Vegan Bodybuilding & Fitness

Hey all, it's graham. i'm a 15 year old vegan and it's time to add some muscle mass!

I've been on this site awhile now, and i want to thank all of you for support, motivation, and i've been loading up on facts and everything. this site is a wealth of knowledge, and i hope that after everything i've read, that i'm finally doing it right.

I'm a competitive swimmer. I started out three months ago at 125 and 5"10. Pretty lean, good stuff. I'm now 5''11 and 135. In three months i gained 10 pounds of all muscle without doing weights at all. So one point i want to hit on is swimming is definitely awesome at keeping you lean. I'm still growing though, so i doubt that most people will get the same result (gaining 10 pounds with almost no visible fat, almost a decrease!).

Anyways, my coach decided that i should start adding muscle mass not only to increase strength, power, and get a better physique, but to enhance my performance in the pool. All the exercises that we came up with (with the help of jason lezak, olympic swimmer) translate into the pool. We do lots of back exercises since my main stroke is backstroke, core work, chest for my next best stroke, breastroke, and of course other exercises for individual medley. I gotta be versatile. I'll explain all of them below.

Now you might notice a lot of it isn't pumping iron (like the vegan brothers in iron ) but machine work. This is because the chance of injury doing traditional mass gaining exercises outweighs the gains, in terms of pool work. Besides, i need to still stay lean, just add enough muscle mass to get me faster. It's not about the physique for me, more about my times.

But again, the traditional mass gaining exercises, like squats, deadlifts, and cleans, all put too much stress on the key joints for swimming, so we avoid these. But i'm doing other stuff too! All the cardio i'm doing will keep me lean, and the weights will get me muscley too. I train for about 3 and a half hours every day (morning practice is 2 and a half hours, afternoon is 1 hour) and weights every other day. I'll post my eating log and training log below, with explanations of each exercise.

Feel free to post any advice, etc. I'm only 15, so i'm always open to something new. Thanks so much VBBF!

Here's some explanations.

Incline Hammer Strength Chest Press

Chest exercises are definitely important for swimming, and breastroke is one of my faster events, so developing the chest is key. My coach has seen way too many injuries from traditional benching as well.

Standing Pull Downs

Not only is training the back important, but this exercise increases the power of the underwater pulldown after a dive in breastroke, a super important first step that can make or break a race.

Narrow Grip Seated Row

My main event is backstroke, so it's another one to train up those muscles. BACK ATTACK!

Seated Shoulder Raises

Shoulders are one of those in between groups. They're important for swimming, but not as important as others. Still, it's great to train in order to get a well rounded physique.

Standing Tricep Press

This also emphasizes the pulldown, and trains the biggest part of the arm.

Seated One Arm Curls

Bicep curls... pretty standard. not much to say there.

Wide Grip Lat Pull Downs

yet another to train that back! these ones are seated, and almost mimics the first part of the butterfly stroke. while butterfly is one of my weakest strokes, (one i only swim in the individual medley, where you swim one lap of each stroke) if you keep a consistent and fast pace, since it is the first lap, it won't take a toll on my race, and i can come back with the other strokes.

Step Ups

Not weighted, just to warm up my legs for the next set of exercises.

Seated Quad Extensions

Quadriceps aren't as important in the long axis strokes like freestyle and backstroke, but in the asymmetrical stokes, butterfly and breastroke, they are the most vital. In the dolphin kick, for streamlines (applying to freestyle and backstroke) and butterfly, the kick is initiated here. You're fastest off the wall in a streamline and off the blocks into a streamline, so dolphin kick is crucial, and you have to develp quads. Quads are the main muscle group for the breastroke kick as well.

Hamstring Curls

Good hamstrings make better legs. Straight forward and simple.

Seated Leg Press

All turns, whether open, or flipturns, require you to be powerful off the wall. Leg pressing is almost identical to pushing off the wall after doing a turn, so it's a well rounded exercise.


I hope this provided a little more insight why i'm not doing the traditional exercises like most other people on the forum. I'll give you guys a look on the swimmer lifestyle if ya want. again, open to any advice.

Official food log and training log is next!

Today's thursday, and today i didn't swim. Just started the weights.

