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What's up vegan body builders!

 

I'm 25, 183cm tall, 63kg, high raw high carb high calorie strict vegan (since 2 years), long time cyclist and been properly running now for nearly a year and so I'd say my cardio is at least average but my body looks like a cross between ET and an anorexic hunchback of notredame.... I'm very slim and moderately fit but have bad posture and no visible muscles. I have a massive arch to my back which pushes my stomach out making me look pregnant, and when I stand up really straight and suck my stomach in you can see my lower pair of rips sticking out like deformed saggy tits (see pic). I think I'm an ectomorph... see quad pic after 10 years of cycling every day and running for a year 14 miles a week. I'm actually not that feeble though... for example I can carry a 43kg bass amp up 3 flights of stairs when some of my mates cant even lift it up (I play drums and bass).

 

So it's time I took control of my physique as well as my cardio! I'm disciplined as I run every day and I have decent nutrition and push myself.

 

So my question is.... what will be the most important exercises for me to sort out my body?... to improve posture / body shape and loose the anorexic look.

 

Looking forwards to any help to get me started!!!

 

Edit: Changed title and OP to reflect that I now have gym membership and no longer will be training at home, but still need your advice on the best exercises to do!

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notice my big arch in my back... this is my trying to stand up straight

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tensed quad after a year of 14 miles per week running and 10 years of cycling every day.... probably hard gainer...?

Edited by laney
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You need to squat, above anything. So you need a type of rack. Also a pull up bar & a bench. These really are the core things. Also you'll need a decent bar which can be expensive, same as weights they can be the same. Check round your area to see if any gyms/high schools are replacing any equipment.

 

There's loads of squat rack plans if you find a welder to do the work.

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....type of [squat] rack

pull up bar

a bench

 

I can buy a second hand bench no probs... do you mean for dumbbell press and fly?

 

pull up bar I was thinking of... gonna make it with a wood frame from floor with supports to the wall, actual bar will be pipe... not too fussed on the quality as I'm only a newbie

 

squat rack... do you mean putting a weighted bar on my shoulders/behind neck and squatting? Could I not get the same results using heavy dumbbells held to my shoulders?

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Neither fly or dumbbell press, barbell pressing. They wont build you a thick, solid chest or real strength & yes so you can squat with a barbell on your back.

 

If you're questioning how to bench press & what to squat with I'd recommend you stop looking at what equipment to buy/make & research how to lift properly dude....then look at what you need.

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Hey man, I'm a complete newbie so any advice really welcome!

 

Thanks already!

 

If you're questioning how to bench press & what to squat with I'd recommend you stop looking at what equipment to buy/make & research how to lift properly dude....then look at what you need.

 

That's why I'm here... because I don't really know!

 

But I'm eager to dive in but all gyms here are a 12 month minimum contract. Membership is €475 per year at the cheap place down the road, more expensive place €950 per year so I'd rather get some gear together in my room, might as well..... I've got no problem with being a bit more ghetto in my approach. My area has no decent playgrounds so thought the best option was to do DIY some stuff.

 

Neither fly or dumbbell press, barbell pressing. They wont build you a thick, solid chest or real strength

 

I thought dumbbell press was a better strength building exercise than barbell because of the compound action.

 

A lot to learn! Eager to get started!

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It sounds like you're going to be restricted some what, so all you can do is what you can.

 

Basically bench pressing, squatting, Military pressing & deadlifts are the big 4 lifts. These are what trigger the best growth because they are compound movements, multi jointed. They work many muscles where isolation is somewhat limited. Myself, I concentrate my workouts around these, then add in stuff like dumbbells ect if it's not on a barbell it's assistance...

 

Example. YesterdayI began with warming up & lighter sets before getting going on bench pressing. I'm running a specific program right now which then has me bench pressing again for 5x10 after my heavier sets but at a reduced rate. Between sets I did wide grip pull ups & finished with dumbbell rows...The point of this program is that it focuses on the bigh movement because it's the best for benching. Stuff like dumbbell & flys, which do a have place in certain routines are finishing movements. They help to shape the muscle/finishes you off. Personally I'm not a bodybuilder so I don't bother with jazz like that.

