Vegan Bodybuilding & Fitness

Hey all,

So after about two months of going to my Univerisity's gym, and doing machine, cable, and iso excercises (there was some free weight stuff too), I've decided to switch over to the Stronglifts 5x5 at the recommendation of the wise Chewybaws!
This log will document my progress (both dietary wise, and lifting wise)

My goals: To gain 20lbs, to have loads of "real life" strength (ie. I'm not just "ripped" and defined, but I can actually haul my 123456789lb guitar rig around.. ha), and to look and feel my best (what we all want).

07/26/10
Starting weight: About 142-146lbs... it fluctuates. 6'1... I know, skinny.
Here are some starting pictures for reference, thanks to my iPhone camera and girlfriend!Forgive my awful blinding white body, and dark arms combo.




Day One of Stronglifts:
-Squat: 5x5x20lbs (was really focusing on my technique... I think I've got it pretty good now).
-Bench Press: 5x5x44lbs (20kgs)... started with just 20lbs, and worked on technique. Felt fairly easy. Misread Chewybaws suggestion to start at 20kg (INCLUDING the bar), and added 20kg to the bar. Managed the 5x5 still, though they were definetely hard.
- Inverted Rows: 3xF ... these are deceptively hard. I ended up having to do them with my knees up, and probably only managed 5-6 a set. I have had a tough time getting my chest to actually touch the bar, and I'm not sure I was doing them properly. Anyone have some suggestions?
- Pushups: 20/20/16. Arms were starting to get sore by the third set after the bench, and so I couldn't get as many pushups in as I'd like.
- Reverse Crunches: 3x12... these are terrible. I didn't feel my abs burning at all, and all I could feel was discomfort in my spine. I'm pretty sure I'm doing something wrong here. Again, any suggestions? I don't think I'm able to take a video of myself, but I could try.


That's it for day one! I'm just trying to eat 4000 cals a day, keep my protein up, and try and sleep enough (though I often only get 6.5-7hrs).

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My training log

Nice to see you've started man! Next time you do Workout A, go back to 22.5kg on bench. It'll feel light but you can work on your technique as the weight's getting heavier. Inverted rows are tough man, just get as close to the bar as you can, within 2" is fine (even when I do these now I only hit the bar with the first 4 or 5 reps). Switch with the easy version till you can do 15 reps in the first set. Then switch over to the full version. (something I like doing on the last set is when I can't do another rep is to do half reps, smaller range of motion, until my arms COMPLETELY burn out. Biceps and forearms are a burning after that!)

That's some good numbers on pushups! Are you touching chest off the ground (or close) and locking arms out at the top of the rep? If so switch over to dips.

Crunches, try get a vid of yourself, even if you're not going to post it. Can just take one on your phone for your own reference. How much of a counter weight did you use? If it's too heavy a counterweight you won't feel it much in your abs.

Got a good base to start building on man, can tell you've not been doing anything for your legs though. Keep the squats slow and controlled, don't rush 'em. You'll be going heavy soon enough and we'll get those big quads!

Keep up the hard work! You got squats/press/deads/chins/bridges coming up! Remember and start with 40kg (including the bar lol) for deadlifts instead of 20kg. Keep your back straight, especially putting it back on the floor!

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Chewy,

Yeah, my pushup technique is pretty good, I think. All the way up till locking, and all the way down till chest just about touches.) I should swap every other day for dips, or all the time?

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Also, should I switch to weighted pushups once I can do 30 a set?

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Stronglifts recommends you just do dips. You'll get stronger at them quicker and when you can hit 15 good reps, switch to 3x5 weighted dips (weighted dips will do a lot more for you than bodyweight). You then add 2.5kg the same as weighted exercises.

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Alright, so I'll replace the pushups with dips then. Dips have never been my friend though, so this should be interesting.

