaaaaybe thirty seconds. Now, this post will probably take around an hour to write, edit, and disseminate throughout social media and email lists. After I’m done with that, I’ll check it off my list, and move on to the next crucial element, and the only element that doesn’t appear on the list…
Small, Quick Rewards
After finishing easy, simple, quick tasks, then you move onto a medium-hard task with little setup. However, after you finish a medium-hard task of any kind, then it’s time to give yourself a reward. It’s worth noting, this reward should be relatively quick and easy. For myself, I’m going to go have a quick snack, and maybe check on the bird feeders because it’s been a few days since I refilled them, and I’d like a breath of fresh air. Once I finish up with my break, I go back to my list and look at my options. I’ll probably do another easy, simple, quick task or two to get my motor going again, and then move on to something like…
Medium-Hard Tasks with Setup
For me, on my list today, this includes recording BaGC videos, prepping the Holiday Treasure Hunt sale, and the Reistance Glove Prototype. These are tasks where I need to leave my house, get together special equipment, or have an involved setup process of some kind. I find that trying to start my day with one of these can be a productivity killer, but once you’ve got that dopamine chain going in full swing, you’ll have enough momentum to get started. Once you bang one of these out, it’s good to go back to a small, quick reward before tasking yourself with something else (unless you feel really fired up from your success, which happens sometimes.)
Putting it All Together
The bottom line in this whole process is, start small, then get bigger as you go. I’m not a fan of the “do the bad stuff first” mindset, because I find that I, personally, work much better on momentum. Usually the second half of my day is way more productive than the first half, for this reason (at least until I hit mental burn-out point.) Start your day with simple, easy, quick things, and the feeling of being productive will become a self-sustaining cycle. Also, taking frequent short reward breaks can be a big help as well, especially if they physically remove yourself from your workspace.
I hope the Dopamine Chain can help you as much as it’s helped me. For those of us who aren’t masochistic enough to jump into the deep end first every day, this is a nice way to rev up your engines and have a superhumanly productive time! We’re not all Type A personalities, but we can all be Type A producers!
Live boldly, change the world, and continue to be awesome!
Boxing is an old, old martial art, much older than some know. The earliest recorded instance of boxing comes from the 3rd millennium, BCE, in Ancient Sumeria. It’s also been featured in ancient Greek and Roman records, from as early as the 2nd millennium, BCE. Other cultures, of course, have developed their own striking arts, but boxing is one of the western world’s most prominent contributions to martial arts culture. There’s a certain purity to just straight-up punching people in the face.
Dick Grayson is shown multiple times to be quite proficient in ‘the sweet science,’ and while he does quite a pick of karate-style kicking as well, I think focusing on the purity of boxing to start would be an excellent step for anyone trying to become Nightwing.
Besides developing extremely effective striking and dodging skills, boxing is also great because its very nature encourages “live practice;” true freeform, contact-based sparring. The sad fact is, you can walk into many different martial arts schools and find very little, if any, contact-based sparring. Unfortunately, the fact is, if you’re not in danger of getting punched in the mouth for real, you’re not really learning how to be a proficient fighter.
Without a doubt, I think boxing is one of the best arts to study even if your goal isn’t to become Nightwing. If you’re trying to become Nightwing, though? Boxing should be right in your wheelhouse.
Judo
While Nightwing is said to be primarily an aikido practitioner when it comes to grappling, I went with judo here. Partially because he’s also proficient at judo, and partially because aikido is crap and doesn’t really work outside of comic books or movies. There, I said it. Come at me (especially if you’re an aikido practitioner because I will judo you so hard.)
While there are other grappling arts out there that are good, judo is particularly effective in a superhero-type situation for a number of reasons.
One: Nightwing frequently finds himself facing multiple opponents, and going to the ground is emphasized less in judo vs. other grappling arts. Grappling on the ground is great if you’re facing one opponent, but two or more makes tying yourself up with one person for an extended period of time a liability.
Two: You can end a fight with a throw. Seriously. Masahiko Kimura was famous for rendering opponents unconscious with his osoto gari. Again, when facing multiple opponents, being able to take one out quickly is super effective.
Three: Judo, like boxing, encourages live practice in the form of randori. Without live practice, you’re not actually becoming a proficient fighter, and if we’re trying to become a real-life superhero, we want to be as proficient as possible!
Also, with judo being an international sport, it’s usually pretty easy to find at least ONE dojo near you, if not several. Many colleges and high schools also have active judo clubs. Do judo!
Escrima
Escrima are short batons or sticks, used primarily in Phillipino arts like kali. They’re Nightwing’s hand-to-hand weapon of choice, when he’s not using his fists. Thought not as easy to find as judo or boxing, I highly recommend you get into a good kali school if you can. In addition to usually engaging in plenty of (say it with me now,) LIVE PRACTICE, kali schools are usually also quite multi-disciplinary. Kali escrima techniques carry over to knives, short sword, and even flailing type weapons, depending on how well-versed the schools instructors are.
Escrima are tons of fun to mess around with, and you wouldn’t be the complete Nightwing without them!
