Vegan Bodybuilding & Fitness

hi, im new to the whole weight training game, 3 weeks and counting. im already noticing results but would like to introduce supplements to give my self an edge. ive been told a protein shake first thing in the morning, one after working out, and a slow release shake before bed, and bcaas through out the day. is that ok? too much? not enough? i have a very balanced diet of whole foods and no processed rubbish. i havnt drank in five years and have never smoked.

Good day! It's good to hear that you have begun exercising, and is so focused on the diet already. One of the many errors "newbies" do is to not consider diet at all, even though it's at least as important as the training itself.

I can see you already know the essensial keys to diet; eating balanced, post-workout, bcaas, but I would like to come in with a few ideas you can implement in your regime.

A good breakfast is ideal, and it can have a tremendous impact on your day.
Everyone is different, but I have found that a nutritional packed smoothie works great for me; with acai powder, goji powder, pomegranat powder, lechitin granules, hemp powder. And so on..

The optimal post-workout, as far as I know, is bcaa's directly after training, high-GI carbs 20 minutes later and protein 10 minutes after the carbs.
Regarding the BCAA's some say that high dosing, 20 grams a day, is the way to get the full effects.

Casein after bed is still under discussion; some say that the body needs to recover and not digest while you sleep and vice versa. Casein is also linked to cancer. Again, you have to see what fits your body, experiment.

Also supplementing with creatine is not a bad thing, especially for vegans.

Hope this was what you were looking for. Have a nice day =)

Thanks daaa yeah I've decided to go for creatine/protein shake after working out, and for breakfast I usually have Weetabix or porridge with rice milk and flax seed and fruit, is there such thing as vegan casein?

No problem, my fellow vegan!
There is no such thing as vegan casein, as casein comes from dairy products, but you have(in my eyes) superior alternatives. I personally use hemp protein powder.
Could I ask why you want to use casein? Is it because the body needs 7 hours to break it down, and you take it before sleep?

haha no never thought about it, i mentioned it because you brought it up

3 weeks?

Your focus should be eating enough calories to build muscle and exercise technique.

In your initial few months you're going to make gains no matter what, so you'll notice nothing from supplementing. In my opinion just wait till you've hit a plateau months down the line, direct your energy into learning a proper stretching/recovery routine, but more importantly being consistent with your main workouts and eating big.

oh ok man, yeah im eating like a horse, bit of a struggle as i cut down alot from eating crap all the time now i have to eat more haha so a protein shake after working out wont help either?

Protein powder is just food that's high in protein. Really you need more simple carbs (glucose) immediately after workout more than protein . But that's already overcomplicating things.

Just eat enough every day, that's the main priority.

simple carbs as in refined ones?

Doesn't matter, fruit or sugars.

In the grand scheme of things, stuff like this isn't worth worrying about.

fair enough, just want to cover all my bases, thjeres so much conflicting info out there im just trying to pick the wheat from the chaff

I really like that attitude as well. I do the same and same the same. Unless your sport is your profession and you put everything you have into it, all the real specific details don't matter that much. For most of us, we just need to eat enough, train hard enough and care enough about what we're doing to make progress.

As I said I am new to all this:) way too much info flying about. Guayule for the help guys

I shall chime in and agree. You would be wasting your money with supplements right now. Spend it on more and more food. You need to establish a good food base, workout base, sleep base, and stress-free base in the beginning. Learn first what exercises your body responds to, and then learn how to switch it up to keep the muscles/body in confusion and always making them work (and also when you begin to overtrain and need to baby your body back from catabolism to anabolism). Learn how food, and which food, either keeps your recovery time to a minimum, or does it go to your middle/abdominal section. Play around with calories (keep track of how much of everything also - fitday.com can give you a nice estimate) and see how you can manipulate your diet to keep muscles recovered and the bodyfat on the mid section low. And how foods effect your sleep patterns, and then you will have to factor in stress also (because cortisol released upon stress can really affect your recovery, and you may find yourself wanting and thereafter eating more calories in the form of carbs). Start there.

Now when you plateau, and nothing seems to be helping you make gains, then you can start to add supplements like protein powder and creatine and all that bodybuilder extra $$ stuff. This way, you will know if the stuff is working for you or not, because you will have a base knowledge of your body and its genetics/metabolism to compare it to.

For me, it was about a year to learn all that (and still learning!).

Tell me about it, it's scary how much is involved, I already sleep pretty well just trying to up it to about 8hours a night, I'm constantly tweaking my diet and trying new foods, problem is I have. Very stressful job, I'll post my training plan later