Vegan Bodybuilding & Fitness

So my big problem is that I'm not gaining weight almost at all. I've been a former raw foodist but I'm not doing it because it was expensive, I'm eating cooked again for over an year now.

For breakfast usually I ghave fruits or a green smoothie, about 800-1000kcals
For lunch usually some grains with as many vegetables as possible
Before workout I usually eat some fruit
For dinner I usually eat, beans or legumes
Sometimes I eat some extra nuts and seeds if I feel it, but I don't like to eat too much
In calories I'm usually in between 2500-3000 I think.
I am 183cm tall and 63kg-s maximum, if I'm full with food than 65 maybe. On the 811 diet I was about 60kg
When I was eating animal products before I went vegan my maximum was 60kg but than I was only 175cm I think, but my usual weight was about 57kg, and I was eating a lot, lifting weights and it took me almost half an year to gain 3kgs. Than I got really sick and in 2 weeks I lost 2-3kg. I actually got stronger through the excercises, but didn't seem that I got much bigger. Now I'm doing Mark Laurens You are you own gym program, it's great, I love it. But still not getting the size like others do with this program, but actually I'm feeling I'm getting stronger because it's easier to perform the excercises.

Is it just impossible for me to get big muscles?
I wasn't able to get bg muscles when I was lifting weights.
You now there are some poeple who start to lift weights and after a few weeks you see a difference
I'm actually ripped and in good shape I think, but would like to gain at least a +10kg
As for food, I can't really go over 3000kcals, than I would be stuffing food really hard in to myself, and I feel shit if I eat tooo much

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"Go vegan and no body gets hurt"
HEALTHY PEOPLE ROCK
"milk is for babies"

You have to gradually increase your kcal intake. You eat 3000 now so increase it to 3200 this week, then 3500, then 3750, then 4000, etc based on your goals.

I don't like to eat that much, I feel sluggish and messed up if I overeat

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"Go vegan and no body gets hurt"
HEALTHY PEOPLE ROCK
"milk is for babies"

Well then you wont see any progress

You're not eating a lot and you're only doing bodyweight exercises. You're not going to gain mass quickly, if at all.

It's for the same reason beginner's numbers go up quicker in weighted exercises. Your technique improves and your body becomes more efficient at performing the exercise.


My advice is to do a simple program centered around heavy compound barbell movements, and increase the calories. It's tried and tested and has infinitely more success stories than bodyweight training does.

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My training log

I like the program actually, how did others than gain mass with this program? I was lifting weights a few years ago, and ate more than now, but I was a hard gainer. We were lifting sometime with frinds, and I had a frind who was about the same height as me, he had bigger muscles but couldn't lift any bigger weights than me. Maybe I should try to stuff more food in to myself.

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"Go vegan and no body gets hurt"
HEALTHY PEOPLE ROCK
"milk is for babies"

More food, that's for sure. I've known a few guys who had REALLY fast metabolism to where they couldn't gain unless they were taking in 5000 calories/day, and these people were not large by any means. When food intake is the issue, more liquid meals usually helps bring things up - more protein shakes, add some carbohydrate powders if needed, maybe a tbsp. or two of healthy oils mixed in, and it can become easy to add another 1000-1500 cal.day into one's schedule. I've never met anyone who got stuck being unable to gain weight who couldn't fix it with more calories (particularly protein) in their diet. But, of course, bodyweight stuff will give you far less in return compared to getting in the gym, so you have to take that into account as well.

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"A 'hardgainer' is merely someone who hasn't bothered to try enough different training methods to learn what is actually right for their own damned body." - anonymous

5000kcals/day? That seems a lot, I'm not going to be able to eat that much, I'm not desperate.
I started bodyweight training because I have to be careful with ig weights, also I don't like going to the gym.
When I ate animal products, once I tried getting bigger I ate every two hours, I ate so much I felt I'm gonna vomit, lifted weights about 30-40kg, not too much I know and I gained about 2-3kgs in half a year, than I got a really sick with high fever, lasted for 2 weeks, couldn't barely eat, my body got rid fo that 2-3kg. Than shortly after that I went vegetarian than vegan. First I was eating a lot of soy and I think about 3000kcals, sometimes lifted weights but didn't gain any weight.

_________________
"Go vegan and no body gets hurt"
HEALTHY PEOPLE ROCK
"milk is for babies"

I eat 4000-5000kcals daily. When I first started trying to eat more I felt full all the time. It's about finding the right foods and frequency.

VE is right about liquid meals. Apart from a large bean/rice/veg meal I barely have any other solid meals, just blended whole food shakes. Nuts/seeds, protein powder, oils and oats are all great in there.

At the moment I'm not eating any crap either as was feeling bogged down before. Everything I make's from scratch. No soy as well at the moment.

It's not hard, you just need to experiment. I spent about 30-40mins making food a day (just do it in the morning and store it in the fridge). Once it becomes your routine, the work is done.

All it takes is a bit of dedication. I have to intake a lot of calories, very consistently. But I don't call myself a hard gainer. People use that term way to often before they've tried upping the food and finding a good training style.


Keep in mind bodyweight training can be a lot worse in terms of safety compared to weights. A large number of these exercises you can only perform very low reps and a lot of the time you don't have the luxury of warming up with exactly the same movement with less resistance. Take chins for example, someone who can only do a few reps. That's like loading up your 3 rep max on barbell rows and going straight for it.

Using "big weights" is only dangerous if you make stupid jumps, haven't worked on your technique/mobility or haven't used progressive loading. All the normal risks can be given to any exercise, weighted or not.

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My training log

How does your day look like? I mean whend do you eat and what, and when do you workout?
Actually my goal is not huge bodybuilder muscles, just a plus 10kg so I won't lok so skinny

_________________
"Go vegan and no body gets hurt"
HEALTHY PEOPLE ROCK
"milk is for babies"

In the morning I have my creatine in orange juice then;
1 litre water, few dashes of hemp oil, 170g nuts/seeds (flax/sesame/pumpkin/almonds/sunflower), 85g oats, scoop protein powder (pea/rice), 1tbsp cacao powder, heaped tbsp molasses. And sometimes a few dates. All this blended of course.

Green smoothie around lunch time
600ml water, hemp protein, cucumber, celery, spinach, frozen berries, garlic. Don't really measure this just try and get a good veg intake. Sometimes add ginger, oils etc.

After this in any order till the end of the day
200g brown rice (measured when dry), tin of chickpeas and a chopped raw veg (peppers, broccoli, cauliflower, spring greens, carrots, tomatoes - usually a few of them), curry powder, pepper.

If it's workout day pre/post workout I take EAA's and the recovery drink from the Thrive diet book. If not I'll have a fruit smoothie like this
Banana, other serving of fruit, sometimes ginger. Scoop of maca and protein powder. Omega oils. Chia seeds, coconut oil. Dates sometimes. Agave syrup.

Just now I'm taking vega and I'll have that in orange juice with a dash of hemp oil normally. When I don't have vega just take a plain old multivit and vitamin D tab, and usually an extra shake somewhere just fruit juice and protein powder.


I work out 3x/week; mon/wed/fri nights (from about 5ish). Squats, Deadlifts, Bench Press, Barbell Rows, Overhead Press are the staples. Do other stuff as well but no more than 4 or 5 exercises per workout normally.


Bodybuilder huge muscles don't come overnight. You should train to get gains as fast as possible because it will take years to gain 10kg of solid muscle.

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My training log