The Flying Grayson
Dick Grayson’s circus career is a big part of the reason he’s so effective as Nightwing. He’s one of the most agile human beings in the DC universe, and for good reason! Brushing up on circus skills is usuall not as simple as learning a new martial art or starting a new workout program, but it can be tons of fun. I was lucky enough to take a circus arts course in college, and I can personally attest to what a blast it can be, and how much it can help with your balance, agility, and proprioception. Here’s a couple circus skills to check out:
The Flying Trapeze
The downside to circus arts is that they typically require quite a bit of specialized equipment, and the trapeze is certainly no exception. It is, however, the art that The Flying Graysons were most known for, so it’s worth checking into if you can. If you’re interested in an “intro” overview, check out this post from Trapeze High in San Diego!
Tight Rope and Slack Line
Tight ropes and slacklines are another common feature in most circus acts. They’re tremendous for building balance, and they’re also a ton of fun! The good news for these is that the barrier for entry is a lot lower than it is for trapeze. You can get started with something as simple as two trees, and this beginner slack line kit from Flybold.
Tricking
While not strictly a circus art, tricking, flipping and tumbling all feature into many circus acts, and are definitely right up Nightwing’s alley. To get started, I recommend no other place to start than Jujimufu’s awesome website, Acrobolix. Check out How to Start Tricking! Also watch his videos and stuff on Youtube because he’s insane.
Bat-Stuff
Rapid-fire bat-family stuff!
Sherlock Holmes Guide to Disguising Yourself
How to Throw Shuriken
Introduction to Forensic Science! (Detective work!)
Get the Truth! (Interrogation techniques)
Influence! (how to persuade people to do anything)
Aaaaand that’s it for the skills of Nightwing! I hope I’ve pointed you in the right direction to begin! Realize that, like Batman, Nightwing is sort of an ultra-human, so this is really only scratching the surface, however if you master even just the skills on this page, you’ll probably be leagues ahead of most other “normal” people on the planet. Don’t be ordinary, be excellent! You deserve it!
I’ll see you again on Thursday with Not Your Sidekick! Until then, as always, remember to live boldly, change the world, and continue to be awesome!
Nightwing has spent more time in The Bat’s shadow than anyone else in the Bat-family, with the exception of Alfred (and let’s be honest, no one overshadows Alfred.) To say that Bruce had a formative effect on Dick, and Batman a formative effect on Nightwing, would both be significant understatements. Yet, in all of his time with Bruce as Robin, Dick never became him. On the contrary, in fact, the time they spent together seemed to drive Dick away from Bruce’s path, which is honestly what Bruce wanted in the first place.
Looking Ahead
Nightwing owes many, many things to Batman. His training, the second half of his upbringing, and yes, a piece of who he is, in personality. You can’t spend time around Batman and not be molded by him, however Nightwing has distinguished himself in several major ways, the first of which is a forward-looking attitude. While Bruce broods on the death of his parents, Dick has learned to heal from his parents’ death, and look forward into a brighter future.
Tragedies can shape us in many ways. We are hurt by them, but we also heal from them. While a tragedy changes you, fundamentally, you have a say in how it changes you. You can choose to dwell on the darkness, and be swallowed up by it. Or, you can choose to reject the abyss – to look towards a brighter future. Sometimes this may take help from others, sometimes it just takes a deep and honest conversation with yourself. Nightwing has chosen to see how good a tomorrow can be created, rather than think on how bad a past he has experienced.
Independence
Nightwing is Nightwing because he is his own, independent person. Regardless of which origin story you’re reading on him, one central theme stays: a drive to stand on his own two feet, and follow his own path in the world. Nightwing has established himself as his own, unique hero, with his own take on things. While his skills are more than enough to set him among the elite, he remains a more humble, good-natured character than most of the other “grimdark night-heroes” he associates with.
It’s important in life to be your own independent person. Too often, we find ourselves overwhelmingly influenced by those around us. While it’s true, you can’t stop the people you associate with from shaping you in some way, shape, or form, you can stop associating with certain people. You can make a choice to surround yourself with positivity, rather than negativity. You are your own person, just like Nightwing, and no matter how strong a personality you may find yourself surrounded by, you can always stand for yourself, and your principles.
Live YOUR Legend
I’m going to refer to an old, old BaGC post series here: Be the HERO of Your Life. Nightwing, as we’ve mentioned, has created his own persona, independent of what others may think or want of him. He’s got his own methods, his own reasons, and his own set of guiding principles. This puts him in conflict with others, sometimes, but he doesn’t use this as an excuse to change these principles. Instead, he uses it as a reason to examine and reinforce his own principles, and in turn, examine who he spends his time with.
Nightwing understands his own path, his own legend. He knows what he wants to represent in the world, and the values he wants to espouse. You need to figure out your own story, and find your own path. If you don’t know the road you want to walk on, how are you going to walk it? You need to take the time to have a deep conversation with yourself, and figure out what you want your legend to be. Just like Nightwing did.
For me? The legend I want to create, and the legacy I want to leave, is helping people to live more boldly, change the world for the better, and become more awesome than they already are.
You are your own hero. Don’t settle for being someone else’s sidekick. Decide what YOUR legend is going to be.
That’s it for our time with Nightwing! I hope you enjoyed it! I’ll see you again on Monday with a new post!
I’m currently in the middle of working on the second edition How to Be a Game Character! It’s going to be re-christened as RPG Fitness, and in addition to updating some of the content in the book, I’m also including some new content! That includes the following, which is an introduction to the Saboteur class. Each class will be getting its own short story like this one to sort of establish an in-universe example of that class and its strengths.
