Vegan Bodybuilding & Fitness

1.5years? hell of a progression!!!

Yep! I hit it hard man.. I didn't pick up a weight until I learned enough about the science of building muscle. I refused to be that guy that goes in the gym and just does stuff with no understanding of how this is going to make me hyooge. LOL and it's worked so far. I'm at the point now where it's not about getting stronger so much anymore, but how I work the muslce. I'm really just going for pure hypertrophy now. Working on weak areas.. I'll be starting a log soon and showing more progress.

Welcome, btw, (We've been chatting about supplements already but I didn't realize you were new here.) I'm actually pretty new myself, having only been vegan since May. I, too, was always afraid of...."where I'd get my protein" from. It's true, though, it's a much healthier lifestyle and you can most definitely build a strong lean physique....with muscles...while being vegan. You look awesome! Keep it up!

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"Happiness is when what you think, what you say, and what you do are in harmony."
Mahatma Gandhi

Thank you! I have actually been having some of the best workouts ever this week!!! I feel super motivated and have TONS of energy! I used to do chicken and rice about an hour before working out and I never realized until now how much that was slowing me down! WOOOOO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Protein is actually much easier now than before.. You wouldn't believe how "ugghhh" I felt throwing down another chicken breast! hahaha

I know...I used to do the 6-meal-a-day thing....chicken, brown rice/sweet potato, broccoli. I thought I would die if I ate another chicken breast. Now I eat a lot of legumes, still lots of brown rice but I have variation now. I love to make lentil soup, too. I make a lot of stir-fry type dishes with tofu now, too. You can always mix up the veggies and seasonings. Every night is a chance to make a new recipe. I love it. I feel healthier now than ever before. I was about 225 lbs at my heaviest weight, and currently I am around 132 lbs., 5'7" tall.

I am trying to really just tone up and add more definition. I have so much more energy for my workouts now and amazing motivation. I mostly run, do cardio machines at the gym, strength train, Kundalini and Vinyasa yoga, and crossfit/Krav Maga classes.
My concern now is that I may be doing too much running/cardio machines....I don't want to waste away any muscle that I could be adding...I don't know how much is too much. I'm doing about 30 minutes on M-W-F and about a full hour of cardio (either at the gym or running outside) on T-Th-Sat. Sundays are my rest day, or just take my dogs for a walk.

You should check out Robert Cheeke's book, Vegan Bodybuilding and Fitness. It's awesome! I thought I "already knew everything I needed to know about health and fitness" but I am learning a lot by reading his book. It's keeping me inspired at the moment.

_________________
"Happiness is when what you think, what you say, and what you do are in harmony."
Mahatma Gandhi

That is awesome! It's great to see such high motivation!!!! It's possible that you are overdoing the cardio just a bit. Maybe keep the 3 days you do an hour and lose the 3 days you only do a half hour. Just do that for a couple weeks and see how your body responds. That is a lot of cardio and it could very well dip in to muscle but ya never know till you mess around with different ideas.

Send me all your knowledge!!

MrSwolehouse,

I think you may be right. On M-W-F I am doing that 30 minutes of cardio AFTER I do my lifting at the gym. That's not so good, I know. I'm going to just dump the 30 mins like you suggested and see what happens. Once I actually do that 30 minutes after lifting, I am pretty beat anyway. I am a self-proclaimed cardio-junkie, I'll admit. I know that my body responds better to lots of cardio, but that actually years ago when I had a ton of weight to lose. Ever since then, I've felt chained to cardio for results. It's probably best I do cardio on a separate day altogether. I'm ordering the Met-RX CLA today and starting that next week, too.

_________________
"Happiness is when what you think, what you say, and what you do are in harmony."
Mahatma Gandhi

Ask me anything buddy! When I start my log I'll go in to my reasons for lifting how I do. I bet I'm going to get a lot of people that say what I do shouldn't work I plan on starting it within a week or so. I'm still testing the waters on my current routine but already it's showing results so I believe it's going to do what I need it to! WOOOO!

Yep you hit it on the head. Your body can adapt to ANYTHING and that includes cardio which is why a lot of people now do HIIT instead of 30 minute or 1hour sessions on the treadmill. Burn more calories and spare more muscle. Either way take it one step at a time so you can see what's truly working. Dropping the MWF 30 minute sessions I think is a great start. Hit your recovery drink immediately after lifting and let it be. This should really allow your muscles to saturate the nutrients! Are you eating a good carb source after working out?

