Vegan Bodybuilding & Fitness

Thursday: I was really better this morning and thought about going to the gym and just doing shoulders, but by 10 AM I was slumping around. I broke down and bought a humidifier (warm mist) and put it next to my bed. By 10:30 AM I was asleep with the warm mist next to me. I slept till 1:30 PM! Just enough time to grab lunch and go get the kids. I had enough energy to cook dinner for the family (vegetable broth cooked white basamati rice with olive oiled lightly sauteed broccoli, carrots, onions, red sweet bell pepper, sprinkled with fakin bakin and sunflower seeds on top) and am gearing up for the gym tomorrow. And I am so hungry for hemp pancakes for breakfast!

Friday: I finally got out to the gym and dragged my two sons with me as it was a snow day from school today (too bad since it was to be a pep rally kind of day as Winterfest is this weekend). I love my humidifier! I slept all night long and woke up with just a slightly dry mouth and slightly stuffed up nose. I also started up on my hemp with chocolate rice milk shakes. . . yummy! I took my BCAAs after working out, and I just took it straight with warm water cause it just tastes so bitter with whatever I take it with. Might as well just take the bitterness and leave out the extra calories. Leave the juice for the gym (I took a water bottle of pomegranate juice, grape juice, and green tea/kombucha mix to the gym).
So back to the gym. I did Shoulders and pushed it to the weights I had last time. My son had to help me do 8 reps on the Hammer Strength Shoulder Press at 110 lbs (the last two were mostly him as I was laughing so hard - not focused anymore but just going through the motion with his help). I did some descending sets of dumbell lateral raises (25 down to 10) and the Cybex Shoulder machine with dumbell grip (90, 70, 50, 30 for 12 each) to get a pump. I wanted to go heavier, but I had to hold myself back as I just got over being sick and am still not completely over it, plus I want to be strong enough to do Legs tomorrow!

Compliments on the training program

Uh, I wish we had all these vegan specialties.. I actualy cant buy anything made from Hemp here. Is it meant to be a good source of nutrients, or just a variation on taste?

Saturday: I just got done with my Leg workout. I finally did 700 lbs for 6 (and yes I will admit that I had my hands on my knees the whole time, and that the last two I was pushing with my hands. So what, I did it!)!!!! Yeah. And my son was there next to me doing his 90 lbs on the other Leg Press (told him to put 2 25 lbs on and he just said that he did 190 on the leg extension machine, so no way ). I did whole stack on the leg extension again for 8 (225lbs) and on the leg curl (200lbs) for 8. I did leg press calf raises with 540 lbs for 25 reps for 4 sets. I also did 2 sets of plie squats with 160 lbs for 25 reps. I definitely had a hard time walking to the locker room to get my coat (my right leg wobbled and had to catch myself before I went down). Good workout coming back from being sick. I will also say, that I felt the pressure go up in my head while pushing the weight up on the leg press, but my yogic breathing (Ujjayi breath) kept it down in the pit of my stomach (core) and not in my head!

Hiya xShotx! Thanks for the compliment!

Hemp protein shakes are made from ground up hemp seeds. The stuff is a deep green brown color and has a unique taste (seedy I guess). It has all the Omegas stuff like flax seed oils, and has alot of protein (high protein seed), 45% by weight it says on the package. It goes into the chocolate rice milk readily, but at the end of the shake it is alittle gritty (alittle more chocolate rice milk takes care of that , since I am not dieting yet). I like to get my protein from many different sources. I also do pea protein and brown rice protein during the day. And the shakes are in between my three main meals that I eat.

Variety and moderation is my motto that I like live by. That way I don't get into too much trouble when I find out that something I have been eating is bad for you.

I don't know about Italy, but here in the US, and especially in Michigan, we have a store called Whole Foods that supply alot of health stuff. I also look on the internet for stores that sell vegan stuff (shop around for the best prices-which includes the shipping rate!). It is pricey, but I am careful in making sure my portions are correct and use only what is necessary (no extra protein down the toilet, if you know what I mean ).

Sunday: Rest day. My legs hurt so much! Especially the top part of the middle quad (down by my knee cap). The glutes are not that sore. It is going to be awhile that the muscle tears are going to heal in my legs I think. I also have been stretching the legs alot. I cramped up my foot yesterday night when I was trying to get off the couch (bent leg with the foot under my bottom). They are very contracted as they just sit still for a period of time.

