VeganEssentials

The problem being that most testosterones don't have long lives in the body after the last dose. From the people I know who have used, they always say that there's a significant "crash" anywhere from a few days to a few weeks out (depending on what they'd been taking). Typically, the more potent testosterones have shorter lives in the body and require frequent dosing, whereas others might take about 2 weeks before they've done all they can do, it depends on what people are using. Even with blends that do taper down over a few weeks, usually those who are using will start their doses of SERMs almost as soon as their steriod cycle is over to prevent going from feeling great to feeling terrible, since your body will essentially stop producing natural testosterone for long periods of time after using synthetic unless SERMs are incorporated in order to stimulate natural production again. Oh, the things you learn from hanging out with guys who are chemically enhanced!

Usually 80-90 minutes total including warm-up times. My warm-up is always fast (usually 5-10 minutes before I'm into my working sets), and if I'm doing 2 body parts in one session, I almost always alternate between the two with little rest time. So, as in the case of the last workout, I'd bench, then throw on a belt about 45-60 seconds later, squat, take my belt off, and head back to the bench again soon afterward. I find that if I alternate what I'm working between two parts, I don't require much rest and can get done in decent time, the only day that I don't normally do that is on Fridays with overhead work and deadlifts - I do my first lifts separately, then all follow-up secondary lifts will be alternating between the two.

Light chest day with leg training tonight, got to squeeze it in now as I have another eye surgery on Wednesday, which means no lifting for 3 days afterward. Flat barbell bench - 1x5 @ 135 lbs. 1x5 @ 185 1x3 @ 225 1x2 @ 255 1x2 @ 280, wasn't feeling it for going heavier, made it my light day instead 10x2 @ 205 for speed doubles, did two sets between each squat set noted below Squats, parallel or just a hair below - 1x5 @ 135 lbs. 1x3 @ 225 1x3 @ 275 1x2 @ 315 1x2 @ 345 1x2 @ 350 1x2 @ 355 1x2 @ 360 1x2 @ 365 Felt good with some doubles that made me work a little bit, none were too tough, not going for broke for a while but need to slowly rebuild feeling confident with weight on my back again Incline barbell bench - 1x2 @ 155 1x2 @ 175 1x2 @ 185 1x2 @ 195 1x2 @ 205 Front delts getting worn out (still a bit worn out from the overhead pressing on Friday), cut them at that Front squats - 1x2 @ 135 lbs. 1x2 @ 155 1x2 @ 175 1x2 @ 185 1x2 @ 205 1x5 @ 175 DB Spoon presses - 2x15 @ 70 lb. DBs Lying leg curls - 2x15 @ 150 Push-ups with Slingshot - 1x50, just barely made it, triceps totally fried afteward Felt good with it, will be doing upper back and maybe some stone lifting on Tuesday after the election day madness is over, can't wait to no longer hear about political crap for another few years once this is over!

Curious on that as well - considering that HCG (the real stuff, not the "HCG Diet" crap) is typically derived from the urine of from pregnant horses, something I'd prefer to avoid if possible, I'd likely be more prone to taking a low dose of something like Androgel if I had to pick and choose, but perhaps there are other reasons. Perhaps SERMs offer the ability to take some lapses in between without medicating whereas a direct dose of testosterone would be continual?

Quick session last night, not much time and was pretty worn out, skipped deadlifts but did some overhead pressing and lower back assistance work - Overhead log press in the power rack - 1x10 @ empty log (75 lbs.) 1x5 @ 125 lbs. 1x3 @ 150 1x2 @ 175 3x5 @ 185, last set got 3, then had to hit singles with a few seconds in between. Really fried on the heavier reps with these, front delts get killed fast and using zero leg drive definitely adds to the challenge 2x10 @ 150 lbs. Good Mornings in the rack to about 75 degree forward lean, butt pushed way back - 1x10 @ 135 lbs. 1x10 @ 185 1x10 @ 225 1x10 @ 235 1x10 @ 245 Just a quick run of sets through a 10 minute time frame and that was it. Legs and upper back work tomorrow, chest and other assistance work on Tuesday!

Definitely go for dumbbells over machines, that's the way to do it!

