Vegan Bodybuilding & Fitness

I have been feeling better after a 4 month battle with a shoulder injury and during that time I got a little out of shape, because I hate doing cardio, LOL...and with the holidays and all, I started eating more junk! So, here I am getting back into the heavy weights and want to get back to gaining mass. Right now I am about 205 lbs at 6'3" and last summer I was 212 lbs and I thikn I was leaner. So, I am trying to pack back on the muscle and I would like to gain as much as possible. Right now I am working mostly with muscle memory, gaining back what I lost the last 4 months with the injury.

I always struggle when I work through a mass stage because I always gain some fat due to the extra calories. Do I just deal with it? Do any of you have tips or tricks you follow? I mostly try to eat clean calories, limit the junk, sugar, stick to whole foods and limit my fat intake other than the required amount of good fats.

Thoughts?

Thanks!
Rich

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What do I do when not bodybuilding or working? Spend time with family, play guitar, write music, snowboard, roast coffee, travel, read, fight for those who are less fortunate than myself.

To gain mass, you have to increase your caloric intake. Anytime this happens, fat gains will occur. However, how you increase your calories will help you minimize this. Ideally, you'll only increase by 20% so you'd do BW x 14x 1.6 (for your activity + the surplus).

Aim for 1.5gs of protein per pound of body weight and then fill in the rest of your macro needs as you see fit (as in with what you like while making sure you get them from a variety of sources).

Also, words like "clean" and "good" when talking about food is relatively pointless (except for trans-fat which has little do with it being "dirty") - your body doesn't see the types of food your eating, just the nutrients it is comprised of. If this is personal preference, then no worries but you do not have to limit yourself because you think some foods are "inherently" dirty. No such thing exists.

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"When in doubt, squat and run hills." - Jim Wendler

IRON MNTN // LOG

Have a look at leangains.com for Intermittent Fasting.

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When I say clean I mean whole foods that are not loaded with fatty sauses and sugars, avoiding cakes and cookies, etc.

I can tell you right now, when I add a lot of nuts to my diet, I always gain unwanted fat, due to the loads of fat found in nuts....so I have to be careful.

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What do I do when not bodybuilding or working? Spend time with family, play guitar, write music, snowboard, roast coffee, travel, read, fight for those who are less fortunate than myself.

Yes definitely. Also check out the thread here on VBB about intermittent fasting. Many people achieving the "lean gains" that you desire... It is basically a 6-8 hour window each day to consume all of your calories. Your muscles absorb like crazy. Then a 16-18 hour fast, including sleep, in which your body burns fat like crazy. Sound crazy? Well at least check into it before you make judgement...

It is almost impossible for anyone to go through the bulking phase without gaining some fat. However, fat gains can be minimized if you gradually increase your caloric intake. As you mentioned that you will eating mostly whole foods so chances are very high that you fat gain will be minimal.

leangains.com? Sounds like I would gain fat because the body can think it is starving when you go long periods without food so the body can tend to really pack away the calories into fat storage when you do eat...plus that is not very enjoyable, I like eating too much. I can;t see cramming 5,000 calories into 6-8 hours, yikes.

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What do I do when not bodybuilding or working? Spend time with family, play guitar, write music, snowboard, roast coffee, travel, read, fight for those who are less fortunate than myself.

Meal timing is largely unimportant. You should really read the website/articles/research on it before you knock it, mate.

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"When in doubt, squat and run hills." - Jim Wendler

IRON MNTN // LOG

Starvation mode doesn't kick in for DAYS not hours. Don't believe the faux science posted on most bodybuilding forums...

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You say obsessed; I say dedicated.
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*Bro-science.

_________________
"When in doubt, squat and run hills." - Jim Wendler

IRON MNTN // LOG

Yeah, Im not so keen on that term - I used it in general conversation the other day and I got odd looks!

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You say obsessed; I say dedicated.
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'Bro' isn't so widely used over here!

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You say obsessed; I say dedicated.
My VBB&F Journal
Twitter - Follow me
Facebook - Add me

I read up on it and it is not for me. I don't like to sacrifice enjoyment from my life when there are other ways for me to accomplish this. Thanks though, I appreciate the help!

I am a lightweight. I weighed myself today and I am only 208 right now. It is embarrassing.

So, I am going to have to just pack on the pounds and lift heavy probably will take a year or two, but I want to get to 225 or so.

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What do I do when not bodybuilding or working? Spend time with family, play guitar, write music, snowboard, roast coffee, travel, read, fight for those who are less fortunate than myself.

No problem, mate! IF isn't for everyone just like six meals a day isn't for everyone - it's all about what works for you.

Two years of good programming and nutrition will definitely help you pack on the mass you're looking to achieve - just keep at it, looking forward to hearing about your progress!

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"When in doubt, squat and run hills." - Jim Wendler

IRON MNTN // LOG

I know some guys like Clarence Bass like to get cut and then build mass while staying lean.
I have to accept for me, I will have to have some fat gain with my muscle. I am in a mass more now but I want to he cut up for beach season by July!

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What do I do when not bodybuilding or working? Spend time with family, play guitar, write music, snowboard, roast coffee, travel, read, fight for those who are less fortunate than myself.