Lantern City Concept Art, http://www.lanterncitytv.com/ Not affiliated with BaGC in any way.
Helena took one last glance at the clock tower. Ten minutes to eleven o’clock.
“Show time.” She muttered quietly to herself, ducking into an alleyway off the main road. Not many carriages were out and about at this hour, but she didn’t want to take any chances. The fewer people that saw her, the better. Her eyes adjusted quickly once she was removed from the light of the gas street lamps. She strode quietly, but confidently down the alley. Her contacts had told her the supply train was going to be coming through town at five after eleven She had fifteen minutes, at best.
Reaching the end of the alley, she began to climb the rough-hewn wall of one of the slum’s many tenements. Her dark street clothes helped conceal her as she made her way up. She wore men’s clothes, and kept her hair tucked under a bedraggled old cap to help further the deception. Dirt smeared across her face and hands completed the ensemble.
In a short minute, she found herself on the rooftops. The “thieves highway,” as the locals liked to call it. No one bothered to post guards here in the slums, save for the guardhouse on the elevated railway that crossed them on the way to the capital. Incidentally, this was exactly where Helena was headed. Silently, but quickly, she made her way across the tenements, leaping across narrow alleyways and skirting tiny ledges around walls and obstacles. Shortly, she found herself at column supporting the railway trestle.
Helena glanced again at the clock tower, its face illuminated in the hazy gloom. Two minutes to eleven. She needed to move quickly.
Eschewing stealth, she leapt up to grab onto a handhold in the brick column. She hurried upwards, propelling herself with strong arms and legs, moving more like an ape than a cat, now. She shortly found herself below the open window of the guardhouse, perched upon the edge of the trestle. Helena didn’t have a problem with heights, but she knew better than to look at the eighty foot drop below her barely-clinging feet. She quieted her breathing, and listened.
Two guards. The usual complement. She was a bit insulted that they hadn’t increased it to at least three, given her recent escapades, but she wasn’t about to complain. One last look at the clock. Three minutes to go.
Deep breath.
In one single motion, Helena heaved herself upwards through the window, springing forward like a pouncing tiger.
“Oy, what are you – OOF!” one guard managed to exclaim before finding Helena’s knee embedded in his stomach. He doubled over, and was met with an elbow to the face on his way down. The guard crumpled to the floor, silent, and bleeding from the nose.
The other guard had a moment to catch his composure, however, and took a swing at Helena with his night stick. Without time to evade, she opted to turn into the blow and take it on the shoulder.
Helena jumped backwards, taking stock of the room as she did. She ducked the man’s next swing, grabbing a large metal spanner wrench from the floor. The man threw a fist at her face. This time she ducked, spinning around on her toes and putting a full body rotation into her own swing with the wrench. She heard a satisfying crunch as metal met skull, and the second man fell.
A glance at the clock. Two minutes, at best. A train whistle sounded in the distance. Helena ran out onto the tracks, bringing her wrench with her. The Imperium had some weapons stored in a warehouse just below the line, in addition to the supply train of ammunition and soul dust that was headed to the capital. Two birds, one wrench.
Twenty feet before the ware house she stopped. Maybe a minute left. Eschewing any semblance of grace, Helena swung at a joiner below the tracks with the wrench. Brick crumbled. Another swing. More shards of brick and mortar. A train whistle disturbingly close behind her. One last swing, and the bolt broke free. She shoved the spanner between the railway and the trestle and pulled. With a groan and a pop, the rail began to bend. Helena grunted, putting every ounce of strength she had into it. With a loud creak, the rail finally gave, bending an inch and a half to the left.
That will have to be enough, Helena thought to herself, and left the spanner wedged into the rail for good measure.
Her work done, she turned and sprinted back, toward the oncoming train. The headlight grew brighter in front of her, and she heard the squeal of the brakes being thrown.
Too little, too late, the young saboteur thought to herself as she threw herself off the tracks at the last second. She grabbed onto one of the railway ties as she flew past it, and swung herself under the tracks to grab onto the brick column she had used to climb up in the first place. She had just enough time to turn and watch at the train launched off the tracks, completely derailed, flying down to crush the Imperium warehouse complex below. She enjoyed it for all of a second before the resultant explosion of ammunition, train fuel, and soul dust made her turn away, squinting from the brightness.
Quickly, but carefully, she made her way back down the brick column, and off into the concealing darkness of the night. Now all she needed to do was figure out how she was going to hide that bruise on her shoulder when she went to the highborn ball…
Hope you enjoyed this little preview! Our post on Monday will be titled Stop Procrastinating in 10 Superhuman Seconds! If you want to read it now, it’s already up over in the Members Only section of the forums. Go register now, it’s free!
As always, remember to live boldly, change the world, and continue to be awesome!
Power Suit Quick Navigation Links: Part 1: The Basics Part 2: Physical Augmentation Part 3: Systems Control Part 4: Sensory Augmentation Part 5: Weapons and Armor
Alrighty! So, we know what we’re looking for in a power suit, and we know what the market has available right now. So let’s drill down the basics of physical augmentation, how companies are accomplishing this now, and possible alternatives for the future, and for the home hobbyist.
