Vegan Bodybuilding & Fitness

Another Chest and Bicep day. It was pretty rough going at the beginning, just trying to do what I wrote down I did last time. There was no increase in weights this time. I did some for fun descending sets with some of the exercises, but I don't write those down since I am in the bulking phase, and weight is what matters.

I am still having a hard time eating alot of food. My recovery doesn't seem to be fast enough lately. . . for me at least. It is 6 days between working out a body part, which seems to be plenty of time to recover for me in the past. Though to be fair, I have only been lifting super heavy for 3 times each bodypart so far, so it is a shock to my body. So I wonder what I will have to do to try and build the muscle and have it ready for the next workout to go heavy.

Rest day tomorrow. My legs might be able to handle a trail walk, if the weather stays nice (sunny and 60 today).

The sun did come out on my rest day, but not till the afternoon. I did a short 2 mile/1 hour trail walk, just as the sun went away again. I rested alot today, taking a nap in the late morning after chores, with a hot water bottle on my quads and a little arnica rubbed in.

Today I went for a 3 mile/1 1/2 hour trail walk. Right now my quads are alittle sore around the knees, but I still have 3 more days to recover before it is leg day again.

Today was Shoulder/Delt day at the gym. It was the first bodypart for the new routine. We did 4 sets of 25 for some new exercises for Delts using weights that made it attainable. I will write them down next time as my warm up weight probably.

We used the MaxRack (freeform squat rack) to do some Military Presses, then we went to the Rear Delt machine, and then returned to the MaxRack for our usual challenging Front Barbell Raises. By this time we were pretty well spent, but we continued to Dumbbell Side Laterals with Descending weights for a rep of 15. I always think it is so funny to have me starting out with 20 lbs for 15, and then looking like a flopping butterfly with 10lbs at the end (I had 15lbs inbetween for 15 to thrash the delts good). I think next time I would like to add upright rows if we any "mojo" left to give each other - it is what my partner calls it when we inspire each other to keep going when the energy is just not there anymore - and we are not spotting each other.

20lb delt raises for 15 is some serious weight!

_________________
Darth Vader from Sandlot once said, "Heroes get remembered, but legends never die." Then he later died.
https://www.facebook.com/BigMeeeeech

I know! Right?

I can't weight to progress to the dummbell rack that contains the 25 on up to 50 lbs! I think 35 would be a nice goal to reach for by this February (before dieting down and watching the weights drop as my weight (hopefully only BF) drops also.

I love having big delts for my BB look (lats and quads are next) on stage. My partner loves traps, biceps, and hamstrings. So between us, we will have it covered. (Abs is always a given though).

Did I write " I can't weight to progress to the . ." - hee hee hee. Gym humor I guess.
Meant to say I can't wait to progress to the next dumbbell rack with the heavier weights on it.

Thursday was a new routine for our Back and Triceps. Again I will post the weights next time as the weights present themselves to us as we play around today doing new exercises and see what works for us. I focused on hand grips for the Back alot, to make sure the forearms/biceps/triceps all had a fair share of play.

Started off with a low pull cable row with the v-bar hand pull attachment (neutral grip). Squeezing at the peak pull back. This was a little tricky as we both have ample breasts to contend with. Might have to switch later on to a different attachment when the weights get seriously heavy. Then hyperextensions with the gym's bodybars, instead of the circular weight plates. Put those poles behind on our upper backs and away we went. I remember not being able to get up after my last set of 25 with the 15 lbs bodybar (and I use to do a 45 lbs plate! I think it is the putting the weight on the back instead of in the front (I would hold the 45 lbs plate to my chest when I did the hyperextensions) that made it all so more difficult to do). Then we went right next to us and used the HammerStrength Machine Back Row (underhand grip). Haven't used it in such a long time. It was awkward to reach up and pull down with an arc motion - that and the thing that holds the legs down kept bothering me - but I will stay with it as it really worked my lats (which I luv!). Then my partner wanted to do the pull-up/chin-up machine: assisted machine (wide, front/palm forward grip). We laughed because she said this was the only machine she could brag that she could do the whole stack! -yeah, as long as you don't say that it is an assisted machine! And then our Back routine was set for next time.

On to the Triceps.
We did only two exercises last time and they both utilized the rope. So we opted for the straight bar which did not hurt my partner's wrist (the V bar did) and did straight old fashioned pressdowns. Then we got an incline bench, put the cable below our shoulder height, attached the V-bar, laid down on the incline bench, and did behind the head overhead tricep extensions. That one was funny as hair got caught in the swivel of the V bar that we used (in this position it did not hurt my partner's wrists) and we had to hand the V bar to each other, and our hands got a hold of many things before it reached the V bar! We laughed a little too much I think, and my partner who is not afraid to say anything out loud, said something about feeling each other up before the set! Then my partner suggested Dips on the assisted machine, and we ended on that note.

