[Anonymous]

I’ve ventured into the Health issues section, but this particular thread is supposed to help AVOID said issues.

Let’s share what we are doing to try and maintain our health while studying. What are you guys doing for workouts? Workout DVDs? Buying home equipment? Gym lifting? Cardio only? Any particular workout programs you are using or are you freestyling it? What time of day do you workout?

Are you guys trying to keep your eating habits under control? What are some good healthy study snacks you like?

While it may be difficult for these exams to not affect your health at all, it is important to minimize negative affects. Let’s support each other and share our tips/techniques!

[Zaq]

I feel like my studying is correlating with working out.

At the moment, I'm scoring upper mid-80's on Wiley and Becker MCQ's consistently. I feel like I'm maxing out. MY GAINS ARE DIMINISHING!

But I don't feel like I'm prepared enough to knock AUD out the park like I want to. My goal has been to try to over prepare as much as possible and aim for a perfect 99 and realistically fall into the 80's instead of my previous goal of “just pass” (lol).

FAR: 50, 76!
REG: 74... (ouch baby, very ouch), 76!
AUD: 65, 91!?
BEC: 80! Aaaand doneskies!

May 2012 to August 2013. Can't believe it's over.

[J]

@DeniseFutureCPA – You don't need much to create a small home gym in which you can be successful. Make sure you have a flat bench with a barbell holder, a barbell, and some plates of various weights. Invest in some adjustable weight dumbells; they might cost a couple of hundred dollars, but much more cost-effective than buying a bunch of individual dumbells, and will save space as well. I don't lift at home, but I do have two adjustable weight dumbells for contingencies that go anywhere from 5 to 90 lbs. If you're into cardio, buy your favorite piece of equipment and go from there. You don't need a treadmill, bike, elliptical, and stair master… just get what you're going to do most.

Again, it's all about the basics. Arnold didn't become Arnold by crossfitting and TRXing. 🙂

[Anonymous]

Im proud of that fact that I can still hit an adequate depth squat with 3 plates. it aint that pretty, but ill deal.

i remember when i thought i was going to squat 405 by the start of 2013. then i discovered that my rom was shit and i should sit much farther into hole.

im considering taking a break from training legs for about a week or so because something has just been “off” the last several times i've been squatting. might come back to them on the monday following the 4th of july weekend and see what kind of a difference that will make.

[HustlinHustlin]

This is the thread I have been waiting for.

In my two years out of college, studying and working in public accounting, I have put on a few. Going from hour and a half workouts, half-marathon shape and walking to class everyday to sitting 9-10 hours of the day and staring at a computer screen hasn't been so great on my body.

I did not do a damn thing for about a month over busy season and it really showed. It was the first time i had skipped the gym for more than a week in years! Now I am working on getting back in shape, but get really sad when 3 miles (which used to be an easy run) is really difficult for me.

My goal is to be back into half-marathon shape by Fall and get back to averaging 5 mile runs as well as improve my strength training at the TRX at my gym – though I do not hit the gym much if it is nice outside.

Has anyone tried hot yoga? I have been meaning to but gotta admit, I'm kinda intimidated bc my flexibility is really sad.

If you guys are looking for a good workout from home, I do these sets sometimes, which you don't need weights for and they still kill me.

https://www.womenshealthmag.com/fitness/no-equipment-required-workout

So here goes my fit journal:

FIT: Ran 1.5 miles …it was super humid yesterday and no fun. Then came home and did a few things on my exercise ball but didn't finish any of the sets 🙁

STUDY: Finally finished my first cumulative test bank of 50 questions. Scored a 62 – not bad for my first time though it again but pretty bad considering I've been hammering at FAR since the beginning of the year. My goal is now to get in 50 MCQ per day and use the Pomodoro technique to manage my time. I used to be so good at focusing….

