Vegan Bodybuilding & Fitness

Used the percentages generated in the Excel sheet - don't really have much of an option if I want to stay with the percentages since we only have the 45lb bar at my gym. Something to think about if I pick BBB, though, so I really appreciate the input.

The pulldowns/CGBP were done with less than 65% of my max for both - so nothing major. It just felt completely foreign to only do dips and chins afterward.

I know what you mean...when I tried bbb for a week on military day all the assistance is after bbb sets are chins. I was like; ermmmmmm I'm done after like 20-25mins.
It works for my pal who lifts before work early, so it means he doesn't have to keep moving about/ loading weights.

Looking forward to it after work

On days when I have the 5:00 p.m. - 1:00 a.m. shift at work, getting done in 30 minutes wouldn't bother me in the slightest. It's the days when I'm off work completely that it would drive me nuts - like what happened on Friday.

Wendler's "training economy" has me looking at my program/goals so much closer and more critically. Pretty nice, especially since I'm currently working on a lengthier write-up about how I really want the rest of 2012 to go for me and what my big, long-term goals are for winter 2013.

03.17.12
5/3/1: Cycle One, Day Six
Boring But Big Template Test Recap

NUTRITION
15/130/80 + whiskey and a beer

VIGNETTE
Since I work in a very public setting, there are some sacrifices I am forced to make. Example: despite finding it absolutely asinine to do so, I wore a green yesterday. The only green clothing I own, however, is what my old lady calls my “swag” shirt – a men’s medium 10 Deep tee. This description was pretty accurate when I purchased it a month ago as it was comically big on me – the sleeves practically hit my elbows since I couldn’t fill the shoulders out at all and, because of this, the bottom would go past the crotch of my jeans.
When I put it on yesterday, it fit quite a bit differently – noticeably snugger in the shoulders and, as a result, not nearly as saggy as it was a month ago. I most certainly don’t “fill it out” but I could definitely feel the difference.
Other than that, Saturday was pretty standard: after a relatively steady day at work, I came home and, though I was supposed to nail down my assistance work for the next two template tests, I ended up baking stout-cupcakes, watching movies with my old lady and her sister, and having a couple of drinks. So, the update I talked about posting regarding training and nutrition has been postponed a bit.

SESSION
Off

03.18.12
5/3/1: Cycle One, Week One, Day Seven
Template Test Interlude

NUTRITION
49/150/215
As promised, the food pictured above showcases a bit more variety - falafel burger on a multi-grain bun and peanut butter and banana proats.

VIGNETTE
I might be getting a little “fanboy” over Jim Wendler. For the last few days, most of my spare time has been spent tracking down articles about or interviews of him as the ones I’ve read previously always include some nugget of information I’ve found to be exceptionally beneficial.
Among the gems I found over the last few days is [url="http://www.t-nation.com/free_online_article/most_recent/conditioning_101"]Conditioning 101[/url]. After pouring over the 5/3/1 Handbook more times than any normal person running the program probably has, I became increasingly interested in adding conditioning into my routine. As Wendler explains the N.O.V. training program in the handbook, conditioning doesn’t have to be boring or spent on a stationary bike for hours – you run hills and you push a Prowler. Since I don’t have access to a Prowler, I figured my conditioning would consist of three-to-four 15-20 minute hill sprinting sessions and cycling whenever I felt like it throughout the week.
In the article linked above, however, Wendler pro/cons the different types of conditioning he has used in his training programs and, unlike in the handbook where the Prowler reigns as King Conditioner, other exercises become much more appealing. Hell, I even found out I’d been incorporating more conditioning in my program than I originally thought. Wendler talks about jumping rope in between assistance lifts which is something I’ve been doing on every upper-body day for the past couple of weeks – when I read this, I had a very Homer “D’oh!” moment – why the fuck wouldn’t that be considered conditioning?
Anyway, I had planned on doing conditioning after my workouts and keeping my rest days just that – rest days. However, for reasons unknown to me, I got off work Sunday afternoon with more energy than I imagined possible after working a pretty fast-paced shift. On the fifteen minute drive home, I seriously considered started Week Two a day early and getting my squat on. I knew such thinking was foolish as my body needs to grow accustomed to actually resting and growing so I tried to keep myself busy. I went grocery shopping, I called my mom, I did some reading. I even debated going for a bike ride despite the rain outside. Then, around 9:00 p.m. it occurred to me – this is an opportune moment to get in a conditioning session.
So I did and, to be honest, even though I “took it easy,” I was equally wiped as I was stoked about the results. The only major bummer is the substantial lack of Prowler in my life – I feel like it’s something I’d really enjoy adding into my routine. Hopefully one day. Until then – sprinting hills, jumping rope, drilling agility, and battling ropes it is.

