Vegan Bodybuilding & Fitness

Thanks again for the advice gsop. I don't reaaaally know how to add more protein, I have been getting some wild gas from eating (I think) lots of beans (chickpeas, black eyed beans) and oats, so I don't really want to up my bean intake. I would love to eat a lot more nuts, but can't afford it. I guess I'll start eating more peanut butter and keep scoping the nutrition forum here for ideas. I definitely haven't been eating enough in the post-workout meal, then, and I'll see to this.

This week:

Stronglifts #12 (Wed 16/03/11)
Squat: 45k 5x5
Bench: 35k 5, 5, 5, 4, 5
Row: 32.5k 5x5

Stronglifts #13 (Fri 18/03/11)
Press: 20kg 5, 22.5kg 5, 5, 4, 5
Squat: 47.5k 5x5
Deadlift: 25k 5, 27.5k 2x5
Pull up: 7, 5, 6
Quad machine: 45k 10, 12, 55k 12

Maybe not the cheapest, but certainly the most efficient way to up the protein is with protein powders. Sounds though that budget might be an issue for you, so The extra peanut butter is a good option if you're not opposed to the extra fat. Or you could try some peanut flour and add that. it has the same amount of protein but WAY less fat.
viewtopic.php?f=24&t=22886&p=250019&hilit=peanut+flour#p250019 Here's a thread that talks about it.

I was feeling a bit off this week, so I only got to the gym twice, Monday and Thursday. The extra day break between seemed to do me good, I feel like I made some progress on the overhead press, which I seemed to be going backwards on, before. I'm still a bit bummed that I don't seem to progress with pull ups, no matter if I do them three times a week, or once a week. Bench is a bit of a struggle, too. I don't have a spotter some days so when I start failing on 4 I drop the weight back on the next set. Anyway, here it is:

Stronglifts #15 (Mon 20/03/11)
Squat: 50 5x5
Bench: 37.5kg 5, 4, 4
30kg 5
32.5kg 5
20kg 15
Row: 35k 5x5

Stronglifts #16 (Thu 24/03/11)
Squat: 52.5 5x5
Press: 20kg 5
22.5kg 5, 5
25kg 4, 5
Deadlift: 50kg 5
57.5kg 5, 5
Pull ups: 6, 4, 4

Have you tried pumpkin seeds? Very high in protein and fat. They are like magic.

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Must get me some of these, I need some magic in my life!

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MMMM! I'm eating my magic right now!


Keep up the consistent work Trillium! I've noticed you changed to Mon, Thur of only SL5x5. Is that a regular change you are making or just last week? I think it might serve you well!

OK, have been a bit disorganised the past week or two, went away for a little bit but managed to keep up the exercise.

gsop: I'm thinking of training only twice a week now, or if I have a third it will be with a kettlebell, so more cardio and dynamic movement that heavy weight. I've been riding my bike a bit more now that it is warming up, and together with the squats my legs never seem to recover. Also, EVERYTHING at the gym is getting hard, as you'll see from my lifting log.

Stronglifts #17 (Mon 28/03/11)
Squat: 50k 5, 55k 4x5
Bench: 30k 5, 6
35k 5, 5
40k 3, 3
Row: 35k 3x5, 37.5k, 2x5

Workout (Thu 31/03)
Did a quick 40 minutes or so of kettlebell stuff, some clean and press, floor press, hot potatoes, overhead static lunges...

Stronglifts #18 (Tue 05/04/11)
Squat: 50k 5, 57.5k 4x5
Press: 20k 5, 22.5k 5
25k 5, 4
27.5k 2
Deadlift: 50k 5, 60k 5, 5
Pull ups: 6

Stronglifts #19 (Thu 07/04/11)
Squat: 50k 5, 60k 4x5
Bench: 35k 5
37.5k 5
40k 4, 4, 2
30k 3
Row: 35k 5
37.5k 3x5
40k 5

I also weighed myself today, and came in at 73 kilo's. Means I've put on about 8-10 kilo's in the past 3 months or so, I definitely feel heavier. I'm thinking about taking creatine for a month to get through this wall I seem to be hitting, any comments or suggestions about it are welcome

Trillium, it's great to see that you've still been hitting it hard!
I was hoping you didn't cave!