Just wanted to clarify that in my training I like to do a new routine each month, and I usually start it off with the last week of the old month, getting it in place for the new month. I also like to do 4 sets of 25 with a weight that you can do easily at first - to get the form right (though with some, the weight was too light that we could not feel the form yet - so it has to be somewhat heavy to give resistance for you to work with). And by the time you get to your 4th set of 25, it burns so much and is full of whatever (lactic acid, no creatine/ATP) that you just stop and can't do anymore. But we do, by resting in whatever position you can rest at, take a few breaths, and continue till 25. Full range of motion is also important, so as to get the ligaments/tendons ready for the heavy lifting of next week's new routine.

Friday was rest day. I was hot padding the legs to get them ready for tomorrow. It was so nice and sunny out, that I couldn't resist the 2 mile trail walk for an hour. My legs felt OK during the walk, in fact the stiffness went away.

Saturday- Leg Day is here! I hopped on an elliptical to warm up the legs, and had no problems there. We took our time thinking of what we wanted to do for Legs for our next routine.

This time we started out on the leg extensions, and after 4 sets of 25 the quads were a burning. We then did my favorite, which I call the plie squats (or sumo squats) on the Smith rack with some heavy weights. My partner was having a hard time feeling it in her glutes, so I helped her, and she said on her second set she felt it mostly in her glutes, but then the last two sets was all quads. I think she is leaning forward, and not thrusting the pelvis forward/tailbone down, but she has never done them before - so we will work on that! Then we did Leg curl for hamstrings, and then went to the Leg Press. What a difference doing the Leg Press after already doing the other 3 exercises before it! I was having a hard time with 3 45lbs plates on each side (plus 1 25lbs on each side) for 25 reps for 4 sets! I thought we could Lunges next, but actually our ankles on the back foot couldn't take all the weight we would pile on it, so I ditched that one. My partner wanted calf raises, so we did those with the old school 2 sets feet straight forward and 2 sets with the feet slightly angled out. And to give us more pain, we hopped on the adductor/abductor machines at the end. I definitely had rubber legs walking me out of the gym by then!

My chest and biceps are all rested and looking forward to tomorrow's thrashing!

Talk about being lazy! We spend over 3 hours in the gym today. We did 15 minutes of elliptical (well I did waiting for my partner) to make sure our legs could move. Then I thought about what to do for our new Chest and Bicep routine.

I thought we would start out with a Chest Flyes this time, to build up the inner pec muscles, so we went for the hard movement one a slightly inclined bench with Dumbbells. My partner said she has done these for a finishing exercise, and I said that I have done these with 45 lbs dumbells the last time I pumped up my chest and it was no finishing exercise. Though I did get a pec tear in my left side with those, so I will watch my form carefully next time. (The pec tear was not that serious - just looked like I had a breast implant for 2 months or so - why couldn't the right side also have a minor pec tear so I could have been symmetrical at least? ).
Then we just moved the slightly inclined bench to the Smith Machine and did our usual Chest Press.
Then we went to the HammerStrength #2 I call it machine (it seems to be an incline, but is attached as a back row also and just says chest/back), which to me seems easier than the single Chest Press HammerStrength machine, in that the range of motion is shorter, and awfully high up when in full extension (so I don't go there that often, and seems to work just the belly of the muscle - unless you consciously force yourself to extend way up there). After our 4 sets of 25 reps on those machines, our pecs were pumped. My partner said she could feel the bra cutting into her skin by her armpit. I was just pumped. So onto Biceps.

My partner stayed with the EZ bar curl due to her wrists, while I went to the MaxRack and grabbed the bar for some barbell curls. This time I slowed the motion way down, and no rocking momentum to get it back up. My biceps were on fire towards the end, with a slight twinge on set 3. Also had a cramp in the left hand which traveled down the ring finger. Even massaging it afterwards hurt, so I went and got some water, let it rest for 2 to 3 minutes, and went on to the last set with no more problems. Weird.
Then we did a superset of Hammer Curls using the cable and the rope, and the side lateral bicep curl on the StarTrek cable station. Did 2 sets of 25 reps of each, rested for 3 minutes, and then finished the last 2 sets of 25.
And then to finsih it up, we did 3 sets of 15 with descending weights dumbbell curls (though I had to stop myself because I kept doing hammer curls instead of bicep curls). It was pitiful to be using 12lbs/10lbs/7.5lbs as my weights and wimpering at the 7.5lbs. But I felt good that my muscles must have been so fatigued by everything else that is all they could handle at that point. I had a hard time getting my water up to my mouth!