Schedule off again this past few days due to a sick kitty who required a few trips to the vet, but things are getting better and got in for some chest and leg training tonight - Flat barbell bench press - 1x5 @ 135 lbs. 1x5 @ 185 1x3 @ 225 10x5 @ 235, much stronger than past sessions with higher volume on these Squats to just below parallel - 1x5 @ 135 lbs. 1x5 @ 185 1x3 @ 225, done as rock-bottom pause each rep 1x3 @ 275, done as rock-bottom pause each rep 5x5 @ 315, all sets easy, going to start upping 10 lbs./session now on these and alternate weeks doing 5s with doubles (next week starting doubles for 10x2 @ 335) Barbell incline press, wide grip - 1x20 @ 135 lbs. Safety Squat bar squats to 14" box, pause on box each rep and explode up - 3x10 @ 225 lbs. Horizontal bench w/ green and white Elite FTS bands - 1x20 w/ both bands, took off white band, did 20 more half reps to finish Lying leg curl - 3x25 @ 100 lbs. Might get in for upper back work tomorrow if all goes well, otherwise it'll be deadlifts and overhead work on Friday as usual!

I use them on rare occasions, they're not always bad as a secondary exercise, but if you're after the best results, you'll want to focus primarily on free weight movements first. Neglecting the stabilizer muscles by putting too much focus on machines tends to create weak spots in the chain, so use machines sparingly, and always after your main lifts have been done!

Shoulders and lower back work today - Overhead 10" diameter log press in the rack, rolling log out and back into position each rep - 1x5 @ 75 lb. empty log 1x5 @ 125 lbs. 5x5 @ 175 lbs. 1x15 @ 125 lbs. Deadlifts - 1x5 @ 135 lbs. 1x5 @ 225 1x3 @ 315 1x2 @ 365 1x1 @ 405 5x2 @ 425 No high rep set, strained my QL a bit somewhere in there, didn't feel much like deadlifting more after that (should be fine in a day or two, just minorly sore) Seated overhead strict press, wide grip - 2x12 @ 135 lbs. Safety squat bar good mornings - 3x25 @ 135 lbs. 1-arm band standing band press, red band looped under foot and over hand, pressing overhead - 1x25 each arm That was it, short and simple, upper back and chest on Sunday!

Definitely too much arm work there. Consider that I still have arms that are just a hair under 18" without doing ANY direct bicep/tricep work, and you'll see that you can still get some size with little to no direct focus. Most people hammer their arms WAY too much and it holds them back, there's no need to feel like your biceps are going to explode as an indicator progress, sometimes less truly is more. I'd only do one biceps/triceps movement per week to take it easier on them (I usually do one direct biceps day every, say, 2-3 months just for fun, and that's it!), no need to spend half your workout curling something when it could better be spent on something else. Remember, pull-ups will tax the biceps to some degree, rows will do it as well, benching will do triceps as well as overhead pressing - every time you hit a compound lift for upper body, biceps and triceps are being hit, just not that you're going to feel a massive pump from it. Keep it short and simple for arm work - some people have found that the ONLY way to grow their arms is to do very little for them, unless you have incredible superhuman recovery abilities or unless you're using steroids, few people need to spend all that much time on arm work to gain, it's more about the compound lifts and getting proper nutrition. That's why I often do chest/upper back together and alternate lifts between them (the notion that you need to do body parts in sequence is outdated, you can do well with a bit of break by alternating two parts), it's pretty much a complementary lift day that doubles as an indirect arm workout, which saves time and keeps my energy levels high. So, that's why I'll bench a set, then do rows, then back to benching and alternate similarly through my workout to not feel like I'm fading fast. So far that has worked for me, the only day I do straight bodyparts in sequence is my deadlift and overhead day, where I take longer 3-4 minute breaks between deadlift sets and don't want to keep moving all the time. Hope this helps a bit!