I forgot to mention up there that i do lots of core work, about 400 crunches. I won't go through all the exercises. I do that workout twice a day, once during workout, and once before i sleep. Core body muscles are vital, strong core=good flipturns, stable stroke, etc.

Incline Hammer Strength Chest Press 3x12 (no weight yet, just the 14pounds)
Standing Pull Downs 3x12 40 pounds
Narrow Grip Seated Row 3x12 40 pounds
Seated Shoulder Raises 3x12 20 pounds
Standing Tricep Press 3x12 15 pounds
Seated One Arm Curls 3x12 15 pounds
Wide Grip Lat Pull Downs 3x12 55 pounds
Step Ups 3x12 not weighted
Seated Quad Extensions 3x12 55 pounds
Hamstring Curls 3x12 30 pounds
Seated Leg Press 3x12 (no weight yet, just tried to get a feel for it)
Abs 400 crunches

Now i know what you're thinking... High reps trying to get gains??? Well for the first week, i have to start with high reps to get my endurance up, and then i'll decrease the reps and up the weight. I know this sounds all really weak too, but i gotta start somewhere! Don't worry, i'll be a monster when i'm older.

As for the diet, i cut out all refined sugar a couple months ago, except for odwalla protein bars and builders bars, which my parents say they want me to continue eating. i follow the eat every 2-3 hours thing to regulate metabolism and help my body become anabolic, etc. i eat between classes and such. I'll post the protein content of everything.

Here we go!

7am kashi go lean cereal and 2 cups soymilk, orange (i know kashi go lean has honey, my parents still make me eat it) 28 g
10am odwalla protein bar with fruit, usually pear 15g
12:30pm 2 slices ezekiel bread with peanut butter with fruit on top, 18g
3:30pm builder bar (cliff) 20g
5:30pm super awesome almond banana shake post workout (almond butter, one banana, 4 scoops rice protein, glutamine, {i love glutamine} truvia, almond milk, ice) tastes so good! and some fruit to boot, 56g
8:30pm all my vegetables! 5-6 servings of salad, onions, tomato, avacado for fat, peppers, it really kinda varies, and then some tofu or seitan. 20g

That gets me up to about 157g of protein, so that's pretty good. and that's all about 2100 to 2200 calories, which gets me through my day. I'll cheat and eat more fruit or veggies, i eat peanut butter and almond butter and avacado, and olive oil for fat, cereal for carbs to start my day for morning workout swimming of 2 and a half hours, then i eat protein a protein bar right after, rest a bit, and on a training day, i'll go to weights, so i eat another bar right before, switching my 3pm meal with my 12pm one. after proteining it up before weights, after, i'll drink my shake, go to work, ( i lifeguard, did i mention i live in california? ) swim, then eat my sandwich, then rest like no other, eat my last veggie meal, then usually go to bed to do it all again the next day, minus the weights.

It took me months to think this through, with no dietician help, just all the help of you guys on the forum! So i can't thank this site enough for helping me achieve my goals at 15 years old. I'll keep this up, maybe post some pics soon.

first off, that's a pretty impressive training plan, and props for being a fit vegan at your age, i know how difficult it can be to do switch to the vegan lifestyle, i went vegan when i was 11, but i didn't really eat anything other than veggies and spirutein shakes. it's awesome that you have such a balanced diet and committed training plan at your age. one suggestion in terms of your diet plan is to add more carbs after swim workouts. even though it is a refined and processed carb, 35g to 70g of dextrose along with a 5g dose of glutmine will aid in quick muscle regeneration and restoration of glycogen stores in muscle tissue. since you aren't using any refined sugars, you could also use 2 to 4 tbsp of agave nectar instead of the dextrose post workout, which has a similar sugar profile, and should have close to the same sugar content. another comment is your overall caloric intake strikes me as being fairly low. during swim season, depending on how many yards you are doing in practice and how many practices you are doing in a day, you may want to up your caloric intake to 3500 to 4000 calories. i know it seems like a lot, but it will help you add on muscle mass, and also increase your speed and help you be energized for swim workouts. at the moment, i'm only swimming for recreation, and only doing 2500 meter workouts with an additional 500 meters of pulling, along with a general weight lifting program, and i'm consuming ten meals and upwards of 4000 calories a day. if i hit any less than this, my workouts are crap and i have a hard time recovering.

oh yeah. i've been vegan for over a year now, and it's been great.


yeah i've always struggled with how many caloriesi need to eat, and whether i can actually eat that much.

for now, i'm just going to trial and experiment. if it doesn't look like i'm improving, or if i can't make it through a day, of course i'll eat more, bump up the calories. carbs after workout? i'll see what i can do.

i'll be swimming in yard pool over summer, possibly anywhere from 7000 yards a day to 10000 yards a day, along with weights on tuesday, thursday, and sunday.

looks like an intense training program already. it should be interesting to see how hitting the wieghts will help your swimming. anyway good luck and keep at it

Thanks lohungfung!