SESSION
10 minute hill sprints at 4% incline, varying speeds between 7-8mph
5:00 minute jump roping
10:00 minute battle ropes
5:00 minute agility ladder
The battle ropes have the potential to either be a really nice addition to my routine or something I lose interest in rather quickly. I’m going to do more “research” into technique/routines and the pros/cons of their use. I forgot how into agility ladder drills I am - they were my favorite “cardio” during my high school strength and conditioning class as I actually progressed in them whereas with running my mentality was always, “Am I done yet?”

haha i accidentally wore green on friday 3/16. i was mad at myself. and i never wear green. celebrated st. patricks day with a burrito and was the designated driver.

I absolutely hate that you can eat whatever the hell you want and still look like that! I know people say,"Life isn't fair"...and when I look at your food pics...its NOT! Paula Dean is whacked that you need Bacon...she hasn't seen any of your creations.

oh, and your arms look divine in the avatar! Girls with Guns! Love it!

I didn't even drink that much - the outlook I inherited from my mother's (pretty Irish) side of the family is: if you're really Irish, you don't need an excuse to drink; you just do it when you feel like it, which is generally often.

I used to DD my friends all the time in college - always entertaining and made me feel better knowing they not only asked for a DD but I could "make sure" they were safe.


Don't hate! There's really no secret to it other than knowing my caloric needs and filling them however I want each day - that's the beauty of "following" IIFYM.
My food's not that impressive - I wish I was cooking more of a variety of food to be honest but I've just found it easier to cycle through the same things over and over again.

And thank you about the avatar! I wouldn't call them "guns," though, they're more like ... slingshots. Ha.

03.19.12
5/3/1: Cycle One, Week Two, Day One
Interlude: The Future

NUTRITION
Since January, I have kept my calories at a flat 2,000 with static macros of roughly 56/150/225 which, around mid February, finally pushed me to 123-5lb range depending on all the well-known variables (hydration, sodium, food intake, etc.).
I failed to mention in this log, despite writing it down in my paper journal, that, upon starting 5/3/1 I would do weekly weigh-ins on the same day and with relatively similar circumstances (hydrated, with a pre-work out meal, and after my session). Last Monday, I weighed in at 125; today, I weighed the same.
As always, I went back-and-forth about how to approach this situation and deduced that I need to do two things, in the following order: first, recalculate my estimated caloric needs since quite a few factors have changed since I “reset” them in January. Secondly, I need to “bite the bullet” and buy a BodyMedia - not only find my “true” maintenance but also to, once and for all, shed my Former Fat Kid anxieties. If I know, instead of guess, my maintenance and can, therefore, know, instead of guess, how much I need to be eating to gain, there won't be any need for anxiety, fat gains will be kept to a minimum, and strength will continue increasing steadily without having to take three weeks to asses if a calorie bump is enough/too much ... however, until then ...

Recalculated maintenance is, in fact, approximately 2,000 calories. Guess what that means? Intake is going to be 2,200 for the next three weeks to “verify” this new estimation and will continuously be adjusted until I can afford the BodyMedia.
Macros will be a lot like they are now (0.45xBW for fat; 1-1.6gxBW for protein, fill the rest in with carbohydrates) but I might mess with the ratios a bit if I find the increase in carbs hard to stomach.


