Vegan Bodybuilding & Fitness

Best wishes for a healthy 2012!

_________________
an evolving primate

Paige,

As the community grows I'm sure we'll see more and more of this. We had 4 of us on stage together in 2009 and more and more I'm hearing about multiple vegans hitting the stage together, including Derek and Ed last year. Will be fun to watch the community grow.

John,

Thanks!

Isn't it fun to watch the community grow? I know you've been here for 5 years now. So cool to see about 100 training journals updated a day! It will only continue to grow. We have some great programs in place designed to help people achieve success. I am personally, already benefiting from paying more attention to my training and eating, knowing I'll be sharing it here, daily.

All the best!

_________________

Check out my Vegan Bodybuilding & Fitness Book on Amazon http://www.amazon.com/Vegan-Bodybuildin ... 497&sr=1-1

Awesome to see you getting it done Robert! I know exactly what you mean by training smarter as you get older and wiser - injuries can really put things in perspective! Keep training hard and smart brotha!

_________________
Check out our nutrition and training blog, http://veganmuscleandfitness.com

Nice!

My journal was updated less than 24 hour ago and was already bumped to page 2, meaning 100 other journals were updated in between. Awesome work, everyone! Great stuff! Love the effort so far!

1/2/12

I didn't sleep well last night and it took me hours to fall asleep, making it after 3AM when I finally got to sleep. Also woke up pretty sore from deadlifts and questioned whether I'd be able to do squats today.

When I got to the gym, I asked one of the big guys who works there and who has become a friend of mine, how I should structure my program, now that I want to do compound lifts exclusively. We chatted while I put 20 minutes on the stair stepper and I opted for a day of overhead pressing and pull-ups, with some hanging leg raises to strengthen the core as an added bonus.

Though I only did 2 weight bearing exercises, they wore me out.

I'm still pretty bummed that I'm only 170lbs after being 190+lbs before my injuries and actually looking and feeling like a bodybuilder. I have a long road back but with the right attitude, training, eating and resting, I should get back to where I feel I'm headed.

Here is how today's workout looked:

20 minutes on the Stair Stepper.

Standing overhead barbell press
Bar (45lbs) x 12
Bar (45lbs) x 12
Bar (45lbs) x 15

65lbs x 10
65lbs x 10
65lbs x 10
89lbx x 8
89lbs x 6
89lbs x 4

Pull-ups (wide grip)
12
12
10
8

Narrow/Neutral Grip
12
12
10
10

Worn out by this point but I did 6 sets of hanging leg raises which helped me stretch out my back, strengthen grip-strength and train my abs.

Hanging Leg Raises
10
10
10
10
20
20

I had my Vega pre-workout energy drink before and during the workout, Vega Sport Protein drink after, along with 2 bananas and a potato I brought to the gym

I sat on the bike for 30 minutes at the end pedaling very slowly watching the end of the Rose Bowl (Ducks win).

I'm just leaving the gym now for dinner. Figured I'd update it before I head out. Free Wi-Fi here and I already had 3 different post-workout foods.

Working on structuring a compound lift schedule that will allow me to recover before hammering out the next one.

For the 2nd week in a row I was reminded that I cannot do squats the day after doing deadlifts I'll have to mix it up between upper body pulls and presses and rows and lower body lifts.

This will be fun!

I really want to add more mass like the glory days. It starts right here, right now.

R Crushing it!

_________________

Check out my Vegan Bodybuilding & Fitness Book on Amazon http://www.amazon.com/Vegan-Bodybuildin ... 497&sr=1-1

And I am sure you will add more mass, just keep lifting and keep eating big mate!

_________________

"Obsessed is a word the lazy use to describe the dedicated." -Arnold


My Training Journal:

viewtopic.php?f=24&t=26321

Going to be following you daily my freind !

I'm in btw Rob!

Subbed as of now!

_________________

"Obsessed is a word the lazy use to describe the dedicated." -Arnold


My Training Journal:

viewtopic.php?f=24&t=26321

Thanks guys!

To be honest, it feels strange to be "starting over" after a long career in bodybuilding. It is 2012 and I haven't competed since 2009 and I haven't been in really good shape since January or February of 2011.

Many people get fat when they stop training and eat whatever they want. I get skinny. I go back to my college running physique and it's quite frustrating when my mentality is still that of a (former) bodybuilder.

Stepping on the scale was a real wake-up call. I can see in the mirror I'm pretty thin, the result of multiple injuries and more than half of the past year off from consistent training coupled with less than desirable amounts of sleep and high stress. But seeing it on the scale was a clear wake-up call, especially if I plan to return to competitive bodybuilding, which is a current desire, but one which changes constantly. I somewhat regularly think about making a return to running, something I once enjoyed immensely and was quite good at. I won or placed near the front of many races, beat to (female) Olympic medalists in the same race, ran at the Division I NCAA level, etc.

That being said, or is it "been said?" I currently plan to return to competitive bodybuilding and hopefully this program we created and this time period is crucial the mental, physical and psychological development of forward progress.

After my workout and the Vega, bananas and potato, I made another Vega protein drink and then made my way to the store and did some shopping.

I came home and made an epic dinner to help put on more size.

Dinner consisted of:

A baked potato
2/3 of a bag of Gardein Veggie protein
A bunch of broccoli
1/2 large avocado
A little bit of that soy chorizo stuff

And I'll pile on more calories before bed as I continue to work on website project with constant emails back and forth with kofox as we bring this project to life.

