Vegan Bodybuilding & Fitness

Oooooh. All supersets. I hate doing them unless I'm paying someone to torture me. It's the endurance part that gets to me.

Nice job on the running. There's something attractive about being committed enough to puke.

Thanks DV, your support really means alot to me! I actually love the feeling of supersetting I just held out on them because I wanted to develop a more solid base first. The one type of supersetting that kills me though, is pullups and chinups back to back because my forearms KILL by the end. Other than that I kinda welcome them. It was pretty grueling though with squats and deadlifts together. Very exhausting.

training till the point of Puking = attractive well never thought of it that way, it sounds so much better now, i'm flattered. I really pushed hard for that race but i bet i could've avoided that if i had stopped for a bit of water or ate a bit more bf the race. It still felt cool, i've never puked after a race only heard of others doing it.

Another positive note: I am finally able to do a couple of unassisted pullups and it felt amazing. I did about 3 and I probably could have squeezed in one more at most today's session for the first time! I can't wait to get back to the good ole days and weighted pullups with 45lb plates hanging off you but thats going to take awhile. At least I can do some decent weighted dips right now.

I can't wait to hang out and train during Vegan Vacation! I've heard from a few others that they are also really looking forward to meeting you and hanging out!

It's gonna be awesome!

I'm working towards unassisted pullups too. Are these wide grip (palms forward) or narrow grip (palms parallel)? I'm close to narrow grip but it will be a long time before I can do the wide grip type.

I hope I'm off from work one of the days you guys train this summer!

Wide grip DV, I actually have not even done any training with narrow grip pullups yet this year. Thank you so much for reminding me as I am starting a new regimen on tuesday and I will have to include those to switch up from the chinups and wide grip pullups. Awesome!

You can do it DV, I believe in ya, have you ever done them before?

I would love to train with you; my biceps could use a good beatin' considering they are so finnicky to respond to training. We could always workout after your job....

No, I've never lifted my bodyweight before this year. I only started doing real pushups about 4 months ago. My biggest gains have been recent. I was never an athletic or strong woman before this year. You could say I'm a late bloomer.

unassisted wide grip pullups are one of my biggest goals! i feel like if i can do that, i will feel so successful, so it's awesome that youre already there! keep it up!

Thanks Dani!! I used to be able to do so many so i'm glad I broke through and was able to do a couple. I bet I will progress fast now. When I was able to do dips with bw, the reps went up very fast. With a back like yours, you should have no problem getting there. A good way to get a feel for it would be to have someone grab your legs and help push up a little bit so you can see what it feels like and get used to it. If you make it here early bf we leave for vv08', I'll spot you and we can train together.

Robert, it is going to be an unforgettable experience getting together with all in Portland, hanging out, training, bonding. I am psyched. thendanisays just worked it out so that we will be flying out together on the same flight and planes next to each other so that will be wonderful. This place is amazing and everyone is just terrific. It will be a pleasure to meet Dani as well as have company on the flight.

Okay before I post last week just wanted to update on today's session.

I start a new routine tomorrow and it is focused on bench and based on your max so I needed to max out on bench. I was expecting to put up maybe 195 if I was lucky. WELL, to my surprise, I came out like a beast and I maxed out at 235lbs YEAH BUDDDDDDDDDDDDY!

Welcome to the 2 plate club on the bench Giacomo!

Afterwards, I was feeling invincible so I tried out a set of weighted dips with 45lbs on me and I managed to get out 7 good reps. Now that's what i'm talking about.

here's how it went: 195x1, 225x1, 245 (fail), 245 (fail), 235x1, 240 (fail)
dips 45lbs + bw x 7 and i prob could have done an extra 2 more....

My old best was 405lbs on the bench when my weight was 195lbs so it's a little bit far away but i'm getting there. It would be nice to surpass that.

The workout i'm starting can potentially increase your max by 50lbs in 50days so hopefully i'll be able to hoist up 285lbs of iron in two months from now.

Week 2: 4/21-4/27

Resistance Training
-Total Time: 7 hrs
-Worked out 6/7 days
-Finished cycle 2

Cardio
-Approx Total Time: 4hrs 45min
-Played 15 games of racquetball
-Ran 5m into the sunset by the hudson river with a friend from the gym, was beautiful

Highlights
-After driving my friend nutso to run with me, we finally ran together and it was lovely. Now if I could only get her to run a race!
-Begin new workout tomorrow (4/29).
-maxed out on bench press 235. Wayyyy more than expected and i'm super happy about it.
-Did a set of 7 dips with 45lb plate loaded on me.
-Was able to do 3 wide grip pullups unassisted. Troy has been a huge motivation for me. In his video he did more then 10 back to back after 4 months of training and I would like to be there as well. It has been about 4 months for me.
-Feeling a huge surge of strength increase this week and I have a feeling it is going to carry over into the next month or so.
-Muscle memory is kickin in hard!