What do we mean when we say “physical augmentation?” The first thing that comes to my mind, personally, is strength amplification. Enabling a person that can normally lift, say, 250 pounds, to lift something more like 500 pounds when wearing the suit. Now, most likely due to the nature of mechanics this would be a linear strength amplification, that is, the suit is capable of exerting a certain amount of power(in this case, 250 pounds), so if the same person could lift 400 pounds normally, the suit would bump them up to 650. Multiplicative would be bumping it to 800, but it’s mechanically very difficult to do this. That said, adding an extra 250 to your bench press is amazing in itself, so we won’t knock it.
The main goal of modern power suits thus far, however, has been focused mainly on endurance. This is for several reasons, the biggest of which is that we don’t necessarily need soldiers in the field to be physically stronger, but we need them to be able to go longer with a moderately increased payload. More gear and endurance means better rested soldiers with more equipment at their disposal. This should not be brushed off, as Samus Aran or Master Chief would be in a bad way if, by the time they got to their destination, they were too pooped to fight.
Another element of physical augmentation is speed, maneuverability, and reaction time. Increase your leg strength, and you should be able to run faster and jump higher, theoretically. In order to stick to this idea with a powersuit, however, you need to maintain a good power to weight ratio. A power suit that put an extra 100 pounds of strength into your legs but weight 80 pounds itself isn’t going to have that visible an effect. Conversely, if you can get the suit to put an extra 250 pounds of force into your legs, and it only weighs 80 pounds, well, you’re gonna see a hell of a difference there. The other side of this is that you need speed in the exertion of this power. It’s not going to do much for your vertical if you can put out that extra force, but only at a low velocity.
So where do we go here? The first thing any power suit is going to need is an exoskeleton. This is the framework you attach your mechanical muscles to, much like your own skeleton. Two major things need to be considered in the exoskeleton. Firstly, there’s the issue of materials. You want your frame to be lightweight, but also strong. It’s going to be taking a lot of angular forces. If you’re on a budget, your options are probably steel stock for a nice sturdy frame, or, for less sturdy but more lightweight, aluminum stock. The nice thing about these options are that they’re cheap, plentiful, and easy to work. Steel is quite easily weldable, if you have such skills, and both are easily machined in the home. Titanium is your third option, offering superior strength to aluminum, without as much weight at steel. One inch diameter, bar stock for aluminum, titanium, and stainless steel weighs about 1 pound, 1 1/2 pounds, or 2 1/2 pounds per foot, respectively. Titanium is stronger on a pound-for-pound basis than aluminum or steel, however it is a pain in the ass to work with, especially in a home environment. Stainless steel is strong, but heavy. I would honestly say our biggest contender here is aluminum. It’s relatively easy to machine and work with, available enough for the home consumer, and not prohibitively expensive.
Now we come to our second issue: joints. Knee and elbow joints are easy enough to take care of, they only go one way. Shoulder and hip joints, however, are a pain in the ass. Because of the way they function, the best place for the mechanisms for the joint to be located are, unfortunately, inside your shoulder and hip. This, obviously, is not an option. Because of this, you’re probably going to have to build the exoskeleton rather far off the body if you want full range of motion at these joints(see the XOS that we discussed in the previous post). Or, you can be creative, and try to come up with a new way of articulating these joints while still keeping the framework close to the body. Which brings us to our next hurdle…
Force generation.
How do we exert the power? Currently, all major manufacturers are utilizing powerful servo motors. These are similar to the motors you see in remote-control toys. Typically electric-powered, these motors activate on the major joins in the exoskeleton, driven by a computer processing the input from your body. They have their drawbacks, though. First of all, they are quite expensive. Second of all, they tend to be power-hungry, and third of all, they are rather poor at mimicking “real” organic movement. You can see this in the awkward slowness in the XOS’ punching movements in the demo video.
So what other options do we have? There is hydraulics and pneumatics, firstly. Both of these are closer to mimicking the actual mechanics of muscles, however they have the drawback of being rather large and clunky, as well as typically being either rather slow(hydraulics), or requiring charging time with each use(pneumatics). Also, they tend to be rather binary, especially in the case of pneumatics(that is, they’re more of an on-or-off kind of thing). This is not always the case, however, and I think, especially for the home hobbyist, that hydraulics could be an option. Basically you strap the parts for a lift gate or forkift on your arms and, goshdarnit, you can lift hundreds of pounds! Rather slowly, but still, the power function is there.
Finally, there is the fringe, future-tech kind of stuff. Electro-active polymers are currently being investigated for the purpose of artificial muscles. EAPs are materials that contract when an electrical current passes through them(similar to our own muscles). It is a burgeoning field that holds promise, but the concrete stuff exists mostly on the academic level. That said, the guy that discovered them back in the 1800s did so just by running an electric current through a rubber band, so home experimentation is a possibility. If you feel like being intrepid, take a look into this!
There’s also pneumatic artificial muscles. These are nifty, and different from traditional hard-tube pneumatics in that they operate with flexible air-filled bladders. These look very promising as well, however you still need to conquer the air compression hurdle. Also, to operate in any kind of non-air situation(like underwater, or in a vacuum), you’d need to carry your own air tanks with you in addition to your compressor, adding to your weight requirements.
So, all this said and done, let’s look at our possible options this far, going from cheap, junkyard robot, to futuristic space warrior.