I have at least a dozen prizes to prepare, package and ship asap, so I'll try to get a jump on some of that work tonight before I pass out from being pretty worn out.

Thanks for reading and for your support!

PS, I'm moving in less than 3 weeks and will be offering a sale on my clothing line and books to clear out inventory and have less to transport and to make some cash for the road. Driving from Oregon to Texas, which is where I'm relocating to in order to gain focus and enthusiasm being down in warmer weather, near the gulf of Mexico and I plan to eat, train, write (my new book is due out in 2012 if I get it done) and run the website.

Ideally I'll do those things each day with good rest and good food and achieve goals being in an environment conducive to creating success based on my own interests.

_________________

Check out my Vegan Bodybuilding & Fitness Book on Amazon http://www.amazon.com/Vegan-Bodybuildin ... 497&sr=1-1

If you want to heal your back I would recommend you try to find a Reiki Master in your area. It's usually $50/hour, and will eliminate your back pain after 1 session. A few more and you may be totally cured.

_________________
facebook.com/awaken375

Hey RC

Glad to see you have a journal up. I can't wait to see how you pull this off. If I can help drop me a line, looking Forward to a great year.

Steve

Thanks guys!

I appreciate you looking out! I'm excited for a great year ahead!

All the best with your goals as well!

_________________

Check out my Vegan Bodybuilding & Fitness Book on Amazon http://www.amazon.com/Vegan-Bodybuildin ... 497&sr=1-1

Good luck with your goals Robert, be it competing again or running...whatever it may be cant wait to follow along with you on your journey this year!

Thanks!

1/3/12

I had another one of those nights. I'm still trying to get myself back on some sort of regular sleeping schedule after the 12-15 hour days for 12 consecutive days creating The 12 Days of Vegan Bodybuilding & Fitness. I laid down for sleep around 130AM and didn't to sleep until after 4AM. I was a little groggy waking up, but then I got down to business.

Today was pretty cool. We received more prizes for this New You for the New Year Challenge, a bunch of other potential leads, and some good email work this morning. Just as I was preparing to head out, I got an email request to sign books for a bunch of WWE Pro Wrestlers and MMA fighters, so I happily did and shipped them out. For those who know my story, I wanted to be a pro wrestler from age 8-21, so it was quite cool to be able to sign and ship books to a bunch of them today.

I'm moving in less than 3 weeks and have a lot to do so I decided to see one of my best friends who lives in town where I'm staying at the moment. I was a groomsman in his wedding this past summer and now that The 12 Days are over, I'm taking time to see a few friends before I move 1500 miles away.

After hanging out with E-Train, I headed to the gym for leg day. I'm still working with Derek's Mass Building style of training using only compound lifts and really enjoying it! It is, however, quite exhausting and I questioned my abilities in the gym as I'm still short on sleep, was a little short on calories from spending the day with my buddy hanging out (though I brought a bag of snacks with me), and still sore. But I wasn't short on passion and drive so I went for it.

With my pencil and little piece of paper, I tracked my workout which looked like this:

Warm-up = 15 minutes on the stair stepper

Bodyweight squats x 30
Bodyweight squats x 30
Bodyweight squats x 30

And lots of stretching to get really loose before squats. Again, taking that intelligent approach, I'm spending a good 30 minutes getting warmed up and stretched, pumped up and focused before touching weights. And I'm someone who's often short on time, trying to maximize the 1440 minutes we have each day. But I also don't want to get hurt and I'm taking a smarter approach.

My hamstrings were still a bit sore even after all the loosening up and stretching and my low back was so-so but I tested it all out.

Squats:
45lbs x 25
45lbs x 25
45lbs x 25

89lbs x 12
109lbs x 12
129lbs x 10

My back had had enough. (if numbers look funny, it is because I use Kilos so a 10 kilo plate is 22 lbs, hence 89, and so forth)

Box Jumps
20
20
20
40
40

Walking Dumbbell Lunges
30's in each hand x 32 steps
30's in each hand x 36 steps
35's in each hand x 32 steps
35's in each hand x 42 steps

I stretched throughout the workout and also rode the stationary bike for 5 minutes at the end to keep the legs loose.

The workout may not look tough, but for me and my slow and careful return to training, it was fairly tough

After the workout I had my Vega protein drink of course, and then a whole bunch of food including potatoes, broccoli, tofu, and ezekial bread.

Midnight now. Still have to shower and work for a while.

Peace out! Have a great day tomorrow!

_________________

Check out my Vegan Bodybuilding & Fitness Book on Amazon http://www.amazon.com/Vegan-Bodybuildin ... 497&sr=1-1

That's some solid working out there Rob! It's good to see you are approaching it in a smart way

Hope you have a great day also!

P.S. is ezekiel breaad nice? Is that a name for sprouted bread?

_________________

"Obsessed is a word the lazy use to describe the dedicated." -Arnold


My Training Journal:

viewtopic.php?f=24&t=26321

Great to see you taking a slow, smart approach to getting back into shape! So many people look to you to be both a role model and for inspiration. I'm sure it's great for some to realize that everyone is human, we all ebb and flow with our fitness, and we all have to contend with physical limitations. My lower back and tight hips have ALWAYS been a limiting factor in my workouts. But hey, you gotta work with the body you have, stay close to that edge, and push to YOUR max, whatever it is at the moment.

All the best with your upcoming move, your road back to the stage, and your many other endeavors!

_________________
"The only person you are destined to become is the person you decide to be."
~Ralph Waldo Emerson~