LongTimeVegan

Thanks Richard!!! -Chris

So I squatted 225lbs with strict form today (3 sets of 6 reps) . I don't do 1-rep max lifting, so this really is the first time I've ever squatted that much. I realize this probably doesn't seem like much weight to some, but for me it is a major accomplishment. I think I will remember this day forever! This gave me the idea to start a thread where people could share their memorable moments in weightlifting... Any takers??? -Chris

Sunday December 23, 2007: BB Squats (to parallel): 135lbs x 8 reps (Warm-up Set) BB Squats (to parallel): 5x6 with 225,225,225,205,205lbs <<< Lying Ham Curl Machine: 5x6 with 120lbs Straight-Legged Deadlift: 5x6 with 185,185,185,185,155lbs DB Lunges: 5x6 with 55lb DBs (These excercises were superset by performing excercises 1-4 with NO REST between excercises, the 3-5 minutes rest before beginning again) Plate Loaded Leg Press Machine: 5x6 with 380,400,400,420,420lbs Standing One Leg Ham Curl: 5x6 with 45,50,50,55,55lbs Seated Calf Press machine: 5x20 with 400lbs Standing One Leg Calf Raises: 5x6 with bodyweight (These excercises were superset by performing excercises 1-4 with NO REST between excercises, the 1-2 minutes rest before beginning again) I squatted 225lbs for reps today!!! My palms started sweating two hours before my workout! I was really nervous about trying that weight. I can't believe I made 3 sets of 6!!! I think I will remember this day forever. I never do 1-rep max excercises, so this really is the first time I've ever squatted that much weight. After my first three sets at 225, I dropped the weight to 205 and started creeping just below parallel for the last two sets. I've been reading some articles about how it's less hard on your back if you go past parallel, so I thought I'd give it a go. It really did seem much easier on the back as I was beginning the upward phase of the lift! The first giant superset was however, totally brutal! I was sure that I would need to drop weight on the Straight-Leg Deadlifts and Lunges, but somehow I managed. Luckily the gym was pretty empty and some guys were deadlifting near the squat rack with the right weight for me to jump in while they were resting. Had new PB weights on the Plate Loaded Leg Press and One-Leg Ham Curl machine. I am making sure my legs touch my chest each rep on the leg press, so my weights aren't very high. Then there's also the fact that my legs were already fried from those first 20 sets. Workout took a total of 65 minutes to complete (40 sets total). -Chris

Welcome to the forums, Manuel! -Chris

tuc, I did not mean to insult your physique. It was the "the other arm is quite similar" comment that had me laughing. Perhaps the humor was lost in translation. -Chris

I am so uncomfortable trying to sleep in clothes, especially tight ones. I think everyone who currently sleeps in clothes should try sleeping naked for at least a week. I bet you will like it. -Chris

Stiff-Legged Deadlifts or Good-Mornings might be something to try for your back. You wouldn't need a sofa or a wall, just some DBs or a BB. An added bonus with the Stiff-Legged Deadlifts is that you can also get a nice hamstring contraction if you focus on that. -Chris

Don't know if that was meant to be funny, but I am laughing hysterically. Welcome to the forums, tuc! -Chris

Awesome!!! American Apparel shirts look REALLY GOOD if you have a nice physique! Ethically manufactured clothing rocks! For me, buying clothes from places with good labor standards is a natural extension of the "vegan ethic". -Chris

Hopefully nobody is buying bananas produced by Chiquita: http://money.cnn.com/2007/03/14/news/companies/chiquita/index.htm Apparently they aren't producing in Columbia anymore, but I think it's safe to say they're doing the same sort of thing wherever they're operating now. Why this company was FINED for providing material support to groups designated TERRORIST ORGANIZATIONS by the State Department is beyond me. Shouldn't the board members of Chiquita be in Guantanamo or some CIA "blacksite" being waterboarded right now??? -Chris

