Crystal

Aw, your making me blush Robert - that will be awesome when you come out this way, can't wait!

Yay, a new log for me 27 October 2008 - Monday Squat: 10 x 65 lbs, 12 x 135 lbs, 10 x 155 lbs, 5 x 185 lbs, 5 x 185 lbs, 5 x 185 lbs, 8 x pistol sqts Leg-Press Calf: 15 x 70 lbs, 15 x 90 lbs, 15 x 90 lbs Push-Ups: 20, 27, 10 Plank: 2 minutes *stretching Man, had to fight for every one of those squats, but it was worth it . I'm feeling much better than last week, was struggling with some odd shoulder pain at the end of last week (comes and goes so fast, but is so intense!)

Outside the supplement world, what has had a huge impact on my knees has been (surprisingly to me) to do squats (or leg press, or lunges etc. if you can't squat). Strengthening all the muscles that surround the knee help stabilize it and prevent wear and tear. I tried the glucosamine thing for awhile but it had no effect, but then again I also have a nasty autoimmune disorder that wrecks my joints so I'm not a good person to go by for that!

That's awesome, man I miss Montana sometimes! ( . . . until I remember snow = cold)

Going thru Salt Lake City? Or did they already pass by?

I have knee issues as well, but I find I struggle with swimming. Not only am I really bad at it, but the instability of kicking in the water (my legs sort of "wobble") puts a lot of strain on my knees and they often ache afterwards. I've had a lot of success with eliptical machines so maybe after your month of rest you can give them a try (but take it easy at first to get a feel for it!). I've heard that people hurt themselves by holding onto the handles instead of swinging their arms freely because it puts a lot of strain on your body, so something to keep in mind. Aqua fitness classes were always fun, I could do those, but I caught a lot of odd stares from the other participants for being a "healthy young person" instead of old or pregnant .

Um, okay, so what is your photobucket name so we can see some of these pics???

Awh, thanks CN . I won't be this active when school starts again at the end of the month though (or maybe I will . . . I'm such an addict!!!). 5 August 2007 Some climbing out at Pena Blanca, but not much because I was by myself (no spotter). Good to get out though

Here are my two Potter originals he gave me last year (thanks again!): A lovely bowl full of veggie lentil stew I had just made for dinner (yum): http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v389/vegancrystal/Misc/DSCF0128.jpg And here we have a lovely wine gobblet full of cherry apple juice (since I don't drink): http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v389/vegancrystal/Misc/DSCF0132.jpg So cool, I use my Potter bowl for breakfast almost every morning!

u]4 August 2007 - Saturday[/u] DL: 10 x 135 lbs 10 x 185 lbs 10 x 205 lbs - ouch! hamstring hurt after these, bad , but got a video of the set (see link) 15 x 135 lbs Seated Cable Rows: 10 x 60 lbs 10 x 60 lbs 8 x 60 lbs DB Shrugs: 20 x 30s 20 x 35s 15 x 40s - really focused on range of motion today. *stretching Managed to drag my sorry self to the gym today. A good warm-up helped loosen me up, but the hamstring was killer during deadlifts - didn't make it past the warm-up! Such is life I suppose, at least I got the warm-up in and some video to make sure my form was okay Man, I wish I was on the Vegan Vacation!

3 August 2007 - Friday Bench: 10 x bar 10 x 65 lbs 10 x 80 lbs 8 x 90 lbs 8 x 90 lbs 6 x 90 lbs - d'oh! Punishment sets for not getting those last two reps: 1 x 100 lbs 20 x bar Total Volume = 4880 lbs Dips: 10 x bw 3 x 10 lbs 4 x 10 lbs 4 x 10 lbs Skull Crushers: 8 x 40 lbs 8 x 40 lbs - stopped here, was hurting my wrists and shoulders Hammer Curls: 9 x 20s 5 x 20s 5 x 20s *stretching Not a bad day considering everything is starting to hurt again , this is why I don't make definate strength goals!

