Vegan Bodybuilding & Fitness

I still think it's amazing how much progress you've made thus far.

Hope the cold's gone away and you're back to 100%.

Pre workout nutrition fairly simple, been at work all day so have eaten plenty of food/supps. First meal of the day at 5:30 being oats. Then during the day things like rye bread & almond butter, chickpea salad & cottage (local organic) cheese, home made chilli with pasta ect few shakes.

Still have a cold but should be gone in a day or two.

I have decided to clean my diet up a little. Not that it was ever "bad" but I had become a little reliant on processed food for my protein at meal times to often. So I decided to boil up a load of dried chickpeas & borlotti beans. The pre soak & boil is a bit of a ball ache but you get so much more for such a small amount of money, time to sack up.

Generally my diet as a whole is bland eg plain steamed veggies, salad with no dressing, plain pasta so it's something to look at. I'm thinking stuff like hot chilli mixed with some olive oil & home made mustard dressings.....

Mon-20th-feb Cycle 2 week 3 (5/3/1)

Usual warm up....

Military press: 35kg 40kg 45kg+7

Assistance:
Close grip bench (programmed assistance 3x5)52kg 60kg 68kg

Various chin ups 5x10

Cable seated row, tricep push downs, cable curls (light work)

Power rack empty & also bench free after. Absolutely hate training in the evening. I'm not entirely convinced having all day to take in food before training benefits me, I'm sure it actually does but I'm able to wake up & basically train just as well.

Felt really focused tonight though & blazed through the worked out. Started at 19:20 & was hitting the treadmill at 19:50 (no pre treadmill, rack was empty so I got right on it)

Post workout shake: maize starch, x2 protein scoops, glutamine, bcaa & creatine.

Post workout meal: mixed veg, Quiona & tofu in pepper sauce

21st-Tues-Feb Cycle 2 week 3 (5/3/1)

Going to mini blog during the day after being inspired by Vegansludge:)

6:30:

Sat at work waiting to start with a coffee. Had some converge & cannibal corpse blasting on the bus ride in, didn't improve my mood much.

Woke up at 5:00 & my cold was back with a vengeance. Also fully expected my hamstrings to be tight after the treadmill yesterday, warmed up & stretched but they were throbbing come bed time....alas they were not though

Work today, 7:00-19:00. Training right after then home, hopefully by 20:30 & start prepping food again for Wednesday, absolutely sucks balls.....

If anyone is in any doubt I have woken up in a foul mood. Right now I have no energy & just want to crawl back into my pit. Must write to my cns to apologise.

11:30:
Wish my metabolism would hurry up, this colds killing my appetite.  Managed to shovel down a wholemeal roll with greens, local organic cheese & local bought mango chutney with a shake, tidy.

15:00:
Finished watching the incredible hulk on my iPhone & power nap while listening to cattle decapitation on break. Woke up & ate. Feel chipper now, lifting isn't far away. Boring, Uneventful day which usually means nothing's fucked up (yet) at work.

18:20:
Got that weird, pre workout feeling of "please let the rack be free" in my gut. Already hit 3000/just over calories for today & I still have my post shake/meal & bed time shake to have yet just about Take some bcaa.

19:15
Warm up was quick, couldn't spend ages doing foam rolls
Ect.


Dead lifts: 87.5kg 100kg 112.5kg+5 

Assistance:
Front squats (programmed assistance 3x5) 47.5kg 55kg 60kg
Ghr 3x10
Reverse hypers 3x10

Ab circuit: hanging leg raises, leg raises, side bends, v-ups

Post shake: maize starch, x2 protein, bcaa, glutamine & creatine.

Post meal: mushroom stir fry, quorn pieces & brown rice.


Rack area was free thank god. Pretty good session, weight still isn't very challenging. Smashed through. 

If anyone's wondering why my deads are not mega heavy it's because I set my sciatica off while moving home 6 months ago. I then ran 12 weeks without squatting or dead lifting at all.

Bit of rehab work & since I have very slowly started them & upping weight, almost from scratch.  That's why 5/3/1 is so great for me. Good mornings, ghr & proper form seem to be correcting my issue. Along with foam rolls.

22.27 & just climbed into bed, alarm set for 5:00:(((

Thurs-23rd-Feb Week 2 cycle 3 (5/3/1)

Still not 100% :/

Bench press: 70kg 77.5kg 87.5kg+4

Assistance:
Incline bench (programmed assistance 3x5) 52.5kg 62.5kg 70kg
Kroc rows: 2x10 16kg 1x20 26kg (all per arm)
Cable lat pulls, Dips, Hammer curls all 3x10

I don't track anything besides main lift, programmed assistance but a 8 rep loss on kroc rows was noticeable. Only thing I can think is that my lats were still sore from the 70+ chin ups from Monday. Never one to ache for long after a session but I think the prolonged cold that won't go away maybe just zapping me a little. Bit annoying wanted 30 reps per arm today....All in all good workout again.

Saw my parents for coffee today. My father saying I'm looking more & more like my grandfather which is a huge compliment. He was a beast of a man, 52" chest & a 24" neck. Barrel with limbs....

That's a good compliment, sounds like a solidly built guy.

70+ chinups definately would have affected your bench so don't stress it too much.

bench was fine it was the kroc rows...Chins are usually not much of an issue. I recover really quickly but they still ache from Monday when my cold was pretty bad....

My grandfather's no longer with us but he (in younger days) worked digging, laying the roads. Proper hard graft, Typical Irishman

cheers mate

Thanks for the shout-out and, even though blogging is time-consuming, I hope you do this more often - you've got quite the head on your shoulders when it comes to programming/lifting.



Your progress pictures definitely show what your parents are saying and I can definitely see why you'd take the comparison as a compliment - you're turning into a straight up tank, mate.

Fri-24th-Feb Cycle 2 Week 3 (5/3/1)

All good today! Treadmill, Lighter sets, Prison squats ect foam rolls to warm up.

Squats: 90kg 102.5kg 112.5kg+6

Assistance:
Good mornings (programmed assistance 3x5) 47.5kg 55kg 62.5kg
GHR 5x10

Ab circuit: V-ups, Side bends, hanging leg raises & Leg raises.

Squats felt great today, 6 solid reps on the 1 set holding back a lot of reps. Form felt tight & ass to the floor.
Deload next week, Tempted to do an upper/lower big lift on same day with less assistance (even deload assistance) to allow for more recovery....There's a 2 day a week template where this is shown

What is the difference between 'Prison squats' compared to normal ATG squats?

Haven't heard of them, that's all. Nice work btw.

Closing in on 31 years on this planet & I'm still unable to not mix drinks, uuuugggghhhhhh

Not a big drinker at all but wine, JDC & Blueberry cider doesn't make for a happy head the day after

Thank god this is a deload week. After a night out saturday then working last night I was dragging deck big time. Glad I just "sacked up" to get into the gym.

If this was a usual week I'd of definitely of slept first.

Loads of stretching today, Nice easy deload week.....hit required numbers only

Mon-2th-Feb Cycle 2 week 4 3x5

Military press: 20kg 25kg 27.5kg

Assistance:
Close grip bench (programmed assistance 3x5) 32.5kg 40kg 47.5kg
Chins with various grips 3x10
Cable row, tricep push downs & cable curls, All really light.

Is it me or is it a requirement to be a tool bag to train with crossfit?

Working out when you're hung over is always a battle - either to defeat the hang-over or to hit your numbers. Either way, it's a pain in the ass.



It's not just you. It's definitely them. And them being tool bags.

Hangovers suck, so you did pretty well to get to the gym bro !!