Bodyweight: 13.7st
Height: 6'4"
Bodyfat: Unkown
Goal:
Short term: 174kg squat and dead. 90kg bench in 12 months. 25/06/14
Long term: Eventually one day squat 300+kg, deadlift 450+kg and overhead press 200+kg.
Prove you don't have to eat three pounds of meat a day to get strong and big.
Motivation:
I've always been a skinny guy my entire lift. I don't mind being skinny, I'm happy with who I am. I also don't mind looking like the guy from the cola advert but my real motivation for lifting now is animals.
I love animals, ever since I was a kid. That's never changed as I've grown up, but as I learn more I realize I've grown up into a world were animals aren't the happy faces I see on McDonald's adverts, KFC adverts, smiley cow milk adverts. I was brought up to eat them, acquire a taste for them and not think twice about it. I later got into a band called Goldfinger who are vegans which led me to ask myself questions about what I eat. I then went vegetarian at age 14. Met a vegan online and she gave me a lot of insight and awareness about the dairy industry and how there is more cruelty in a glass of milk than buying meat. She opened my eyes a little to the suffering I was funding when I buy milk, eggs and cheese. So I then replaced milk with rice milk but never liked the taste of raw soya milk. Tried going vegan a few times but always went back to eating cheese and eggs. I then realized my own hypocrisy as I was caring more about a cow than a chicken. So I decided I wasn't going to give a penny to these dairy and meat industries, downloaded a ton of vegan cook books and adopted a new diet. It's never been easier to go vegan than it is today. Well I don't eat cheese and eggs anymore and I love soya milk.
This is were the lifting comes in. I've often got in deep conversations with people about this choice. I always make a very strong argument but I want the body to back up the words. If people can listen to why I don't eat animals and see that I'm big and strong, they will take me seriously.
"Oh but you're not getting enough protein or iron", "vegans are weak", "no gains ever came from a plant". These are words said to me in the last three weeks.
I want people to ask me what I eat because I'm so strong. I want young lifters to see me and think "damn he's massive, what does he eat". I want to be known for it, the natural guy that doesn't eat meat but is huge. To inspire people to take a real interest in nutrition from other sources, to at least leave people aware of another option rather than guzzling down a dozen eggs a day.
If I can be able to out lift the guys at my gym then it's proof I'm strong and getting enough protein. When a heckling meat eater tries to mudsling me I can stand proud and back up my words with real evidence. People like to believe things with their own eyes.
So whenever I feel like I can't pick up that barbell and lift it because I'm not strong enough, because it's painful, it's tiring. I think of the suffering animals have to go through in their pathetic lives. I have no excuse to give up. I have a point to prove and it's vegan power. People know what I eat and when I start out lifting them I want an excuse for eating three pounds of meat a day. There is more and more vegan athletes today destroying the weak vegan stereotype. Showing everyone around them we are strong. People who lift weights are some of the biggest meat eats, consuming all that protein and calories. When I started lifting people told me to quit because I'm a vegetarian. I almost believed them and thought about eating meat, don't worry this was a very brief idea. I wish I had a Derek Treysize or a Arvid Beck in my gym, but I've yet to meet a single vegetarian here. That's going to change. For myself the animals and the planet.
Arvid Beck is a great inspiration.
http://www.veganbodybuilding.com/?page=bio_beck
Robert Cheeke.
Also Derek Tresize, Giacomo Marchese, Jimi Sitko.
[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=6gxIhiGO0v4[/youtube]
[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=n3cbNTn2Du8[/youtube]
Diet:
Organic vegetables, legumes, beans, grains, water, nuts & seeds, fruits, bread and organic hemp protein powder.
Carbs: Broccoli, peas, tomatoes, spinach, bananas, white potatoes, sweet potatoes, berries, butternut squash, arborio rice, pasta, brown rice, oatmeal, garbanzo beans, pinto beans.
Protein: Veges, black beans, quinoa, brown rice + red beans, peanut butter, almonds, sunflower seeds, chia seeds, pumpkin seeds, soya milk, shredded wheat, hemp powder, tofu, bagel.
Liquids: Water, fruit juices, almond/hemp/soya/oat milk, smoothies.
Fats: Coconut oil, peanut butter, avocados, ground flax seeds, olives and granola.
Previous lifting history:
November 2012. Eight months of a three day split on legs, triceps/chest, biceps/shoulders and back thrown in across the days. 10-2 reps.
Bodyweight - 12.4st
Squat - 50kg
Deadlift - 80kg
Bench - 40kg
OHP - 40kg
Penlay Rows - 50kg
Current lifting program:
Second week of the Stronglifts 5x5, strictly.
Bodyweight - 13.7st
Squat - 72.5kg
Deadlift - 105kg
Bench - 65kg
OHP - 52.5kg
Penlay Rows - 62.5kg
