Vegan Bodybuilding & Fitness

Congrats Derek, 14lb gain in 1 month; that's impressive!

Go on, go for that 200lb bench mark, everybody on here knows you can do it!!!



My goal is to go from 149lbs at 6'2" to 165lbs. (Just started a training log as i saw how you and everybody else was doing one. I never thought that it would be as helpful as it is).

Thanks Nicholas!! I'm working and eating hard so I hope to make it happen . Some of the 14lbs was water and some of the rest was bodyfat so I'm now pretty much where I was before dieting down for the last show - that's how it came so fast! You've got those 16lbs in the bag man, just eat a lot of healthy food every single day and lift some big weights! Robert's book is a really big help when it come to weight gain especially, so if you don't have a copy I'd get one. There's a reason he's done what he's done . Good luck!

See you soon big guy!

We'll rock DC!

Hey there, I've been following your post since last six months and I must say it was truly very interesting and informative reading so thanks for sharing it with us.

See you tomorrow!

Wooohoo!

Thanks alex, glad you like what I've been doing!

See you tomorrow Robert!!

Great work today!

Hope to see some of those pics we posed in.

I appreciate your support big time!

Hey Buddy, it was a great time! Pics are Here (http://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.163271030428655.43421.110820642340361&type=3) for those who want to check it out. Rock Boston this weekend RC!!



I am so behind on this journal! I actually wrote up everything I had been doing for several weeks about 3 weeks ago, then mistakenly closed the browser without submitting it! I was so frustrated I had to put it off another couple of weeks I guess (bad excuse I know!). So here's what I've been up to:

After my contest in late July I was feeling really good, so I tried to get back into training with a total body routine. Naturally my core injury came right back (but before it did I was able to squat 315 for sets of 20 again!), so I spent most of August trying to design myself a new mass building program that wouldn't over-train my core. One of my biggest struggles as an athlete is second guessing myself or my game plan if things aren't going well, and this was one of those instances. By September I just decided to get back on the program that worked so well pre-contest, and I've been following that split since. Wish I hadn't wasted all that time, but I am now up to 190lbs, so I'd say it's going well! Here's what a recent week looked like:

Monday: Calves, Shoulders

Seated calf raise: 90x20, 135x20,20,20
Leg Press Calves FST7: 450x15
Seated Barbell overhead Press: 95x12, 115x10, 140x10,10,10
DB Front Raises: 25x 10,10,10
Cable Face Pulls SS DB Shrugs: 60x12 SS 70sx12 for 3 sets
Machine Lateral FST7: 70x12

Tuesday: Quads, Light Arms - Both my legs and arms have been growing!

Leg Extension FST7: 160x15
DB Lunges: 80s x 8,8,8,8,8,8 each leg w/ 90 seconds rest each set (these are the worst thing ever, but they kill my legs and don't hurt my core!)
Leg Press: 630 x 15,15,15,15
Squat: 225x 15,15,15
Barbell Curl (very strict): 65x 12,12,12
Seated Db Curl: 30x10, 40x10, 50x10
Concentration curls: 25x10, 35x10
Cable Press downs: 90x12, 110x12,12
Skull Crushers: 80x12,12, 100x12 SS close grip to failure

Wednesday: Cardio/abs

Swim 1000m or 20min step mill

Crunches: 50x3 sets
Leg Lifts: 20x3 sets
Russian Twists: 30x 3 sets
Plank: 1minx 3 sets

Thursday: Back/ light Bi's

Pull Ups: 0x15, 30x10, 50x10,10,10 (Haven't been doing these as consistently so my strength on them went way down)
T-bar Row: 90x12, 135x12, 180x12, 12, 12 Just got back to these and I remember why they're my favorite!
Cable Row: 100x 10, 10, 10
Cable Pulldown: 100x 10, 10, 10
Pullover FST7: 50x12
Scott Curls: 50x12, 12, 12
1 Arm cable curl: 30x 10, 10, 10

Friday: Chest, calves

Seated calf raise: 90x20, 135x20,20,20
Leg Press Calves FST7: 450x15
Incline Bench Press: 135x12, 155x12, 185x10, 205x 8,8,8
DB Bench Press: 75x12, 12, 12
Decline Bench Press: 155x 10, 10 ,10
Pac Deck FST7: 65x12

