Soccer Players

[robert]

Are there any soccer players out there who want to discuss training programs and nutrition programs? Or just chat about soccer?

 

I played for 10 years, Topher played for 10 years and I think Big Ben played for 10 years or longer. Funny how we all chose bodybuilding after soccer

 

I met a raw food vegan soccer player today and invited him to join the forum. Maybe he'll see this and post and chat about the world's greatest game with us!

 

-Robert

[V VII Hero]

10 yrs

started out as a goalie who stared at butterflies and scratched his crotch all day, and I ended up as left wing/center foward who scored all the goals. I was always the fast kid who could do wonders with the ball.

 

I totally want to get back into playing.

[robert]

Yeah man,

 

Let's plan on a team in Portland once we're both up there. My friend Dave (featured on the main site under why vegan) plays soccer. He and I played on the same team for years back in middle school, high school, and summer leagues. I played on an indoor team in Portland with him last winter. Good times.

 

I like the Goalie story.

 

-Thin Thin Soccer Him

[MarginWalker79]

i'm 26 and have played all my life. i still play competitively here in massachusetts. my brother plays professionally for the USL division 2 Western Mass Pioneers, they made it to the national championship game this year. anyway... i just got into weight training in january. i've put on about 15 pounds so far (i'm 5'9" and up to 160lbs now!). i really want to start getting shredded though. i need to get that thin layer or fat i have off so i have that really cut look. any suggestions? my cardio IS lacking lately so i know i have to hit that hard. what's good to get cut? i hate doing long sessions of cardio, it bores me. think that hitting the elliptical (sp?) at real intense rates for 15-20min will do? like 3 times a week? i want to get some sprints in a couple times a week as well but it's going to be getting colder here in the northeast soon. i'd love some advice, i've gained some muscle and hope to gain more, now i want to look cut too!

thanks!

 

i love this site and i wanted to say thanks for the hospitality, all my posts have been met with friendly advice so far. great job!

 

Brett

[willpeavy]

Yeah I used to play goalie

[veggymeggy]

I got ditched for soccer tonight

Sorry Brett, I don't have any advice, I'm just venting!

These are the right guys to ask though

[MarginWalker79]

don't be sad meggy. soccer is fun and hard work but whoever blew you off for it will see the error his/her ways

[robert]

Hey Brett,

 

Soccer is a great way to get in awesome condition and get pretty shredded. Cool that you still play. I don't play anymore but some of my former teammates play professionally or for University Teams.

 

To get shredded I adjust my diet and increase cardio, that's about it. I still train with about the same amout of reps, weight, and intensity, I just throw in 20-45 minutes of cardio AFTER each training session or first thing in the morning.

 

I also focus on eating clean foods; natural, raw, fresh foods. I eat fruits, veggies, nuts, grains, beans, tofu, protein drinks, etc.

 

Specific foods I eat I mentioned in another post about my contest preparation in General Discussion but some include:

 

Bananas

Oranges

Apples

Asparagus

English Cucumbers

Spinach

Broccoli

Red Potatoes

Green Peppers

Green Beans

Kidney Beans

Garbanzo Beans

Cashews

Almonds

Tofu

Tempeh

 

And a variety of other things.

 

Eat fresh raw vegan foods, bump up the cardio and be consistent and you can get shredded!

 

All the best, soccer rules!

 

-Robert

[MarginWalker79]

how good/bad is rice for you? i love to eat basmati rice with garbanzo beans and some curry. i feel better after i eat it than when i eat pasta (i'm not vegan, just veggie)

all the best

brett

[robert]

Hey Brett,

 

I don't eat much rice but I don't think it's too bad for you. I'd go for brown rice. I know that a lot of bodybuilders like rice to help as a bulking food. I ate a lot of it in the past but I'm a little to lazy to make it now, although I do really like it.

 

What is your nutrition program currently like?