B 71 - 79 EXPIRED
A 69 - 75 EXPIRED
R 65 - 48 - 45
F 56 - 61 - 65 - 64

Becker, Wiley Test Bank, Wiley Text and Ninja Notes

"The fish who keeps on swimming is the first to chill upstream" -311

Experience - Done, like WAAAY done.
Still need 30 more credits, in basket weaving (gotta love new CA requirements)

[MintsRGood]

Fit: During 15-20 minute study breaks I have been doing a circuit of push ups, crunches, jump roping, and stair climbing. I'm aslo mixing in chapters of my favorite workout DVDs to mix things up. I'm not going to lie…sometimes I cringe when the study timer goes off and it's time start the stairs again! By modifying the Pomodoro to 35-45 minutes of study and 15-20 minutes of workout blasts on break I feel efficient and effective on my Fit:Study ratio! I'm starting notice a difference in my upper body strength and starting to see definition in my arms, so that's encouraging! My husband and I helped my Mother this week with a few projects at her house, one of which was pulling a massive old school tube TV from 1995 out of an entertainment center in a basement and moving it out for disposal. This relic must have been around 100 pounds and my husband was pleasantly surprised that I was holding my own and he wasn't carrying all the weight! Yay! 🙂

Study: I'm finally out of Wiley module 9 (Why not just have 4 separate modules Wiley???? ugh…annoying) and am making quick work of Inventory and Fixed assets. Nonmonetary exchanges remind me of like kind exchanges so I'm relieved to see something that is tax-like! 🙂 Looking forward to knocking out the rest of Fixed assets tonight and starting on the next one! One module at a time, right??? 🙂

I LOVE this thread!!!!

Keep up the good work everyone!!!!!!!!!! 🙂

REG: 75 DONE 🙂
AUD: 61, 71, 68, 92 DONE 🙂
BEC: 76 DONE 🙂
FAR: 72, 74, 79 DONE 🙂
Licensed Michigan CPA 🙂
-Some people dream of success...others wake up and work hard for it!!!
-The cowards never start and the weak die along the way!
-You better work, b***h!
-Only those who dare to fail greatly can ever achieve greatly.-JFK

[lyzgrace]

I had been SO good working out and studying. I actually think it helps a lot and it forced me to keep a structured schedule. Then a week and a half ago I sprained (and may have fractured… waiting on my second round of xrays) my ankle 5 minutes into a pickup game of ultimate frisbee and I'm going sttiiiiiir craazyyyy. Can I hang around this thread and stay fit vicariously?

AUD: 82
FAR: 78
BEC: 75
REG: 8/1 score release!!

[jeff]

Fit: I didn't have mountain dew for breakfast

AUD - 79
BEC - 80
FAR - 76
REG - 92

Jeff Elliott, CPA (KS)
NINJA CPA | NINJA CMA | NINJA CPE | Another71

[Anonymous]

@ Jeff-another71.com

That counts!! Gotta start somewhere 😉

[jeff]

Well – it was because I forgot my Sam's Club pallet of it at home 😀

AUD - 79
BEC - 80
FAR - 76
REG - 92

Jeff Elliott, CPA (KS)
NINJA CPA | NINJA CMA | NINJA CPE | Another71

[Zaq]

@lyzgrace: Of course you can! I had an injury too that really drove me crazy.

I was about a 2 months into the Starting Strength program and was enjoying the early gains. I was feeling extremely good one particular morning so I decided to add 10 lbs. instead of the recommend 5 lbs. to my bench press mainly because I didn't feel like doing the math to even out the rack. Also because I was at 195 and was eager to touch 200.

Anyway, I get under the bar. Get my mind ready. A few deep breaths. And then we have lift-off. Drop slowly to my chest and begin the ascension. Heavy, I thought, but manageable. Knocked 2 reps out. Then on the 3rd rep my right shoulder made this really weird sound. It felt weird, too. I managed to finish the 3rd rep without any strain thank god. So I get up and stretch and my arm feels completely fine. No pain or anything. Shrugged. Finished my routine with squats and deadlifts. Went out about the rest of my day as normal.

