Vegan Bodybuilding & Fitness

My Dimensions as of the end of February: Ht = 5 ft 11 in, Wgt = 163 lbs. BF = not certain but around 7-8%.

My Goals: To become stronger and faster for sports and general challenges of life. Possibly bulk up for bodybuilding down the road but I'm not quite as concerned about my physique at this point (still building it tho)

My routine is an upper lower split that I do 4 days per week.

Mon:

Speed Deadlift 8x2
Front Squat 5x5
Romanian Deadlift 4x5
Leg Sled Toe Press 4x8
Weighted Decline Situps 3x8-12


Tue:

Speed Bench 8x3
Low Incline DB Bench 4x5
Wide Grip Pullups 5x5
Military Press 4x5
Barbell Curl 4x5
Close Grip Bench 4x5


Thur:

Box Squat 8x2
Elevated Lunges 4x5
Weighted Hypers 2x8-15 (done at 90% of 8-15RM)
Power Shrug 4x8
Smith machine Calf Raise 4x8
Weighted Leg Raise 3x8-12

Fri:

Push Press 8x3
Wide Grip Angle Dips 5x5
Close Grip Lat Pulldown 5x5
Behind Neck Press from the mid-ear 4x5
Reverse BB Curl 4x5
Close Grip Bench 4x5


the speed sets at the beginning of each workout are done exactly as the speed sets of Westside training. the 4x5, 5x5, and 4x8 sets are all ramped in a similar fashion as Bill Starr's "Big Three" and "5x5" programs. On my final set I go to positive failure (the point where I question whether or not I can do another rep with clean form). The Ab work is str8 setted and done to near failure.

As I write this, I have already done this weeks monday and tuesday workouts, which I'll post here (just the top set of coure):

Mon, Mar 3rd 08

Speed Deadlift: 8x2 @ 225 lbs

Front Squat: 225x5

Romanian Deadlift: 355x5

Leg Sled Toe Press: 470x10

Wgt. Decline Situps: 3x8 w/45 lb plate in front of face


Tue, Mar 4th 08

Speed Bench 8x3 @ 135

Low Incline DB Bench: 95x4

Wide Grip Pullups: 55x5

Military Press: 155x4

Barbell Curl: 115x5

CG Bench: 210x4


Well, it's been a decent week so far. I improved by 1 rep on pullups since last week and will probably try for 60 lbs next week Arm work didn't budge but calf work went up significantly (450x8 last week on the LP toe press). Everything is flowing smoothly and I am ready to kill it tomorrow! I'm ready to see if I've improved from last week's top set of 255x4 on the elevated lunges.

Thur, Mar 06

Box Squat: 8x3 @ 145

Elevated Lunges: 255x6

Smith Machine Calf Raise: 385x8

Weighted Hypers: 2x8 @ 70

Power Shrug: 285x8

Weighted Leg Raise: 3x9 @ 25



Today was a totally kickass lower body workout! Went to 255x6 on elevated lunges from 255x4 last week, 375x9 to 385x8 on calf raise, improved from 3x8 @ 25 on leg raise to 3x9 @ 25 and didn't even hit failure on any of the 3 sets, I think next week I will attempt to get 3x10, then perhaps I'll contemplate going up to a 30 lb db

The only downside is that, while I went up to 285x8 (from 275x8) on power shrugs, a couple of those reps were pretty sloppy, I did some ego lifting here so I won't be going up in weight next week.

I couldn't be happier about the improvements I'm seeing in the lower body. I wouldn't mind my lower body outgunning my upper body, I personally think that it's by far more important to make the lower body strong than the upper body, especially at the hip (which is why I emphasize deadlifting so much)

I'm considering entrance into a powerlifting competition. I'm certain that I can romanian deadlift 400 or more which means I can hopefully deadlift 450 or more, that would be my strongest lift. There's no doubt in my mind that I could make a good showing at the local shows so it's a possibility for the future

Good numbers in your lifts!

Definitely try a PL meet if you haven't done it - if you don't want to do a full meet, there's a growing number of push/pull meets around the country, which are just bench and deadlift, and are a good place to start if you just want to get the feel of what they're like. That way you can focus on the DL primarily if you want to test that lift out moreso than the others, too.