For me as an endomorph, keeping diet tight is key to gaining mass without getting fat - I can put on BOTH fat and muscle easily by just stuffing myself, but to do it correctly, it takes a lot of planning on meals focused on protein as the base, few carbs during the first half of the day (only quality sources, no bread/rice/pasta/etc.) and focusing on most carb intake shortly after training. I do very little cardio work, if any these days, and manage to keep fat off via diet and incoporating some higher rep work into my training (which can be seen in my log). I find that if I work through various rep ranges I can still focus on building plenty of streng and size but also can use it well to keep fat off with some endurance rep sets near the end of my workout. If you're getting adequate food intake, it may be that you need to tweak your training protocol (I'm just going through your log now, had missed it earlier). Looking at some of your lifts, it looks like you may be doing more volume than necessary to get some of the upper body gains you need - 10x6 on some of the lifts might be better changed to something more like this as an example: Posted workout - Monday: Jogging, as much as I can do in thirty minutes Incline DB Press: 10x6 Pullup: 10x6 DB Flyes: 10x6 (Machine if benches are taken) BB Bent Row: 10x6 21's (I like them) I would change to - 1. Do a light 5 minute warm-up speed walk or slow jog to start, but save the 30 minute stuff for post workout, not pre workout in case it may be hampering things a bit. 2. Increase weight/intensity for the main lifts like the incline press, try 2-3 progressive warm-up sets then 5x5 with my standard "intensity scale" as follows: Set 1 - be at a weight where you don't have a problem managing 5 reps, and you could probably get 2 more squeezed out if you really fought for it Set 2 - should feel like you can definitely get a 6th rep, 7 would have been too much Set 3 - 5 reps is tough at this point, a 6th may have happened, but may not have Set 4 - 5 reps definitely tough at this point, definitely no gas left for a 6th rep, just managing to finish the prescribed 5 is the most you could manage Set 5 - 5 reps is a battle, last rep should be far from easy, and you might even find that you need to take a few seconds to catch breath after the 4th rep to get the set done. You do NOT want to have it where you could get beyond 5, otherwise the weight is too light 3. If you can get 10x6 on pull-ups, either work to do fewer sets with more reps as your secondary lift for upper back (try something like 3x12 or 5x5 with weight suspended for added resistance). 4. Flyes, while an okay "finisher" shouldn't be a major component of a chest workout if you want to put on size. I occasionally like doing 2-3 sets at the end if my chest is really tight (usually doing 20 rep sets to stretch out), but time could be better spent on something else like close-grip flat benching, or, if you only like working with dumbbells, try palms-in flat DB benching where your arms almost graze your sides on the way down, elbows tucked in with no flare outward. 5. I'd do the bent rowing first, it tends to be what will take more out of you when you go heavy vs. pull-ups, and would change to more of the 5x5 as noted above. 6. Keep the 21s if you want them, you've got to keep it fun and interesting so long as you aren't compromising your progress. Sometimes a few minor tweaks can really make a difference, so just a few ideas to consider to see if they might help!

Thanks for the compliments, everyone! It is an interesting progress, now the mission is to stay injury-free and be stronger and in better shape when I hit 40 in a year and a half than I've ever been before! I'm a fraction of an inch shy of 6' to the mark (I think all the heavy compression may have squished me down a bit over the years, I seem to remember being 6' at one point ) Not short but not a giant, despite early predictions that I was going to be close to 6'5" when I towered over all the other kids through elementary school.

My, what a road it has been these past few years! Me at my low point circa late 2009, perpetually injured and just plain out of shape despite still doing some lifting http://veganessentials.com/images/RyanPics.jpg Forward to 2010, a much better time after lots of dieting and work to lose what fat I could http://veganessentials.com/images/Me2010.jpg Then, injuries stacked up again, went from around 225 lbs. in the photo above to about 242 lbs. and was about 18-20 lbs. from looking like I did in the first photo. No photos of that time, was just too depressed to bother. Now on to the current day! Lower back rehab complete, on the comeback trail with a better diet and a good training protocol that works for me, more upper body mass @ around 226 lbs. bodyweight but lost a few lbs. in the legs over the past few years while rehabbing and not doing much lower body work. Only regret was not being able to get a good back shot, it is by far my strongest point as my back width and thickness has gotten MUCH better in the past year http://i1126.photobucket.com/albums/l618/bigoldbag/New1.jpg Here's to hoping I'll have some shots for 2013 that feature the big legs I used to have along with less fat!

