Vegan Bodybuilding & Fitness

I can definitely add weight to my deadlift, I was doing 8-10 reps. I also realized that if I hold the bar underneath (instead of over) that I don't have the grip problem.

Switching to a split has been beneficial, I just haven't made as many gains as I would have liked to, and I don't want to be fat for the summer. With the split, whatever I work out on a given day is now sore for days. It also helped that I switched it up from barbells to dumbells, that gave my body quite a good shock.

The full body exercises were keeping me lean, but that was about it. And I'm still doing all the same multi joint exercises, I just split them up differently. I guess I'm pretty muscular (for me) right now. Maybe focusing on my actual weight isn't a good idea as my muscles are quite large for my small frame. I'd still love to be 150 lbs and lean, but maybe that's far off/ not possible.

Also wanted to add that while some weights have stayed the same for a few months, my form has gotten much better which is equally/ more important.

And I want to experiment with my diet a bit. I know some people are more carb or fat sensitive (as far as adding body fat goes), and I tend to eat a ton of carbs. Not sure what I'm going to substitute for oatmeal now that the weather is getting warmer. It's too hot in my apt to eat a hot bowl of oatmeal in the morning. Maybe a pb sandwich and a protein shake?

Hooray for progress! I've added cardio to lose the fat I gained with muscle, and have lost some weight, but I look the best I've ever looked in my life! I definitely look heavier than I am, maybe I just have a small frame and shouldn't get hung up on a number? Anyway, in addition to the slow 10 minute mile I run as my warmup, I now jog then sprint for 20 minutes 3 times a week. Only about 2 miles because my bad knee doesn't allow me to run faster without suffering major repercussions.

Can someone look this over and give me some feedback? My questions are, can I add a fourth set to some of my exercises if I'm unable to add weight? Also, is it really bad if I hold the bar underhand when doing deadlifts? This way my sweaty hands don't cause me to lose my grip and not do as many reps. Also some diet feedback would be appreciated as well, I'll post that below. I'm sure you're all going to tell me to eat more since I've reduced my caloric intake (from 3500-4000 calories a day to about 2500), but the bulking I was doing left me with a gut which is now almost gone. I almost have a six pack for the first time in my life!

Day 1: Chest/ Triceps (3 sets of 8-10 unless otherwise specified.)
Dumbbell Bench press (45 lb dumbbells)
Incline Dumbbell bench press (40 lb dumbbells)
Flyes (machine, 90-100 lbs)
Kickbacks (30 lb dumbbells)
Tricep pulldown (90 lbs)
Crunches on Swiss Ball (3 sets of 25)
Alternate between two of these every week:
Incline dumbbell flyes (25 lb dumbbells)
Lower cable crossover (110 lbs)
Decline bench press (barbell, 100 lbs)
Upper cable crossover (110 lbs)
Decline dumbbell flyes (30 lb dumbbells)

Day 2: Back/ Biceps/ Obliques
Lat Pulldowns (Machine, 105 lbs)
Wide Grip Rows (80 lbs, plus weight of machine; the one you sort of lay on with the long pole coming out of it)
Close Grip Rows (cable, 100 lbs)
Reverse Flyes (machine, 75 lbs)
Curls (25 lb dumbbells)
Hammer Curls (20 lb dumbbells)
Preacher Curls (40 lbs, machine)
Kneeling Cable Pulldown (90 lbs, 4 sets of 15)

Day 3: Shoulders
Seated shoulder press (40 lb dumbbells- switching to a machine this week. I realized that if I save the energy lifting the dumbbells off of the ground, I can probably go a lot heavier)
Front raises (20 lb dumbbells)
Lateral raises (30 lb dumbbells)
Shrugs (55 lb dumbbells)
Reverse cable flyes (35 lbs)
Cable Rotation (50 lbs, 4 sets of 15)

