Vegan Bodybuilding & Fitness

5/6/12

After yesterday's 15 hour day, I worked about 13 hours today so I took another day off from the gym to catch up on rest.

I'll fly back home tomorrow afternoon/evening and will try to hammer through a workout when I get back.

Gotta head to bed soon. Been a long weekend.

Great to see so many Vegan Bodybuilding & Fitness members in Chicago this weekend! Saw 4 people wearing VBB shirts at the Green Festival today. Awesome!

I also met Miss Chicago, who's trying to make the Miss America Pageant. She's vegan and came to the show after I found her on Twitter and invited her.

Some photos I was tagged in on Twitter today. All vegans in these photos.

5/7/12

Today I flew home from Chicago to Austin, TX. When I landed, weather seemed a bit weird. It was just 90 degrees, but on the shuttle back to the parking lot to retrieve my car, the driver said there are severe storm warnings. It was dry and I loaded up my car, but minutes later, the rain started to come. The rain was so intense, cars were barely moving on the highway and visibility was very slim. Debris was flying around and it was very dark.

The storm was intense during my entire drive home. I was already a bit tired from the full day of errands before the flight, the time at the airport, the flight itself and getting home, so I knew I needed to go directly to the gym. If I went home to sit down, I might not get back out there in the rain and make it to the gym late at night.

I arrived after 8PM, took some clothes out of my luggage, and hammered through a workout.

It was pretty fun, actually.

Here is what it looked like:

Warm-up:

Spin bike for 20 minutes

Forward arm circles
50
50
50
50

Backward arm circles
50
50
50
50

Workout:

Lateral Raises
12.5s x 12
15s x 10
20s x 8
25s x 6
30s x 5

Front Raises
12.5s x 12
15s x 10
20s x 8
25s x 6
30s x 5

Rear Delt Raises
12.5s x 12
15s x 10
20s x 8
25s x 6
30s x 5

Dumbbell Overhead Press
50s x 10
55s x 8
60s x 8
65s x 3
70s x Fail
65s x 3

Barbell Shrugs
225lbs x 10
275lbs x 7
295lbs x 5
315lbs x 8
335lbs x 6
355lbs x 4
225lbs x 20

That was it. Nice shoulder workout tonight after a long day and a very long weekend. I'm looking forward to a really intense workout at Bone Breaker Gym this weekend. It is 5 days away and I'm already salivating, waiting to do some big deadlifts and big barbell shrugs there, training with my buddies from this forum.

I worked on my new book during my flight and I'm wrapping up some work with my Plant-Based Nutrition Certification Course as well. Busy week ahead but an exciting one!

5/8/12

Today I hit the gym a bit earlier. It seems that I usually get to the gym at 8PM but I'd like to start training in the late mornings and early afternoons.

Today's workout was more late afternoon, but afternoon nonetheless. I hit the gym around 430PM.

Last night I planned out my workouts as I was lying in bed trying to fall asleep. I determined after my shoulder workout last night I could train legs today, abs on Wednesday and then take Thurs and Friday off to be fully rested to set record lefts for back/shoulders on Saturday at Bone Breaker Barbell with a bunch of my buddies from this forum/Austin vegan community.

Today's leg workout went like this:

Warm-up

Spin bike for 20 minutes

Bodyweight squats
30
30
30

Workout

Squats
135lbs x 10
155lbs x 10
185lbs x 6
185lbs x 6
205lbs x 6
205lbs x 6
225lbs x 6
135lbs x 10

I usually don't go above 175lbs because of some lower back issues but I wanted to put a little extra weight on to get my legs stronger to support my deadlifts, which is an exercise I can do without some of the same current limitations I have with my back during squats.

Dumbbell Walking Lunges
50s in each hand x 22 steps
50s in each hand x 20 steps
60s in each hand x 16 steps
60s in each hand x 14 steps
60s in each hand x 15 steps
75s in each hand x 8 steps

Good ol solid leg workout today. Nice to get it done early so I can get back to work.

Looking forward to some big lifts at Bone Breaker Barbell this weekend! Yeah Buddy!