 

Barbell work is king simply because it let's you lift more....

Edited by veggiesasquatch
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Just went down my local gym on your advice and discovered that they have a secret deal which works out to €300 a year approx $400 US... Still a lot for me but I can afford to pay that in one go right now and not worry about bouncing every month. Looks like it would still be cheaper at home even in the first year but whatever... I sold my old bike yesterday and incidentally have 300 in my wallet.

 

It's close to my house and the park so I'm gonna go there directly after my daily run.

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Just went down my local gym on your advice and discovered that they have a secret deal which works out to €300 a year approx $400 US... Still a lot for me but I can afford to pay that in one go right now and not worry about bouncing every month. Looks like it would still be cheaper at home even in the first year but whatever... I sold my old bike yesterday and incidentally have 300 in my wallet.

 

It's close to my house and the park so I'm gonna go there directly after my daily run.

 

Awesome what equipment do they have? So what's the actual goal?

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It a fully featured gym, smith machine, free weights, squat rack, many benches, all the isolation machines, loads of those girly cardio things, stretch Armstrong pully things, chin up bars etc etc. going the now for some squats pull ups and bench to get started. Maybe some deadlifts too.

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Goal is to gain core and upper back strength to sort out my spine / posture and generally to not look like an anorexic.

 

I'll go every day even if it's just a quick visit because otherwise I can't make it a routine.

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You don't need to hit the gym 5 days a week. That will lead to over training & as you're just beginning keep it to 3 days a week. An example mon/wed/fri, tues/thurs/sat ect so be realistic with how you plan & make it part of your routine, don't just fit it in as & when. You are only making progress while you rest, the body needs down time.  So a day in/off approach will serve you well.

 

In the meantime google mark rippetoe starting strength beginners program. Also goto YouTube & search Rippetoe squats, bench press ect to see how he shows how to perform the main lifts.

 

Please for the love of god don't use the smiths machine!!!!

 

I'm totally on board about how you wish to work on posture. I dropped a lot of weight & had a similar toros, I carried weight on m stomach while I was heavy to.

 

Here's my log (the last few pages are obviously up to date) & progress pics. All I have done is kept in basic the last few months & it had worked wonders for every aspect! Just so you can see the type of stuff I do but for now just need to learn the basic lifts. You could just use machines & dumbbells, that's your choice but barbell work is key.

 

viewtopic.php?f=24&t=26582

 

viewtopic.php?f=48&t=26623

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Just scanned though your posts.... massive progress! Very inspiring man!

 

Thanks for the heads up on not over-training. This applies to most sports particularly running as well. However I cannot successfully hold anything down unless I do it every day. So for example with running I run every single day, with intensity, but only 2 miles. Giving me a nice and low weekly total of 14 miles of timed running (approx 20 miles / week including warm up jog to the park).

 

My new gym is open 7 days a week so I am hoping to go there every day (it's only a 1:30 minute run from door to door) but only for like 15 minutes per day. Literally just do one machine and go home. Because if I don't do something every day, I quit within a week as I have quite mild but real psychological disorders which destroy my organisational ability and make me fear or fail at everything I don't do on a daily basis.

 

So I'm thinking of a retardedly basic plan something like:

 

every day: 2 mile run followed by-

 

mon: bench

tue: squats

wed: deadlifts

thu: sit ups

fri: pull ups

sat: squats

sun: situps

 

 

Is this completely stupid or could that work?

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Fair enough, maybe try the lifting 3 days a week but then go in & do some ab work/cardio. If not I'd say go with

 

 

mon: bench

tue: squats

wed: abs/cardio

thu: military press/pull ups (or lat pull downs)

fri: abs/cardio

sat: squats

sun: cardio

 

Also if you're looking to gain muscle to much cardio is going to hinder this...

