Vegan Bodybuilding & Fitness

I need some advice regarding my workout.

I currently start my workout with 20 minutes of cardio on the elliptical set at a moderate difficulty. I use the elliptical because of some injuries that get really cranky with any kind of jarring on the joints. I've only be back seriously to the gym for 3 months (the first month was just an intro back into the gym....baby steps to slowly let my injured body adjust again, so really just two of training). I have a bit of fat on my butt and thighs (I'm a girl...), but they aren't bulky, so I'd like to just build muscle. I've been squatting and doing sumo deadlifts and I'm just not seeing results as quickly as I'd like, lunges I can do when my body doesn't decide to screw up again. I'm small framed, 5'1'' ish and I weight about 100-101 lbs (yes, I know I'm underweight, directly related to injuries. When I started training I was 97 lbs, so at least I'm gaining a bit). I have a very little body fat (outside of the little bit on my butt and thighs). But clearly I'm doing something wrong. Or do I just have to be more patient? Should I back off on the cardio (20 minutes is so little as it is...)

To be clear, I work ALL areas of my body weightlifting, not just butt and thighs, haha. I just would like to see better results in that area than I'm currently seeing. I could post pics, but I'm a little nervous about doing that

Maybe if I include my injuries, it might give you guys a better idea of my workout challenges: Knee trauma (and now have patella femoral issues), severely stretched ligaments in my pelvis, herniated disc (low back, doesn't seem to cause me a ton of trouble as long as I don't do a lot of forward bending)

Any suggestions would be great.

Thanks!

Two months of lifting is nothing. You need to be patient, the gains will come! You just need to keep chipping away, slow small steady gains will serve you well. Squats & deads are awesome & it's good you're already doing them.

Just keep at it...

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"Don't fall for that crap that people are peddling on the message boards, in magazines or on TV. Get your shit in order, and get your training in order. Start kicking ass, and take out the crap that doesn't matter" Jim Wendler

Yeah, I totally realize it's been a REALLY short amount of time, and there probably ARE gains, I just don't see them in the more 'problem' (soft) areas as much/quickly as my upper body gets defined pretty fast.

I'll bitch in another two months if it's not improving, haha.

Thanks for the response!

It's good you have realised that. Most people have unrealistic goals & think a couple of months is all it takes. They don't see a huge increase in strength/muscle ect after one month & just give up. Becoming physically active is a life time/life style pursuit & you'll only get better by staying the course for the long run.

Squat, deads, bench & overhead press =already on the road to becoming awesome

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"Don't fall for that crap that people are peddling on the message boards, in magazines or on TV. Get your shit in order, and get your training in order. Start kicking ass, and take out the crap that doesn't matter" Jim Wendler

Do you have a weekly routine that you currently follow, and what kind of eating plan do you follow? I realize you mentioned some exercises you do, but you really didn't give enough data to say if your routine is likely to yield muscle gains. And of course proper nutrition is an ever important aspect.

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Justin Morgan

http://www.youtube.com/user/RawVegaCaliBB

As far as routine goes, kind of. I REALLY try to designate days for different areas, but I find I end up hitting just about everything every time I'm in the gym. It ends up being a full body workout. Because I end up doing this, I take a day off between gym days and stick to just doing light stuff on off days either outside or at home.That puts me in the gym 5 days a week and I'm there for about an hour and a half.

At the gym I start with 20 minutes of cardio, then I usually do some combination of the following: chest press, squats, deadlifts (sumo and straightleg), one arm bench row, hammer curls or concentration curls, flys, dumbbell slides (various ab exercises), lunges (when I can), shrugs, calf raises, dips/tricep pull downs, Deltoid raises (front and side), seated shoulder press, upright row, tricep kickbacks. There are probably a few more exercises that rotate, but that's a pretty good list of what I do. I'm new to bodybuilding and weight training. I used to be really active before my accident but my workout goals were different (deluded is a better word). I was one of those girls who believed weight training would make me look like a man so I stuck to things that I was told were better suited for women to get in shape, spinning, pilates, running, mostly just cardio, but honestly, it TOTALLY lacked the results I was after. I did a lot of other things outside the gym as well.

Eating plan: As I mentioned before, trying to gain weight after losing so much and being underweight for so long is a lot harder than I thought. I'm having a lot of trouble eating the quantity that I need, so I focus on small amounts of food that provide lots of balanced calories. I'm not afraid of fat, in fact, I eat a lot of good fats (avocados, nuts, coconut butter, nut butters, flax, chia seeds, hemp seeds). And I eat a TON of greens either in smoothies and/or in salads. My intake of fruit is pretty good, but my body is really fussy about sugars and I usually have to eat fruit on it's own and early in the day. I haven't had any refined sugars in 6 years and I don't do processed foods at all. I think the most processed food I have in my house right now is almond milk. My fruits, veggies, grains and legumes are all organic. I eat a fair amount of quinoa. I can't eat wheat. I drink tons of water. I DO add hemp protein to my smoothies and sometimes coconut oil or coconut butter (I prefer the butter as it's a whole food). I'm a grazer. I eat every couple of hours, but again, the issue seems to be that I get full REALLY quickly. And honestly, I have absolutely no idea how many calories I should be eating a day at this point.