Day 4: Legs
Squats (1 set at 150 lbs, 2 at 170. Going back up in weight after giving my knee a rest)
Deadlifts (150 lbs !! Happy about this)
Leg press (1 set at 230 plus weight of machine, 2 sets at 270 plus weight of machine)
Leg extension (90-100 lbs. used to alternate weekly between split squats, lunges and reverse lunges, but these fuck up my bad knee)
Calf raises (180 lbs, 3 sets of 15)
Incline pushups on Bosu ball (3 sets of 16-20)
Crunches on Bosu ball (3 sets of 25)

Diet:
9:30 am - One cup of oatmeal with blueberries and raw almonds or walnuts. Coffee with soymilk. (As it is soon going to be too hot in my apt to eat oatmeal, would a peanut butter sandwich and a protein/ blueberry shake be sufficient for a pre workout meal?)
10:30 am - 12:30 pm - Workout
1:00 pm - One scoop soy protein isolate powder, one bowl lentil soup with nutritional yeast, one peanut butter sandwich on multigrain bread.
3:00 pm - Almonds, or a banana
6:30 pm - Protein (tofu, seitan, etc), with veggies. Big portions. Try to avoid carbs now in the evening, though I make vegan pizza once a week and have the leftovers the following lunch.
8:00 pm - light snack, nuts, apple, cucumber with hummus, carrots, etc.
10:00 pm One scoop soy protein isolate powder

Thanks guys!

Still going strong with this routine. However, I've amended my chest workout slightly with amazing results! Here's what I'm doing now:

Day 1: Chest/ Triceps
Dumbbell Bench press (45 lb dumbbells) 3 sets of 8-10
Incline Dumbbell bench press (40 lb dumbbells) 3 sets of 6
Lower cable crossover (110 lbs) 1 set of 8-10, then two immediate drop sets (also 8-10 reps); first at 55 lbs, second at 35. Followed by two additional sets at 110 lbs, 8-10 reps.
Upper cable crossover (110 lbs) 1 set of 8-10, then two immediate drop sets (also 8-10 reps); first at 55 lbs, second at 35. Followed by two additional sets at 110 lbs, 8-10 reps.
Cable Flyes (85 lbs) 1 set 8-10, 2 immediate drop sets, then 2 regular sets.
Kickbacks (30 lb dumbbells)
Tricep pulldown (90 lbs)
Kneeling Cable Pulldown (90 lbs, 4 sets of 15)

Not sure if it's the drop sets, or the cable exercises, but my chest is definitely getting wider instead of just larger. That was an issue I had that has since started to go away. Here's the rest of my workout routine and progress report (usually 3 sets of 6-10 unless otherwise specified):

Day 2: Back/ Biceps/ Obliques
Lat Pulldowns (Cable, 105 lbs)
Wide Grip Rows (80 lbs, plus weight of machine; the one you sort of lay on with the long pole coming out of it)
Close Grip Rows (cable, 100 lbs)
Reverse Flyes (machine, 75 lbs)
Standing rotating curls (30 lb dumbbells)
Hammer Curls (25 lb dumbbells)
Preacher Curls (50 lbs, machine)
Crunches on swiss ball (3 sets of 25)

Day 3: Shoulders
Seated shoulder press (85 lbs, machine)
Front raises (25 lb dumbbells)
Lateral raises (30 lb dumbbells)
Shrugs (55 lb dumbbells)
Reverse cable flyes (35 lbs)
Cable Rotation (50 lbs, 4 sets of 15)

Day 4: Legs
Squats (1 set at 150 lbs, 2 at 170. Going back up in weight after giving my knee a rest)
Deadlifts (150 lbs)
Leg press (1 set at 230 plus weight of machine, 2 sets at 290 plus weight of machine)
Leg extension (110 lbs)
Calf raises (180 lbs, 3 sets of 15)
Incline pushups on Bosu ball (3 sets of 20)
Crunches on Bosu ball (3 sets of 25)