5/9/12

Today I trained abs with the intention of taking Thurs and Friday off in preparation for a big lifting day on Saturday in which I hope to set some record lifts. And that is still my plan. I'll take the next couple of days to rest and focus on school work, and some general work stuff.

Getting right to it. Here is what today's workout looked like:

Warm-up

Spin bike for 15 minutes

The first few sets of crunches also acted as a warm-up before I got onto the other exercises.

Forward crunches
50
60
60

Right side crunches
50
60
60

Left side crunches
50
60
60

Hanging knee raises
50
60
40
40

Plank
60 seconds
60 seconds
60 seconds
60 seconds
75 seconds
75 seconds
90 seconds
75 seconds

Hanging straight leg raises
12
12
15
20

More Hanging Knee Raises
30
40

That was my abdominal workout for the day.

I'm eating some avocado, brown rice and greens right now. I purchased 12 avocados over the past 2 days and I'm down to just 6 left. I also used the rice cooker both days and ate lots of brown rice, had potatoes both days as well as apples, bananas and oranges. I also had a bunch of beans today which went really nice with the brown rice and avocado.

I'm still staying up a little later than I'd like, but I do get a lot of work done late at night, especially with school work, emails and editing my next book.

Back to eating and then off to bed within an hour I hope!

Glad you are wanting to set records on Saturday. I'll be bringing my video camera

I'm going to give it my best shot and I should be pretty well rested by then, taking today and tomorrow off in preparation.

The weights aren't going to lift themselves. Time to rise up and pull some record weight!

Nice, looking forward to hearing what kind of numbers you put up! I won't be lifting Saturday; the weather is supposed to be great so I'll be outside trying to set a Nike Fuel personal record

Nice!

Go get it!

Nothing like setting a new personal best! I aim to set many this year in lifting All the best to you and your new records too!

5/10/12

Today is rest day, part of my preparation for a big lifting day on Saturday. I'm actually quite anxious and even a little stressed about it! I know that sounds silly, but I just get really anxious and antsy when I have a chance to set a record for myself, and know that some things could go wrong if I'm not totally focused.

But I know things will be fine and records set or not, it will be a great lifting day with some great buddies.

Right now I'm listening to the Thunder and rainstorm we have going on now in Texas.

Back to homework. 90-min lecture to listen to and take notes on.

5/11/12

Today was another rest day in preparation for a big lifting day tomorrow! I didn't even leave my apartment today. I never went outside and didn't do anything but school work from morning until night. I spent about 5 hours writing a paper and just finished it! Woohoo!

I better eat a bit more and get to sleep so I can be at full power for Bone Breaker Barbell tomorrow!

See you there, Big Bad Ben! @IronCladBen

5/12/12

I got myself hyped up for today, and have been looking forward to today's workout for the past 2 weeks. I missed Bone Breaker Barbell last weekend due to my trip to Chicago, but I was there today and all week long I prepped to break new records.

I did break one record, but I came up well short of the one I really wanted to break, and even tweaked my back in the process so I'll be taking a break from deadlifts for a while. Bummer. Though I kinda knew this day was coming. My lower back is always susceptible to pain, soreness, injuries, etc.

Next week I begin incorporating massage therapy into my program as well. Just gotta wait until payday. Wish I would have started with that sooner. Oh well, I'm hanging in there and still making progress. Will just focus on some other things for a little while. Shoulders, abs, and arms perhaps.

I realized I left my training journal at Bone Breaker Gym. But that is alright since I'm going back there tomorrow as well.

I'll post based on memory and alter it if I need to once I get my journal to look at:

Warm-up:

8 minute run in the sun

Bodyweight squats
30
30
30

Forward arm circles
50
50

Backward arm circles
50
50

Workout:

Deadlifts
135lbs x 15
225lbs x 5
315lbs x Fail
315lbs x Fail
275lbs x 1 - something tweaked in my back and I put the weight down and was done with deadlifts for the day.

