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AdamH

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About AdamH

  • Birthday 11/13/1982

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  1. Everyone swears by squats. They're one of those exercises that are considered as one of the exercise you MUST DO. I hate them. I don't like doing squats at all, and I don't blame you if you want to give up on them completely. IMO, they're bad for your knees and your back. I know, I know, it's all about form. But think about it: If the only safe and proper way to do an exercise and get benefits from it, is with "perfect form," what's the purpose? Research "spinal compression." Whether it's moving furniture or running a 100 meter dash, I can hold my own without doing squats. If bodybuilding is what you're in to, I say leg presses are the way to go. If you're after functional fitness, bodyweight squats and sprinting are where it;s at. I know barbell squats do a lot more than strengthen your quads. I know they also strengthen your core, glutes, hamstrings, and so on... but there are plenty of other ways to train those muscle groups without all the risks that come with barbell squats.
  2. Dude. no disrespect or anything, but why are you going to a gym???! Buy a 20 dollar pull-up bar and... well... buy a 20 dollar pull-up you can hang on you door frame. Gyms are a COMPLETE waste of money. And if you hate going to a gym, why? You shouldn't hate working out. Checkout a site called, gymnasticboddies.com. I'm pretty sure that;s it. If I'm wrong, just Google "gymnastic bodies" and it will probably be the first result. If going to the gym is like pulling teeth, you're doing it all wrong, man. Working out should be like a drug. It should be like, "yeah, this is gonna make me feel good!!!" Ya know? I read your whole post and I understand why you feel the gym is necessary, but it's really not. You can achieve the same results by mechanically disadvantaging yourself, only performing bodyweight exercises that you can do at home.
  3. I also forgot to mention that I was scrawny long before I became a vegan. Somehow, I've actually become bigger/more muscular since I've become a vegan. Again, I think it's just the fact that I've always remained consistent with exercising.
  4. Hey everyone, I've noticed there's a lot of people on the forums interested in bulking up and gaining mass. I thought I'd take a little to share what I know I on the subject and hopefully help some of you out. By no means am I huge guy. I'm actually pretty small. But over the past few years I've managed to pack on quite a good deal of muscle. I used to be SKINNY. Not just skinny but SCRAWNY. I really can't emphasize this enough. I'm almost 5'11" and in my late teens/early 20's I was fluctuating between 115 - 125. These days I walk around comfortably at about 145 lb. I know that's still pretty skinny compared to most guys who are my height/age, but on my super-tiny frame it seems to be the weight my body wants to stay at. I've gotten heavier at times -- 150+ -- but it's been impractical to maintain that. What's really changed for me over the last few years is that in the past, even if I got up to 145 - 150 lb, if I took a week off or ate a little less, I would shrink right back down to 130 lb or wherever I was at. These days, if I slack for a few days or a week, or even a couple of weeks, I stay where I'm at, which is indicative of real muscle gain. I think it's really important for everyone to know that's it's completely unrealistic to expect to gain 20, 30, 40 lb of muscle in a year or less. You're really defying the laws of nature if you're trying to do this. Young guys in their teens who are still growing and have never worked out before might experience these kinds of phenomenal gains, but they are the minority and they have hormones working in their favor. Most grown men who have been working out for a while will be really lucky if they can gain 5 - 10 lb of ACTUAL muscle in year. If you're serious about bodybuilding, you should get on Youtube and check out a guy named, Scooby. I think his website is ScoobysWorkshop. He's not a vegan but he is vegetarian and he has a lot of good advice. He's also HUGE, so you can be pretty sure he's not BS-ing you. I am not a bodybuilder; I'm more interested in running, gymnastics, martial arts... but I still watch/listen/read everything this guy posts because it's good info. My personal advice: If you're eating a mostly whole-foods, plant-based diet, indulge yourself. Eat as much as you can as often as you can. As far as working out goes: Challenge yourself. Always try to do more -- whatever that may entail -- than what you did the last time you worked out. Also, maintain a consistency. Working out to your max 1 or 2 days a week probably isn't going to do anything for you. You have to stick to a plan. Don't forget, working out is a process of adaptation. If you want to be bigger, stronger, faster, etc... you have to give your body a reason be that way. That takes consistency. I suppose the best advice I can really give any of you is to be patient and consistent. If you think your body is going to be transformed in 1, 2, 3 months... you're probably