A 450 DL in the 160s for bodyweight is very good - I'm sure you'd do quite well if you were able to pull that in a meet!

Thanks 4 the props VE!

The Push/Pull ones sound intrigueing but I'd rather do all 3 lifts, my squat and bench are less impressive than my deadlift but I'm young and fresh so I have a lot of time to improve and it's not like I've been neglecting those lifts, I got 255x6 on elevated lunges which indicates to me that my squat is going up (I personally believe that emphasizing front squats and elevated lunges will improve your squat very efficiently)

As for bench it's got to be getting up there as well, it was lagging way behind for awhile but I'm finally catching up with my pressing.

Anyway here's what went down today

Friday, Mar 07

Push Press: 8x3 @ 105

Wide Grip Angled Dips: 90x5

V-Bar Pulldown: 255x6

Skulls: 110x6

Reverse Curl: 95x5

Behind Neck Press down to mid-ear: 135x5


Another kickass day in the gym! Every lift went up today, in fact the skulls went up by 2 reps from last week! I'm excited to see what I get on the CG bench next tuesday, as I've stalled on that lift for a couple of weeks. If it hasn't improved by next week, I'll replace it with upright dips (I replace an exercise if I don't improve on it in 3-4 weeks).

It's very empowering to be improving at this rate. Anyone reading this blog and wanting to improve their strength and physique should consider this routine, it's done wonders for me in those areas so far and additionally, I am feeling more and more confident in my all around athletic ability.

Mon, Mar 10

Speed Deadlift: 225x2

Front Squat: 235x4

Rom Deads: 365x5

LP Toe Press: 500x8

Wgt. Decline Situps: 3x8 @ 45


Another kickass day with everything improving! (except speed sets and abs - I'm being conservative about increasing on speed work and the situps I've been struggling with but I got 8 reps on 3 sets without reaching total absolute failure so perhaps after another week or 2 it will be time to try for 3x9).

Front squat went from 225x5 last week to 235x4 this week, not sure if you call that much of an increase but I look at it like this, I increased my front squat 10 lbs in 2 weeks which is a very significant improvement.

Romanian deadlift went up yet again, I'll be reppin out 4 plates in no time!

This has been a fantastic run so far and I'm lookin forward to kicking some more ass tomorrow on upper day!

I think it's very cool that you are ioncorporating speed lifts into your regimen. I learned about those from reading an article on the westside barbell website and when I was trying to up my maxes during powerlifting, I would incorporate speed training into my regimen. People would just stare at me and look confused but they didn't question me because of the numbers I put up when I would lift heavy. Glad to see you're doing them. I look forward to reading your journal, good work and keep the posts coming! Oh that website if you're interested, is: http://www.westside-barbell.com Some good articles and training tips. They are pretty hardcore, as hardcore as you will ever find. All the top powerlifters come out of that gym in colombus, ohio.

Thanx 4 the props LnG! Yeah, westside is where I got the parameters for the speed work I run it a little differently but it's working very well! Personally, I think any routine be it a bodybuilding, powerlifting, or athletic routine, is missing something if it doesn't have some kind of speed work.

Not only is it helping tremendously with my lifts (and as a byproduct, helping a lot with my physique), it's greatly improving my speed for sports (most notably in boxing, as all 4 of the speed lifts that I do help with the explosiveness in your punching).

Anyway, here is the result of today

Tue Mar 11

Speed Bench: 8x3 @ 135

Incline DB Bench: 95x5

Pullups: 60x5

Military Press: 155x4

Barbell Curl: 115x6

Close Grip Bench: 210x4


All in all another great day wtih improvements in DB bench, BB curl, and Pullups! Unfortunately, this is my third straight week without improve on Military Presses and Close Grip Bench, which leads me on to believe that it's about time to nix them. Perhaps replacing BB military with DB military and Close Grip Bench with Upright Dips.

All in all though nothing to complain about and stalls on certain lifts are a part of natural bodybuilding (or powerlifting or whatever). Besides, improving on 3 out of 5 lifts isn't anything to scoff at by any means.