Monday: Chest was done around 11 AM today. I did my usual weights for 8 reps at the max. I went up in the Cybex Chest Flye machine: 100/6 to push it further. I noticed that I sure like to push my feet into the floor and keep a good arch in my back as I bring the handles together to really get the squeeze in my chest (sternum part). I also raise the incline bench to the fourth hole (a 65 degree incline) to hit the clavical pectoralis major really hard. Biceps were done at 3:30 PM with my sons coming with me. I was a little weak doing the biceps today. I couldn't get my 120/6 cable curl today, only 110/8. Though I did start out with the EZ bar first and kicked out 3 sets of 10 with 30 lbs of weights on the bar. Maybe I fatigued them out with such a fast blast of medium weight. My one son pushed me on the Hammers to reach 40/6! He was commenting on my rocking technique! I reasoned that I had already pushed it with the strict form 35/8! And that I was just playing around and as long as I don't hurt myself, then it is OK to cheat!
To top all the workout, I started to tan today (I have some leftover visits from last winter that I am using before I start truly tanning in March).

Tuesday: Rest day. Though I took my son to the gym and made him do cardio (run on the treadmill with two interval sprints in 20 minutes) while I supervised on the next treadmill by walking. For some reason I was hungry today. I ate small portions, but it was like every hour or so. I wanted just a bagel one time, the next an apple. All the while eating my meals and shakes. I also ate a dark chocolate candy bar (Green and Black's), well only 1/3 of it . . .so far .
My pecs by my armpit are sore from the increased incline chest press, and my brachialis (muscle around the elbow) from the 40lb hammer challenge from my son! Quads still hurt too! Right around the knee area. My back and triceps are not sore, so they should be ready for blasting tomorrow!!!

Wednesday: I am taking a hiatus today. Too much stuff going on, from the snow coming down, and not feeling all that well, to none of the kids wanting to go to the gym since driving is horrendous. I wonder if the snow plows are going to keep up overnight, or the kids will definitely have a snow day. . .again. Tomorrow is another day, with hope of heading to the gym for a good workout.

Thurday: Yep, the kids had a beautiful snow day. It was like Christmas outside. All nice and white on the trees, houses, and even our one car that is the kids', that is left outside! Today when I drove it to the gym at 11 AM to do Back, the whole ice/snow 3 inch thick thing on top of the car's roof fell off in one sheet on a curve! So awesome as it shattered all over the road! I did a heavy usual load of weights for Back, nothing new.

Went to the gym again at 4 PM with my 14 year old son again (the 16 year old had to work) and did a new PB of tricep pushdown of 130/8 (with only the last two bent over to get it down all the way ). We also had a Dip contest and we both are the same on that (#4 plate - cybex assisted dips) for 8! He kept wanting me touch his triceps cause they were pumped! He kept smiling and teasing me about how big his "guns" are getting. Which is really funny because he didn't know what "guns" were till last week when the gym's trainer asked him if he was going to show him his "guns", and my son answered him that he doesn't even hunt at all. This is the same trainer that teases him by asking him if his mother had given him any meat yet? He just smiles and answers "yes.......fake meat!" Such a good boy he is! Gives it right back! The trainer is not a jerk, he just likes to tease me and everybody else in the gym. He has been around for a long time. He was with me when I was at the other gym and won all my contests back in 1999 (three of them) and I was an omnivore then.

Friday: Rest day. Back and triceps are pretty sore (especially the lats). I did go to the gym, but just to tan.

Saturday: Went to the gym around 11 AM and did Legs. I didn't go to 700 lbs for 6 this time. I just stayed back down around 630 lbs for 8. I also did the whole stack on the leg extension (225 lbs) without any help from my 14 year old son (who surprised me by doing 210 lbs for 5! He smiled so big when he said he was catching up to me!), and the whole stack on the leg curl again (all for reps of . I added some extra weights on the seated calf raise, and I think I might have gotten some fiber recruitment on those! I did do plie squats for 25 with 140 lbs. My back wasn't quite solid enough on one rep and I hurt it alittle. Did not start hack squats yet. My excuse this time was that there was some guy on the machine I like to use, and I didn't want to wait till he got done . He also made a comment to me because I was lifting all the 45 lbs plates from the rack on the hack squat machine he was on, to put on my Leg Press machine. "Sure, Ma'am. Take all the plates you want. I certainly don't need them". I was trying to figure out if he was being sarcastic or was being sincere and was trying to be nice to me. I was just trying to digest the Ma'am part. Nothing makes a woman feel old than being called a Ma'am from a guy who is the same age or older than you! I just replied "Oh thank-you" and continued doing what I was doing - taking all of the 45s!