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07/28/10
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StrongLifts Workout B:
Squats 5x5 @ 65lbs (bar + 10lbs on each side)
Overhead Press 5x5 @ 45lbs (just the bar)
Deadlifts 1x5 @ 95lbs (bar + 25lbs on each side)
Pullups 3xF... only managed to get 1 full/proper one each time, and then 5 negatives.
Prone Bridges 3x30s

The squats were good... technique still needs some refining. Overhead press is incredibly tough to coordinate. Stronglifts says the bar should rest on your front shoulders, just about touching your throat... this is very uncomfortable for me, as I have mainly bones in that area. Suggestions?
Deadlifts were brutal... I did my set, and then saw someone right next to me (a much more experience fellow I see often) do his, and his technique was way better than mine. I didn't realize my hands were to be on the outside of my legs... ha.
Pullups were tough, but I was expecting this.
Prone bridges seemed useless.. I felt barely anything in my abs. Maybe I need to do them longer?

That's all for today. Looking forward to the next workout! Until then... I'll eat lots!

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My training log

If you used an empty bar (45lbs) for squats in the first workout, you should only be at 50lbs in the 2nd workout (you only add 5lbs overall, not each side). Prone bridges make sure your hips aren't sagging down in the middle, and do 3 sets to failure instead of 30s.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Syt7A23YnpA
That vid's great for deadlift setup.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SAXPJ3PfdyY
That will help with your press.

Good luck

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Also, when squatting, the bar hurts my back (I have a boney back... Not a lot of muscles yet). Is it okay to use padding or something?

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Nah, just deal with it and it should toughen up within a couple of weeks. If you start padding your back will never adapt.

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Okay, thanks Chewy!!!

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YES! look at you two! This is awesome.

keep it up Jordan, you've got a good guy to learn from here!

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"Knowledge is knowing that a tomato is a fruit. Wisdom is knowing not to put it in a fruit salad." - Brian O'Driscoll

07/30/10
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StrongLifts Workout A:

Squats 5x5 @ 60LBS (bar + 7.5lbs on each side)
Bench Press 5x5 @ 55lbs (bar + 5lbs on each side)
Inverted Rows with knees up, 3xF = 12/10/10
Dips 3xF ... could barely do one full one. All in all, I think I managed maybe one or two passable ones in total... the rest were failures. So I did
BOSU Pushups, 3xF = 12/10/11 ... and then when I got home, I did another two sets of standard ones, 12 reps each, just to give me a good muscle failure feeling since dips failed.
Reverse Crunches 3x12 ... still not really feeling too much here. I'll try and get a video of me doing them, and if my technique is judged to be spot on by you guys, is there a harder, more intense ab workout I can move to?


All in all, the workout was fairly good. My knees started hurting towards the end of the squats, and even though I stretched them out pretty well, my groin, and hamstrings were getting pretty tight towards the end too. I'm sure more flexibility will come in time!

Also, would you guys reccomend having a recovery drink( ala. the Thrive Diet), or a protein shake after a work out? I made a Thrive-ish recovery drink (but with soymilk, 25g of soy/brown rice protein, and without the dulse or maca, since I don't have any), and it tasted pretty damn good.

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Stick it out with the dips, how deep were you going with them? If you can only do a couple, then yeah do your 3xF pushups, but try the dips first everytime - the only way you'll get better at them is doing the exercise. Negatives are an option (will help your balance/control).

How much counter weight are you using on the reverse crunch? The lower it is the harder the exercise.

I highly recommend doing dynamic stretches, and if you can, foam rolling your hips, it band, quads, groin. Do anything to improve flexibility and loosen those tight spots. When I started, I was adding weight quicker than my groin could recover from and I had real bad problems for months and months, the same thing happened with my friend (he got it sorted much quicker though). It's prob why I had problems with my knee as well.

I've always used the recovery drink from the Thrive book, and think it works pretty well - but most things will. As long as it has a good amount of simple carbs and protein you'll be fine. You may want to add fruit, dates are good.

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I wasn't using any weight on the reverse crunches.

What exactly are dynamic stretches? I'll have to look into those.

I was trying to go to a full 90 degrees with my elbows on the dips, but I couldn't do it. Negatives would be starting from the top and easing yourself down?

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My training log