In 2011, I didn't know what goals to set, so I took a stab at it. Here's how I did:

* Goal: Do ten beautiful pullup kips in a row.
=> achieved

* Goal: Hold the dip position at the top for ten seconds.
=> I haven't measured this lately; will retest soon, but I think I can

* Goal: Hang with active shoulders for 15 seconds.
=> I haven't measured this lately; will retest soon, but I think I can

* Goal: Cut one minute off my baseline—get it down to 7:00.
=> achieved; when last measured, it was 5:50

* Goal: Add 5 pounds of muscle.
=> Unclear -- Sarah warned me this would be hard to measure. As of 4/2/11 (the last time I have reliable body composition data) I'd achieved exactly 5 lbs of lean gains.

According to my calculations, I had lean body mass of

Let's mark the body fat % from the home scale as dubious; let's also say that my lean body mass at least held steady from april. That would put me at now 143 lbs lean mass / 183 lbs total => 22% body fat. If I have actually gained 5 lbs of muscle since April, then I'd be at 19% body fat.

* Goal: Drop one inch from my waist.
Sort of; I'm 1 inch down in the size of pants I wear, from 35/36 to 34. My waist itself, measured at the belly button, hasn't changed: still 37". Basically my hips & belly got smaller. Let's call this one achieved, because I got what the goal was going for: improve how my body looks, so I look less fat.

Other improvements:
Row 500m went from 2:40ish to 2:05
Jump rope singles went from 40 to 60
Double unders went from 0 to 1; I can usually get 3 in a row with two singles between them.
Kipping pull-ups went from 0 to my first 3 real pull-ups on 7/6/11
Pistols went from 0R/0L to 1 full depth pistol on the right, 1 almost-full-depth on the left
Handstand push-up went from my first handstand ever on 12/15/2010 to 7 consecutive, with 3 ab-mats
Back squat went from 265 in March to 285 in December, with much improved depth
Deadlift: from 255 in February to 305 in December
Push jerk: from 105 in July to 135 in December
Blood pressure went from 120/75 to 105/66

2012 goals:
30 days **completely** gluten-free
14 days **completely** grain and legume free (oh my god this will be hard)
30 days **completely** grain and legume free (oh my god this will be hard)
14 days where my *only* dairy is whole cream in my coffee
Master cooking three new vegetable dishes
Find one restaurant in SF who serves a real strict paleo meal including grass-fed beef or pastured chickens *with vegetables*
Drop one inch off my pants size, to 33
Do another body fat composition test done
Do another round of swimsuit photos
Attempt each of the 2012 Crossfit Games Open WODs; scaled if necessary
Judge at least 1 LLF event
Participate in at least 2 LLF competitions
Get comfortable with heavy cleans
1 strict dead-hang pullup

benji - 31 December 2011 10:45 PM

2012 goals:
Do another body fat composition test done

done at equinox with calipers in April: 20% bodyfat

Do another round of swimsuit photos

done by Maribel a few weeks ago

Attempt each of the 2012 Crossfit Games Open WODs; scaled if necessary

Done! and I did them as prescribed.

Participate in at least 2 LLF competitions

Halfway there; I did Death by Barbell.

Get comfortable with heavy cleans

Define heavy. I'm comfortable with cleans at 115. For the end of the year, let's aim for cleaning 135.

1 strict dead-hang pullup

Done.

New goal: muscle-up. It hadn't been on my list, but now it looks like it might someday be possible for me. 2012 looks too soon... I mean, Blake doesn't have a muscle-up. Yesterday I got a few strict ring dips, but I still don't have chest-to-bar pull-ups, or ring strict pull-ups.

So from april 2011 to april 2012, I've lost 16 lbs and preserved all my lean body mass.
Except I've been watching the numbers and I definitely got down to 176 for a while there in January, so I think it's more like I lost 20 lbs of fat and gained 4 lbs of muscle. I *definitely* look a lot different; people are commenting on how strong I look, especially my upper arms.