 

All the best,

 

-Robert

[MarginWalker79]

i wouldn't say i have a nutrition"program" at all. i just eat haha. here's an example of yesterday:

 

breakfast (8am): 4 blueberry waffles, glass of orange juice...

while at work for the next hour i drank a 32 ounce protein shake made with Muscle Milk powder (40g of protein), milk, and peanut butter (totalling about 700 calories)

 

lunch (12pm): rice with garbanzo beans and 2 grape leaves (from a greek restaurant, grape leaves wrapped around rice and spices)

 

snack at (3pm): balance bar (15g of protein)..chocolate/peanut butter....i love peanut butter

 

4:30pm: went to the gym and did a shoulder work out:

4 sets of should presses with dumbbells

3 sets of front raises with dumbbells

3 sets of side raises with dumbbells

3 sets of front raises with barbell (the one you can keep your hands close and raise to your chin for your traps...don't know the term)

4 sets of shrugs with dumbbells

 

i'm using different weight each set like my shoulder press sets were 35lbs, 45lbs, 55lbs, 40lbs. i've been doing something like that for most of my exercises lately. what do you think. keep in mind i usually lift alone with no spotter so going heavy isn't really an option

 

dinner (6pm): homemade eggplant (baked eggplant with tomato sauce with mushrooms and peppers) and a salad with balsamic dressing

 

10pm: 3 soy 'chicken' nuggets (don't know if they're vegan but made by morning star farms..sooo good) and half of a little frozen cheese pizza.

 

i am almost always drinking water as well. the only other thing i drink besides water is juice or gatorade sometimes, never soda or anything.

 

that's typically a lot for me for one day. i usually try to have at least one shake a day and i'm trying to cut out a lot of cheese and french fries. fries to me are like cigarettes to a smoker, i love them and eat them everyday, i'm going to try to eat them only once a week, if that. i want to get this thin layer of fat off me. i'm 5'9" and up to 155-160lbs now. i'm still 'thin' but i've definitely added muscle now i just want more definition. soccer season is over and i haven't ran or anything in about 3 weeks. i'm going to start doing what you said and do cardio for about 20 min after each lifting session.

thanks!

 

 

sorry but i think i just broke my own record for longest post on here

[Cristian]

Hey guys,

 

I see many of you are soccer fans, I was just wondering if you are able to watch european competitions in the US such as the champions league, serie A, premier league etc.

[robert]

In the US we can watch a lot of the European socccer games but we have to get a special satelite dish or special cable system to watch them.

 

I was in Europe last summer and briefly lived in England back in 2002 so it was great to watch all that awesome soccer while over there. But I never went to a live game, just watched on TV.

 

-Robert

[MarginWalker79]

here in the states on cable you can get fox soccer channel. it shows tons of EPL games, french ligue 1, bundesliga, us college soccer and some serie a. they do show sky sports news everyday as well which is nice. fox sports espanol shows tons of brazilian and argentine games as well. so with those two i pretty much watch soccer anytime i want. then if you get random foreign speaking channels you can see games like i get a portuguese channel.

[chesty leroux]

I played soccer for 4 years in high school and then briefly at the university of pretoria in south africa ( i only played in 2 games and then i sprained my foot really bad by falling into an irrigation ditch). I really miss it! I'm not in any shape to play soccer at the moment but i would love to get back into it sometime.

[Aaron]

Soccer and dodgeball have got to be my two favorite sports ever.

 

Football's close.

 

Lifting too if that counts.

 

Hell anything with a ball or some weights and a team

[Hero]

dodgeball rules!

 

i like soccer, dodgeball, volleyball

[veggymeggy]

I went to a soccer game this weekend to watch a friend play....I was impressed!!! I had much more fun than I thought I would. I think soccer could grow on me. It's more aggressive than I realized, and I love that Plus the guys were HOT

 

Now I'm kind of mad that it's a sport I can't play - I can't make sudden changes of directions on my knee at ALL, and very limited amounts of running.

 

So - I'm not a convert yet - I'm not sure I can love a sport I can't play - but I admire it more now It's still not ok to ditch me for it though!

[Cristian]

Hey guys, some of you may already know that the next world cup will be hosted by Germany in June/July.