Nice work man! -Chris

Like potter said, I think Dumbbells will fix this. I would do same weight, same reps for each arm. Theoretically, you will exhaust your right pec before your left, and therefore it will be more stimulated, and should grow more. This should even out the imbalance eventually. -Chris

This is what I'm doing right now: Day 1: Chest/Back Day 2: Biceps/Tricep/Shoulders Day 3: Legs Day 4: Chest/Back Day 5: Biceps/Triceps/Shoulders Day 6: Legs Day 7: Rest I use some different excercises on days 1-3 than I do on 4-6 even though I'm working the same muscle groups. -Chris

ROFL

Welcome to the forums, Sosso! -Chris

Sir, I'd like to take this opportunity to welcome you to the forums. -Chris

Saturday December 22, 2007: Seated DB Curls: 5x6 with 45lb DBs Lying Tricep DB Extensions: 5x6 with 35lb DBs Concentration Curls: 5x6 with 35,35,35,35,30lb DBs Tricep DB Kickbacks: 5x6 with 30lb DB (These excercises were superset by performing excercises 1-4 with NO REST between excercises, the 1-2 minutes rest before beginning again) Reverse Grip EZ bar curls: 5x6 with 75lbs Dips (bodyweight w/tricep emphasis): 5x15 <<< DB Overhead Press: 5x6 with 55,60,60,60,55lb DBs (only made 5 reps on last two sets) DB Lateral Raises: 5x6 with 30lb DBs (These excercises were superset by performing excercises 1-4 with NO REST between excercises, the 1-2 minutes rest before beginning again) Had a really good workout tonite. PB for weight (60lbs) on the DB overhead press and PB for reps on dips as well. New weight on the Seated DB Curls and Lying Extensions as well. Workout took 55 minutes (40 sets total). Tomorrow I am doing legs using this type of set structure. I would be lying if I said I wasn't a little bit scared... -Chris

Friday December 21, 2007: Incline DB Press: 5x6 with 85,85,85,85,80lb DBs One-Arm Bent Over Row: 5x6 with 90,90,90,90,85lb DB Flat DB Press: 5x6 with 80,80,85,85,80lb DBs (only made 5 reps on sets 4 and 5) DB Pullovers: 5x6 with 60lb DBs (These excercises were superset by performing excercises 1-4 with NO REST between excercises, the 2-3 minutes rest before beginning again) Pullups (bodyweight with pronated medium wide grip): 5,6,6,6,4 reps Incline DB Flys: 5x6 with 50lb DBs Seated Rear Delt Machine: 5x6 with 135lbs Seated Plate Loaded Calf Press: 5x12 with 135lbs (These excercises were superset by performing excercises 1-4 with NO REST between excercises, the 2-3 minutes rest before beginning again) Today I began the last part of my 6-week workout cyle. It will last two weeks, and I am doing a 5x6 set structure, supersetting four excercises at a time. The entire workout took less than 60 minutes (40 sets total). I was totally rocked, but the pace of the lifting was so hectic I didn't even have time to realize it until I was done. I was sure that I would end up dropping my weights more than this, but I managed to keep them relatively high (for me anyways ).

Vega gave me serious gas when I started taking it (about a month ago). It seems like my body may have adjusted, because now it's not so bad. I've been taking protein powders for a couple years now, so it's not that. It may be the chlorophyll, as others have mentioned. I also kinda felt messed up when I first started taking it. I think I may have been detoxing, because now it's all better. -Chris

I am so relieved to see that you don't eat practically nothing EVERY DAY. I am totally perplexed by the fact you can sustain yourself with so little food. I mean, it's obviously working for you, and I see your point about the mental factor. I guess the thing I wonder about most is whether you make gains eating like this, or simply SUSTAIN your existing muscle mass like this? I have not seen your pics, but the comments others have made lead me to believe you have a nice physique -Chris

Some time ago, I was watching a cooking show where the chef traveled around the world to learn about various cuisines. In one episode (the one I actually made it through ) he visited a Shaolin temple, and they appeared to eat nothing but rice, veggies, seitan, and tofu! I was like; "oh yeah, I eat like a Shaolin warrior baby" -Chris

I never really focused on this, but as I reflect on it now, it seems an excellent motivator! Thanks! -Chris

All your lifts are very impressive, but the 250lb overhead press just blows my mind.