Looks like the squats are going well and I see you're doing a 50kg set followed by 4x5 at the working weight rather than a straight 5x5.

Great gains on the BW front! AWESOME! Just imagine, another 9 months of that and you'll be at 100K!

Creatine...What wall are you trying to get through? I'm not sure I see one. Maybe the biking needs to take a back seat to the squats? Depends on what your goals are.

I know a few folks on here take creatine (I'm pretty sure Chewy does). I think there have been a few threads about it if you want to go check them out.

Congrats on the gains!

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Thanks! I will seek chewy's info on creatine out.

I guess I feel like I'm hitting a bit of a wall since I'm not able to do 5x5 of most exercises at max weight, adding 1.25k each workout. It's getting to the point where I have a few "warm up" sets, working the weight up, and then do the last set or two with the weight total increased (increased from my max the week before). I usually fail on the last rep or two of the final set with the extra weight. It is actually the bench press, overhead press, and barbell rows that are getting hardest. I haven't failed on any squats or deadlifts yet, so I feel there's still a decent amount of room for improvement. I guess I'll give it another couple of weeks and see.

There is not a single person this doesn't happen to, it's why Stronglifts has a deload procedure. But what you're not doing is trying all 5 sets at max weight. Whatever weight you're due to do, you attempt 5 sets at that weight. If you fail you get as many reps as you can each of the 5 sets, and you take the same weight next workout. Don't go down in weight for the last sets - you don't get stronger lifting a weight you can already do 5x5 for. And only after you fail a weight 3 workouts in a row do you deload 10-20% and work back up.

It's when you start to mess with these beginner progs that they usually stop working - different loading, incorrect deloading, different rep/set schemes, adding assistance exercises, tiring yourself out with assistance, not giving the main exercises the proper focus, doing too much outside of workouts, not enough (or worse - too many) days per week.

I looked at creatine the same way, looking for a way to push through a wall. It isn't a miracle cure, it makes a bit of a difference but not much. But the walls you're hitting will get broken down anyway if you're smart with your training, and also acknowledge that these are supposed to happen. You can't add weight every workout for ever, get that in your head early. Everyone stalls and it's part of the program.

If you feel like you're hitting a wall, drop the assistance (or do less - including kettlebell stuff) and see if that helps. Squats/Bench/Rows, Squats/OHP/Dead is plenty when you're trying to hit multiple sets of 5 maxes every workout. You sound like you're doing too much. After you deload 2 or 3 times properly on squats, drop it to 3x5 and when the same happens with that drop to 1x5 (drop the volume basically). If you're still stalling while gaining weight then, it's time to move onto an intermediate program.

Less is more.

(PS congrats on the weight gain)

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My training log

+1

It would also help to read the SL 5x5 report. It explains everything said here and more. I made the mistake of lifting for 6 months before reading it.
http://stronglifts.com/5x5-report-too-late/
http://stronglifts.com/when-to-switch-f ... -programs/
Explore the site and read up.

Excellent advice, that cleared a lot up for me. Thanks for taking the time to type that out chewy!

And thanks for the links gsop, I couldn't find the stronglifts guide when I was looking at the website.

So, after two weeks off I finally got myself back in the gym this morning and it felt GREAT. I wasn't feeling very well for a couple of weeks, but I took the time to read the stronglifts report that gsop linked me to above, and it cleared a lot of things up for me. I wasn't too ambitious with starting back, since I'd been doing some weird things with my sets before, and hadn't been in full health for a little while, but I'm pretty pleased with how I did:

Stronglifts #20 (Thu 21/04/11)
Squat: 30kx5, 50kx5
60k 5x5
Press:20kx5
22.5k 5x5
Dead: 50kx5, 62.5kx5

I also decided to give it a shot to make it to the gym 3 times a week and stick to this program without other training in between (means I'll have to cut back riding my bike around since my legs feel like dead weights if I try to ride the same day as squatting). So far today I had a smoothie with rolled oats and spelt for breakfast. Post-workout just now (11:00am) I had another smoothie with rolled oats, spelt, pumpkin seeds, cooked brown rice, linseed, and a scoop of protein powder. Will have more solid food later in the day