Such a good workout. So long though. I was worried about it being 3 hours long, but my partner reminded me that it was because we were doing 4 sets of 25 reps. It will go fast with a warmup set and then a couple of heavy sets like usual, plus we have what we have to do down on paper so we can just do it instead of thinking about which exercise to do and what weights. Good.

A good cycle of fast paced exercises for the whole body this week. I am so sore and beat up. I look forward to a leisure lift of heavy next week! Yeah!

Today was definitely a recoup day. And it is already night, and I think my shoulders/delts are ready for tomorrow, but my legs and back are definitely not ready to tackle anything. Today they are still sore. Recovery for these big major muscles is slow going for me. Wanted to do a trail walk today, but thought against it till my legs are better. Ugh. I will just have to smile with the idea that my muscles will get bigger and bigger with the way they hurt and if I allow them to repair by doing what needs to be done - instead of what I want to do.......sigh........

New heavy Delt day:

MaxRack Military Press (with short back chair): 15/25, 20/25, 30/18, 40/9+1 and then another 40/11+2, and last 50/5+3 (+means that my partner spot/helped me)

Rear Delts: 60/25, 75/17.5 (half means not a full range of motion, but a valiant effort), 90/12.5, and 95/8+2 (not as heavy as last time, so I will have to work on it)

MaxRack Front Raise: 20/27, 25/15, 30/8 (at least this was more than last time!)

Dumbbell Side Lateral Raises: 17.5/15, 20/15, 22.5/12, and 25/8 (and there were descending sets along with this - like for the first set it was 17.5/15, and then I grabbed the 12.5/and did 15 reps but the last 5 were not pretty (as my partner called them 'Ugly!'), and then 10/15. I would do this for each set - at least 3 additional lowering weights for 15 reps - no matter how shallow the range of motion/ugly they were).

And that ended our 1 and 1/2 hour workout for Delts. Trying to get the time down, but I like the long rests in between SOME of my sets. Makes me feel energize to do heavier in the next set.

So today was awesome Back and Triceps day.

Cable Low Row (V-bar attachment): 60/25, 75/20, 90/15, 105/15, 120/10 - didn't get to the 6-8 rep range, but i was tired, so we went on to the next exercise

Neutral Grip Handle Wide bar Pulldown: 90/25, 105/15, put on straps, 120/10+2 (partner pushes down on my bicep and then lets me slowly resist it going backing up), and then ff (for fun) 135/4+4 (lats were felt on this grip pulldown on the first set - already fatigued by the low row)

HyperExtensions with the bodybar: 15/25 reps for 4 sets (I keep this exercise light weight with high reps because for me this exercise always gives me a thick rope of muscle that sticks out on my lower back that just doesn't look appealing to me)

HammerStrength Back Row/Underhand: 50/25, 70/15. 90/12, 120/4ff (my partner loaded it up to 120! said to do it just for fun - we are both pretty tired and exhaustion is starting to make us silly)

Pull Ups on the Assisted Machine/Wide Grip: 70/15, 60/12+3, and one more 12+3. I called it quits after this. I was just going thru the motions at this point. I wasn't tearing any more back muscle fibers, as everything was fatigued.

It was already an 1 and 3/4 hour long workout and we still had Triceps to do! Oh my.

Triceps commenced after talking to the gym's sweet manager whom we all love in the office for awhile (about 10 minutes)

Straight bar Pressdown: 50/25, 90/18, 100/15, 110/10+2, 120/6+2

Tricep Extension/Behind the head/on an Incline Bench: 70/20, 80/16, 90/12, and 100/8+4

Machine Assisted Dips: 70/25, 55/20, 40/15, and then ff just said heck lets get rid of the assisted machine, so I disengaged the pin and the knee platform loudly fell down! Now I had everyone's attention in the gym. And I proudly did only 5 with my bodyweight (a whopping 160lbs this week!)

And then we called it an end to our workout for the day. So sore. Tommorrow I will be having a rest day. I am also going to Youmacon at the Detroit Renaissance Center/Marriot this weekend. I do not know how I am going to do Leg day on Friday, and Chest and Biceps on Saturday (coming home to my gym to workout with my partner, or try and do it there on whatever gym they have there. I'd miss my partner though. I do alot of ff sets with her around).

