Crystal

I'm learning Korean martial arts (some Hapkido, Tae Kwon Do and traditional Korean martial arts) and currently have a blue belt in my style, been doing it for about one and a half years. I have a background in running. Started running at a very young age and ran track all throughout school and my first year of college (long jump and heptathlon where my events), at which point injuries caught up with me and I had to stop running completely (even after physical therapy, yuck!). It's been about five years now and I've always kind-of stayed in shape, but now am ready to step it up and bulk up! I'm also going to start running on a very limited basis again as soon as the weather clears. Also need to start up Yoga again, which I did for about a year, but have been too busy this semester in school to fit it in (lifting has won out). I've been vegan since summer 1997, veg. for a couple years before that. I love hiking, and living in Utah provides numerous hikes within 15-30 minutes of where I live in every direction (the only good thing about this state. . .).

Monday - Cardio (20 - 30 minutes), Hapkido
Tuesday - Lower Body Lifting, Hapkido
Wednesday - Hapkido, Some Lifting (abs/lower back mostly for now)
Thursday - Upper Body Lifting, Hapkido
Fri, Sat, Sun - rest, but usually go for nice walks with my life partner when the weather permits.

Squat - Dead Lift Ham Curl - Leg Extension Leg Press (or alternate with Lunges soon) Calf Presses Abs - Oblique's - Lower Back

Bench Press - Inclines - Declines Biceps - Triceps (so many ways to do these, I try to vary each week) Lat Pulls (vary between each set with pulling in front or behind head). Seated Row Abs Right now since this is still new, I'm doing 12 reps, but in the next few weeks I'm going to start lowering the reps and upping the weight. I do 4 sets of each, but the first one is usually a warm-up.

I cook a lot of my own food so it is really hard to figure out exactly how many calories or what percent of nutrients I get, but I try to make a variety of healthy foods. Cooking is a hobby of mine. I eat about 4 to 5 meals a day, but my appetite has seriously decreased over the last year because I started working graveyard shifts which really mess with your body. I am getting better at eating enough, despite the lack appetite, which will hopefully help me get some muscles!

As for supplements, I have a multivitamin that I take now and then if I feel I haven't been getting enough vitamins in my diet. I also recently started taking glucosamine to hopefully prevent joint damage and maybe help repair the damage that is already there from running.

Short Term: Gain some weight/Bulk Up.
Long Term: Be strong enough to compete (we'll see!).

About the pictures:

These are me after one and a half months of serious lifting. Okay, I need some lessons in posing, or maybe there just isn't much there to see yet! I will update with some action pictures as soon as I get up the nerve to bring a camera into the gym. The Hapkido pictures are just me having some fun kicking and swinging around my nunchukus.

Lots of things have changed, I have a new routine for the summer. Also started yoga again, got my red belt in Hapkido as well! Lifts are going good. I'm up to squatting 155 lbs at ~7 reps, deadlifting 175 lbs at almost 7 reps. Benching hasn't gone up as much as I would like it to, only up to 75 lbs at ~7 reps (*sigh*). I also haven't really gained any weight, still around 131 - 133 lbs.

Monday: Hapkido
Tuesday: Lower Body & Yoga
Wednesday: Hapkido & Core/Abs work
Thursday: Upper Body & Yoga
Friday: rest
Saturday: rest
Sunday: Possible hiking

Then every-other week:
Week 1: Front Squats, SLDL, Calf Raises
Week 2: Box Squats, Leg Extensions & Leg Curls
May add Hip Abductor/Adductor work if opportunity
arises

Then every-other week:
Week 1: Bench, Military Press ,
Week 2: Declines, Inclines, upright rows, forearms
May add more upper back.

Core/Abs Plan
Lots of Swiss ball crunches and reverse curls
Incline sit-ups (with weight)
Oblique's (with weight)
Hanging Leg Raises
Lower Back Raises on Swiss ball

My diet is getting better, appetite has improved and I have started putting a little soy protein isolate, coconut milk, and some ground up flax/sesame/pumpkin seeds in my smoothies, which I enjoy almost everyday now that it is warmer out.

Short Term: Get stronger, and secondarily add some muscle mass.
Long Term: Get strong enough to compete (still way far off).

Action shots at last! Squatting, 2 deadlifting, and benching free weights, woohoo! Not my max weights, but about where I'm at in my workouts. Also, *gasp* a horrible machine (!), okay I like the lat pull, one of few machines I like to use. One shot of me stretching, too. Still 1 or 2 inches (2.5 - 5 cm) away from full splits, but close.

Phew, well past time for an update! Since my last one, I have been able to compete twice in Powerlifting. The first time was in Pocatello, Idaho (November 20, 2004 – results here) the second in Clearfield, Utah (December 18, 2004 – Results here, here & here).

I have also moved to Connecticut at the start of 2005 and started a new Hapkido class. It is Jung Ki Hapkido, their website is here. This style is different and doesn’t have Tae Kwon Do mixed in so I don’t do nearly as many kicks anymore. I am back to being a white belt and am learning so many new things, it really complement what my other style was teaching me too.

My weight lifting regiment has changed a bit; I now lift three times a week based around the Big 3.

Sunday: running (anywhere between 3 – 6 miles) Monday: Weight lifting focusing on Squats Tuesday: Hapkido Wednesday: Weight lifting focusing on Bench, & Hapkido Thursday: Hapkid Friday: Weight lifting focusing on Deadlifts Saturday: Rest day

As of today, I am in a high-rep, lower weight cycle, but this will change in mid-February to start adding onto my 1 rep maxes again. I hope to compete again in a Powerlifting meet this summer as soon as I find competitions in the area.

For Fall semester at University, I took a nutrition class and learned a lot about my own nutrition. I found that I get sufficient amount of everything except fat, and oddly potassium. Been eating more potassium-rich foods like bananas and orange juice and I still don’t worry too much about my fat intake. It was close to adequate anyway!

I have been eating more “convenience” food since moving because I don’t have a stove or oven. Only a microwave, toaster oven, grill, crock pot, and rice cooker. It’s amazing what you can think of when options are limited!

My current goals are to get better at powerlifting and continue competing as well as to advance in my new Hapkido system. I’d love to run a few 5 or 10 K’s this year, but only if they do not interfere with my powerlifting. This year I’d really love to hit a raw Deadlift of 300 lbs and to be able to bench my body weight. For Squats 250 pounds would be nice.