Option 1: Frame: Stainless Steel Exoskeleton Joints: Mechanical hinges, no ball joint actuation at shoulders and hips Force: Hydraulic muscles Comments: The junkyard special! You’re probably not going to get anywhere very quickly, and you’re going to have a limited range of motion, but hey, you can probably lift a car! You can also probably construct most of this with a good solid base knowledge of welding and hydraulics. Cost: $500-1000 (not including cost of the computer driving the mechanics)
Option 2: Frame: Aircraft Aluminum Exoskeleton Joints: Mechanical hinges at elbows and knees, ball joint actuators at shoulders and hips. Force: Industrial Servos or Pneumatic Air Muscles Comments: The home hobbyist with some money to burn! You’ll get pretty damn good range of motion out of this(assuming your computing is good), and have solid power output as well. If you can figure out good joint mechanics for your ankles, then you can probably add to your sprinting and vertical, as well. Drawback is the issue with servo motors stated above, or the annoying “whooshing” sound you’ll make every time you move if you use pneumatics. Cost: $2500-10,000
Option 3: Frame: Titanium-aluminum alloy, with carbon fiber reinforcement. Joints: Mechanical hinges at elbows and knees, external ball joint mechanics at shoulders and hips to keep the exoskeleton close to the body. Force: Elector-activated polymer muscles attached to carbon fiber tendons. Comments: The space-warrior! I’m not even sure if this thing is theoretically possible currently(probably not). EAPs are still too experimental and have too short a range to really be considered for combat application yet. That said, if you could build this sucker, it’s probably as close to video-game canon as you can get. Definitely something to shoot for! If you really want to work on something like this, you should probably look into getting a degree in robotics and going to work for Northrop-Grumman or something like that. Cost: $50,000-??????
Okay, so that’s a good start to our theory-crafting! I hope I gave you all some good starting points in your research. Tomorrow we’re going to look at the computing system for our power suit, as well as sensory driven systems and maybe some other nifty stuff. If you guys are really serious about getting into this kind of thing, I’d recommend looking into Lego Mindstorms. It’s a relatively cheap and easy-to-work-with robotics system, and holy crap, you can do some cool stuff with it. If you can build a lego arm that reacts in real-time to your own arm with some sensors strapped onto it, I’d say you’re well on your way to a promising career in exoskeleton manufacturing. =P
See you tomorrow! And don’t forget to go “like” the facebook page! Twelve more likes and we get a bonus character post on the weekend!
This might very well be our first ever guest workout, here on BaGC, which is awesome! This is the EXACT workout program that Marshal Ashlin made up to see through his vision of becoming Roronoa Zoro. When initially getting in shape, Marshal followed the Link workout program. After reaching this point and resolving to become Zoro, he switched over to the Ike workout program. Slowly he modified and morphed the Ike workout into this tailor-made beast of a program.
BE FOREWARNED.
This is a heavy duty workout. This is not for a novice, if you are just starting out, do what Marshal did and start with the Link workout or the Ike workout. This workout is also not necessarily optimized for weight loss or gain, muscle loss or gain, or doing anything specifically other than becoming Zoro! You will NEED to be careful, pace yourself, rest, and eat well while on this program!
Before we get to the workout itself, we’ve got the usual set up:
General Nutrition Info:
Lose Weight, Burn Fat:
The Secret to Burning Fat
Losing Weight is Not a Side Quest
Build Muscle, Bulk Up:
The Secret to Building Mass
Before and After Workout Programs:
Heavy Strength:
Style: Station – Perform all sets of an exercise before moving on to the next exercise. Rest 1-3 minutes between sets.
AMRAP = As Many Repetitions As Possible. Do any AMRAP exercise until you can’t do any more reps. That’s one set.
3xAMRAP Pushups 3xAMRAP Hindu Squats 2.5 mile run 100 Leg lifts 100 Situps 100 Bicycle crunches
100 Sledgehammer swings on tire
Workout 3:
5xAMRAP Pull Ups 5 Handstand Holds (as long as possible, on a wall if need be)
5xAMRAP Handstand Push Up Negatives
Heavy Strength Notes:
Yes, there are three workouts, here. Yes, it’s a little crazy. Basically, this is Marshal’s morning/afternoon/evening protocol. AMRAP stuff means you’re REALLY going to be taxing your muscles and joints, so pay attention to any overuse injuries. Your weight should be heavy enough that you’re not cranking out 20+ reps every time with the dumbbells. Everything else is pretty standard, just be prepared to be FATIGUED. Work up to it!
Light Strength:
Workout 1: 3xAMRAP Push Ups 3xAMRAP Hindu Squats 2.5 mile run 100 Leg lifts 100 Situps
100 Bicycle crunches
Workout 2:
5xAMRAP Dumbbell Lateral Raises
5xAMRAP Dumbbell Front Raises
Light Strength Notes:
Only two workouts on light strength days, again, split into a morning/evening divide. Mostly bodyweight stuff, but with the dumbbell stuff, again, pay attention to your body. Use a weight heavy enough that you’re not cranking out 20+ reps on each set.
Schedule:
Day 1: Light Day 2: Heavy Day 3: Rest Day 4: Heavy Day 5: Light Day 6: Heavy
Day 7: Rest
Schedule Notes:
Rest is super, super important with a program like this. If you’re not getting a full night’s sleep every night, you WILL run out of juice, and you WILL potentially injure yourself. Take it slow, work up to this schedule, and make sure you don’t hurt yourself!