After my lifting workout, I have some rice/pea/hemp protein with coconut or flaxseed oil, 8 oz water and 8 oz rice or almond milk, and usually frozen mango or a banana thrown in, 5 grams creatine, 5 grams glutamine, 5 grams BCAA. Sometimes I add spirulina powder and spinach. About an hour after that, I have rolled oats with some raisins or whole grain toast with natural peanut butter and jam.

I'm wondering though, now that I am switching to T-Th-Sat early-morning cardio only (prob HIIT), should I eat anything before I head to the gym? I know it's prob best to have nothing and do it on an empty stomach, but if I have to have SOMETHING, should it just be a protein/fat source? Like maybe either a small protein shake with water or 1 tbsp natural peanut butter? I know I want to stay away from carbs before cardio, right?

I also have (on the way to the gym - but I save it mostly for during the workout) water with either an Emergen-C packet or powdered Gatorade drink with 5 grams creatine, 5 grams BCAA, 5 grams glutamine and 2 grams Beta Alanine. I use creatine, BCAA powder and glutamine both before and after, 5 grams each time. Sometimes I also crush 200 mg caffeine in that drink, as well. Just depends how I feel. I try not to get dependent on that.

Also, I usually have an apple before my lifting workouts or toast with jam (I generally workout by 7:00 a.m. every morning so I don't want to eat a real "meal" at that time yet.) I almost always follow my lifting AND cardio sessions with my rice/pea/hemp protein shake listed above, then I eat something like rolled oats or brown rice and bean tortilla, rice cake with peanut butter or almonds and dried fruit or soy yogurt with nuts, about an hour or two later.

Should I still have the protein drink after my cardio only sessions that I'm going to be starting? In other words, the post-workout nutrition stays the same, regardless of whether you've just done cardio-only or lifted weights? That's where I'm unsure.....and I'm not sure of the proper carb/protein ratio for post-workout either. I used to try and do 2:1 or 3:1.

_________________
"Happiness is when what you think, what you say, and what you do are in harmony."
Mahatma Gandhi

Ok.. your post w/o shake sounds pretty good. You definitely need carbs immediately after working out as that's your primary shuttle for glycogen and nutrients feeding the muscles. At this time carbs will NOT stand a chance at being turned in to adipose tissue.

As far as Pre-cardio a little protein and fat is a good idea. Something to sustain you but honestly I think people over think this some. Do what you feel is good in that situation but do not take BCAA's before cardio only sessions. Your body will immediately use it up as an energy source and it's just been wasted. Overall you have to look at cardio as a means to an over all goal at the end of the day - calories in vs calories out. The debate on cardio with an empty stomach will never be conclusive, the main fact is that it's getting done and of course in the most efficient manner... ie. HIIT. If you can not do HIIT then by all means any other way is still not BAD. If you properly execute a HIIT session it should be no longer than 15 - 20 minutes. That's the beauty of it!!! It's gotta be INTENSE though!

Your pre-workout regimen sounds great as well! Those are the vital basics necessary to saturate the muscles.. if you want you can drop the glutamine pre-w/o though as it will just get burned up as fuel. Plus the only way to truly get enough glutamine to the muscles is to ingest quite a bit, upwards of 30g/ day. Most of it gets absorbed in the stomach lining.

Your system sounds great overall! Very awesome stuff there.. overall like I said just be sure to get mostly Protein and Carbs after workout with minimal fat at that moment. The fat will slow it all down and you want those nutrients absorbed as quick as possible.

BEAST IT!!!!

Thanks so much! I really appreciate the input.

Okay...so...do I really even need to supplement with Glutamine at all, since it's already in my post-workout shakes? I keep using it (mostly because I've read that it can curb cravings) but if I don't really need it, then I will ditch it completely. It's just wasted money really, and I'm all about cutting out what I don't need. Otherwise, if I keep it, I should only use it post-workout, is what you're saying? And keep the BCAA powder, but only use it pre- and post-workout on LIFTING days...have I got it right?

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"Happiness is when what you think, what you say, and what you do are in harmony."
Mahatma Gandhi

You are correct! You can save your money and not worry about the glutamine Everything else good to go and you are very welcome!!

Cool. As soon as it's gone, I'm ditching it.....have a good day!

_________________
"Happiness is when what you think, what you say, and what you do are in harmony."
Mahatma Gandhi