Vegan Bodybuilding & Fitness

Okay,

So as some of you may know from my intro, I was very much involved in fitness and on went on the bb scene for a hot minute a long time back. The last 1 3/4 yrs, I was basically an absentee from the gym and the last year, I did zero, so I consider myself starting like a noob very out of shape.

I do believe, however, in muscle memory and so I expect my results to be above average from the norm. Just to get an idea of:

1. where my level of fitness came from
2. to protect whatever is left of my deflated ego
3. to show where I want to get back to and excel past

here are some old shots. I will give brief explanation and then I will post the before and after pics of my return to the gym.


The pictures are from my first (and only, alas) shot at competing. My first real achievement. They were taken in september 2002. I was an omnivore but I was a doing tremendous amount of vegetable juicing, mostly kale juice, which influenced a trend toward a more vegetable based diet. I weighed 163 pounds:



These next set of pictures are taken in October 2004, nothing special, just maintained a fit and lean body and wanted to keep trim. I worked out fairly regularly but nothing crazy. I was pretty much entirely vegan. A couple of slip ups but for the most part, I wanted it. I weighed about 175lbs.



In these pictures, I consider them my 'biggest' gym accomplishment. While I was not shredded or in competition shape, I was lifting serious weight and the size came with it, though all I cared about was sheer strength. max bench was 405lbs, max squat 585lbs, max deadlift 545lbs. I was also completely vegan and about 80% raw, or perhaps even more. I weighed around 195lbs.



Okay, now the disaster pictures. I took off from exercise and overate for a little over a year. I have a tendency to eat voraciously and genetics to keep putting on weight very easily. Bad if you are dormant. Though I went and still am 100% raw, the weight wanted to stick on me. I decided to get back into the gym on Jan 1, 2008 and I have exercised every single day since. I have only took perhaps 3 days off of resistance training and I have done some sort of cardio practically every day as well. Alot of cardio actually.

My weight on Jan 1st was 195, and it is just about the same right now, I am around 198 lbs. I found it troubling that I could not lose weight but on the plus side I packed on some decent muscle in a very short while and I only expect much more to come. I hope to lean out though as I am very self conscious about my extra bodyfat, I actually despise it and am extremely self conscious. I am used to a much higher level of fitness. I intend on getting back to around 170-180lbs but I will also intend to put on alot of muscle. It's kind of a contradiction, so I guess I'll just roll with the punches. Well here goes. Please be nice as I have been working my ASS off!!!!!!!!

These pics were taken today, so it has been 49 days of work.








To see what a brief overview of what I do in the gym, you can go to this thread:
viewtopic.php?t=9693

These are the stats, as I took measurements beforehand:

Chest: 39" --> 40 1/2" +1 1/2"
Shoulders: 46 1/2" --> 48" +1 1/2"
Arms (Same): 13 1/4" --> 13 3/4" + 1/2"
Neck: 15 3/4 --> 16 1/4" + 1/2"
Waist: 36" --> 36 1/2" + 1/2" (ugh, WHYYY!)
Left Forearm: 11 3/4" --> 13" +1 1/4"
Right Forearm: 11 1/4" --> 11 1/4" 0
Left Calf: 16 1/4" --> 17" +3/4"
Right Calf: 15 1/2" --> 16" +1/2"
Hips: 42 1/2" --> 43" +1/2
Left Thigh: 26 3/4"
Right Thigh: 26 1/4" -->better symmetry! both 27"

I was happy about all the drastic increases in size. However, I was very disappointed that my waist expanded slightly. Could it be because of the muscle increase in my lower back from all the deadlifting? It seems like my stomach looked flatter and people said I looked leaner but these number tel a different story around the midsection.

I also would like my hips to slim down a little but I recognize that I am an extremely hardgainer with lower body so I expected everything to increase no matter what on the lower half.

I really have to do something about evening out my forearms, the imbalance is out of control and I attribute it to heavy duty racquet sports over the years and now as well.

Well That's it. Next pics will be take in about 2 months. Hopefully I will increase numbers in key areas and lean out aggressively areas appropriately as well.

I started a new workout today, will post accordingly when I get a chance.

Wow! Great post and great photos!!! I'll have to go back and read through it all and give more comments, but for now.....looking great sir!

P.S. I'm home now so I can finally get some shirts sent to you

I think the progress is very significant, but I'm really thrilled to see those back-in-the-days photos. I bet you can do that again.

Please send updated photos regularly, I'm very interested in where you're going with all that training!

Very nice pictures.

It appears that your goal at this time is mostly to lose body fat (correct me if I'm wrong). Since you've done it well before, you could try whatever worked in the past when you were cutting for your competition. Of course, the diet will be somewhat different but I bet you'll get similar results.

Good luck!

