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kenjimac

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  1. yea ive read bruce was a big fan of them. they can add a lot of strength but they will not add size. for leg bodyweight exercises, i second the recommendation of pistol squats. one of my favorite exercises as it also improves your balance and coordination. if you do four or five sets of those, 3 or 4 sets of jump squats, 3 sets of mountain climbers and round it up with a good amount of hill sprints you have a pretty intense lower body workout. you can even find a couple 2x4s or something so that if you stand on the balls of your foot, you can lower your heels without touching the ground. then lightly touch a wall for balance, stand on one foot, put your other behind the first and do standing calf raises.
  2. Thanks BlueRose, I may use it as a "1st breakfast" lol. I love my breakfast foods, but I may take a vega shake as soon as I wake up or something.
  3. for those of you that know all the proteins in vega better than myself, when is the best time to take it? I have a large tub, but want to get the most of it. is it more a slower protein that you would take at night before bed like a casein, or is it a pre or post protein like whey, or a between meals powder more like pure hemp? any help would be great
  4. your welcome. yea feel free to contact me. my personal email is blue_mentos AT yahoo.com if you want to use that.
  5. hey man, it looks like you got a good foundation to build upon. im not sure what you mean when you say cardio, but i would make sure you get in a couple days of interval training a week like sprints on ground or on a bike instead of long distance runs, biking, swimming, whatever your doing. ive found that this cuts into your fat storage best. another thing i like doing is if im running a longer distance for example, i set a pace that i know will be so challenging, so that when i get close to the end my mind will tell my body 'we cant go any more, we need to slow down or stop', and then instead, pick up the pace significantly until my end point. i think your eating plan looks fine, i would definately add in the almonds or some sort of high protein food pre work out as i think thats a necessity. just make sure that everytime you eat, you make it count and put a good amount of protein in your body in each sitting. in terms of overeating, i find myself measuring things out before i eat. once i start eating, its often hard to quit before its too much. for example, if im hungry and sit down with a bag of pistacios, ill probably eat the whole bag, but if i measure out the proper amount to eat before hand, ill be satisfied with whatever is there. a lot of times i plan my meals out the night before, as your judgment seems to be better then than whenever your hungry and you have to make a decision on the spot. it is necessary to have a high calorie day sometimes. i have one 'cheat' day a week. on this day, i allow myself to eat whatever i want (vegan), however much i want. the rest of the day, i dont make limitations on how much i eat, but i make sure that everything is healthy and my meals are separated by at least 2 hours. if you stay on a low calorie diet everyday for too long, your body will start hibernating and start storing fat. the human body is so smart. with a high calorie day once a week, you keep you metabolism on its toes and going full speed all the time. i think if you can stay mentally strong, you will have no trouble meeting your goals. good luck!
  6. thanks guys! vegan joe i do have family living out there in the valley, though i dont think we will get a game out there, its a bit far from ky. i do have a question for all you experienced vegans. im gonna be going away for spring break in a couple weeks, and i was wondering what kind of food i could take on the road with me so i can keep getting the proper nutrients everyday. i dont think eating side salads at restraunts every meal will do the trick so i gotta think up a variety of foods to eat on. any help would be awesome!
  7. im pushing two months being vegan now, and im very pleased. i really havent had any urges for animal products, which surprises me but i am pleased. when i used to be vegetarian i used to crave chicken all the time, but i guess i have a better foundation of knowledge, or my reasonings for giving up animal products are more rooted now. i dunno. anyway, my one fear was that i would either loose strength or find it very hard to make progress. im happy to say that im still making the same rate of progress if not better now than i used to. im now doing 3 sets of 10 w 280lb in the leg press, 4 sets of 15 w 50lb in leg curl, 3 sets of 25 w 60 lb in the standing calf raise. im finally doing 3 sets of 20 on pushups . took long enough! pull ups are almost at 7 for sets of 3, 3 sets of swiss ball sit ups (30) superset with pendulums (22). Another good thing is that i've been able to maintain my weight at 135. the reason i was worried about this is that im replacing a lot of very low fat low calorie foods like tuna, tilapia, chicken breast, and turkey for things like peanut butter, beans, nuts, which usually all have a higher fat and calorie count. but the switch hasnt caused me to gain weight so im pleased. starting in march, im getting set to start 'real' lifting again ha. so ill write down the routing when i switch. i think best of all, i may have opened up the eyes of some of my friends. one even got inspired by me and gave up animal products for lent! he came to me to get ideas on what he could eat and how to keep his strength up. i also feel my body looks a bit better http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v228/blue_mentos/2009_08070010.jpg http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v228/blue_mentos/2009_08070007.jpg http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v228/blue_mentos/2009_08070011.jpg i havent gotten any feed back on here yet, but im mostly doing this for myself so i can track everything better and be more organized. still, i look forward to interaction, criticism, support, whatever. im very glad i made this decision, and i constantly visit these forums for inspiration.
  8. Hemp protein isn't supposed to be a pre or post workout powder. hemp smoothies are best taken as a meal replacement or a bed time snack. they are high in fat, but its good fat, very rich in omega 3 and 6 among other things. i used to take flaxseed oil before bed but i dont really need to as i get all the essential daily fat from hemp now.
  9. im living in ky too! where abouts do you live?
