Vegan Bodybuilding & Fitness

I am not really sure where to put this, so I will attach it here and hope that it goes over well. I am looking forward to the 12 days of motivation, and I am super excited to be a part of it.

Name:Steve
New Year’s Resolution Goal:My first MMA fight
Start Date: 12/20/11
Desired Achievement Date:anytime in 2013
Past workout History:I have been a powerlifter, trained for a half century, lifted more than 1200lbs on leg press, lots or prior experience in MMA style competitions, yogic training, pretty much anything that involves being active. Not much of a runner though
Biggest Obstacles: I am really heavy right from a medical issue over the summer, I was unable to do any physical activity for months which lead to a funk that I have gotten out of, my muscle structure is that of a heavy lifter, it was the last type of training that I did, I need to restructure to a combo power/endurance mix.
Favorite Foods: Vega/sun warrior and OJ, Cashews, kale/spinach, Fruit of all kinds
Favorite Exercises: Anything but running, though specifically Juijitsu, kickboxing, cycling, power exercises like squat, incline press, etc.
Current training frequency: LIfting in the mornings, classes Tuesday, Thursday and Sunday.
Any injuries or info your mentor should have: You do not play as hard as I do and not have a couple injuries. I just got over a pinched nerve in my knee. Nothing major, just needed a couple weeks of not training. I have the ankles of a 70+ year old according to one doc, though they roll rarely, they have served me well. My right hip was dislocated and never set right, I have a stress fracture of the right collar bone, thought it does not bother me too much. Actually, when you are in the sport of hurting others, you tend to know very well how much pain you can take and where your last rep or action will be. Also, you know how long you need before you can go back to doing what you love.

My biggest issue is that I do not know how much I need to eat for my exercise level, nor what I should be eating. I will have 2-3 scoops of Sun warrior a day + 1 of vega sport, as that is the most expensive compared to Sun Warrior. I tend to eat a lot of fruit. I do Door to Door organics medium box of fruit a week, and that is typically enough fruit for me to eat, I like the grab and go nature of it. I falter at eating though. Some days all I will eat is fruit and a couple protein shakes. I do love raw cooking, and have several raw books and tools to make raw foods. I just don't think I eat enough on a regular basis

My biggest hang up is knowing too much. My training gets scattered as I tend to train for a whim not a goal. One of the Reasons that I want to do MMA again, is that I can use all my knowledge, but I tend to still be scattered when it comes to training. In essence my training is like a disorganized desk, I know where everything is, but it is hard for me to be consistent. I have trained to be a power lifter, I have trained for super endurance exercises, I have trained for just about everything and love training, I can never settle on the right path.

Why a year? I know that you probably looked at that and said, that is a bit far off. When you consider that I need to reshape my muscles for endurance and power, as well as drop down in weight, it is about the appropriate amount of time. I know that I am going to have injuries, and that nothing happens over night. I will be happy with steady gains. I know that about 6 months is enough to drop down to where I will train at, and 6 more months to be in consistent enough shape to fight. If I can do it sooner, all the better, though realistically speaking, this seems like the best path to walk down.

That is my training in a nutshell. I try to keep journals, though I am terrible at filling them out. I will carry one and do a page or two and go wow that is awesome, and never finish.

Cool, I have had some views, but mostly I am sure that people are wondering if I am going to be around for a while and what I have to say. Part of my goals for next year involve being a part of this community, and learn while doing. Thanks to everyone who viewed, look forward to hearing from you and I will be around to help in the coming months as I train. Think this fits best for what I am doing.

Steve

Journals are good for focusing your training. I know that I need mine to look at what I did last time, and then figure out mentally what I want to do the next time, and then see if my body is up for it.
Your goals sound really grounded in reality. But you will need some short term goals to keep you focused I think. Sometimes 6 months seems like a long time, and you can get excited in the beginning, and then begin to become scattered after a couple of months, and then before you know it the 6 months are gone, and you did not get to your goal.
So, looking forward to seeing your goals put into action, and action being recorded here for us to see possibly.

Thanks for the advice, I will set some short term goals, and focus on small steps towards a great outcome. I have been buying up one on one training so that I am able to remember all that I had learned in Jujitsu. I am look towards setting some smaller things. I will post more as I come up with them.

Tonight, I have 2 hours of Boxing and Jujitsu. Off to make Quinoa.

Thanks to those who read and post.
Steve

Training has gone well. Eating lots of fruit, Grappling more, and I have a few more sparring partners. Still not eating enough, I am running into snags with training competing with time I have to make food. (hence a Love of raw foods).

I am enjoying the run of the 12 days of fitness. I am hoping my buddy Rob gets some rest soon.

More later.
Steve

A bit of unorthodox training, I moved out a uhaul into a storage unit. Carrying items moving the heavy things without a dolly or cart. It reminds me of training that I read about. When the UFC fighter would dig a grave, and then fill it in as part of training. The trainer would time them, and see how they improve. There is something gratifying about a helping a friend out, but also getting a good workout in in the process. Tomorrow, is a non training day, or a day that I climb the walls. I have a hard time sitting still as it is, when I start a training program, I have a worse time. I am going to prep food for the week, and make sure I have enough items to train myself during the Gym bird season. I usually have to work out really early or really late to avoid all the "this is the year people".

