Vegan Bodybuilding & Fitness

That's how heavy all the bars are here in Colorado?


@vege, take care of yourself! More weight feels good, but injuries don't! After a few major lifting pain experiences I have learned that 'slow and steady wins the race' applies to bodybuilding as well!

yes, all the big bars in my gym are 20 kg, I was told.

as for the injury, I'll be more patient next time. Thank you for your support, guys! it's 5 o'clock in the morning and I can't sleep no more. I fell asleep at 1 AM and woke upa at 5 AM. I don't feel well lately at all. My whole body is in stress because of this lifting. I feel no peace, I just think about my exercises and food, have I exercised ennough, have I eaten enough? Can you go crazy from BB?
I want so much so fast... and i definitely miss yoga. But I have no time for that now It was very relaxing to do yoga and then go home and sleep. I will either have to start yoga again or start smoking pot in order to calm down and sleep at least 7-8 hours at night.

Hey, Vege!

Sorry to hear that it isn't going all that well with training and the residual feeling of stress that you've had lately. A few things come to mind for possible reasons -

1. What time do you train at? I train late at night, and have learned that I cannot expect to sleep well (if at all) for at least 4 hours after I train. If I try to sleep sooner, I'm just too tense and wound up, so I have to put plenty of time between training and sleep to let my body wind down.

2. Doing more compound exercises like squats and deadlifts WILL tax the body quite a bit more. You'll NEVER feel the same beating on your body and central nervous system doing machine exercises or isolation work as you will doing the most beneficial compound movements. There's often an adaptation period where your body WILL fight you on keeping on track, where it wants to give you every signal to quit - the difference is in being in tune with your body well enough to know when it's just complaining about hard work OR when there's something that's truly not optimal. Sometimes it takes a bit before you can really figure it out, but if you go a full week of feeling like you've described, then I'd suggest cutting down the weight or volume a bit to let yourself recover. And, even taking 3-6 days off from training altogether isn't a bad thing to do from time to time.

3. I see that some of your training days have some pretty high volume with many, many sets (such as shoulder work). Personally, I would cut that down considerably - there are three main reasons for having high volume in your training: working to lose more fat (which you obviously do not need to do), needing to improve your conditioning (not a likely scenario in your case), or that you're an advanced lifter who simply needs more taxation on their body to get more results. If you haven't been doing this sort of training for a good length of time (at least 1-2 years minimum), then it isn't likely you'll need that kind of overall volume in your workouts. You could most likely cut down the number of sets in half or remove 1-2 exercises per workout for the smaller isolation-type work and find that it will suit you well.

4. Not having your diet in line and being potentially lacking in vitamins and minerals can make recovery harder, no question about it. And, not taking in adequate food and nutrients for optimal recovery can also have a negative effect. Make 100% sure you're getting in more calories than you expend daily with a good training program (again, the exception being if you are trying to lose fat), make sure you're getting plenty of post-workout nutrition, consider a multi-vitamin/mineral supplement if you have any doubts about getting in all necessary nutrients, and that might just make a difference.

I hope this might help a bit!

Thank you for your answer!
I train at 10 AM most of the time. After that I used to have a 2 hours sleep, but lately I have work to do (writing a vegan cookbook, I'm excited about this and I have to finish it in time), so I skip that nap, drink black tea in tons and write.

I will decrease the volume, good suggestion! A for the shoulder workout last time: I did my legs first that day, and then shoulders ( I wrote it down incorrectly in my journal). So, I hurt my back first doing squats and then I was so pissed off, I just maniacally did shoulder workouts to punish myself. I was mad at myself.

Diet is he one thing I am sure about, I'm really into foods and know stuff. I eat lots of fruits, whole grains, legumes, vegetables, green vegetables, nuts, seeds... Name it - I eat it. Not using any post-workout shake, though. I don't like them since they have all kinds of artificial stuff in it, so I don't us them. I'm a health freak. No synthetic vitamins, no painkillers, no antibiotics, no pill at all... all natural. One unhealthy thing I do occasionally is smokin, both tobacco and pot - 3-4 times a month.