Rushed back from Youmacon to my gym with my workout partner to do Legs:

Leg Ext: Since this is our first exercise, my weights went up of course - 90/25 warmup, 225/15, 240/15, 255/15, 270/10, 285/10

Plie Squats/Sumo Squats: 140/25, 160/25, 180/25, 240/15 (finally find my weight for a range or 12-15 reps. But I decided to stop here because I had a twinge in my left inner groin area, and didn't want to push it. plus, fatigue was setting in)

Leg Curl: Again weights went up, but only by 3-5 reps - 85/25 warmup, 100/25 (new warmup?), 130/15, 145/15, and stopped here because my hamstrings were screaming. I will go to 160 next time, and do away with a 15 rep set (either 130 or 145 - depending on how fatigued/strong I am that day)

Leg Press (seat on #1 notch, instead of #2 which is what I am use to): 4 45 plates (4P I call it) on each side/25, 6P/15, and 8/8 (not as strong as before as this is my fourth leg exercise).

Calf Raise: 255/25inner/25outer, 285/25inner-outer, 300/15inner-outer. Called it quits after 2 sets.

It was already 1 and 1/2 hour workout session, time was 5 PM, and I needed to get back to Youmacon, So with fatigued legs, I hobbled back to the Detroit Renaissance Center, and even though I am into all this anime/manga/game playing stuff (especially the cosplay!), I am reminded that I am not comfortable around people . . . especially alot of people.

Did not make it back to my gym the next day for Chest and Biceps, so it was a rest day for my body. I made it there today as we left Youmacon around 10 AM, and I was able to get a decent nap in before heading for the gym to do Chest and Biceps:

Dumbbell Flyes, Incline by 1 notch: 20/25, 25/15, 27.5/15, 30/15, 25/12, 40/10, and my partner talked me into doing the 45's for 4+2 (I told her the story of how I am scared of the 45's because I had a pec tear on my left side the last time I did that amount of weight. She said she would either help me, or make me skip the 45's and go right to the 50's. The 50's just looked too big, so I opted for her help)

Smith Press Incline (same bench from the dumbbell flyes): 90/15, 100/10+2, 110/6+2

HammerStrength Chest #2: 90/15, 120/15, 150/6

I was able to barely make 8 push-ups, so I thrashed my chest enough (if I can do the 12-15 rep range, then I need to do more)

onto Biceps:

MaxRack (freeform Smith Press): 10/25, 15/15, 20/15, and 30/10 (ligaments around the elbow were hurting, so I stopped here at this 10 rep set)

Rope Hammer Curls: 40/25, 50/25, 60/22, 70/12, will try 80 next time, but my arms were too fatigued to go on.

Lateral Bicep Curl: 40/10, back down to 30/14+1 (partner does not help me here, this is a stop for a breath or two and then finish the 15 rep set), 35/12

Descending Dumbbell Curl set - 15/15/15 supersetted with three weights. Last time it was 12/10/7.5 lbs dumbbells. This time I opted for 15/12/8. And this is for 2 sets back to back, a 1-2 minute rest, and then finish the last 2 sets, for a total of 4 sets.

We were then done for the day. I was pretty thrashed and it felt good. Have to get out the measuring tape and start taking measurements to give an added boost to my progress (not just the weights going up, but some muscle being made!).

Today was Delt day. My partner said she felt fine before she came, but she could feel her Chest hurting during the first couple of sets of Delts. Usually we have a day of rest between Chest/Bicep day and Delt day, so this was new to us. I did not feel it in my chest as much as her, so it did not interfere in my workout, though I helped her with alot of her sets.

MaxRack (short chair): 20/25, 30/20, 40/13+2, 50/8+2, 55/6+2
Rear Delts: 60/25, 90/15, 95/10+2, 100/8
Front Raise MaxRack barbell: 20/25, 25/18, 30/10 (Ouch!) X2
Dumbbell Side Laterals: 20/15, 22.5/13+2 (partner did not help me, they are just not full range of motion - more like half range of motion! ), 25/8 (very hard on the last two to get my elbows parallel to the floor)

And that was the jest of my workout. I played around on the shoulder press machine, and did some handstands/L-pose up against the wall, just ff.

It was a low-inspiring workout for Delts, even though I increased my weights and reps, I didn't feel the burn and pump like I usually do. Oh well. There is always next time. . . .

Nice Rest day. Spent it cleaning the house and doing laundry. Vacuuming does take its toll though (especially the stairs!). It was a grey and wet day, so I was not tempted to go for a trail walk. Did go to Whole Foods though, and walked down most of the aisles this time. So I did have some walking today.
Delts are sore today, and the upper outer pecs from Chest workout 2 days ago is also sore.
Hopefully tomorrow's Back and Tricep workout will be a good one.