Vegan Bodybuilding & Fitness

Hi, everyone! I'm pretty new to this forum so I thought I might as well start a training log on here. I don't know that I'll be able to update it every day, but I'll get in here as often as I can. My main goal is to get as strong as possible with as natural of a diet as possible. It's expensive, but I've really been trying to buy only organic food lately. The weight training program I'm currently doing is Jim Wendler's 5 / 3 / 1 which I'll illustrate. Basically it focuses on compound movements, heavy weights, low reps. I currently weigh about 125 lbs, and I am 5' 1". I'll probably gain weight, but I pretty much never step on a scale. I'm mostly looking for higher numbers on my squat, deadlift, and bench.

This is a weird time to start my log because I'm in the middle of Week Four, which is a De-load week. So I'm doing significantly lighter weights than I can actually lift and it's a little boring, but it'll get really difficult again in about a week. The program goes in four week cycles.

So I forgot to write anything down for Week One, so I'll just start with Week Two:

Day One:

Overhead Press

1x3x45
1x3x55
1x3x60

Five sets of dips and assisted chin-ups (didn't write down how many repetitions, but it's just assistance work anyway.)

Day Two:

Deadlift

1x3x110
1x3x125
1x3x140

Good Mornings and Hanging Leg Raises, five sets of each

Day Three:

Bench Press

1x3x65
1x3x75
1x3x85

Five sets of push-ups and dips

Day Four:

Squats

1x3x105
1x3x120
1x3x130

Leg Press

5x15

Leg Curl

5x10

I didn't write down the weights for my assistance exercises, sorry.

Ok, Week Three:

Day One:

Overhead Press

1x5x50
1x3x55
1x1x65

Dips & Assisted Chin-Ups

Day Two:

Deadlifts

1x5x120
1x3x135
1x1x150

Good Mornings and Hanging Leg Raises

Day Three:

Bench Press

1x5x70
1x3x75
1x1x85

Bent-Over Rows & Push-Ups

Day Four:

Squats

1x5x110
1x3x125
1x1x140

Leg Press & Leg Curl

And now, I am in the midst of De-Load week, where you intentionally lift quite a bit less than you are able.

Week Four:

Day One:

Overhead Press

3x5x45

Dips & Assisted Chin-Ups

Deadlifts

1x5x70
1x5x85
1x5x105

Good Mornings, Hanging Leg Raises, assorted ab work

Sorry for all the wordiness, but I didn't want to be judged based on the super light weights I'm using this week, haha!

Here's an example of a typical food fest in the life of Adena:

Breakfast: oatmeal with peanut butter, milled flax seed, little bit of brown sugar or maple syrup, and a tofu scramble (about 1/2 a block) with various spices, light on the olive oil and salt
Snack: carrot sticks and almonds
Lunch: chickpea quinoa pilaf, sauteed broccoli and cauliflower
Snack: hummus and a pita
Supper: adzuki bean stew with kabocha squash, sauteed kale with garlic, smoothie made with about 1 cup of soy milk, 1 banana, some frozen strawberries, cinnamon and just a dash or two of ginger

BUT...here's an example of my cheat day(s)....

Breakfast: cinnamon rolls
Lunch: leftover chickpea quinoa pilaf, sauteed broccoli and cauliflower
Snack: peanut butter sandwich on homemade whole wheat bread
Supper: whole grain pasta with homemade tomato and lentil sauce, oven braised leeks, some vegan truffles I ordered online for Valentine's Day

I promise any further entries will be a shorter read. Haha.

Oh, and I forgot to mention I always do cardio. I change it up a lot. I'm not really looking for any improvements there anyway, which is why I didn't add it in. Sometimes I just run at a steady pace for about half an hour, sometimes I do twenty minutes worth of sprints (minute sprints with a minute rest between) sometimes I just ride my bike or do bike sprints at the gym. Just kind of depends on my mood. But variety seems to keep it fun, and keep me from getting too much of a belly.

Glad you started a log - look forward to reading it!

_________________
vegan for the win!

This week I'm just finishing up my deload week. It's intentionally much lighter than I can lift, and kinda boring. The whole past month has seemed too easy, so I'm going to add at least 5 lbs to my overhead press and bench and 10 lbs to my squat and deadlift and see what happens. Also, I'm going to be testing my 1RMs for all the key lifts over the course of the next month. So that will be exciting and give me a better idea of where I'm at.

So anyway, today I had my first experience really having trouble stuffing my face. So far today I have had 1/2 a block of tofu scrambled, a bowl of oatmeal, a bunch of carrot sticks, almonds, and dried figs, a bowl of kidney bean and cabbage soup, hummus and a pita, and a peanut butter sandwich on whole wheat bread. I just finished the figs and the pb sandwich during my afternoon break at work and felt like I was about to puke. But I'm fine now. Hopefully this will help me get used to eating more and prepare me for lifting heavy stuff!

Looks great! I'm also have oatmeal for breakfast everyday. I had to reply because I thought it was funny how your "cheat" day looks much better then my normal days haha, then again I'm still trying to gain weight as I burn it off and gain muscle. I've been having vegan pizza, and whole wheat pasta quite a lot for dinner.

It looks like success ahead for you! My log has kept me on track like never before in my (long) life. Best wishes.

