Vegan Aspirant for Amazonian strength and physique

[Vegan Aspirant]

Alright so I now feel entitled to take part in this vegan sharing of training journals, because two days ago I finally made the leap in to vegetarianism (not quite vegan yet, but the only dairy products I ingest is chocolate chip cookies that contain some whey powder extracted from milk- aside from that I steer away from pretty much all dairy products). It's a gradual process and once I've gotten more used to the green lifestyle I'll probably take the full leap into veganism.

So I currently do a 3-split program and today was back.

Warm-up (cardio):
55 mins of house (this is househttp://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6s6a8jOFuaM)

Assisted wide grip chin-ups:
3 x 12 (pump)
1x 6 (strength)

Stiff legged dead-lifts

40 kg: 12 reps
50 kg: 12 reps
55 kg: 12 reps
60 kg: 10 reps
65 kg: 8 reps
70 kg: 6 reps
75 kg: 4 reps
80 kg: ½ rep (needed sugar at this point)


Dumbell rows

18 kg: 12 reps
20 kg: 12 reps
22 kg: 12 reps
24 kg: 8 reps

Usually I do a couple of strength sets in dumbell rows as well and will top it off with 6 reps with a 28 kg or 30 kg dumbell, but was feeling lethargic today (perhaps due to the sudden change in diet- still need to adjust my macros)


Lateral cable pull-downs

40 kg: 12 reps
45 kg: 10 reps
50 kg: 8 reps


Seated cable rows with narrow grip

25 kg: 15 reps
30 kg: 12 reps
35 kg: 10 reps
40 kg: 8 reps


Hyper back extensions on slanted stanner (without weight)

3 x 20 with simultaneous row movements

Usually I try to skip in between sets and do some push-ups as well for back day, but like I said I was feeling kind of lethargic today.

So anyway this is me now (pics below):

[kareno]

Hey! Thanks for starting a journal! Great work in the gym! Hope you're feeling in tip top shape and get some energy back soon.

[PoPe]

breathe deep on every single rep and you wont need sugar kuz you will have oxygen

nice move on the diet change, best of luck with it. raw plant based nutrition = quicker recovery = more training = faster gains

peace/1ove

[Vegan Aspirant]

Hi Kareno and Pope and thanks for the words of encouragement. Am finding the vegetarian/vegan lifestyle a bit difficult at the moment, though this mostly because I'm living off of take-away currently due to some circumstances at home. And also because I am in an unhealthy love-relationship with sweets that usually contain both eggs and butter (although technically I'd *still* be vegetarian if I ate sweets containing egg, but barely.. Just kind of seems self-defeating from both a moral and health point of view... But damn am I tempted!)

[Vegan Aspirant]

Upper body day

50 mins of some funk routine (not really cardio, but got some blood flow going... sort of eh)

Bench press

40 kg: 12 reps
45 kg: 12 reps
50 kg: 8 reps
55 kg: 4 reps
60 kg: 2 reps with a spotter


Dumbell shoulder press:
12 kg: 12 reps
14 kg: 10 reps
16 kg: 8 reps
18 kg: 5, barely 6 reps


Lateral Dumbell raises

8 kg: 15 reps
9 kg: 12 reps
10 kg: 12 reps
12 kg: 9 reps followed by 6 more reps

Cable pull down with wide grip (straight 90 degree back)

40 kg: 3x12 reps


Bicep barbell curls

18.5 kg: 15 reps
23.5 kg: 3x 12 reps

Finished off with 8 reps of bicep cable curls with rope bicep exhaustion.


Skull crushers
18.5 kg: 12 reps
23.5 kg: 2 x 12 reps with some recovery time towards the end

Finished off with 12 reps of tricep cable pull downs with rope for heavy pump.


I coach and make training programs for people on a regular basis which includes me having to show the excersizes and many a times do at least a few sets of every work out I show. I did a program today where I pretty *worked out' with him and also did a little house dance routine that had my pulse up, but I don't include that in my total sum of neither resistance or cardio.

[Vegan Aspirant]

Also am still feeling lethargic, so the above logs I've shared with you so far is what I'd call mediocre effort on my part. I just feel low on sugar and unusually lethargic since I made the transition to vegetarianism/veganism. any f you encountered something similar in the begining? If yes does it eventually go away once your body gets used to the new diet?

[mrbear666]

i would try loading up on fruit and fruit juices or smoothies, they were the things that gave me alot of energy when i turned vegan, and also stopped me craving junk sweet foods.

also make sure you are well hydrated.



mike

[PoPe]

vegans are the one of few rare breeds that take a whole bunch of nutritious food, smash it up in a blender/processor and drink way more than maybe could possibly chew and swallow. instead of 1banana handful of grapes and a salad its more like 3/4 bananas a whole bunch of grapes, bluberries, almonds, avacado, coconut water, or a whole bag of spinach/kale, half a cucumber, garlic, few celery sticks bla bla u get the point loads of raw stuff, give you what you need.

some of that lethargy may be coming from toxins having a jog thru your blood on the elimination route. but if you keep the fruit content up esp. lemons and oranges, you will breeze thru the transition

[JubNZ]

Well done on making the steps towards Veganism. Will be awesome to see how you change over the months.

Def try a couple pieces of fruit pre workout, works a treat for me (when I do it :/)

[Vegan Aspirant]

Thanks guys. I actually make sure to eat a lot of carbs (complex and simple), kind of goes with the vegan diet But I hope that I'll eventually regain my previous energy/strength levels soon enough, once I stop living off of falafel, bread and soy milk and start cooking my own food.

[Vegan Aspirant]

(Yesterday)

Lower body day- short but to the point

Lunges
30 metres of lunges with 6 kg dumbells
30 metres of lunges with 7 kg dumbells
30 metres of lunges with 8 kg dumbells


Squat

40 kg: 15 reps
50 kg: 12 reps
60 kg: 12 reps
65 kg: 10 reps
70 kg: 8 reps
75 kg: 6 reps
80 kg: 5 (well more like 4½) reps



Legpress on angled legpresser

200 kg: 12 reps
240 kg: 10 reps
280 kg: 8 reps
320 kg: 6 reps

[asparagus]

Have you tried doing your cardio after lifting? If you are trying to lift heavy, you really should be fresh. I don't think you need more than 5 minutes of cardio to warmup before lifting. You might find your energy levels to be a bit higher.

I agree with the fruit suggestions. I generally have a couple random fruits (apple, orange, pear, etc) 15 minutes before lifting, and then two dates and a banana right after. The dates are really good because they are high in sugar and potassium.

[C.O.]

I love that journal title, Amazonian strength, that's awesome.

[Vegan Aspirant]

Thanks Dylan

Alright here are some pics of my - without a doubt- *most* musculare body features, namely my thighs and calves. I actually used to hate my thighs and legs and thought they belonged to male bodybuilders (before I got into bodybuilding) and would actually envy people with chicken legs (can you believe that? lol). Now I strut them at (almost) every oppurtunity I get, because on high heels, these babies (flexed thighs and calves) look like something taken out of the Amazons and that's *definitely* nothing to be ashamed of! In fact I've been getting compliments on them- something I'm not used to being surrounded by stick thin (more like thin-fat, 'cos basically no muscle there anyway) chicks all my life, so never actually thought people (especially the opposite sex) found big muscular legs attractive. Anyway enough babbling, here they are and currently my calves measure 46 cm in circumference:-p

[Vegan Aspirant]

.