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Hey man, Mark Rippetoe is a wealth of knowledge, listen to veggie. Apart from the lifting how does your diet look? I'm also a raw vegan (811), and getting enough calories is pretty difficult. I quit doing all forms of cardio except sprints. I do sprints because I don't have access to weights, and I rely on parks for my workouts. On leg day I do jumping squats, lunges and sprints. When I can't walk straight, I know I've worked hard enough. But the point is that if you are taking in a bunch of extra calories to build muscle, but then you're just going and burning them all off doing cardio, then it's a bit counter productive. At the same time though if you enjoy running and it's your sport then keep doing it, but make sure you get enough calories.

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Hey man, Mark Rippetoe is a wealth of knowledge, listen to veggie.

 

Been checking out his videos... there's a lot under the channel name timdonahey - excellent advice..! Yeah thanks veggiesasquatch!

 

Apart from the lifting how does your diet look? I'm also a raw vegan (811)

 

Excellent! I'm 811 ratio's wise but I also eat cooked rice to sup calories due to low income so I don't get doug's stamp of approval, however I'm "high raw".

 

Averaged calorie expenditure

 

Calculated BMR: 1688

2 mile / 13:45 run: 210

7 miles on bike: 320

20 mins drums: 100

general/walking: 300

 

total: 2618

 

Average diet

 

breakfast: 10 banana smoothie, spinach, ground flax seeds and raisins: 1635

lunch: 500g dates deglet noorf and an entire lettuce: 1459

dinner: 333g dry weight brown rice + head of steamed broccoli discarding the stem: 1337

 

Total: 4431

 

Excess calories: 1813

 

--

Edit: More info:

 

carbs: 90%

protein: 5.5%

fat: 4.5%

 

78g of protein

every nutrient RDA is 100% up to 2500% except B12 which I take hydroxocabalomin IM injections for

drink around 4L of water

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Wow man, that sounds like a really great diet. I hear you on the prices. I can get 1000 calories from bananas for about $5. I can get 1000 calories from rice for almost nothing. I eat rice and lentils when I run out of, or don't have access to ripe fruit.

 

One thing I think veggiesquatch said already though is just to remember that it takes time. You're not going to look in the mirror in 6 months and think, "dang, I'm massive." If you are adding a rep or two every week somewhere in your routine then you can safely say that you are adding muscle to your body. I just say that becuase building muscle can be discouraging. It takes a lot of time, effort and when considering the gym membership and the extra calories you consume on a regular basis it's also expensive. At the same time though it's rewarding and healthy.

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Yeah thanks for the advice. Yeah I'm not expecting any miracle muscle growth spirits. When I was at Uni about 6 years ago I wanted to "get big quick" so did push ups and chin ups and ate massive amounts of lambs hearts, liver, kidneys and chicken wings because they were super cheap from my butchers. Also ate multiple cans of tuna per day, guzzled milk and forced down isolate soy protein so get my protein to build muscle fast. All that happened was I got too lethargic to work out, constipation, acne, greasy skin, stomach pain, head aches and put on no noticeable mass after a year, in fact I looked like I got scrawnier.

 

This time round I'm gonna eat the righ stuff, do the work and not look in the mirror ever day because real muscle takes real time. Just gonna make it part of my life and forget about vanity.

 

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  • 2 months later...

I've been pretty consistent... I didn't manage my every day with splits, so I've been doing every other day full body. An update photo.... no amazing differences, but I reckon I've improved a tiny bit....

 

When I'm going to the gym I generally do 3 sets of between 8-12 depending on difficulty. But I feel like after the 3rd set, I could do at least 3 more sets at a lower weight to really work out.... So my question would be, does it make sense to carry on to 5 or 6 sets at a lower weight??

 

PS still 100% vegan. Been eating almost completely raw, mostly dates and bananas. Been going through a 5kg box of deglet noor dates every 4-5 days and blending up large amounts of spinach, a few dandy lion greens and eating a lot fo lettuce. I've been experimenting with trying to eat more fat (as recommended by a few of my friends) but it just doesn't work. After even one avocado I feel lethargic and bloated, and the next few days I get a breakout of spots. It sounds insane just from one avocado but I shit you not!!! So my ratios have been pretty consistently around 90/5/5

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