Great pics...I say give it a little more time before you get too stressed. Your muscle memory will kick in again...its not as if you've not been working out for 15 years after being a great athlete. A year is a long time but not so long as to create a complete new body in the reverse direction...you'll be back where you want to be in no time.

Thank you for the support guys. 1/2 of me was slightly embarassed to post the pics (which is why I cropped out the pics instead of putting on posing trunks in what i consider an overweight body! The other 1/2 of me said I have nothing to lose and everything to gain. Plus I get to show the difference and how beneficial keeping your behind in the gym can be and how bad it can be if you slack off. Well I am a slacker no more!



can't wait Robert! I have an idea of the type of pic i'm gonna shoot to post and rep it out also. Also anxious to represent it in the gym and most people know my lifestyle anyhow so I am not worried about the omg where do you get ur protein from? people. I was a personal trainer for a year at the gym I currently train at so everyone knows me. Its good because I have people to relate to but bad because everyone is always like geez, what happened to you, you were so big or you were so ripped. I had to fend off everyone to get to the weights for at least 3-4 weeks. Whatever, I 'm not getting discouraged.



Thank you for the support, it means alot to me. Don't worry, I will be on the up and up with the progress shots. But the next ones won't be for another 2 months. And yes, I want that shape again and much more and expect to get there asap.



You know, yea it is my goal but at the same time, I really want all of my muscle back and then some. So it's kind of weird. At times I want to pig out to grow but then again I realize I shouldn't be. I definitely want to take in adequate calories though. My numbers in size are low for where I want to be. I think I'll most likely be doing an even ratio of losing bf and gaining lbm. It will be new to me, haven't been in a situation like this, since my first year of college.





Thank you Potter! I agree with you but it's hard when everyone gets on your ass and keeps telling you, damn I remember what you looked like. It's not like I am leaning on a whole new set of friends and ostracizing my old but it's cool to get some more positive support, though I don't hold it against old friends. I know they are there for me also.

As far as muscle memory, yeah, it's a hard concept to swallow but everyone says it and it always seems to be the case. Plus I see my progress so it has to be the case, right? I just find it hard to believe that I'll be putting up those poundages again in such a short while. I'll just stick to your "give it time" advice and yea it's true nothing comes without hard work. I know how I got up there and I am going to employ those tactics again, as soon as I feel my base is established. Probably in about another 2 1/2 months i'm going to turn the heat on and hit up the old workouts that worked like a charm.

Thanks guys!

haha man,

you look GREAT !

Pics look great, and I also believe in muscle memory. I've seen many friends go through what you are, but they were never EVER as ripped as you in those older pics.

I'd be curious to know what happened to cause you to stop doing whatever you were doing before? (ex. burnout, family crisis, etc..)

First thanks for the support. As far as what happened. I am kind of quirky when it comes to goal. Once I accomplish something, I usually become satisfied and fall off the track to pursue something else or whatever.

My goal was to even out my upper body and lower body as my lower body was always way stronger than my upper body. So I wanted upper body strength and decided on a 405lb max bench press goal. I went from 195lb max bench to 405lb in just about 14 months, I believe. Afterwards, I became complacent and instead of maintaining or setting more goals I just decided to take off from the gym.

Also, I was tired of not being able to fit into anything because of my size (stupid reason, I know) but I just wanted to look thin, really thin. So I actually worked on losing my muscle mass and maintaining a very trim body. I was excessive with it and it looked bad, too frail. I would average 150-160 lbs and during fasting time 125-135lbs and i have a decent sized frame and am 6'0". My family yelled at me constantly and then started to scream at me to eat; everyone around, including peers, got very worried about my health. Since it was everyone around me, I decided they were right and I got into the habit of overeating and not working out every day. So I put on alot of bodyfat and it went atop a frame that lost alot of muscle. That is pretty much how I ended up looking like I do now.

But that will soon change!!!

Great writeup, and great pics!

It's going to seem like a long journey back, but I have little doubt that you'll get there. Your accomplishments when you were mostly raw are exceptional - great build and some really nice numbers on your lifts. Like Potter said, once you've been there, it's a hell of a lot easier to get back there the 2nd time around, so just think back to what worked for you last time and give it another round.

For anyone you know telling you the "You used to look great" kind of thing, just use it to motivate yourself more for what you want to accomplish. You obviously did some really impressive things, and if you do what you did before and keep the faith, it'll come back around again soon enough. Good stuff!

Awesome pictures Lean and Green.

That's how I was most of the time I was training for about two years. I guess it gave me just half the results I would have had if I had made (is it the correct way to say this ? ahah) my mind since the beginning ! If you're so uncomfortable having a few extra pounds, you can lose some weight for some weeks and than train as hard as you can. But than as you bulk up maybe you're gonna store some fat again. So it's not that important.
I haven't follow your training log yet, but I'm pretty sure you're doing what you want, following what seems right for you. Anyway you know a lot more about gaining and losing mass than I know, and you're the one who knows what's best for you ! I'm sure you're gonna succeed. You've been there before, you know what you have to do. You looked awesome during that competition. You forgot to say you won the 1st place! Nice hair style also! I wish you all the good luck and can't wait to see some progress pics.