Nice Bench Press!!!! I'm interested in seeing how the 50 lbs in 50 days works out. Keep us posted!

Is that the EAS program?
http://www.eas.com/vault/benchpress/index.asp

I tried it once, never made it all the way through for some reason.
But I did improve 15 pounds about half way through it.
I still remember the day I benched 2 plates per side.

When I'm done with my squat program, I'm thinking of trying this again.
Or maybe deadlift, I can't decide

Hey Jason and DV, thank you!!!

I am going to try and post the two bench press workouts a week to show progress. That is most definitely the routine Jason. It has been said it's hype but it worked for me several times over and without that program, I wouldn't have been lifting as much as I did once upon a time, and soon enough again.

I do modify it and add a whole bunch more to it. I feel it is too sparse for what I like to do.

You know man, it just didn't feel the same as the first time I lifted 2 plates per side, even though I was so weak in january. It was almost kind of like, well it's about time, you belong here. Lifting 4 plates per side in a yr or so will def feel just as good though i'd imagine because I only did it once as it felt like hell. I had three spotters and that bar was crashing down. I wonder how that prog will work out on the heavier benches like that; I bet it wouldn't be as effective. That's a long time from now though, focused on the here and now.

Jason, I always thought about using the progression table and applying it to squats and deadlifts and replacing the negative with 1/2 n 1/4 reps and rack pulls or something like that. I bet it would work. Thing is, for me, my squats and deadlifts always just keep going up in weight and I never really plateaued with them until I got into very high numbers. Perhaps I will give it a shot once that happens again. If you go for it, let us know, i'd be interested to see how it works out for you.

It's a pain to follow through it as it is regimented and can be a bit challenging, especially when the weight can stick to you at the bottom of the lift and you constantly need a spotter but it's worth it imo.

I often wondered if it would work for other lifts too.
I don't have the equipment to safely test my limits on squatting yet.
A squat rack might be in my future.
Or at least squat at the gym when I get up to heavy weights.

My bench does have safety pins for benching.
I've been glad that I had them many times.

Hey Lean and Green,
Hope you don't mind me throwing a random question to you in your blog... I had been reading this forum for awhile and often read that you consume much of your protein through algeas etc, like Spirulina (even mentioning packing it in bags for long bike rides). I was really curious how much you normally consume in a day/sitting and how you consume it? Do you just mix it with water? I think it's awesome as it is healthy, I can sometimes get a tsp a day mixed in with a drink (it's still beneficial ). I was just wondering... thanks!

Hey Dawgbert. No I don't mind at all, that's what the forum is for.

Anyhow. I try to get at least one shake in a day and as many as 4 or 5. I mix about 5-6 heaping tablespoons in water, shake vigorously and chug. Then I put some more water in, shake and chug again as it's thick and not all of it mixes in b/c I put in alot. It comes out to about 60grams per shake.

There are a number of ways to get it down but I find this the most convenient way and easiest to get down as once you start addign fruit and such, it becomes very filling.

A tsp is still good, more nutritionally than anything as it is only about 4 grams of protein.

If you need any greens in bulk 10kg chlorella, 50lb spirulina or anything else, pm me and I can make that happen for you. I get product for around 75% off give or take b/c of my connection and it is a very reliable source. I wouldn't be chugging away 1/7th of a lb per shake with retail prices of greens, it's not cost effective. In bulk, it's worth it....

On another note, had my first chest workout of my new routine yesterday night at a 24hr gym after work from like 12:30am - 2am. BRUTAL! It hurts to lift heavy, my chest was pumped out and sore as heck immediately following the regimen, actually right after the first set. A good hurt but nevertheless, intense. I should be downing a shake right about now for recovery purposes.

Thanks L&G, for your detailed response. Wow, 60 grams of protein per shake times 4-5 shakes is a large amount. But it is awesome that you can do it on such few calories, 200 calories for every 40 grams of protein.

As I've been trying to keep my calories down (at the moment due to weight-loss) I've also been trying to get enough protein but keep my caloric intake down. I've been able to do it and generally consume Vega in water to help... smoothies seem great but once everything else is added there is an enormous glass and a lot of calories. We'll see though.

Thanks again. While I may not be able to consume that much Spirulina, it is expensive here for it in smaller quantities sold as a supplement so if I ever increase my intake and need to look at other options I'll ask you about it. Thanks.