I will do all I can to go there and support Italy and I'm planning on going for the first 2 group matches. Then I'll try going again if they qualify for the next stages.

I think this could be a great opportunity for me to meet some of our vegan friends over there, the draw will be made on 9th December and I will then know where Italy will be playing.

So bear this in mind if you'd like to join me in a vegan-football(soccer) trip!

[compassionategirl]

Are you Italian Cristian?

 

If you are, that must be very interesting since I kow Italians love their meats and cheeses and cream dishes. How is your Italian family responding to your veg*ism? Do you have any discussions with them about the abuse that animals endure and all that stuff?

 

I am curious to know.

 

I think you are the only Italian vegan I know!!

[Cristian]

Are you Italian Cristian?

 

If you are, that must be very interesting since I kow Italians love their meats and cheeses and cream dishes. How is your Italian family responding to your veg*ism? Do you have any discussions with them about the abuse that animals endure and all that stuff?

 

I am curious to know.

 

I think you are the only Italian vegan I know!!

 

 

Hey CG, I'm indeed Italian but have been living in London for 7 years. I haven't seen my family since I became vegan (feb), we just talked over the phone but didn't go into too much details. And you're right in saying that Italians like meats etc., but in the Italian cusine there's plenty use of vegetables, legumes and obviously pasta and rice which are all very flexible. It's just a matter of educating people! I'll do my best with my family and friends over there but I don't think I'll get far, they'll just think I'm a weirdo!

I don't know much regarding the Italian vegan "scene", I do know that Turin hosted the 3rd edition of Vegfestival in June and that Peta is pretty active over there especially with regards to fur.

 

Anyway, I'm probably the only Italian on this forum!

[compassionategirl]

yes I think you are the only Italian vegan on this board! I cannot tell you how awesome I think it is that the compassionate seed within you has overpowered how you were "raised", all the Italian customs and traditions and meat eating lifestyle, what you saw growing up (i.e. everybody eating mostly animal dishes and still believing 100% that that is okay), etc etc.

 

You remind me of a friend I once had a long time ago. She was from Pamplona, Spain, and her father was a professional matador (bull killer/fighter for those that dont know what that word means). Anyway, she grew up her entire life not only in a country and culture that conditioned her to believe that bull fighting was okay, that it was tradition, that it was "Truth", but even her own father, whom she adores, was a matador.

 

She told me that one day when she was at her father's bull fighting matches, she was looking around at the crowd and was suddendly struck by the fact that each time her dad stuck that spear into the bull and drew blood, the crowd went wild. They were "turned on" by, and exhilirated by, the animals injuries, by the animals blood, by the animals suffering and staggering. The more the animal was speared, the wilder the crowd got and the louder they cheered.

 

She said that at that moment -- something happened inside of her, something changed, and all the 21 years of societal and familial conditioning were washed away -- only Truth and compassion remained standing. She was saddened that her people and her country took such a perverse pleasure in the torturing of an innocent animal, and that her country continued to justify this practice on the frail ground of "custom and tradition."

 

That was the last bull fight she ever attended and became a zealous anti-bull fighting activist and advocate, and has spent the years since that fateful bullfight trying to make this despicable form of human entertainment in Spain history once and for all, even though that will mean also the end of her father's professional matador career. She says, "my father should find a living that doesnt have blood money on his hands."

 

Truly an amazing story, and goes to show you that no matter how we were raised by our parents and brainwashed by society, sometimes people just one day have that light bulb moment where the wrongness of something becomes crystal clear and can no longer be ignored. I believe that most people know that it is wrong to kill innocent animals for food, for example. It is just a matter of do they have the courage to go against the grain, to throw out all that society has taught them, and stand up for a class of beings that are deemed by society at large to have only commercial worth, without any intrinsic value.

Edited November 6, 2005 by compassionategirl

[Cristian]

Great story CG, bullfighting is truly ing. As far as I know it's slowly getting better and bullfights are hosted in only few places now.

Thanks for your kind words, people like you and all the others on this community really helped me realise how wonderful it is to be a vegan and trying to make an impact on our society.