2 August 2007 - Thursday D'oh, skipped the gym and went climbing . Should have gone to the gym in the afternoon but I was hurting all over a ton so I took some pain pills and took a nap that ended up lasting 3 hours! Woke-up when a friend called to go climb . Was feeling a bit better by then so how could I refuse? I'll gym it up today Climbed at Pena Blanca again. Started at a traverse called the Bone Yard, then ended at the Smith boulder in the dark (yay for headlamps!). The boneyard has a sit-down start that I just can't get for the life of me! I got some humerous video of my attempts: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SwzJnI5H18o http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J26jEycBh-c Gotta be able to laugh at yourself sometimes

Ya, the oven in my apartment doesn't work so I just use my toaster oven - they're great! As for microwaves, its not so much that the "make water shake", they make the molecular bonds between water molecules vibrate more quickly than before, energizing them and thus heating. I only say this because microwaves use FAR less energy than ovens (and I love my microwave popcorn, d'oh!).

31 July 2007 Squat: 10 x bar 7 x pistol sqts - stupid balance, these are hard! 10 x 95 lbs 10 x 135 lbs 6 x 175 lbs 6 x 175 lbs 6 x 175 lbs - bah, going for 8 reps! D'oh I suck. 6 reps was for next week's 185 lbs, so might just keep it the same. No SLDL or Leg Curls, hamsting is okayish, but these make it hurt. Leg Ext: 3 x 10 x 40 lbs Standing Calf: 3 x 15 x 260 lbs Silly hamstring being slightly sore still, really cut this workout short - I was in and out of the gym in no time. To much energy lately as well so decided to go climbing! Called up some friends and went to a canyon that is not even a 15 minute drive away, but it was raining hard there. Just on little cloud parked above the canyon, stuck on the mountain side . Not to be discouraged, we went on to some "Buildering" that was out of the rain. El Paso has a plethora of rock walls that are great to climb on! This one is at an amphitheater in the canyon right by where we were going to climb: Working the traverse: http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v389/vegancrystal/climbing/DSCF0091.jpg http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v389/vegancrystal/climbing/DSCF0103.jpg This one is cool because its my friend resting and re-chalking while still on the wall: http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v389/vegancrystal/climbing/DSCF0099.jpg We also climbed up a part of the wall that led to a balcony, but I got no pictures of that - a little more scarry climbing so high (!), but cool to be able to climb up to the second floor

All I can say is . . . http://www.mightymitedoggear.com/forum/style_emoticons/default/2whoohoo.gif Enjoy your rest days!

30 July 2007 - Monday Went rock climbing (bouldering) at a place called Pena Blanca in New Mexico. Climbed from 6 pm 'til the sun went down. Got a video, but its dark in the fading light and the cinematographer seemed to like to get good butt shots : http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0y7iewIGAKc

28 July 2007 - Saturday DL: 10 x 135 lbs 10 x 185 lbs 10 x 205 lbs 6 x 225 lbs 6 x 225 lbs 6 x 225 lbs Total Volume for DL: 9300 lbs BB Bent Rows: 10 x bar 3 x 10 x 75 lbs - still hate these! DB Shrugs: 20 x 40s 20 x 40s 15 x 40s No stretching, pulled my hamstring a little (but not much) on deadlifts so didn't really feel up to it . Mostly just sitting here wishing I was on the Vegan Vacation again this year

Great pictures! What an amazing place, glad you two had a good time. Love the tree pose in front of the tree . . . . Ahh Kristy! Your hair is shorter than mine!!! (I need to cut mine . . . ) You do a better job of hanging there than I do Thanks for sharing guys!

