Vegan Bodybuilding & Fitness

14/12/12
day three of strong lifts 5x5

squats
25kg
bench
22.5kg
barbell row
32.5kg

totally nailed squats and benches, cant wait until they start getting tricky. barbell rows were a bit tougher but i still managed them, i think my form may be off slightly

Happy friday bud! Its gonna be a long weekend eh?
If your unsure on form then it would be good to post a video so everyone on the site can critique and give pointers

Videos are great, you'll get some useful feedback as well as having a visual tool to be able to see what you are doing right and wrong. Later on as your strength progresses, you can use videos to identify things like weak points and biomechanical issues.

Hope you have a great weekend MF.

the misses is out on her works christmas doo so im having a night in with you tube, i was getting a slight twinge in my lower back on the rows too, is that normal? hell yeah majorly long weekend, i only get one week end of a month from work, cant even get on the bike cos itll be pissing it down with gale force winds, might see if i can get a game of squash in, i hate being lazy

17/12/12
day two of strong lifts 5x5

squats
27.5kg
overhead press
22.5kg
deadlifts
45kg

squats are getting slightly taxing now, but still plenty of room to progress, oh presses are a little harder but my lower body is way way stronger than my upper body but no failed reps, deads were piece of cake, really wish i could do more often.

Deadlifts are all about consistency rather than simply doing them more.

I'll get round to answering your PM later tonight, cheers MF.

oh im in no rush , i just enjoy them so much, and love the fact that i get strange looks from all the meat heads because they dont know what the fuck im doing

I thought I'd also post this up in here as I figured some other people reading this might get something from what I have written...

How far will do you think you will be cycling in training on average? How far is the charity ride?

IMO it's not just a case of trying to eat 1,000 cals and hoping for the best. You really need to make sure that you are eating consistently every hour during the ride and also you are eating a little more than normal afterwards (high protein + moderate-high carbs). Have you tried using gels? Those things are great, liquid food. Double check obviously whether the brand is vegan but normally they'll give you between 100-150cals so I used to get through a couple every hour when I was cycling and a sports electrolyte drink as well (better than water when you are exercising for an hour or longer). Then you can look at convenient, high energy food, bananas are great as are small food items such as the odd cookie here and there I use a sports specific cookie, you probably can't get them where you are but you might be able to get something similar...



http://www.powercookies.com/products/

Caffeine can be useful towards the end of the ride, I wouldn't use it at the start or middle for two reasons, 1) it's a diuretic, so apart from making you need to pee it will slightly dehydrate you 2) you'll get a drop off effect as the caffeine wears off, not what you want through a ride.

As soon as you're back home and off your bike get a protein shake into with some carbs (fruit is great) and then a proper meal about an hour or so afterwards. I'd keep the calories a little higher than normal for the remainder of the day as your metabolism and HR will be raised while your body adapts and recovers from the session; this can be anywhere from a couple of hours through to 12hrs depending on both the individual and the intensity/duration of the workout. Hope some of this helps, chur chur MF.

When I said 1000 calories it was just an example, I was trying to work out that if for example I'm consuming X amount of calories to build lean muscle and I burn 1000 calories on a cycle, is it as simple as eating an extra 1000 after. I'm not sure how much training I'll be doing. I'll hopefully be out cycling as often as as long as I can, purely for the fun of it. But the actual charity ride is approximately 874 miles so I'm aiming for around 10 days. As far as I know for fuel I'll be using lots of bananas and dates, tortillas and peanut butter, still not looked into gels much and still looking into other options, gonna do some experiments when I'm out training.

Damn, that's going to be 10 long days in the saddle. Hopefulyl you have a good appetite and don't have to force yourself to eat? A really basic guideline is that if you're dropping your weight from your cycling you probably aren't eating enough (assuming your fluids are on point).

No problem with my appetite as forthe long days. I love a challenge and the hobo spirit is calling to me to get out on the open road and explore, plus it's for a really good cause so I don't mind

What's the cause? I'd be willing to donate something to it mate.

wow thanks man, its for a cancer charity, i lost my father to it , im trying to raise £3000 in total, im half way there from doing a full body way at my local pub. once i raise enough im trekking accross peru from kuzko to macchu piccu, and then rafting down the andes, (dont worry thats coming out of my pocket not the donations. spread the word and spread the love.

19/12/12
day five of strong lifts 5x5

squats
30kg
bench
25kg
barbell row
35kg

first two are still coming on strong, my form is tightening up well on the benching and the arms are now taking the load evenly. rows were better, i was using my arms to much before.

21/12/12
day six of strong lifts 5x5

squats
32.5kg
overhead press
25kg
deadlifts
50kg

solid squats, deadlifts are still way to easy, presses were very close to not getting finished, but nailed them. , gonna rest a little longer in between sets.