_________________
an evolving primate

So the rest of Deload Week went as follows:

Day Three:

Bench

1x5x45
1x5x50
1x5x60

Push-Ups

5x10 (was experimenting with using better form so I don't kill my elbows)

Bent-Over Rows

5x10x50

Day Four:

Squats

1x5x55
1x5x70
1x5x85

Leg Press: 5x15 (I don't remember the weight, but the idea this week was to take it easy, so it was pretty light)

Leg Curl: 5x10 (ditto)

Well, I'm looking forward to tonight at the gym. It's Standing Overhead Press Day, and I think I'll test my 1RM in that lift, then do some dips and chin-ups for assistance work, then do sprints for 20 minutes if I have the energy.

Today I ate as follows:

Breakfast:
Tofu scramble (ate about 1/2 a block, saved leftovers for tomorrow
Oatmeal with peanut butter and milled flaxseed, went much lighter on the brown sugar than usual
1 cup of green tea

Snack:
Carrot sticks
Ten almonds
Six dried figs

Lunch:
Adzuki bean and kabocha squash stew with veggies
Hummus and a pita
Wished for leafy greens, but I forgot them at home

Snack:
Peanut butter sandwich on whole wheat bread

And after I work out tonight, I think supper will be leftover stuffed peppers. They're stuffed with quinoa, black beans, tomatoes, onions, chili powder, olive oil, garlic, and salt. I tried to sautee the stuffing with a lot less oil than usual and just add some more water when it got sticky. I also want some steamed broccoli and a smoothie with soy milk, strawberries, bananas, cinnamon, and ginger.

All right, I'm excited to lift heavy stuff!

I look at my nutrition as a journey. Everyone's kind of on a different part of the journey. I used to have next to nothing, and it was all sort of processed crap. That was a pretty long time ago, but anyway, I feel a lot better now. I'm still kind of a coffee and sugar fiend, but I'm getting it under control.

So last night was Overhead Press Day....um. I did 1RMs and apparently my 1RM for standing overhead press is 65. Really disappointing. I'm trying to remember that lift is definitely the most difficult one for me to see any improvement in.

Since I've been eating so much I'm feeling bloated and weird, I kind of cut back today to just eating what I actually feel like. So far it looks like this:

Breakfast: the usual oatmeal and tofu scramble deal, green tea
Snack: carrot sticks and ten almonds
Lunch: slightly smaller portion of adzuki bean and kabocha squash stew, oven-braised leeks
Snack: bit of hummus and a pita
Supper: will probably be more of that dang adzuki bean stew...I always have so many leftovers. I'll probably also have a little broccoli, and a smoothie if I still have room. Rooibos tea would be nice, too.

So no peanut butter sandwich and dried figs. Not too much less, just a little bit less. I feel better, but I don't know if this is really enough for me to see any strength gains. I guess we'll see. It's a little too early to tell.

Today is deadlift day, yay! I love deadlifts. I'm sure this will go better. I won't be doing any 1RMs until next week, so tonight I'm doing sets of five.

Deadlift Day

Deadlifts:

1x5x115
1x5x130
1x5x150

Good Mornings:

5x12x75

Hanging Leg Raises:

5x20

Various planks to work my abs a little more


Bench Press Day

Bench Press:

1x5x60
1x5x70
1x5x80 and just because I was feeling extra strong today
1x5x90

Bent Over Rows:

2x10x65
1x8x65
2x6x65

Push-Ups:

5x10

Cardio:

20 minutes of sprints on the stationary bike, minute springs with a minute rest between

So I feel better than I did on SOHP Day.

Squat Day

Squats

1x5x100
1x5x120
1x5x135

one set of lunges around the gym with 20 lb dumbbells

Leg Press

5x15x I think 240, but that doesn't sound right

Leg Curl

5x12x35

V-Ups

3x20

No Momentum Sit-Ups

3x30

Tonight I will just do a little cardio. More updates at the end of the week!

Nice on the squats! 135 is my goal right now so I can be cool and squat a plate a side...I'm at 120 - 15 more lbs to go!

_________________
vegan for the win!

Thanks! I feel like a badass when I can have a plate on each side. Now that I can deadlift and squat over my bodyweight, my short term goal is to bench my bodyweight. I've gained just a little. I'm at 128 now.

SOHP Day

Standing Overhead Press:

1x3x45
1x3x55
1x3x60

Dips:

5x8

I think I did less repetitions on the fourth and fifth set, but I'm not sure.

Chin-Ups (Unassisted)

5x2

20 minutes worth of sprints on the elliptical, one minute sprints with one minute rest between

Deadlift Day

Deadlifts:

1x3x135
1x3x155
1x1x185

...followed by a couple of attempts at 205. I'm not quite there yet, but I will be!

Good Mornings:

5x12x95

Hanging Leg Raises:

5x20

Various planks, held for a minute each

Bench Day

Bench:

1x3x70
1x3x80
1x3x90

Dumbbell Chest Press:

1x10x40 (20 lb dumbbells)
2x10x50 (25 lb dumbbells)

Pullovers:

1x20x10
2x20x25

Bent Over Rows:

2x10x65
1x8x65

Push-ups:

3x10

20 minutes of sprints on the stationary bike (1 minute sprints, 1 minute rests between)

Squat Day

Squats:

1x3x135
1x3x145
1x3x155

Box Squats:

3x10x95

Lunges:

One set with just my bodyweight, two sets with a ten lb plate held overhead...I lunged for about 16 steps on each side

Leg Press:

3x15x240

Leg Curls:

1x20x35
2x10x50

V-Ups and No Momentum Sit-Ups...too exhausted to do hanging leg raises. This workout took me forever, but it was fun!

Awesome stuff!!

_________________
vegan for the win!