The next morning I go to lift 200 again except this time my right arm COMPLETELY gives way. There wasn't really any pain, but my right arm for some reason felt incredibly weak compared to my left. I managed to get the left side of the bar on the rack, then adjusted my body to move the right side of the bar.

Still don't know what happened, but that injury put me out of commission for a solid 3 weeks.

tl;dr: Injured myself. Didn't die. Didn't mean to type this much, lol.

FAR: 50, 76!
REG: 74... (ouch baby, very ouch), 76!
AUD: 65, 91!?
BEC: 80! Aaaand doneskies!

May 2012 to August 2013. Can't believe it's over.

[smp73]

Study: Read a section in the CIA book. (p.s. the entire 3 part CIA exam study material is the size of my FAR book…honestly shocking).

Fit: Off to the gym…mainly weights tonight…then back to studying.

Ready…and go!

NYS CPA License # 113563
CIA: Done as of 2/15/14

Training for a half marathon post studying!

[Anonymous]

STUDY:

working with the wiley books, studying for AUD, i finished up the other half of the module (reporting) which i intended to today. skipped 3 sections of the MCQs from the book however. did a practice session of 20 MCQs on the topic of reporting, and surprisingly, scored a 75% (should have been an 80, but i didnt read one of the questions carefully enough).

i say ‘surprisingly' because i felt like i had skimmed through at least 2 parts of the wiley book which i should have paid more attention to (primarily on AT 101 – 107 and other matters concerning odd-ball reporting situations). maybe i just havent come across MCQ's which deal with that subject matter yet. either way, when i finally hit the overall review portion of my self-study program, i'll know to cover those areas again, more in-depth. and im sure that i'll need to know them for SIMs.

…but holy fuark is my mind toast right now. got up at, practiced MCQs from 730-830 (3 topics: IC, Evidence, Professional Responsibilities), studied from the wiley books from 930-1215, ate lunch, had 2 part time job interviews (gotta keep myself afloat until my FT start with the public firm in late october, yah know?), came back, ate again, studied from 6-7, then again from 8-945. long ass day of studying. mind = toasted.

FIT:

nothing. an off day. going to smash the weights tomorrow however. heavy-pull day for me. absolutely going to deadlift 4 plates. PRs fo dayzzzz….

[kahtwoloo]

I signed up for a gym membership literally the week I graduated (May 05). I just lift weights and do cardio sometimes (read: 10 times, ever). I gained 40 lbs of lean muscle in 8 months lifting 6 times a week. The last couple of months I switched to a strength based routine so I only go 3 times a week. I also keep a clean diet of course.

Oh and for anyone that's performing barbell bench press, squats, deadlifts, and overhead press, here's a pretty interesting site to track your strength progress:

http://www.strstd.com

Just put you reps for one set max effort and it calculates your 1 RM for each exercise.

BEC-51,71,70,77
AUD-50,62,68 (retake july)
REG-55
FAR-15(didnt study)

[DeniseFutureCPA]

@ Mints, you're kicking butt!!

FIT: This morning, I worked out to “Banish Fat, Boost Metabolism” by JM… The core circuit done on the floor is AWESOME. Mountain Climbers, lots of variations of plank including one arm at a time push-ups, and pipe crunches. You sweat like crazy! I took a mid-morning walk around our building complex at work and did another mid-afternoon walk. Each walk is a good 1/4-1/2 mile depending on how far out into the parking lot you go.

STUDY: rewrote my A2 notes…. Rewriting notes is a new thing for me, and I can feel myself fighting it. I just want to REREAD! But I'm giving it a go.

For us, it is “pre-close” at work. So you might as well say our close is 2 weeks, lol. Tired brain….but sore body! 🙂

"Do not give up when you still have something to give... Nothing is really over until the moment you stop trying."

Why I am studying for the CPA exam: First it was business...now it's personal!!!!! 🙂

[Anonymous]

sharing with you one of my favorite lifting related websites-

http://www.exrx.net

lots of science. comprehensive guides to performing exercises, and the biomechanics behind the movements. i dig it.

[Author]

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