Vegan Bodybuilding & Fitness

Hey all

So yesterday was upper body day. And after some good warm up sets (at least 10 reps per set) I usually end up doing a single or maybe two sets of 4-6 repetitions. My current strength set in dumbell chest press is 24 kg (53 lbs) and the 6th rep I can barely do, but I manage to push it up. So just for kicks I tried with 26 kg dumbells and I failed miserably to say the least. I had someone to spot me for the 1st rep and as soon as he let go, the dumbells literally collapsed on my chest (no damage though! good training bras will go a long way!) lol.

Okay so I'm not whining, because I acknowledge fully that it's my own fault for not being consistent with lifting at more than 70 % strength- it's honestly just something I do for kicks (occasionally to piss off guys who think I don't belong in the free weights section or the cardio chickens that mean mug me). But a female acquaintant of mine who took 1st place in figure advised me to go for power lifting once I told her about some of my lifts (current leg press is - on a really good day- 400 kg= 881 lbs).

Thing is I don't want to be operating at 100% strength continuously and only be able to do low reps thereby losing out on pump and the subsequent bulk. I want the physique of a bodybuilder but the strength of a power-lifter. Is this in any way possible? Or will I be in perpetual conflict?

Are any of you both bodybuilders *and* power-lifters? Any good ideas on how to combine a bodybuilding program with powerlifting WITHOUT confusing the body and debilitating the process of proper hyperthrophy?

Any suggestions would be appreciated

You might check out 'Mike O'hearns powerbodybuilding series". It is posted on bb.com, but he also has his own youtube page where he posted a lot of stuff about it. I tried it for 12 weeks, and I still use elements of it. To really say that it will produce both a competition dominating power lifter and bodybuilder I wouldn't know, but it was a decent program. And Mike O'hearn has been very successful in both.

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Justin Morgan

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

Hey Justin

Might read up that program later. To be honest I haven't set any competition goals- right now I'm just doing it for myself... You know... Just to see how far I can get. Maybe when I'm more in control of my diet and actually have a low body fat%, I might reconsider. Thanks for the tip.

I'd second the advice to look into Mike O'Hearn. The PowerBodyBuilding 12 week program is posted here. I don't and haven't followed this program exactly, but I've definitely taken elements from it. It focuses on compound lifts and whole body exercises, which I think is a great idea for pretty much everyone regardless of goals.

Actually, after looking at it again now myself, maybe I will try to follow it to the letter for a few weeks and see how it goes...

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VBB.com Training Log
WeightTraining.com Profile/Log
YouTube Channel

cool thanks for the link

Mike O'Hearn's program pretty much doubled my deadlift strength. It's great. And most of the top bodybuilders use a strong mix of both powerlifting movements and rep ranges, as well as bodybuilding rep ranges to get the full spectrum of muscle growth.

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My Bodyspace: http://bodyspace.bodybuilding.com/VeganBodybuild

My goal is to become the biggest and best natural bodybuilder of all time, and I'm gonna do it vegan.

This thinking is actually the foundation of my training.

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My Bodyspace: http://bodyspace.bodybuilding.com/VeganBodybuild

My goal is to become the biggest and best natural bodybuilder of all time, and I'm gonna do it vegan.

I'm in the same boat, trying to get a little bit of each good thing at the same time. I can now say after many years of trial and error, it IS possible, just that getting the most in overall results takes longer to accomplish and sometimes the results seem to come painfully slowly at times.

I use a mix of compound lifts with a handful of isolation assistance lifts and work rep ranges from occasional max singles and lots of sets in the 2-5 rep range all the way through sets that could be 50 reps or more. By always keeping things balanced on all ends and by neither focusing strictly on strength, endurance or appearance, it has allowed me to become a jack of all trades, but I don't excel at any of them...yet.

I have only lost about 10 lbs bodyweight the past 6 months or so, but my strength has gone up in just about everything except my chest, but that's due to a shoulder issue I'm correcting right now before it gets worse. And, I keep seeing improvements in the mirror, and after decades of battling to hope to one day see the great abs that have been hidden by crud, I believe that in 5-6 months it will finally happen. Just as well, my back problems are gone for now, I train with the smarts to no longer keep getting hurt, and have hope to get back to try my hand at powerlifting again in a year, something I'd hoped to do again when I turn 40.

I credit a lot of what I've accomplished this past year to training to be good at everything vs trying to be exceptional in just one area. Sure, maybe I could have stuck with the difficult diet I was testing earlier this month and maybe I'd be close to seeing abs by now, but I'd probably have lost a good portion of lean mass and I certainly wouldn't be getting stronger by the week. At this point, I'll take slow, steady progress that is consistent vs jumping all over the place as I used to, so far it has been a good ride.

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"A 'hardgainer' is merely someone who hasn't bothered to try enough different training methods to learn what is actually right for their own damned body." - anonymous

@ Vegan Essentials... I think we're very much on the same page... After a couple of years of working out and give or take 6 months in bodybuilding, I've realised I'm too greedy to just want aesthetics... I want strength as well which is why I might very likely sign up in a power lifting gym. I've also come to accept that I might become a little smaller, which is something I've really been apprehensive about, because I like the bulky muscular look (just wish it didn't come with 25% fat lol). but yeah the more you want, the more patient you have to be.