I hope this info gives you a better insight into what I'm doing right and what I'm doing wrong. I really appreciate your help and suggestions. Thanks again!

I'm actually in the gym 4 days a week, NOT 5. Whoops.

Training wise it sounds pretty good. How my sessions are planned is by the main lift, not the actual area then I add assistance movements but it's far more practical to focus on the core lift of that session (military,deads, bench & squats) than to kill yourself on isolation/assistance.
I use it over again but my shoulder routine use to be so over the top, Press, x2 side raise movements,x2 front & a rear fly. Now all I do is a strict press.My strength & muscle has grown so much. Same as biceps, I actually don't touch them & yet they continue to grow. I just do the main things, pull/chin ups, db rowing ect

My days go Mon:Military Tue:Deadlift Wed off Thurs:Bench Fri:Squat weekend off.

Again as I always tell people you don't need to kill yourself to make gains, this actually has a reverse effect. You may handle it now but down the road you will hit a wall, small steady gains & a well thought out plan will be key.

As for diet (my biggest hatred) is for now just get this in check (which you clearly have) & listen to your body, not what a diet plan/fad diet tells you to do. I haven't counted a single calorie/macro. As long as you're eat well most of the time you will respond. People for some reason become obsessed with calories/macros, Unless you are cutting off fat for a show & need single digit body fat then live your life, enjoy lifting, eat & get stronger. I not fussed if I should eat a kiwi or an orange, I'll eat both covered in peanut butter.
I have gone from a light 64kg (142lb?) to 87kg(191lb) in less than a year & only now I cannot fit into my 30" jeans (my quads are to big im sure the waist would just about do up hahha)...It's ok to just look at how many calories you may need from time to time just in case you are under eating. Just follow the rule of a minimum of 1g protein per body pound. I know so many ripped, lean big guys who have no clue what macros even are.

I've read just about every diet out there & I came to the conclusion that most (take away what ever gimmick they are pushing) are the same at their core...Eat healthy food. I could write a diet book, make up some random fact & you can bet plenty of people would follow/believe it. Find what works for you I personally work well off four decent sized meals a day. I tried the whole 6-8 small meals & it did nothing for me...

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"Don't fall for that crap that people are peddling on the message boards, in magazines or on TV. Get your shit in order, and get your training in order. Start kicking ass, and take out the crap that doesn't matter" Jim Wendler

I still have some confusion about your weekly routine. If you are going to the gym and randomly doing all the exercises you mentioned every time you're there, then that's probably a bit much (IMO). What VeggiesSquatch outlined seemed pretty reasonable to me. But regardless of what you do, plan ahead. When you're walking into the gym, know what you're there to do, and do it. No matter if you are training according to what lifts you're doing (dead lifts, squats, bench, press), or if you are training a specific muscle group (chest, back, legs etc.....). In general I think most routines people outline work to some degree if you just stay consistent with them.

Although VeggiesSquatch and I don't always agree on nutrition, our overall view point is pretty similar. Like yourself, I'm also a grazer, I basically eat 8 meals a day. It's more like 4 meals that I can't eat all at once, so I eat 1/2, and then the other 1/2 when i get to it. I eat high fruit (at least 3500 cals just from fruit/day) and save any cooked food I eat (if any at all) for in the evening, but basically you need to get enough food. You should listen to your body on that, but a lot of people have been restricting calories for their entire lives and eating "enough" is a struggle. I occasionally use " http://cronometer.com/ " just to make sure my numbers are on the up and up. Good luck, I hope that's somewhat helpful.

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Justin Morgan

http://www.youtube.com/user/RawVegaCaliBB

May of gone over my head with how you outlined the lifting but Justin is 100% correct, plan what it is you're there to do. My split essentially means upper body/lower body off upper body/lower body wkend off. 

This give each area a rest eg I wouldn't train military pressing then bench the day after, vice versa ect...

Indeed me both have are respective views, we're both happy over our diets/progress & that's all what matter. We both however champion listening to your body  

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"Don't fall for that crap that people are peddling on the message boards, in magazines or on TV. Get your shit in order, and get your training in order. Start kicking ass, and take out the crap that doesn't matter" Jim Wendler

Sorry for the delayed response. I got hit with some super bug and have been flat on my ass for a few days. Nice...

Anyway... Yeah, you guys are right. I really need to split my workout. Upper body one day/lower body the next/rest etc., instead of cramming the full body workout into a day. I'm starting to think that's not the best way to do things. I'll get a plan mapped out as soon as I can drag my butt back to the gym (hopefully by the end of the week).

The food thing is tough for sure. I've never restricted my calories, I've always been naturally very thin and due to past digestive issues, I eat only whole foods (no wheat though), nothing refined, nothing fried, no sugar etc. Pretty hard to get fat on a clean diet, haha. I struggle to pack in enough calories though. I thought if I worked out harder, I'd be hungrier...That doesn't seem to be the case though. Graze, graze, graze I guess. I just choose higher calorie options to graze on. Nuts, avocados, coconut, etc. that way the volume of food is reduced but I still get the calories.

Thanks so much for the recommendations, I really appreciate it. As soon as I can get back at it, I'll put your suggestions into practice and see how I do. Thanks again!

How are you doing strongtide?