Thursday December 20, 2007: Wide Stance BB Squat (to parallel): 135lbs x 8 reps (Warm-up Set) Wide Stance BB Squat (to parallel): 4x8 with 185,205,205,185lbs DB Lunges: 4x8 with 55lb DBs (These excercises were Superset with no rest between excercise 1 & 2, then 4-5 minutes rest before beginning again) Machine Leg Extension: 4x8 with 120,130,130,130lbs <<< Seated Ham Curl Machine: 4x8 with 240lbs (These excercises were Superset with no rest between excercise 1 & 2, then 2-3 minutes rest before beginning again) DB Squats (to parallel): 4x8 with 100lb DBs <<< Lying Ham Curl Machine: 4x8 with 120lbs (These excercises were Superset with no rest between excercise 1 & 2, then2-3 minutes rest before beginning again) Standing Calf Machine: 8 sets of 15 with 120lbs (only made 13 on last set) (60 seconds rest between each set) Some guy nabbed the empty squat rack just as I was walking in the room, then proceeded to set it up with 225lbs and do 6 reps of 1/3 squats. Then he walks over to the Smith machine and starts setting it up... I ask if he's done with the squat rack and he replies "he, he, I'm too lazy to squat tonite." I reply by asking "Are you also too lazy to clean up?". I normally wouldn't have said anything but there is something about guys who do 1/3 squats that just annoys the hell out of me. Especially when their next excercise includes a Smith Machine.... LOL I feel better now that I've vented. So the other day when I was doing regular squats I noticed that my stance wasn't much narrower than when I'm doing Wide-Stance "Ballet-Squats". Tonite I made a real effort to widen my stance a bit. I wasn't able to lift quite as much weight this way, but my legs weren't about to buckle inward like they were last week . Have I mentioned how much I love supersetting squats and lunges? I was pretty rocked after that, and was very happy to be doing excercises that involved sitting down. I am making slow but steady progress on the leg-extension machine. I do this one without momentum and hold the contraction for 1 second at the top. I think I will be able to move up weight on the seated ham curl next workout. There's only three more plates before this machine is maxed out. I guess I'll start doing it with one leg at a time when I max it out. I was planning on trying 95lb dumbbells tonite for my DB Squats, until I discovered that my gym only has DBs in 5lb increments up to 90lbs. The rest are in 10lb increments (100,110,120). "Oh, well, I guess I'll try the 100lb ones..." I tried saying "ain't nuttin but a peanut" (in my head of course) but they didn't seem any lighter. Also tried "ain't nothing to it but to do it". That was slightly more effective, but not outrageusly so. Bottom line: I made my 4 sets of 8 reps. Thats 20lbs heavier than my old PB for this excercise. Yeah buddy. Knocked out the calf raises with strict 60 second rest periods. I am starting to see some improvement in my legs, which is nice. I have a goal of squatting 225lbs for 4x6 reps. I think I may reach this goal within two weeks. I've been moving up in weight every week, but these are just numbers, and that's not nearly as motivating as seeing my muscles grow. -Chris

The problem here is that you are using your POSITION OF POWER over the animals to DECIDE THEIR FATE FOR THEM. Add to this the fact that you intend to materially benefit from "deciding what's best for them" and "utilizing" them as you put it. I also find it interesting that you seem to think that you can tell what an animal is "more content with" (life in the wild vs. life in "free-range" captivity to benefit humans). How about not interfering with their destiny, and let them live their lives in nature without your influence??? Why are you on a "vegan" message board advocating the use of animals to produce products for human consumption??? WTF? Troll Alert!!!!