Vegan Bodybuilding & Fitness

Look at the thighs of competitive cyclist. They're huge.

I remember my first month of BB:
I gained 3kgs the first 3 weeks.

The last week no gain.
Was too difficult add weight in 3 sets with 60" rest.



The second month:
I did low number of sets,much rest.
Because I am ectomorph and beginner.
I gained only something.But something.

I am not surprised,when I read on magazines
about the gains of first month.




I know this true at 70%,
but I think there is something wrong in this.
The first month people do:
3 sets for every muscle,10 reps,60" or 90" rest.
They gain many kgs,muscle and dumbell.
The last week is difficult add weight on dumbell.


When people begins the second month,something like
2 exercises for muscle,
2 sets for exercise,8 reps,120""rest,

may increase weight every 8 reps in two sets
with 120" rest,more easy than wait for 3 sets X 10 reps 60" rest.

They see strenght increase,and think this W.O. is much better.
They gain only 1kg muscle,and they think is normal because 1st month was special.

The muscle is bombed with 4-6 sets,then is trained only
2 times week. Not enough frequency for first times in my opinion.
And too much work in the single workout for an ectomorph.





Now what I think, in my opinion.
Is an error still do the third week
3 sets for every muscle,10 reps,60" or 90" rest ,

and is an other error the second month
jump directly to 6 sets for muscle,twice a week.

"DC states that if you can bring a muscle to grow two times per week instead of only once, you will grow 104 times per year instead of 52. He's got a point there, myladies"

I disagree, I think that would lead to overtraining in most people.
http://www.veganbodybuilding.com/?page=article_ryantraining

I do not believe the shoulder press is good for your shoulder joint. It may be good for building muscle, but that is about it! If anything, do dumbell press with the palm of your hands facing your head. This is a little better.

Upright rows? Avoid them! With this exercie, the shoulder is internally rotated with the hand pronated and at the top of the movement the humerus is moved forward. In this way, it pinches the tendon of the long head of the biceps and hits the shoulder bursa, squashing it into the acromium of the scapula. This can lead to a lot of problems and most likely will, in the long run.

i agree with you on the upright rows.

I had been bodybuilding some 40 years up to 1997, and really had not made much progress in size and strength after the beginner stage was over. Then I came across Mike Mentzer`s way of training using his suggestion for high intensity, low volume and infrequency. When all these were applied correctly results really took off in size and strength. A person can really actualize his/her genetic potential in a year or two with correct training. His website helps describe his philosophy in detail which goes against the historical way to progress. His website is MIKEMENTZER.COM for all interested. It really works and takes so little time to do the workouts.

I'm a woman, was losing fat and gaining muscle size and strength by doing hard cardio and the 5x5 lifting method (and eating to gain, of course...but a "clean bulk"). Shit worked wonders for me.

What do you think about Smolov Jr,sheiko ecc?

I second that! Nothing has the tendency to injure my rotator cuff like a set of upright rows will...

At the same time there are just as many natural athletes who swear they have gotten to their best shape and biggest using higher volume or frequency workouts.......so it really can be a frustrating process. Problem with Mike's protocol is you have to go all out everytime to failure. I know there are some days I just can't do it. How about just periodize and use a variety of both?

.mind set is the key.. you need to WANT it to get it...
My buddy is a bb and we went to the gym the other day after he'd been up for 18 hours and working... he pushed himself and delivered on every set ... mind over matter.

Agree with the above post, motivation and dedication is key in building your body to how you want to be, you shouldnt want to get bigger just to impress people, the 2 key components you need in my opinion is the mental determination and to have a good diet.

Largely, I agree with the majority of this post--excluding this:

'But shoulders and triceps do a big part of the work, too, along with other muscles. When you do bench press with, say, 70kg, your triceps has to contract against that weight. It's a far better exercise than cable push downs with 25kg! So, after having worked the chest with bench press and incline bench press, you don't need to work the triceps with another 2 exercises that exclude the bigger pectoralis (chest muscle)! Why would you want to work the smaller muscle more?'

I will venture to say that you will almost certainly not develop Good tris without some isolation set. Now, I'm not going to commit the cardinal sin of saying my methods of training are better than anybody elses. This is a fallacy; what works for one will not work for another, at the end of the day. However, I simply cannot imagine, uh, lets say what the cool kids are calling 'sleeve training' these days without a specific tri targeting excercise. Frankly I've never really been a huge fan of cable pulldowns for tris, I think skullcrushers are fantastic ( the proper sort, where you're on your back, not those standing ones which I believe are garbage and create a lot of potential for injury) as well as extensions. Also, if your form REALLY is the shizzle you won't be working out your tris from BP excercises at any hell of a rate anyway.

Besides this, great post, especially concerning the change. I see people at the gym doing the same excercises month after month, and I want to slap them upside the head--it's pointless, due to memory.

Thanks again, great post

lj

Seriously? Again??

Agree on the post that was quoted, except without the milk and egg part. There are better, healthier proteins for the human body that can be found in pea proteins or even hemp. Vega is a good brand that I use which is also endorsed by Robert Cheeke in his book. It has both of those sources of protein plus many others. It's helped me in my gains and I'm sure it will help you along better than taking in foreign proteins present in milk and eggs that the body actually creates antibodies to fight. That last fact I got from the interview with Dr. Neal Barnard on the topic of diabetes located on the main page of this website