stcalico is spot-on, if you restrict calories too long your system will adapt and metabolism will slow to match your intake as a form of self-preservation, it can be scary to break that cycle but don't fear it too much, it can be done. I was somewhat the same at one point, had been up to 270ish as a teenager and got down to 192 lbs. in my first year of training, but starved myself for most of a year and was living off of 2000 cal./day while weight training 5x/week and running 6 miles/day at least 3 times weekly. Basically, my body was in complete famine mode, and made the most of what it had but wouldn't lose any fat. If cutting calories were all it took to lose fat, we wouldn't be bombarded with various diet plans, fat loss products, etc., so that's the golden rule to keep in mind in that restricting calories does NOT necessarily produce the results you want. I found that my best way to lose fat is keep protein high, carbohydrates to a low/moderate level, and to get a fair amount of healthy unsaturated fats daily. This allows me to eat MUCH more food without gaining fat - but, I do have to sacrifice a lot of the convenient things I used to eat that revolved around bread, rice, and pasta, which used to dominate a lot of my meals years ago. Some of us just respond differently to various macronutrient ratios, I cannot lose fat and have a carb-heavy diet (not counting good vegetables, a bit of fruit, and a few whole grain items), but now all my meals are prepared around protein as the base and everything else is planned secondary to it. Another thing - excessive cardio on top of restricted calories will only hurt your goals further. Ditch the cardio ASAP for now, and consider moving to weight training instead. Cardio does NOT help you build any muscle (which will adjust your body composition, even if you did not lose any bodyfat for a bit but put on lean mass, you'll technically be leaner over time and will have a lower bodyfat percentage), and will starve off hard-built muscle faster than you can imagine, especially with a low-calorie diet. Pain does NOT equal gain for cardio work, sure you may be improving your endurace, but you're also making sure you're not getting any closer to your end goal at the same time. A sound, sensible weight training protocol done for a few months with minimal cardio (perhaps 2-3 days of moderate paced 30 minutes walks, but no more than that) would be a better approach for now to kick-start things a bit in the right direction. More muscle = more calories burned, which will get your metabolism moving in the way you're hoping. After all, if what you were doing was actually going to work, you'd have reached your goal by now, so it's time to abandon ship on your previous approaches and start from a new angle. So, my recommendation for a potential turnaround on things would be - 1. Increase calories to 2000 per day for now. Make it primarily protein (something like 2 servings of Vega One twice per day would be a good start, that'd get you most of the way there), or, something similar that's protein-dominant and has no crappy empty calorie carbohydrates in it. 2. Start a sensible weight training program that will get you in the gym 3x/week initially. Not "train until you die" with endless sets and reps, rather something that focuses on good compound movements to hit legs, upper and lower back, chest, shoulders and a bit of arm work (don't worry about ab stuff, it's not going to help you lose any midsection fat). 60 minutes max training 3 times per week, maybe alternating upper and lower body workouts, done with free weights and lifts that have proven to be good like squats, deadlifts, benching, rowing, pull-ups (or, pulldown machine) and overhead presses should be the base. 3. Each week for the 6 weeks after starting, increase calories by 100-150 calories/day with good whole foods (you can begin to incorporate more quality carbohydrates at this time and not just protein), maybe a bit of good fats like olive oil or coconut oil, as once you get into the weight training you're going to need more calories for recovery. You want to SLOWLY acclimate your system to getting used to the extra food intake, and unlike with cardio, after weight training your body will actually do something good with the extra calories by helping build more muscle. You may find in time that with such a system, you'll eventually be eating 3000+ calories per day once your metabolism gets back to where it should be (I eat around 3300-3700 cal./day on my training days, around 3000 on my off days now), so long as the food is what your body is making proper use of and you're responding well, things will work out, but there also needs to be PATIENCE, nothing is going to show amazing results overnight, but after a few months, you're going to see much better results than you are by starving yourself and running your body into the ground with excessive cardio that's only killing valuable muscle mass while keeping your fat levels the same. There's no perfect way that we just happen to fall into, some of us have years and years of experimenting under out belts and are still figuring things out, myself included. If we could all lose fat doing the same thing, there'd be only one diet and exercise program you'd need, and obviously, that isn't the case. Follow what has been proven to work, avoid the things that are keeping you in a rut, and I'm sure you're going to be closer to your goals in due time!

Great work on all those deadlift PRs, Chewy! Hell, you're only 5 lbs. behind my all-time best but you're about 55 lbs. lighter in bodyweight, you're making me want to give up and switch to bodybuilding now Looks like 2013 is going to be the year for you to hit in the 270kg range, at your bodyweight that's going to be a massive number for a pull, can't wait to see the day it happens!