EQUIPMENT
When I first started squatting at my parents’ house, more often than not, I did so barefoot. I was born flat-footed and with an extra bone in each foot (I do not kid) so finding shoes for any specific “athletic” endeavor has always been a chore, from the time I played peewee basketball up until to my brief stint as Cardio Kid last summer. So, when I started StrongLifts 5x5, I would alternate squatting in my Chuck Taylors and without any shoes at all. As the weight got heavier, squatting barefoot always felt better.
However, as much as I wish I could have continued lifting sans-shoes, moving my sessions from my parents’ garage and into a commercial gym requires a little bit more discretion and adherence to “sanitary” practices. So, I went back to lacing up my Chucks before each session. For a while, this was all well and fine. Then my dear friend Osgood-Schlatter decided to remind me that he’s permanently set-up residence in my knees and, though he doesn’t make his presence known often, when he does, it is not at all pleasant.
Oh, yeah, I have Osgood-Schlatter disease. For those of you don’t know, the simple way to this is simply the fact I have bumps on my knees that hurt quite a bit from “overuse” – one of the key activities that exacerbate this pain is, you guessed it, squatting.
Now, I have neglected to “divulge” this bit of information about myself largely because I often forget about it – after years of skateboarding, I started attributing my knee problems to bashing them against concrete, plywood, and stairs rather than some “mysterious” disease I was diagnosed with at the age of 11. Fast-forward 12 years and throw in some self-education about fitness and health, weekly heavy squatting and, soon-to-be-introduced, intense conditioning, and, well, my concern for addressing the condition properly has increased quite a bit.
In fact, the reappearance of good old Osgood prompted me to take a good look at how much effort I was really putting into my program outside of just lifting. Turns out, I’ve been a pretty piss-poor job making sure that I’m as healthy as I should be in order to perform at my best.
So, over the next few months, I will be acquiring things that I already should own or, in the very least, be in the process of owning - a foam roller (which I ordered today with the last bit of Amazon giftcard I forgot I had), squatting shoes and knee sleeves (to keep Osgood happy) and maybe even some compression socks for the hell of it.

GOALS
To be achieved within a year
100lb overhead press
125lb bench press
250lb deadlift
200lb squat
For reps.

Compete.

pffft...not at all silly slingshots --the definition is beautiful-even in a teeny tiny photo!

and switch it to a jealous pacifist!

Good going on the converse, I hope you wear those/barefoot for dead lifts. I go barefoot for deads. Squats I'm useless barefoot.

Heres a great diet to follow:

If you want to get lean, eat Paleo or Zone or whatever.  All the normal, mainstream diets are pretty much the same.

If you want to get big as fuck/strong as fuck, eat the above diets and then eat about triple of whatever they recommend and then have a large pizza every night.

Guess who said that haha

I've only ever lifted in Converse (when I don't lift barefoot) but the pair I have old and I can feel them starting to wear down, hence the reason I want to make the investment into weightlifting shoes. I found the Adidas Powerlift Trainers for 90.00 and, from what I've researched and talked to others about, they're a really great introductory shoe and they cost half of the other "good" ones. Problem is - they're definitely not vegan so I haven't decided if I should shell out the cash for them or look into other options.

Interestingly enough, my macros pretty much "align" with the Zone diet even though I, for whatever reason, never made the correlation between the name and the 40/30/30 ratio. I guess I just better start throwing in large pizzas more often.



You are too kind! There isn't a lot of definition but there's a noticeable, at least to me, difference in size in both my biceps and triceps which is kind of cool considering I've always had really thin arms. I'm hoping that the way the assistance work is designed for this program that my shoulders will start coming in as well - not that I'm wholly concerned with aesthetics but 1.) I know I'm going to look weird as hell if my bis/tris keep growing but my deltoids never come in and 2.) muscle growth = strength gains.

Hey I recently joined the board and have been spending time reading through your journal. I've gotten lots of great info, inspiration, and ideas from reading it. Keep it up!

Here's my 2c (FWIW)...

DL's - great to lift barefoot, or at least with a shoe that puts you as low to the ground as possible. You can buy some deadlift slippers, they don't cost much and are mostly legal at meets.

Squats - ideally you want to lift in either a squat shoe or a heeled shoe.



The benefit of squat shoes are that they have a wooden heel, this serves two purposes: a) the heel raises you slightly higher and opens your hips through the movement, slightly increasing your felxibility (great if you have tight hips and/or calves b) The wooden heels means you don't get any loss of power from when you start driving back up. With a normal rubber soled shoe you lose power on the ascent as the force is compressed into the rubber, therefore this translates into a loss of power (small I know, but you want all the advantage you can get). You might as well put yourself in the strongest position from the start

Mini beat me to recommending slippers there agree on every point he made:..

You may find my blog from yday amusing, I didn't at the time