I can't wait to see your next progress pics. I'm sure you'll be on the front page before long!

Thanks for sharing. I have really learned a lot from reading your posts.

You've been through some extreme bodily changes, from one end to another. Remember each place you have been, you will be ahead of everyone else for the lessons learned.

What everyone else wrote.

Just keep telling yourself you did it once, so you know you can do it again.

To Tasha, VeganEssentials, I'm Your Man, Swanson2000 and Beforewisdom. I read each bit of what you all wrote and it meant so much to me. I did not respond because I did not want to keep bumping up this thread so as to give others a chance to be on the top couple of threads which would get more hits. But seriously thank you so much for your responses and I should have pmmed all of you but i did not. Better late than never so I think I will as soon as i can to to send a simple thank you out!

These pics were taken today, so it has been 102 days of work in total and 53 days since my last shots. I posted all three shots of each pose back to back as best I could so you can compare the change easier.

First shot: Day 1 (January 1st)
Second shot: Day 49 (February 20th)
Third shot: Day 102 (April 12th)






My Resistance Training Blog for those who are interested. I post the biggest changes at the end of each routine here which will be there in a few as well since I just finished one.
http://www.veganbodybuilding.com/phpBB2/viewtopic.php?t=9693

These are the stats. Three measurements taken respectively on these dates: 1/01, 2/19, 4/12. The increase/decrease scale denotes the difference between 2/19-4/12

Bodyweight: 195lbs, 200lbs, 202lbs
Chest: 39" , 40 1/2" , 42 1/2" +2"
Shoulders: 46 1/2" , 48" , 49" +1"
Arms (Same): 13 1/4" , 13 3/4" , 14 1/4" +1/2"
Neck: 15 3/4 , 16 1/4" , 17 1/2" +1 1/4"
Waist: 36" , 36 1/2" , 36" - 1/2"
Left Forearm: 11 3/4" , 13" , 12" -1"
Right Forearm: 11 1/4" , 11 1/4" , 11 1/2 +1/4"
Left Calf: 16 1/4" , 17" , 16 1/4" -3/4"
Right Calf: 15 1/2" , 16" , 16 1/4" +1/4"
Hips: 42 1/2" , 43" , 43 1/2" +1/2"
Left Thigh: 26 3/4" , 27" , 27" same
Right Thigh: 26 1/4" , 27" , 27" same

Somewhat of a relief that my waist went down a wee bit but my hips, dammit i'm telling you my lower body just likes to do nothing but grow. I would like to shrink that area but I suppose after the glutes growth slows down, that will happen; i'm not worried. Weird that my left forearm and left calf both shrunk but at least calves and forearms are more symmetrical as the right sides of both of those areas grew

My chest exploded in size and growth, no doubt in my mind, because I introduced Barbell Chest Presses into my routine for the first time on 2/20. Proof is in the pudding man, the numbers tell the story!!!!!

I think though, the big increase in chest measurement is largely to do with upper back growth. After seeing these pictures up against each other, IMO, my upper back has the most noticeable drastic change of any part in my body, by far. I feel like I may have leaned out a slight slight bit in the midsection and it is being shown that much more because of the growth in my upper back. This really makes me happy because my lats are the #1 most troublesome area of growth for me, bar none.

My Bodyweight keeps creeping up. It was as high as about 205 and when I saw that, I really alerted myself to control the caloric intake. I have been very successful at reducing calories the past 4 days or so, even after craving food because of cardio sessions. Hopefully I can drop down to the lower 190's by the time the next program finishes but I must keep in mind that I am going to a 6 rep, heavy routine and I may wind up maintaining my weight once again. Optimally, i'd like it to be around 190-195 and be bigger and leaner in all the right places at the end of the new routine that will I will be starting tomorrow.

I actually took other poses, all the standard ones but I don't like the way they came out. The other thing is I don't like where my body is at right now so perhaps when I lean out some more and pose better, i'll post old ones to compare to. For now, I'm staying away from side poses. I really need to get a trainer to teach me how to pose properly when the time comes. Several months in advance.

Thank you for all of the support that everyone has been throwing my way. Although my family hated the way I looked on stage 6 yrs ago and has threatened me ever since never to do that again, I am truly aspiring to make it happen by fall of 09' so I can have some nice weight and size on. This time around, I know way more about nutrition so I feel safe and I won't be dropping below 2 1/2 3% again. They won't be happy but I have a love for the game and I really want back on stage.