That’s it for our time with Marshal and Zoro! We’ll probably see Marshal again in the future, but for now, if you’d like to keep up with his journey, follow his personal (@mdashlin) and cosplay (@dragonfly_cosplay) accounts on Instagram! Also, stop in and hang with us in RPG FitGroup!
HEY! Has BaGC made a difference in your life? Do you have a success story about becoming more a more awesome version of yourself thanks (in part) to the blog? If so, I’d love to feature your story in an upcoming post! Email me if you’re interested (just put “success” somewhere in the subject line!)
Hey all! This is part 2 of the You’re S.P.E.C.I.A.L. series! If you missed Part 1, click here to go check it out!
“I is for Intelligence, it means I’m really smart! I use my brain for lots of stuff, like science, math and art!”
Too many people stop trying to learn things after they leave school. Heck, too many people don’t even try to learn anything while in school. This is a shame, because when it comes to intelligence, we really are mostly on equal footing. Yes, there’s some outliers in both directions when it comes to mental abilities, but more often than not, the smarter person is just the one who’s focused more on practicing the art of learning. Here’s a few guidelines to boost your intelligence:
Learn something new every day. Learn a new concept, learn a new word, learn about a new event, something. Just try to introduce at least one new article into your brain every day. There’s a great Youtube channel for this, if you’re into video content. If not, you can always just hop on Wikipedia, find a random article, and pick something out of it. If you’re reading this article, you have access to basically all accumulated human knowledge in one form or another, you really have no excuse for not making use of it.
Read 10 pages of a book, every day. This one is powerful. Ten pages is easy enough to be able to commit to (even if it’s just before bed every night,) but multiplied every single day and you’ll be doing 3650 pages a year. That’s at least ten books. If you really don’t have time to read, you can also get a membership to Audible and listen to ten minutes of an audiobook every day. These don’t even have to be non-fiction books to make a difference in your life (although I recommend at least a few are.) Fiction can expand your mind, even if you don’t necessarily learn new facts or figures from fiction books. They can inspire you, and grow your brain.
Pick a subject. Devote an hour to it, every day. This one’s a bit more of a commitment, but I’m willing to put money on the vast majority of people reading this article being able to carve an extra hour out of their day. The benefits from this one are massive. Within a year’s time, you’ll have put as many hours into learning that subject as your average PHD candidate puts into their doctorate. That’s some strong stuff.
“A is for Agility, that’s how I get around! I move real fast and easy, and I never make a sound!”
Agility is great to have when moving through life. It can help out in basically any sport, as well as help prevent injury in day to day life. Being agile means you’re more ready and able to face basically any physical challenge you may be presented with. Here’s some great ideas for boosting your own agility!
Do the Sheik Agility workout. Replace your burnouts in The Vault Dweller Workout with the Sheik Agility Workout every other workout. You’ll recruit your fast-twitch muscle fibers, and train your body to move in a variety of directions quickly and easily.
Practice yoga. You can find lots of yoga progressions online to start, or you can grab an instructional DVD. Of course, nothing replaces actual instruction, so if you have a yoga studio near you, I’d highly recommend enrolling in some classes. Yoga helps with flexibility, mind-body connection, and balance.
Warm up and cool down after every workout. This one is incredibly simple, and if you’re not already doing it, you definitely should be. Following my simple Warm Up program before every workout, and my Cool Down program after every workout will help prevent injury, increase range of motion, and enhance your flexibility. All of these things will help you move in a quick and well-coordinated manner when you need to!
“L is for Luck, and it’s simple, you see! It means that good things always happen to me!”
Luck, in a way, is uncontrollable. By definition, luck is the random chance that something good happens to you. However, there’s two things that also hold true, in regards to luck:
Luck favors the prepared. There’s no way of knowing when an opportunity will present itself to you out of the blue. However, you should work on being prepared to take advantage of it when it does! How do you do this? By keeping yourself in good physical, mental, and financial shape! By making sure each facet of your life is in good condition when opportunity comes knocking, you’ll greatly increase your ability to react to that opportunity quickly and decisively.
Fortune favors the bold. Nothing ventured, nothing gained. There’s a reason live boldly is part of my personal credo. If you don’t take advantage of opportunities when you see them, if you let fear and doubt hold you back, then you’ll never be truly “lucky.” Now, this is, of course, assuming that you’ve already taken the previous recommendation to heart. You probably shouldn’t jump ship from your reliably job when an outrageous but risky opportunity comes your way if you’re $100,000 in debt with no savings safety net. However, if you have gotten the rest of your life in hand (become prepared,) then when opportunity comes knocking, you’ll have the means to seize it.
-Thomas Jefferson
Whew! Not one but TWO posts, but then again we had a lot of ground to cover! Now, I know that in Fallout you have to pick and choose which attributes you focus on due to limited skill points. That is not so, in real life! You have the opportunity to start building on every single one of these attributes today. In fact, some of them are quite complimentary!
To that end, I suggest picking one tip from each attribute, and working it into your daily life, starting now. You can level up your skills and abilities every day! In fact, I recommend starting a journal to track your progress and work on your techniques! You’ll be amazed how much you can advance yourself with just a little bit of effort every day!