Yeah, all the stuff i do will hopefully translate into more power in the pool. we'll see what happens!

I'm just going to post what i'm eating today and what i'll be doing exercise wise today.

I'm currently sick, so no morning practice. I might practice this afternoon, but i'm going to watch a friend's soccer game, so it'll be shorter. Again, i'm sick, and normally i don't like skipping out on swimming or any exercise, but i'm definitely doing less so i can recover a bit. not an excuse, just something that has to be done.

bowl of kashi go lean cereal (1 cup) orange, 2 cups soymilk
Odwalla bar with a pear (it was so juicy!!!)
big bowl of oatmeal with some peanut butter and strawberries mixed in
cliff builder's bar
protein shake
veggies and tofu/seitan

We'll see what happens when i swim, i'll just wulf down on food between watching the game and such. I really try to dedicate myself to my workouts and stuff, and i press for it even when i'm sick.

swimming wasn't too good yesterday.... but this morning was much better.

i didn't swim for 2 and a half hours like i planned this morning, but the set was hard. i'm still a little sick so hopefully i'll be able to train full on monday.

so far, i've eaten some oatmeal and cereal and a banana, really was hungry after last night. felt great working out today, maybe i'll continue this, maybe not.

i'm going to work today, and i have a battle of the bands in some rural area. i'm the singer/guitarist/frontrunner, so we'll see what happens. maybe i'll post a video of me singing for ya guys. we have an awesome chance of winning, so that's always nice.

i'll keep posting hopefully as the day goes on.

so i've heard that at a minimum, swimmers can burn up to 500 calories an hour. I'll be swimming 3 and a half hours... so that's like 1750 calories.

i need some help on what to do to increase my diet healthily. more carbs? protein? and also when.

thanks!

I'm thinking i'm going to bump my calories from 2311 up to 3001.

is that good? am i getting there? i'd be adding more carbs, oatmeal, more to my breakfast, and adding a burrito to my dinner/last meal.

any thoughts? all help is appreciated.

thanks!

so i didn't end up adding a burrito to my dinner, but i did add an extra bowl of oatmeal and more cereal. it definitely gave me the energy to finish those workouts! yesterday i swam for 2 and a half hours. today i'll be going to the gym again. i haven't been sore in awhile!

did i mention my band won the battle of the band comp? pretty sweet. and 150 bucks to go along with it.

anyways. i can't remember how many yards i swam yesterday. it was breastroke day. always nice!

i'll post my diet and gym stuff later.

You are doing such an excellent job! You rock!

_________________
Courtney

"If slaughterhouses had glass walls, we'd all be vegetarians."
-Linda McCartney

Thanks vegangirl2006!

it means a lot.

so i only swam two hours today, we had to get out because of lightning?? crazy weather here in california.

yesterday, i did the same training regimen, same weights. I'll upgrade on the weight later.

diet today!

7AM 1 and a half cups of kashi go lean, 2 and a half cups soymilk, banana

9AM builder's bar

12PM 2 slices ezekiel bread (toasted) with peanut butter and strawberries

3PM odwalla protein bar, 1/2 a cup of oatmeal, with 1 apple shredded into it, raisins, and some truvia. yummo.

7PM protein shake, and an apricot and plum

9PM (hasn't happened yet, but will) lotsa lettuce, onion, avacado, seitan, arugula

the extra oatmeal and cereal really helped, so i'm going to continue that.

Wow, your workouts look fierce! Good luck with your training!

_________________
vegan for the win!

thanks lobsteriffic!

it does get intense at times. especially with summer right around the corner, things are going to get intense with me swimming 6 days a week.

but it's gonna be good!

i'll post what i did later on after my last meal.