Vegan Bodybuilding & Fitness

I had a great leg training session yesterday and my legs feel really good today. They are sore, but it's that sore feeling that I love to have.

I did about 7 sets of leg press, 4 sets of hack squats, 5 sets of lying hamstring curls, 8 sets of leg extensions and about 6 sets of calf raises.

It took me a good 2 hours, but it was nice. I only have 2 1/2 weeks until my contest! I better start shaving my legs and picking out some music to pose to!

I had a strong chest workout followed by some posing yesterday.

It went something like this:

Flat Bench Press

135 x 12
135 x 15
185 x 5
205 x 4
225 x 3
225 x 3
135 x 17

Decline Bench Press

205 x 5
205 x 6
205 x 7
205 x 11
225 x 5

Incline Bench Press

135 x 10
135 x 8
155 x 6
155 x 7
175 x 8

Hammer Strength Machine Pec Deck
105 x 15
120 x 12
120 x 10
120 x 8

A little bit of ab training and 10-15 minutes of posing and then 11 minutes on the bike before the gym closed.

Good times.

Yesterday I hit back pretty hard. I spend over 2 hours in the gym on back and abs.

Today my stomach was a little upset but I still spent 2 hours in the gym. I spent 1 1/2 hours training biceps and triceps and spent about 40 minutes on the bike.

Now, I'm trying to get to bed before 10:45PM to get a good amount of sleep.

Tomorrow I'll be training legs. It should be a great time!

Yesterday I just did cardio during my workout and a little ab work. I've hit the weights 6 of the past 7 days or something like that during contest preparation and I haven't been sleeping as much as I should be. So yesterday, no weights, just cardio.

Today I was pretty exhausted from being up too late (for stupid reasons). I probably slept about 4 hours and then worked 8 hours and came home to nap for an hour and a half before a leg workout. I kept the leg workout pretty short. I did 25 min of cardio on the bike, then trained legs for 35 minutes and then did another 20 minutes on the bike. I think tomorrow's plan is to train shoulders and a bit of abs again.

I'll focus on rest and recovery and sleep this next week, while doing some good muscle workouts.

That's a good idea, I definitley try to fit in more sleep, especially when I'm trying to add on weight, which I am now.

Yeah, sleep has been my nemesis for a long time.

3 main components of health

1. Nutrition
2. Exercise
3. Sleep

I do two of them well, but the 3rd I'm horrible at and it costs me big time....but I'm working on it and finally found a solution. I'm already cutting back on computer time, and I've got a few other plans, in fact I'm going to bed RIGHT NOW at 10:35PM. Usually it is 1AM when I retire for the evening.

Yeah, it's 1:37 am here right now, about a minute after you posted that, I'm fixing up my bed and going to sleep too.

I trained chest yesterday and back/abs today.

Chest looked something like this:

Flat Bench Press

135 x 12
135x 12
185 x 7
205 x 5
225 x 3
225 x 3
205 x 5
135 x 16

Incline Bench Press

135 x 7
155 x 7
175 x 7
135 x 7

Low Pulley Cable Cross Overs

120 x 10
100 x 15
100 x 16
100 x 21

Hammer Strength Pec Deck

105 x 20
120 x 15
135 x 12
150 x 11

Then I trained some abs and rode the bike for 31 minutes.


Today was back and it looked like this:

Wide Grip Pull-ups
12
10
8
8

Narrow Grip Pull-ups with 20-25 lbs added
12
10
10
10

Rack Pulls

100 x 15
150 x 10
200 x 10
200 x 8 (back got sore so I bailed out before injuring myself)

T-bar rows
80 x 16
100 x 12
105 x 11
105 x 11

Then I trained abs for 20 minutes, mostly hanging leg raises and rope crunches.

After that I biked for 27 minutes.

I trained legs today. My back is still sore from the back workout the other day. I've been using a bit of heat and ice to help it.

So today I biked for 27 minutes and then did about 300-400 reps of bodyweight squats (sets of about 35-55 reps each).

Then I did leg extensions for quads, probably 10 sets, mostly one leg at a time and about 3 sets of both legs together.

I then did seated hamstring curls, about 4 sets and then 4 sets of seated calf raises.

I biked for another 34 minutes after training. I'm only 9 days away from my contest so workouts are long but nothing too extreme. I don't want to get injured or anything like that, and my body won't change much in 9 days, I just need to shed some fat, hence the biking and the long workouts. I was there for 2 1/2 hours total.

I'll start doing about 2 hours of cardio a day on Monday, which is about 4 days from now.

Looks like you are doing a great job in your training! Way to go!

Thanks for the comment, I'm working hard these days.

I had a solid arm training session on Friday. My arms were like rocks, just totally hard, so that was cool

Then on Saturday I trained shoulders and rode the bike a bit. It wasn't as long of a workout because I was pretty tired, but it was still good.

I took Sunday off which was only my 2nd full day off in about 2 weeks. Getting ready for a contest, I like to be burning calories constantly to get really hard and tight and in good condition. I'm not real interested in recovery for growth, just a bit of rest for the muscles. I'm not going to "grow" in the final few weeks before a contest, but I can significantly change my body fat and my appearance by doing cardio, long training sessions and adjusting my nutrition program to fit my goals.

Today I trained chest and it was hardcore. I was wasted when I was done. I could barely press anything. Then I did some abdominal work and then road the bike on a pretty intense setting for 33 minutes so my legs were pretty worn out and I was sweating quite a bit.

I'll be back at it tomorrow to train back.

I just found out my contest will not be in 5 days. It has been canceled. So I will have to make a trip to California in 2 1/2 weeks to compete in Oakland. We'll see if I can raise funds for the trip. I still want to compete!

I trained back today and then went for a nice jog out in the sun.

I'm training with a lot of intensity but not super heavy because I don't want to get injured close to a contest. I'm also not quite as strong or capable of heavy lifts so I just do what feels safe.

My back workout looked something like this.

Lat pull downs to warm up

100 x 20
100 x 15
100 x 15
100 x 15

T-bar rows

Wide grip
80 x 16
90 x 15
100 x 12

Narrow grip
100 x 12
100 x 12
100 x 12

Hammer Strength Rows Upper

140 x 15
180 x 12
230 x 11

Drop set
180 x 8
90 x 12

Hyperextensions for lower back

20
20
20
20

Shrugs

270 x 15
270 x 15
270 x 15
270 x 15

Drop set
180 x 20
90 x 25

Then I did a little more lower back work, some ab work and then ran outside in the nice weather for about 20 minutes.

I'm training with a 42 year old guy named Larry and we're getting some great workouts in.

I trained up in Vancouver B.C. Canada last week and then had 2 training sessions at LA Fitness in Bellevue, WA, and then finally returned home to have some training sessions here at Downing's Gym.

I have less than one week until my competition! I hope it goes well.

I'm starting the day with morning hikes in the fresh air, then training, and another hike or form of cardio.

I don't like to restrict my diet a whole lot. I like to enjoy myself as I prepare for contests and as long as I look pretty good, I'll keep doing it that way.

Well, I better go to bed soon. I hike in the morning.

Only 5 days to go. I've been doing total body workouts, lots of hiking, and burning calories. I'm pretty light, but after this year I'll get heavier again.

I start tanning in 2 days, just with spray on ProTan so I need to complete a total body shave tomorrow.

Training is going well, just taking it easy so I don't get sore. If I'm sore I can't flex well or pose well.

I need to work on my routine!

Time to go....

I've been doing lots of hikes and light workouts, full-body workouts and a bit of posing.

Less than 48 hours until I compete! Time to get down to bus-in-ess!

I'll post results when I return home.