I’ll see you again on Monday with How to Survive a Nuclear Apocalypse. As always, remember to live boldly, change the world, and continue to be awesome!
We last spoke with real life game character Marshal Ashlin a year and a half ago, about his dramatic transformation from overweight to fighting fit! Since then, he’s embarked on a personal quest to become the living embodiment of Roronoa Zoro from One Piece. We had a little chat this past weekend about his progress and success in that endeavor, along with some awesome photos from his first Zoro cosplay photoshoot!
D: Well it’s been a little while since we last checked in with you in August of 2016. How did 2017 treat you?
M: Interestingly. A lot of ups and downs, a bit of a yo-yo effect dealing with school, work, and training. Had my first full time semester back in college, nailed a research position, work 40 hours a week still, and kept above a 3.0 GPA while training 😅 So was very very busy, and made a consistent routine difficult, so there were times where i fell off and back on a few times
But overall, sticking to all of it was difficult yet rewarding!
D: Damn, dude. I understand the up-and-down bits, personally. That’s super impressive, maintaining all that at once. A lot of people really struggle with balance when it comes to staying in shape and also staying on top of school/work/family stuff. Do you have any specific techniques or tricks you found worked for staying on top of everything?
M: My favorite trick was just alarms, and a very regimented schedule I wrote up at the beginning of the semester!
So I’d write up my class and work schedule, plan out my regimen, and set up multiple alarms to remind me to go work out or do meal prep
D: Nice! Schedules are definitely key for me as well. My personal strategy is daily checklists, and liberal amounts of coffee. You mentioned you got a research position, congrats on that. What are you researching, if you can share?
M: Doing undergraduate research for my Chemistry professor, studying various chemical reactions and trying to make them occur only with mechanical processes!
A very technical way of saying studying how to do stuff with less waste.
D: lol! Thanks for the layman’s terms version (though the fancy schmancy version is probably better at parties.) While we’re on the subject of mechanical processes (har har,) obviously your continued physique transformation is damn impressive, too. We’re going to go into your full workout program on Thursday, but just for today, how many days a week do you usually work out?
M: With this particular routine, I have been doing 5 days a week
After I added some intensity, I felt it best to take another rest day during the week
D: Smart. A lot of people really undervalue rest, especially when they first start working out. How long does your workout usually last, and are you a morning, afternoon, or evening workout person?
M: Definitely a morning workout person. If I fail to start my day right, it’s immensely harder to stay focused But considering my intense schedule, I have a split workout routine. So I’ll do cardio and meditation in the morning, followed by strength training in the afternoons between school and work
Each session lasts maybe an hour and a half or so?
D: Yeah, personally I hate morning strength workouts. I’m usually stretching/mobility work in the AM, cardio if it’s a cardio day, and then strength in the afternoon. Now, last time you actually mentioned you wanted to try to get some more swimming in. Did you end up getting a chance to do that?
M: Unfortunately not at all. Our local community pool has odd hours that conflicted with schooling
D: Bummer, dude! Oh well. So, let’s talk your cosplay itself. Roronoa Zoro. Why him, in particular?
M: Zoro is an absolute beast. He is a training addict obsessed with his goals, and became a chief self-improvement inspiration for my training, and life goals in general.
Noone strives for strength in the One Piece world like Zoro does, and with every fight, every trial, and every training sesh i saw of it, just pushed me a bit more to be more zealous with my ambitions!
D: Yeah, he’s definitely right up there with the other training-addict badasses, for sure! It’s why I like Vegeta and Rock Lee so much, too. Of course, I’d say you’re definitely getting up there in the “badass crew” with your training regimen, too. 😛 Of course, everyone has to cut loose sometimes. Last time we discussed the importance of nutrition, and you shared a great little recipe for power pancakes. But today, why don’t you tell us what your FAVORITE cheat meal is?
M: Oh heck yeah! Rock Lee is definitely on my list 👌👌
Okay so cheat meal, my absolute favorite would be red curry from my local Thai place, seriously the best Just like Rock Lee, gotta have a little Curry of Life for myself sometimes 💪
Extra spicy 👌
D: Yo. Curry is so damn good. 😳 Seriously. I’m on board with that. If you’re ever by some strange twist of fate in northern NJ, I’ll take you to the local thai place. I don’t go often because I’m the only one in my house that likes spicy stuff. So, do you have any post-Zoro cosplay plans on the horizon? Maybe Rock Lee?
M: Hahaha funnily enough I’ll be there in August for my brothers wedding 😅
Post Zoro plans for this year include a genderbent Nico Robin from One Piece, Fierce Deity Link from Majora’s Mask, Iron Fist from Marvel comics…..and Rock Lee might be in there somewhere 😏
D: Ha, small world! Maybe thai COULD happen. Nice “up and coming” list, as well. Fierce Deity is my particular favorite. I’ve always had a soft spot for Majora’s Mask… Well, I’m going to be doing a standalone post for your badass workout program on Thursday, but for now, I think we’re about done. As before, do you have any parting words of wisdom for our readers at home?
M: Parting words of wisdom?
Well, if I had any advice to give to my old self, they would be to never be ashamed of falling off the wagon, and be proud of every time you pick yourself back up.