26 July 2007 - Thursday Started out the day with a nice hike. Same one as last time, but took 1 hr 50 min instead of 1 hr 40 min, d'oh! Was an awesome morning though That night did: Bench: 10 x bar 10 x 75 lbs 10 x 85 lbs 2 x 105 lbs - d'oh 3 x 100 lbs - d'oh again 2 x 100 lbs 10 x 85 lbs Dips: 3 x 10 x bw Skull Crushers: 3 x 10 x 35 lbs DB Hammer Curls: 10 x 20s 7 x 20s 6 x 20s *stretching Cursed benching , I can get 10 reps at 85 lbs just fine, but add any weight to that and I can barely do a couple! Last week I was scraping for 6 reps at just 95 lbs, and this week I couldn't do crap with any more weight. Oh well, just need to use those little 2.5 lbs plates or something next time. The rest of the workout was great, finally getting up there with dips again

24 July 2007 - Tuesday Squat: 6 x pistol (I'll get 7 reps soon!) 10 x bar 10 x 95 lbs 10 x 135 lbs 9 x 165 lbs 9 x 165 lbs 10 x 165 lbs - Wahoo! Much better than last week Overloads: 10 sec x 225 lbs 10 sec x 315 lbs 1 sec x 405 lbs - okay, almost 1 second, it went up off the pins after much effort, then came right back down Superset of: Leg Curl: 3 x 10 x 35 lbs Leg Ext: 3 x 10 x 35 lbs - one leg at a time Standing Calf: 20 x 240 lbs 15 x 240 lbs 12 x 240 lbs - really killed myself on the first set so these others weren't so great *stretching Felt great to hit more reps on those squats, will up the weight next week.

OMG, those are the best pictures ever I love goats, they are just so NAUGHTY , and the pigs are adorable, not to mention everyone else . . . Thanks for sharing, what an amazing place

Ya, definatly see a difference in this latest show, good job! Its especially noticable in those two backstage photos you posted. Good luck with the next comp, you will do great!

Yet you are averaging more anyway I think you need to set a higher number next time! Excellent.

Wow, seeing what you eat in a day is making my hungry . The Yoga sounds fun, I'm going to take it at my University this fall, been years since I practiced. Haven't decided if I will do Hatha or Ashtanga (sp?), can't wait though, Yoga is good stuff! Is your right leg feeling better from last week?

Lol Lindsay76, you are too kind! I basically do a 3-day split based around the three powerlifting lifts: squat, bench, and deadlift. The only one I'd really call "full body" is the deadlift day, works a bunch of muscles that one does. I do fairly high volume for now, but will cut that down with the passing weeks to increasingly high weight and low reps until I peak and will test my 1 rep maxes for those three lifts. Hope that makes sense I am lean naturally, when I was competing in powerlifting I tried desperatly to put on some muscle (or any) mass to help add weight to my lifts, but was never able to! D'oh. My diet is okay, could be better. At best I generally eat cold cereal for breakfast, sandwiches or leftovers for lunch, and something with rice/noodles and beans for dinner. Other than that I have a sweet tooth from hell and can't get enough chocolate Silk Don't really do much cardio, but I have been hiking some lately which is kicking my ass, my cardio SUCKS. My rock climbing doesn't really count as cardio, I do bouldering and I'm enough of a novice that I don't climb long before falling and having to rest before trying again. Thanks for the compliments and comments, sorry about the longwinded reply Honestly, you seem like a much better athlete than myself. 21 July 2007 - Saturday DL: 10 x 135 lbs 10 x 165 lbs 10 x 195 lbs 3 x 8 x 215 lbs - weights are getting heavy! BB Bent Rows: 10 x bar 10 x 75 lbs f x 95 lbs - God my back is weak Bench: 10 x bar 10 x 75 lbs 3 x 6 x 95 lbs - missed my benching this last week (laziness is my only excuse), so threw it in today. Happy to get 6 reps at that weight, was a struggle. Oh, kind late for posting this workout . I hate rows, they've never been a strong point for me, but I'd like to build up my back more to help climbing. Oh, as for climbing, been WAY to hot to climb lately, but I'm hoping to hit it again next week as its supposed to be cooler.