You're quite welcome, Vege!



One thing to note, there ARE some vitamins and proteins that aren't unnatural, but they're not that common. I would recommend something like Vitamineral Green powder if you want to increase your vitamin intake with only plant-based vitamins and nothing synthetic. For proteins, you could go with something simple like Sun Warrior's raw vegan protein, it's about as uncomplicated as proteins get without artificial junk thrown in. Or, maybe seek out some higher protein post-workout meals, something to ensure you'll get 30-40g after training (a pretty general baseline recommendation, but it won't hurt at that level). If anything, I'd suggest making sure to get your highest protein meal within 60 minutes of completing training, then perhaps make your final meal of the night higher protein as well.

Just a few ideas, sometimes simple things can have a big impact on feeling better when training hard!

thank you, again! You are so kind to answer!

Unfortunately, it is impossible for me to order those supplements here In Serbia. To cut the long story short - I don't even have the possibility to use PayPal, etc. I also suspect that my delivery will be "lost". It happens here all the time that employees at our customs steal things. This is a post-war, third-world country. Happy to live in it for other reasons, though.

I eat usually big meal of legumes and whole grains. Yesterday: 3 cups of baked white beans and 200-300 g of sourdough whole grain bread. With big lettuce salad. I think it's enough!

BACK IN GYM!!!
Since I hurt myself last time in gym, and had problems with getting relaxed, I decided to take it easy and paused for 3 days. I decided also to stay in gym NOT MORE THAN 45 minutes in the future, as it is obviously just draining the strength from my body. It's strange to me, but I've actually noticed that some of my muscles got bigger during the rest period! Now I really belive that muscles do grow when you are resting! So, I will rest more! Today, I just did the bench session, and couple of wide grip pull ups. Nothing more. Feeling just right. Not exhausted to much. Hey, I'm not training for competition, this supposed to be fun and I want it like that. I don't want to torture myself in the gym anymore!
I also felt stronger while lifting 60 kg on bench, then the last time. I will gradually increase it next time.

CHEST:
bench press: warming up: 12 x 40 kg/ 5 x 5 x 60 kg
incline bench press: 12 x 40 kg/ 5 x 5 x 60 kg
dumbbell incline chest press:: 3 x 10 x 17,5 kg
pullover: 3 x 10 x 22,5 kg

couple of pull ups, and that's all folks!

This sounds great. Soooo looking forward to being able to start at the local gym (finances too tight right now for their joining fee)

3rd day on 80/10/10 diet. I'm trying this diet out for the second time. I fell very well.
I still don't do any squats and dead-lifts, because of my injury. One week more, and I'll be back!
CHEST:
bench press: 10 x 40 kg/ 5 x 5 x 60 kg
incline bench press: 10 x 40 kg/ 5 x 5 x 55 kg
dumbbell incline chest press: 3 x 10 x 17,5 kg
dumbbell chest fly:3 x 10 x 10kg

TRICEPS:
cable triceps extension: 3 sets of 10 reps @ 30 kg
seated overhead tricep extension: 3 sets of 10 reps @ 17,5 kg

couple of pull ups

healed my back and started squatting again, with light weight

SQUATT: 5x5x40 kg
CHEST:
bench press: 10 x 40 kg/ 2 x 5 x 60 kg/ 3 x5 x 70 kg (getting better)
incline bench press: 10 x 40 kg/ 4 x 5 x 60 kg/ 1 x 5 x 65 kg (also better then last time)
and many, many pull ups....

nice workout!

oh, thanks! But I think my squats are terribly bad!

I had guests coming so I had to be really quick in the gym. It was nice workout, short, but effective. Just 40 minutes.

CHEST:
bench press: 5 x 5 x 60 kg
incline bench press: 5 x5 x 60 kg
dumbbell incline chest press: 3 x 10 x 20 kg
pullover: 3 x 10 x 25 kg

uknown number of pull ups until the failure of muscles

eating: LOTS of fruits during the day, cooked dinner with friends (baba ganoush, hummus, lentils, baked potatoes and pumpkin

Hope your back has healed up nicely!

dinner sounds delish!