Saturday: Plyo/Hamstrings AM Arms PM

Power Step ups: 20, 20, 20
High Box Jumps: 20, 20, 20
Romanian Deadlift: 65x 20, 20, 20
Prone Leg Curl: 70x 12, 12, 12, 12
1 Leg Curl: 35x 10, 10, 10
Seated Leg Curl FST7: 80x12

Barbell Curl FST-7: 65x12
Preacher Curl: 75x 10, 10, 10
Incline Curl: 35x 12, 12, 12
Hammer Curl: 30x10, 10, 10
Dips: 50x 10, 10, 10
DB overhead Extension: 70x12, 100x10, 10, 70x12
Underhand pressdown: 60x12, 12, 12

Sunday: Cardio/abs

Swim 1000m or 20min jump rope

Crunches: 50x3 sets
Leg Lifts: 20x3 sets
Russian Twists: 30x 3 sets
Plank: 1minx 3 sets

Whew! So I haven't been slacking too badly, but I still have a lot of work to do. I am pretty sure my next show will be an OCB event here in VA in mid February, so stay tuned for that prep! I would love to hit 200lbs before I start cutting, but we'll see! I also have a photo shoot in DC in 3 weeks, so perhaps some of those shots will be on this site soon!

Wow! Amazing routine Derek!

Just curious though, how many calories and protein would you be eating off season on a program like this?

Thanks Nicholas! How's your weight gain coming? You've been getting some solid workouts in, nice consistency!

For food, I am hitting between 5000 and 6000 calories a day (4000 on my cardio days) Which is usually 25% protein, 60% carbs, 15% fat. I try to keep it as close to that as possible and so far, so good!

Could you please give just one day menu example? I just do not know what I should eat in order to get that much QUALITY calories? What do you eat? I suppose not nuts and seeds, since your fat intake is 15%... Thank you!

PS: I have just looked at pre-contest diet on your blog
https://docs.google.com/spreadsheet/ccc?key=0AkmOcUtqsvw6dGdSdlFmMVRVN1VVeWJBVVZVYWlCUGc&hl=en_US#gid=0and I have few questions: what is one SERVING, how much is that? And what is BEAN SHAKE? I am really interested in this high carb diet

That's a lot of food, sweet!

Yeah my weight gain is going pretty well thanks for asking! In the past 1.5 months i have gained about 5lbs of muscle, am aiming for more now AS I FINALLY JOINED A GYM FOR THE FIRST TIME TODAY! (A 24/7 one: Jetts Gym).

I just have a question. My mother is getting married this week and we'll be going away for about 2 days (Monday morning to Wednesday morning and won't be able to train. My biggest concern though is my diet; as my mother is a chef she uses a fair amount of oil and salt in her cooking and is making me chickpea and lentil patties and what not. What I am asking is will this affect me in any major way while I am gone for these two days?

(She won't reduce the oil or salt as she gets really cranky when I ask stuff like that so that is out of my options).


Thanks!

Rock on, Derek!! Great pictures of your show! No doubt you can hit 200!!

Awesome, thanks guys!!

@Vege: I get a lot of clean low fat calories by eating TONS of grains and beans. My daily meals look something like:

Meal 1: 1 cup oat bran, protein shake

Meal 2: 1 cup oat bran, bean shake, sprouted gran bagel (sometimes with almond butter), 1 grapefruit

Meal 3: Quinoa and black beans, half an avocado, salad

Meal 4: Bean shake, sprouted grain bagel (sometimes with almond butter), apple

Meal 5: This is a wildcard. We often eat out, or eat something like the recipes we have on our blog

Meal 6: Bean shake

I am also drinking 3-4 liters of water a day between meals - extremely important when you're eating this much!


@Nicholas: Don't worry man! You've been working hard and following your diet, so two days of rich food and time away from the gm might actually be beneficial! A lot of top tier trainers suggest taking a week off every two or three months. I never do this (too obsessed with working out!), but I often notice if I have a weekend out of town eating rich food and not working out I feel great when get back to lifting! Enjoy yourself and don't stress, you'll be that much stronger when you get back

@Belle Thanks! We had a great time there. Working hard to get that goal!

Thank you Derek! But please, what is bean shake, give me just short description, how its made?