With life, nothing is truly predictable and stuff will always come out of left field to throw us off. So I find it’s important that I dont let it get me stressed out and I continue seeing each day as a fresh start
D: That is SO. IMPORTANT. Seriously, fantastic final thoughts. Well, thanks so much for checking in with us again, Marshal. Plenty of people found you to be an inspiration the first time around, and I’m sure even more will, this time. You really are getting up there with Zoro himself! Until next time, live boldly, change the world, and continue to be awesome!
M: Thanks a lot man!! I appreciate the high praise!
Until next time 💪
Marshal’s story is incredibly inspiring. Between his 85 pound weight loss in his goal to be like Link, and now his ridiculous training regiment to become like Zoro, he’s COMPLETELY transformed himself as a person. Speaking of that ridiculous training regimen, we’ll be posting it up on the blog this Thursday as the Roronoa Zoro Workout! Check back for it then!
Also, if you’d like to stay updated on Marshal’s cosplay endeavors, check out his cosplay instagram at @dragonfly_cosplay If you want to stay updated on his TRAINING progress, follow his personal instagram at @mdashlin
Until next time, as always, remember to live boldly, change the world, and continue to be awesome!
It’s the new year! That means a LOT of people are either trying to get in shape for the first time, or get BACK in shape for the first time in a while! Now, getting a gym membership is great, but it can be expensive, for one, and intimidating, for another. So, if you’re NOT quite ready to take that step yet, here is a beginner guide for you!
Please note, this is a beginner, MINIMAL equipment guide, not a beginner NO equipment guide. The fact is, there are some muscle groups that you can’t really work properly without at least a pull up bar or bands. However, these are still cheaper than a gym membership, and readily available on Amazon or at your local department store!
Exercise is only part of the puzzle when it comes to getting in shape, however! For nutritional advice, you’ll want to check out check out Macros and You! If you’re looking to lose weight The Secret to Burning Fat will help with that. On the other hand, if you’re on the slimmer side and you’re looking to bulk up, check out The Secret to Building Mass. It’s not easy (or optimal) to attempt to build significant mass with just body weight exercises, but you can build some!
Strength:
Equipment Required
Pull Up Bar Resistance BandsChair or Bench
Style: Station – Perform all sets of an exercise before moving on to the next exercise. Rest 1-3 minutes between sets.
Level 1:
3×3-10 Bodyweight Squats
3×3-10 Incline/Wall Push Ups
3×3-10 Resistance Band Pull Downs (bump up to a heavier resistance band and/or multiple bands as this gets easy)
3×3-10 Lunges (walking or stationary – I linked walking because I like em more.)
3×1-10 second Straight Arm Hangs (hang for as long as you can, even if it’s just a second or two, work your way up, then start trying the shoulder shrugs Shane talks about in this video)
3×3-10 second Kneeling Plank (or full plank, if you’re feeling up for it)
Level 2:
3×5-10 Bodyweight Squats
3×5-10 Kneeling Push Ups
3×3-5 Chair Assisted Pull Ups (start attempting these once you’re having a hard time challenging yourself with the resistance band pull downs)
3×5-10 Incline/Wall Push Ups (go as low as you’re comfortable on these now)
3×5-10 Step Ups
3×5-10 Hanging Knee Raises
Level 4:
3×5-10 Pistol Squats
3×5-10 Decline Push Ups
3×5-10 Pull Ups
3×5-10 Incline Push Ups (this dude is a little…extra. But the tutorial’s good!)
3×5-10 Toes-To-Bar
Cardio:
Beginner: 20-30 minute Walk/Jog (once you’re able to put in thirty minutes of running, bump up to the A/B workouts)
A: (interval run)
20 minutes – 1 minute running at a “hard pace,” 3 minutes running at an “easy pace.” Repeat 5 times (for twenty minutes total of nonstop running.) Frame of reference for intensity; at your “hard pace” you should be breathing heavily enough that you’re not really able to easily talk, “easy pace” is conversational speed.
B: (long run)
30-60 minutes “easy pace” running. Again, for “easy pace” you should be running at an intensity where you’re pretty comfortable holding a conversation with someone. Your goal is go go for at least half an hour, but if you gotta walk for a bit after that half hour, that’s cool.
Indoor Circuit: (do when you can’t and/or don’t want to go for a run) Don’t rest between exercises, move from one to the next and do the exercises as quickly as you can. 10-25 Jumping Jacks 10 Lunges (walking if you prefer)
10-25 Criss Cross Jacks
10 Bodyweight Squats
10-25 Paddle Jacks
10 Mountain Climbers Rest 1 minute
Repeat 3-5 times
Schedule:
Day 1: Strength Day 2: Cardio A (or beginner or indoor circuit) Day 3: Rest Day 4: Strength Day 5: Cardio B (or beginner or indoor circuit) Day 6: Strength Day 7: Rest
And that’s it! If you’re hitting level four, you’re doing pretty damn well for yourself, even with minimal equipment! From beginner to game character in four stages!
That’s it for today. I’ll see you again on Sunday for a check-in with Real Life Game Character Marshal Ashlin, one of our badass regulars here in the BaGC community, and his quest to become Roronoa Zoro from One Piece! We’ll se you then! Until then, as always, remember to live boldly, change the world, and continue to be awesome!
Lantern City Concept Art, http://www.lanterncitytv.com/ Not affiliated with BaGC in any way.