I moved over to Barbell Shrugs, pulling off the rack since I couldn't bent over without pain, but I tested it with 245lbs and it also put strain and pain on my lower back. Then Big Bald Mike suggested to use a different grip and put the bar behind me and shrug from that angle rather than in front. Amazingly, no pain at all, even though just picking up a small 10 pound weight bending forward gave me sharp pain in my lower back.

Since it didn't cause any pay with a behind my back grip, I shrugged that way. For the past week I was aiming for a 405-lb barbell shrug. It went like this:

Behind the back Barbell Shrugs
245lbs x 10
315lbs x 10
405lbs x 10
455lbs x 6
495lbs x 5
505 lbs x 5
539lbs x 2

I never knew I could lift over 400 pounds with my upper body. Granted, these were just shrugs, pulling the barbell off the rack and doing a fairly short movement, but it still felt nice to hold that much weight. All through the 400's it felt pretty easy and manageable so I went over 500 pounds and it felt just fine. My previous best was about 5 days ago when I shrugged 355 pounds. Today was a pretty big jump.

My lower back is still sore and I'm bummed I'll likely have to take some time off from deadlifts, but at least I have a new favorite exercise to fill its place

Gotta get some sleep soon. Another day at Bone Breaker Barbell tomorrow.

5/13/12

When I woke up today I wasn't sure I was going to be able to train. My lower back was still pinching nerves and it seemed unlikely I would lift. Forum member bartonx7 was meeting me and we went to Bone Breaker Barbell. I figured I might be a spectator and just enjoying lying out in the 85 degree sun.

I went for a jog with Bart and felt pretty good. I did some stretching and some light dumbbell lifts and before I new it I was lifting 495 pounds with my upper body. So I ended up responding fine today, despite some initial soreness. I still need to get a lot of massage therapy and other therapy for my back, wrist, chest etc. and I plan to start that next week.

Bart and I had a nice long workout with Big Bald Mike.

Workout went like this"

Warm-up:

Jog for 8 minutes

Lateral raises
10s x 10
10s x 10
10s x 10

Front raises
10s x 10
10s x 10
10s x 10

Rear Delt raises
10s x 10
10s x 10
10s x 10

Workout:

2-Arm Bicep Hammer curls on a french curl bar
65lbs x 10
65lbs x 12
65lbs x 12
65lbs x 12

Dumbbell Overhead Press
50s x 10
50s x 7
65s x 4
65s x 3

Barbell Shrugs
495lbs x 1
495lbs x 1

More 2-Arm Bicep Hammer Curls
85lbs x 10
85lbs x 12
85lbs x 12
105lbs x 10
105lbs x 10
105lbs x 10
105lbs x 10

More Dumbbell Overhead Press
65s x 5

I ate about 4 or 5 bananas during the nearly 2-hour workout. We lift heavy (relative to our strength), listen to music, eat between sets, hangout and have an awesome time.

I've never had as much fun training as I have at Bone Breaker Barbell. I've only trained there 4 times thus far, but I plan to get over there (more than an hour round trip from where I live) about twice a week moving forward. I do my other training at a gym I can walk to close by.

Right now I'm pretty tired so I think I'll listen to a health lecture online and fall asleep.

bummer to hear about your back and the deadlifts over the weekend. hopfully some massage therapy and some rest will help to heal you up quick and recover. love the name of the gym im sure its a blast there!

5/14/12

Thanks Frayedendz, I appreciate it.

Today my back was sore, and I had a ton of school work to do (just stopped doing schoolwork at 145AM and now it is after 2AM) so I took a rest day.

I bought a ton of produce today, which I'm super pumped about, including a whole lot of fruit.

Had a very productive day with school and to some degree with work too. Got a bit of sun, ran some errands, and learned a whole heck of a lot in school!

Better get to bed soon. Super late night!

Hey Robert I'd recommend taking much smaller jumps on the deadlift when you're warming up like you do with squats. All the powerlifters at our club do at least 5 or 6 warmup sets no matter what weight they're going to that day. It'll warm you up properly, help prevent injury, reinforce technique and give you more confidence when you get to your main sets.

Other than that keep up the work