Hi! From Barcelona, Spain.

[Encrypted]

Hello everybody!

 

I'm a Spanish boy. 23 years-old, 182 cm and 65 kg. I'm vegan since January 2006 (almost 4 years now). Since then I never got sick and I feel much better. The only problem is that I would like to gain more body muscle.

I'm very thin and many people attribute this to being vegan (I was that thin even when being omnivore) and I want to change their point of view but I don't know how.

 

Here there should be many people with this same experience. What kind of diet can I follow? What exercise can I do?

 

I live in Spain.

I do not have access to a gym.

 

Thanks for any kind of advice!

Marc

[robert]

Welcome!

 

Great to have you here.......enjoy our forum community. Welcome to the Team!

[Liberacion-Igualdad]

Hey there, Marc!

 

I began to lurk into this forum about 6 months ago. I’m 1,75m and, at the time, my body-weight was 65 kgs, like you.

 

At the beginning I only had access to the small “gym” room of my building, which basically consisted of a multi-purpose machine, a stationary bike, a declined bench, and some weird machine to do rows. I also had an old pair of dumbbells, which don’t even have the same weight! (one is about 8 kgs. and the other 9kgs., so I have to always do even number of sets, interchanging dumbbells every set to work the muscles ‘evenly’).

 

After a couple of months I only had the dumbbells, because the multi-purpose machine’s rope decided that enough was enough.

 

Anyway, I’ve been working out with the dumbbells (there are a lot of exercises, for pretty much all muscle groups, that can be done with dumbbells), a backpack filled with anything I could fill it with (mainly for squatting), and doing weight free exercises like chin-ups, pull-ups, push-ups, etc.

 

Now, my body-weight is 73kgs, and although I’m far from having an amazing physique I’ve been able to gain muscle mass and stay away from the skinny-vegan stereotype.

 

So, my fellow-beginner’s advice, read a lot on this website and forum (you can start by checking some of the members’ logs), check videos on the internet of the different exercises available paying special attention to proper technique, get some dumbbells and/or a barbell (if you can’t go to a gym, that is), and workout consistently.

 

Also, eat more! I’ve increased my consumption of legumes, seeds and other calorie-dense foods (avocados, nuts, olives, bananas, etc.), added 1 or 2 more meals per-day (which was really hard at the beginning), and I have at least a couple of smoothies (usually using bananas, soy milk, brewer’s yeast, flaxseeds, and spinachs – but the ingredients can vary upon your likes and dislikes) throughout the day.

(I haven’t taken any supplements, besides the fortified soymilk and breakfast cereal.)

 

Oh, and rest!

 

That’s all. I know that how I've done things is far from ideal, but not all of us can't afford 'ideal'.

 

I suppose the more experienced girls and guys can give you more advice and/or correct any rubbish I might have suggested. =)

[Encrypted]

Hey there, Marc!

 

I began to lurk into this forum about 6 months ago. I’m 1,75m and, at the time, my body-weight was 65 kgs, like you.

 

At the beginning I only had access to the small “gym” room of my building, which basically consisted of a multi-purpose machine, a stationary bike, a declined bench, and some weird machine to do rows. I also had an old pair of dumbbells, which don’t even have the same weight! (one is about 8 kgs. and the other 9kgs., so I have to always do even number of sets, interchanging dumbbells every set to work the muscles ‘evenly’).

 

After a couple of months I only had the dumbbells, because the multi-purpose machine’s rope decided that enough was enough.

 

Anyway, I’ve been working out with the dumbbells (there are a lot of exercises, for pretty much all muscle groups, that can be done with dumbbells), a backpack filled with anything I could fill it with (mainly for squatting), and doing weight free exercises like chin-ups, pull-ups, push-ups, etc.

 

Now, my body-weight is 73kgs, and although I’m far from having an amazing physique I’ve been able to gain muscle mass and stay away from the skinny-vegan stereotype.

 

So, my fellow-beginner’s advice, read a lot on this website and forum (you can start by checking some of the members’ logs), check videos on the internet of the different exercises available paying special attention to proper technique, get some dumbbells and/or a barbell (if you can’t go to a gym, that is), and workout consistently.

 

Also, eat more! I’ve increased my consumption of legumes, seeds and other calorie-dense foods (avocados, nuts, olives, bananas, etc.), added 1 or 2 more meals per-day (which was really hard at the beginning), and I have at least a couple of smoothies (usually using bananas, soy milk, brewer’s yeast, flaxseeds, and spinachs – but the ingredients can vary upon your likes and dislikes) throughout the day.

(I haven’t taken any supplements, besides the fortified soymilk and breakfast cereal.)

 

Oh, and rest!

 

That’s all. I know that how I've done things is far from ideal, but not all of us can't afford 'ideal'.

 

I suppose the more experienced girls and guys can give you more advice and/or correct any rubbish I might have suggested. =)

 

 

 

Hi!

Thanks a lot for your information!

Some time ago, when I decided to start to do exercise (for muscle gaining I mean -excluding running, soccer, etc.-) I checked a lot on the internet on how to do push upps, abbs, etc and I bought dumbbells, but after seeing no progress I gave up ( I guess I give up things too easily).

 

But If you worked just with dumbbells and you've seen improvement, I will try harder this time. In how much time did you saw progress?

 

About the eating part, I try to eat a lot (most people are surprised how much I eat) but the fact is that i lost 3 kg!! Now I'm 61kg. for 1,81m.

 

I need to organize myself to do more meals during the day.

 

Thanks again for your words! I'll write some news soon.

 

See you!

[Liberacion-Igualdad]

Marc,

 

I’ve been steadily getting stronger (adding weight and/or adding reps and/or reducing resting time between sets), but in the first couple of months I didn’t gain much weight. In the first month I gained about 2 kgs. in a 10-day span, or so, but then I lost them.

 

Besides the obvious reason (not eating enough calories) I didn’t know the importance of the rest time between sets. So I’d do one set, rest until I felt COMPLETELY recovered, which could take up to 5 minutes (or even more!) and then do another set. I could spend almost 2 hours exercising this way.

 

Then I read something about keeping the rest between sets as short as possible (from 30 to 120 secs. depending on the exercise, muscle group, etc.) so I tried it in my leg-workout day. Needless to say, I felt like I was going to die. I wanted to throw out for at least an hour after I finished. So I realized that I hadn’t been working out with any intensity at all.

 

Once I began to train like this (and improved my calorie intake) I began to make some good progress (and I also reduced the time I was at the ‘gym’ to 40-50 mins.)

So I’d say that the more ‘visible’ progress came after the third month of training.

 

Btw, if you feel like you eat a lot, but still lose weight, you should try eating more calorie dense foods. Try adding vegetable oils to your meals (ideally flaxseed oil, for its omega-3 content – if you don’t have any, olive oil is also a good option) – these oils provide a fair amount of calories without adding bulk to your meals. Also try drinking fresh-fruit juices or smoothies after finishing your meals, and between meals.

 

How heavy are your dumbbells? And what kind of exercises did you do with them?

 

¡Saludos!

[xjohanx]

Welcome! I love Barcelona!