Happy training.
Steve

Happy January to everyone. I hope that everyone got the start that they need for the year. I to hold off going to the gym for the first couple days of the new year, as they tend to be over crowded from the seasonal lifters and joggers. Instead, I am going to do body weight workouts today. Tomorrow, I have more time as I am off of work. It is also one of the double training days that I have.

I picked up Animal flow exercises from global body weight movement, and that is going to be today's workout with some yoga, and extra challenges. I look forward to seeing how everyone does this year.

Good Morning, I tend to update these in the morning before heading out to the gym so stats are going to be for the previous days workouts, not current day.

Yesterday was Chest day.
Incline Press 60,70, 80lbs, 6x2, 6, 3.
Decline assisted machine 145 6x3, 180 x 6
Cable Cross 50lbs, 6x4
Cable flyes 40lbs, 6x4
Cable low raises, 10lbs, 6x4

Cycled for 40 mins.

Food not so good, though that is my Achillie's heel. I had a peanut butter sandwich, vegan banana bread, 2 vegan cookies, 3 apples, and a protein shake. Yep, not enough calories, though I work a shift job, and I got called in unprepared. It is an excuse, though I am bad with food even when work does not rear it's ugly head.

Today is Back day, and a training night. I am going to pack a couple protein shakes for training tonight, and I have lots of vega sport gels, so I am going to bring along a couple for the night.

Happy Tuesday everyone.
Steve

I am reminded of why I do not go to the gym in early January. There were so many people at the gym there was a line 10 people deep for cardio equipment. All the benches were taken, I ended up grabbing a rack, and staying there. I did have a nice conversation with some of the other gym rats who are in the 9am-11am range. We were splitting the rack, so that we could all get a workout in, without fighting with January masses.

Food!
V. Banana Bread x 3.
Flat top super protein vegan stir fry
Vegan Pad See Ewe
Pre and post workout shakes

Today is leg day, I am going to go to the gym late tonight, after work when everyone will be home. I am just going to have to go late at night, to make sure that I can get in there. That is what I did on Monday.

Thanks for reading.
Steve

I love leg day and it's good to see men getting in a full day of
Legs. Most men at my gym just do chest and biceps EVERYDAY

I like to refer to them as "Mr. Cartoon Bad Guy". They look like the old timey cartoon bad guys with the insanely large chest, and teeni tiny legs. My Calves at last check were 18.5 inches. I love calf exercises.

Super excited, I get to work with one of the super trainers in January. I am looking forward to the help and the changes to come.

In going along with my plan, today is going to be a conditioning day. Biking and striking before I go to work later on today. The worst part of shift work, is that some days you have to be up really late and turn around and be up really early. It can be hard and demotivating. There are days when I go to the gyms and only lift 60% of my best because I am really tired or I have not had enough rest. Today is going to be one of those days. Only about 5 hours of sleep, and I am prepping for my time at one of my gyms. Time for a protein shake, and tomorrow to hit up the boards.

Started a journal, got my protein bars today from my friends at vegan proteins. It was a good day. My trainer gave me the advice to go to a crossfit gym, and there happens to be one down the street. While I do love to powerlift, this is a welcome change as I am currently trying to drop weight. I even have friends who are into this, though have not gone to real classes yet. So that is in the works. While I did not get to the gym today, I only got 5 hours of sleep, and nothing short of grams of caffeine was going to get me focused enough to get to the gym. Tomorrow, I have a friend heading to the gym with me. I am not much of a team lifter, though I think I lifted my best when I had a spotter.

I have a story, I popped on twitter after my workout and saw that Robert and I did the same workout yesterday. I trained with my friend yesterday, and she is not quite ready for crossfit training, so I took her through a strength series, while I lifted for power. I will start with the lifting.

Standing Shoulder Press:
135lbs. x 6
185lbs. x 3
185lbs. x 3
185lbs. x 2 I was starting to struggle with form

Lateral Pull Down
100lbs. x 6
120lbs. x 6
120lbs. x 6
120lbs. x 10 - I need to up this weight for the next round.

Upright row - This is an odd one to me, the machines we were on have a different series of numbers on weights them than I am used to lifting, for instance I usually use a Smith machine at 95-115lbs, those were taken, so I went to a cable rack, and those were listed with numbers from 5-95. I ended up at 42.5 after some testing.

42.5lbs. x 8
42.5lbs. x 8
42.5lbs. x 8

Reverse Grip Pull Down
120lbs. x 8
120lbs. x 8
120lbs. x 8

Warm-up was on a spin bike using Brendan Braziers VO2 training program listed in Thrive Fitness. This is a great program to get warmed up. It also is something that I can do to help with my breathing.

I have been doing better with food, not the best, I had an unexpected bill hit my account, and that took out part of my food budget. I love eating fresh so I always set money aside to do so. So I am eating things that I still have, though I ran out of flax seeds yesterday. I can still make a lot of recipes, I am just out major sources of whole food protein until next week. I have plenty of protein powder. I always stockpile that, I am terrified of running out, and I use a lot during heavy training days. I am a huge fan of the vega sport powder, even if it is super expensive. I also have a lot of sunwarrior around as well.

This next week is going to be a touch tougher than this one, I normally had three days off of work while I am in school, now I only have two. I am trying to work out more training days for competition, though I have more than a full plate.

Good luck everyone
Steve