deluding yourself. Know your goals, too. If you're just working out because you want to look like that guy or girl on the cover of some magazine, I don't think there's a good chance you will meet your goals. I'm sorry, I just dont. You're not considering your own genetics; you're not considering the reality that no one's paying you to workout; you're chasing a vain goal... most reasonable people will give up if that's all they're after... Workout and eat healthy so you can feel better, be healthier, and ultimately be a better version of yourself and have a higher quality of life. If the end result of that is you looking like a fitness model, great! If not, it doesn't matter! There's a lot of vanity surrounding the whole workout/eat healthy mentality, and I don't think it's a good mentality to have. So, that's my advice to those who are trying to bulk up and gain muscle. I hope at least some of it, if not all of it, is helpful. I really think the best thing I can leave you with is don't try to be someone you're not. Not everyone is meant to, or can be, 240 lb of solid muscle. Magazines want to tell you you can; people selling protein powders and weight gainers want to tell you you can; but it's not the truth. If you're a little guy or gal, be the best 150, 140, 130 lb you can be. There's nothing wrong with that.
  5. I rarely use any, myself. There's generic brand they sell at publix, which I buy every once in a while. It's just called "veggie protein" or something like that. It's decent. 17g of protein per serving, no additives. Thor's Raw Power looks pretty awesome if you're willing to spend a little bit extra.
  6. I was a lot like you for a long time, man. Like Mitch1991 said, if you're just eating dairy here and there, just cut it out. It's not nearly as hard as you think and you won't miss it. Once I stopped eating dairy completely, I found it repulsive. As for strength gains, it's all about decreasing volume and increasing intensity. IMO. Again, I'm kind of echoing what mitch said but it's true. You have to get a feel for the kind of recovery time your body needs. Then you can start to work around that. I know I'm being nebulous, so let me elaborate. Let's say you can do 3 sets of 10 pull-ups and you know that will leave you sore the next day. Instead, try to doing 2 sets of your absolute max. Maybe that's 1 set of 12 pull-ups followed by a second set of 9 or 10. Who knows. But you won't be sore (or as sore) the next day and you can try to top it. I went from 9 or 10 pull-ups to 15 in just a couple of weeks following that method. I know it's somewhat counterintuitive to what you read on a lot of sites and in magazines, but it's worked well for me, and you can apply that to any exercise. I'm just using pull-ups as a hypothetical. Another example could be push-ups. Say you can do 20 pushups now. Well, instead of doing 3 sets of 20 and being a little sore the next day, do 2 sets of your absolute max and keep building on that everyday until you can do 3 sets of your max without soreness. Then it's an endurance game, but you can continue to increase your strength by positioning your hands closer to your hips and going back down to 2 sets. It's all about mechanically disadvantaging yourself. Is this making sense? Anyways, that's what has worked for me. Hope that helps.
  7. Never mind, I figured out the avatar.
  8. Hi Robert, I've already sent many of my friends to your site and I just referenced the site in an article I wrote on my blog. I think you've got a great thing here. Keep it up!
  9. Hi there, I'd love to help you out, but I'm having a hard time understanding your post. Are you saying you went from 160 down to 120? I couldn't see your photos either. BAsed on what little info you've given, all I can say is building muscle takes a long time. And when I say a long time, I mean 5 to 10 lb a year is good progress. I'm talking real muscle, not just weight. If you're just talking about being "cut," that's really just a matter of being lean. It's kind of a different animal all together. Anyways, come back and give us some clarification. I'm sure you can get lots of good advice.
  10. P.S. Can someone tell me how to upload my avatar? I found the "edit avatar" link but can't seem to find an "upload" button. Thanks in advance!
  11. Hello everyone, My name is Adam. I've been visiting the site for a while but I just signed up on the forums. I love this site! I was considering submitting a bio for the Bios section of the site, but it just didn't seem like me. Honestly, I don't think I'm quite buff enough, like the other athletes, to be flaunting my stuff. Haha. I've been a vegetarian for going on 11 years (I think) and I've been a vegan for over 1 year, now. I think this site is great because it dispels so many myths about vegans. I send people here all the time. I also think it's a great resource, all around. I have my own blog/website and just referenced VeganBodybuilding in an article I wrote this morning. I'll put the link down in my signature. Anyways, I look forward to getting to know all of you better, and I hope to learn a lot from you and share what I can with others. Cheers, Adam
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