  10. Here is an interested article I came across that addresses gaining for skinny guys. http://www.mensfitness.com/fitness/workout_routines/458 I am also naturally slim, and I find it hard to pack on muscle at times. I haven't tried it out, but it seems to make sense and I've heard experts say the same thing about the dangers of overtraining for slim guys. It seems like you are packing so many exercises every workout and maybe its not necessary, especially for someone fairly new to weight training. Everyone is built differently and have different needs, so while listening to what works for the biggest guys in the gym may be benefitial to your knowledge, it may not be the best workout for you at the moment. I firmly believe you can train abs up to 6 times a week without worry, so I would go ahead and do whatever feels good for you in that department, but just make sure you dont do the same things everything time there, as your body is very smart and adjusts, and you have to keep coming up with new ways to challenge your gut. If you are really in the 5% body fat range right now, I'm betting that you will start to look REAL cut up soon if you arent already! good luck!
  11. I feel as though I was born naturally athletic, however, strength always seemed to be my weak point. I never lifted a single weight until my first year of my college's soccer off-season program. When I first started, I couldn't even do a single full pull-up. The first year was very laid back on my part, and my lack of determination in the weight room coupled with an ignorance when it came to the science of building muscle and the right diet, my efforts lead to minimum gains. The next year, I heard rumors from other players that the coach was specifically looking to recruit a player to replace me sighting my lack of power in holding the ball and aggression. This lit a fire in me and last January I became an absolute maniac in terms of my training. I consulted more experienced athletes, magazines, books, web sites to get all the information I could possibly obtain. After only a couple months, with hard work in the gym along with a new found proper diet, I saw great improvements in my physique. Having a naturally slim build, I've found that I plateau easily, and I've had to keep tweaking my routine and diet to keep gains moving forward, even if they have been slow after the initial first few months. Last summer, I worked on the field, doing aerobic, anaerobic activities in addiction to my strength training up to 8 hours a day. The work I put in seemed to have helped tremendously as I had my best season to date, breaking multiple school records during the season. I wrote in the introduction section of the forums about my transition in my eating habits. To write a short version here, I was vegetarian for about 3 years during high school, but had to give it up. I had always thought about wanting to go back to that way of eating, but after my second year here, after learning all I had from traditional athletes/information sources, I thought it impossible to go back to a plant based diet. However, after randomly coming upon this website before the new year, I discovered that there was such a thing as a VEGAN competitive athlete. I started thinking, and realized that it is very possible to be on top of your physical form while eating cruel free. I made the decision to make the jump to veganism a few weeks ago, and I feel great! So anyway, here is where I am physically at the moment. I am 5'10 and average 140lbs. I am in my "off season" currently. After about 10 months of daily stress on my joints and muscles, I have to take a break to discourage over training, and it also helps lead to bigger gains when I really get into it a couple weeks when our team starts our off season lifting program. So, what I currently do is just lift once, at most twice a week, to keep my legs and core in shape, so I don't have to regain lost muscle. I do a series of simple excercises that hit the most important muscles. Here are notes from my last workout. Leg Press 3 sets of 10: 250lb Leg Curl 4 sets of 15: 45lb Standing Calf Raise 3 sets of 25: 60lb Push Ups, 3 sets of 18 Chin Ups, 3 sets 6 Sit ups on Swiss Ball 3 sets of 25 superset with Pendulum 3 sets of 21 Sit up Max: 155 Has anyone noticed a change in their bodily reactions, where they struggled, altering their diet to keep gains going when they first made the switch to veganism? Again, I'm less than a month in so I want to be proactive in my approach. I not only want to keep up with my overall strength but how it compares to my body weight, fat % and overall physique. I am obsessed with being the best I can in everything I do: sprint speed, endurance, power, and also having my body look its best. So I'm posting these pics to keep track to see if I can see visible results as well. http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v228/blue_mentos/IMG_0858.jpg http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v228/blue_mentos/IMG_0862.jpg http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v228/blue_mentos/IMG_0863.jpg http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v228/blue_mentos/IMG_0870.jpg http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v228/blue_mentos/IMG_0871.jpg http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v228/blue_mentos/IMG_0861.jpg I'm preparing for my senior season, so I'm very determined to keep improving and have my best season next year. I would love any suggestion, constructive criticism, or encouragement that any of you guys can throw my way. This is a great community, and as I don't have any vegan friends, I look forward to leaning on the support that I hope I find here. Thanks guys!
  12. thanks everyone for the warm welcome! i look forward to learning all i can, as well as contributing where i think i can.
  13. Whats up everyone. During high school I decided to make a lifestyle change and become vegetarian. I stayed strong for 3 years without the support of anyone and living in a small southern town, however, for various reasons, I decided it best to give up the diet. Sad, right? Anyway, I'm now a college soccer player in KY, and in the last few years I have picked up a good amount of knowledge about nutrition and weight training. Listening to the wisdom of my sports program, fitness magazines, and websites, which I respect very much, I thought it impossible to go back to an animal-free diet and keep myself in top form for my sport, which is very demanding on the body. Just before New Years, I randomly came upon this site, and discovered a whole new world I didn't know existed. I had no idea there was such a thing as a competitive vegan athlete! I'm inspired by those here that follow this awesome lifestyle, and by reading posts, articles, etc, a fire got lit in me and I after some quick thinking I came to the realization "Hey, I can do this!" After reading some more info on why to go vegan, I've decided to convert myself over and I can honestly say I'm very excited. I think the support on here also serves as another reason why I made the decision, I fully believe I can get the support of others striving for a better way of life on here, even though I don't have anyone in person I can lean upon. So, if you guys have any tips to help me out, especially since I'm new to the vegan community, I would love to hear it!
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