Sunday: Went to the gym around 4 PM today cause of my youngest (13 year old) son's soccer game (he got burned in the game 10-0! Needless to say he wasn't the funnest one in the car on the way home! And to top it off, the team was 2 age levels lower than them. "You got beat by a bunch of babies!" was my husband's last comment after I gave him one of my glares that meant you better not tease him anymore or ELSE! So he then commented that our son had done a good job doing his left midfield position, and that it was their defense and the sleepy forwards that did them in today good comeback I thought). So, back to the gym, I did Shoulders. I started out really light weights cause it is so cold here, and my body is having a hard time warming up. I worked my way up to the usual 30 lbs for side lateral raises, 90 lbs for the military press, 90 lbs for rear delts. I did some descending sets to get a little burn in at the end. I finally got my 16 year old son to come with me today. He did a total body workout in the time it takes me to do just Shoulders (45 minutes). My other son (the 14 year old workout buddy) does the same thing. I must really take alot of time between sets when I am pushing the weights up and up for strength. Oh yeah, my calves are sore today! I worked them pretty hard yesterday with the increased weight!

Monday: Feeling up to keep to my last week schedule of Chest and Biceps on Monday, I did it! I went around 10 AM with my 16 year old son (it was 4 degrees below zero, and our school has a policy to cancel school when it is below zero, so the kids waiting at the bus stops do not get frostbite) to do Chest. I did the same amount of weight as last time. Just trying to stay at the same weights this week (not pushing it today at least).

Went around 4 PM to do Biceps with my 14 year old son. I wasn't feeling great in the stomach when I went, so I bicycled for awhile to get my blood flowing and let my stomach settle down for some reason. I did alot of bicep curls (EZ bar and cable) and pushed it a little with the hammers in reps with my highest weight (35 lbs). Nothing eventful happened in the gym or at home today.

Tuesday: Rest day. Tanned.

Wednesday: I did Back around 11 AM, and did the same weights as last time. I am almost (175 lbs) to the whole stack on the Cybex Row machine (210 lbs). Doing lat pulldowns at 140 lbs with the straps are starting to hurt my wrist with how tight I have to get the straps on the bar (and trying to pull it down so I get my legs under the bar to hold me down!). I tried a new exercise that I saw in a book for the lats, it is the straight arm lat pulldowns. I did them at the end of my routine, so I was able just to have the weight around 50 lbs! And my lats were trembling as I did the last 2 reps of the 2 sets I did. Move that exercise towards the beginning of my routine for next time perhaps.

Did Triceps around 4 PM with my 14 year old son again. I am now up to 8 reps at the weight 60 for the Cybex overhead tricep extension machine/seat, and did 8 reps at the plate 120 lbs on the cable tricep pushdown (was only doing 6 reps last time).

So overall, I pushed the weights on just some exercises, and added a new one.

Thursday: Rest day. . . perhaps. It is my anniversary (21 years!). We got married on the fly in Lake Tahoe on Valentine's Day just so he could remember our date! He has a hard time just remembering when all of our kids were born (their birthdays!) and even how old they are! Of course he is just excited that the oldest is out of the house and in college, even though she seems to be home every other weekend! In fact I am going to Michigan State to pick her up tomorrow, and then do Legs afterwards at the gym (don't need to do them first and have them cramping up on me while driving). She turned 19 on the 13th of February this year (my second year anniversary present to my hubby ), so we are celebrating her birthday this weekend!

Friday: Took off to pick up my daughter from MSU. So full of energy that one! Nice to have another female in the family again. After picking her up, driving 3 hours total, and getting back home, I headed off to the gym with my two sons to do Legs. I did what I did last time. Needless to say it was a little more difficult to do the heavy weights (as I am tired from driving and didn't eat my shakes as usual). My legs still feel like rubber, but I did not have the intensity like I usually do when I hit the weights. I also did not do plie squats this time, but played on the abductor machine (I usually start doing those next month when it comes to isolation exercises and refining with dieting). Did not do hack squats either (I will have to force myself to do those soon). It was more of a maintenance workout, which is OK since I am content with the weights I was able to reach this winter. Now I need to hold on to them.

Oh yeah, I new development for me is that a medical intuitive told me that I was allergic to soy and corn. I rolled my eyes, but I put them out of my diet for four days, and then snuck in some Fak'n Bak'n (hickory smoked tempeh) on top of my pasta with spinach. I bloated up so big! I ate some corn chips the other day, and the same thing happened. I have to switch alot of my diet around now. I thought I had a big abdomen just because it was my off season and I eat what I want extra. When I took soy and corn out of my diet for the four days, my tummy went flat! I was so excited! I am now not so excited, because of the extra learning and implementing new foods stuff as my main meals (alot of legumes-which some have soy oil in them!, hemp, pea protein, and nuts (peanut butter). Most of my sprouted breads have sprouted corn and soybeans in them! Jeesh!). Glad to know this now as I am going into dieting season. An early heads up.