Schedule still a bit off with being reall busy, but getting in to lift any chance I can to stay on track! Upper back and chest work tonight: Weighted pull-ups - 1x5 @ bodyweight (229 clothed tonight) 1x5@ 25 lbs added 1x3 @ 45 lbs added 3x3 @ 95 lbs added, done as singles with 5-10 seconds between reps, all were decent quality, definitely showing improvement Flat barbell bench press - 1x5 @ 135 lbs 1x5 @ 185 1x3 @ 225 4x3 @ 275, done as singles with 30 seconds between each rep, would rack, rest and go after time was up Barbell rows - 1x5 @ 225 lbs 3x5 @ 285 Barbell bench from pins at weak point about 6" off chest - 3x3 @ 275 lbs to focus on my transition from chest to triceps where I need improvement Wide grip pull ups - 2x12 @ bodyweight Flat barbell bench with doubled yellow mini bands - 2x10 @ 135 lbs plus bands (about 150 lbs bottom tension, about 200 at lockout) Seated V handle row with blue monster band (about 150 lbs tension at start, about 200 lbs at finish) - 2x20 Wrapped up with 3 circuits of the following, 30 seconds rest between circuits - Barbell shrugs - 25 reps @ 335 lbs. Face down on incline bench front raises - 20 reps @ 20 lb dumbbells Two handled cable rear delt flyes - 25 reps Wiped out afterward, but planning on leg day tomorrow!

They are nice, aren't they? I've watched one of the guys at our facility squat 800 with one and do some 900 lb. rack pulls with it, not a millimeter of flex, and nobody could pile enough weight on one to ever have a need for more room

Hey, Mini Forklift! I find that if I squat and deadlift heavy in the same week where I'm having to battle out my sets with everything I've got, my CNS gets fried fast and I lose strength and feel terrible. That's why I cut the deadlift doubles from 10x2 to 5x2 with one high-rep moderate set afterward, it's a lot easier on my recovery but still pushes me hard enough to keep moving forward. If I weren't getting myself to keep on top of squatting again, I'd do more deadlifting, but it's better now for me to keep it shorter and simpler for the time being, definitely easier on recovery and doesn't hinder my progress. But, if I feel bad on a particular day, I'll modify to work around it vs. forcing myself to fail at heavy sets, I've always trained intuitively vs. forcing myself into a program that requires me to adhere to specifics week after week, just the way that's always felt best on my body. Hope the training is going well!

Thanks, Cellar Yeti! Too wiped out to train last night, too much stress took a toll on me, but got in today instead for overhead work and deadlifts. Stric log press in the rack, roll log out and back into position on pins each rep - 1x10 @ empty log (turns out it is actually 75 lbs. and not 70, so I've been short-chaning my weights ever since I got that thing about 7 years back!) 1x5 @ 125 lbs. 1x3 @ 175 5x3 @ 185, short 60 seconds rest between sets 2x15 @ 135, each set got 13, had to catch a few breaths, 2 more to finish Deadlifts - 1x5 @ 135 lbs. 1x5 @ 225 1x3 @ 315 1x2 @ 365 5x2 @ 415, felt good, thinking I've got to be closer to 450 now for a max, but not going to test until sometime in late November once this doubles cycle and a few weeks @ 5x5 are over with. 1x16 @ 315, figure I'll add 1 rep each week until I get to 20, then we'll see what sounds fun to toss in at that point. Lean-away DB lateral raises holding on to support pillar - 1x15 @ 40 lb. DB each arm 1x20 @ 30 lb. DB each arm Safety Squat bar good mornings - 1x20 @ 145 1x20 @ 155 1x20 @ 165, all done to about 75 degree forward angle, hips and ass pushed way back, explosive up for max speed each rep Done after that, keeping it simple for things for now, will do some upper back work on Monday night!

Great work!

Great training log to follow, the world needs more vegan powerlifters!

Exactly - goal is to try and get close to the old numbers while keeping around 230 lbs., it doesn't pay to get fat just to be stronger any longer!

If it were at my peak about 6 years back, it'd be as follows: Squat - 525 lbs. Bench - 315 lbs. Deadlift - 545 lbs. All done at bodyweight between 250 and 275 lbs. at the time. If we're talking in today's terms, it'd be more like: Squat - estimated @ 405 lbs. (haven't gone heavy in a bit, will test again in a month or two) Bench - 300 lbs. Deadlift - estimated @ 440 lbs. (will test again in a month) All done at bodyweight between 225 and 230 lbs. now.

Good to see you back around these parts, Sydney! Sometimes it's tough to keep trying to hammer home information that should be common knowledge or common sense (though, some people seem to want to create their own "science", and they don't give up easily!), but I keep on doing what I can. I've been here too long to give up even when I have to battle some strange notions that just won't seem to relent - though I'll say I've had a few close calls, but I consider it my civic duty to stick it out and try to make sure that things applying to training and diet such as the priciple of individual differences doesn't get buried in my absence Hope to see you around more, and sorry to hear your back has been giving you trouble, that's a problem I know all too well (5 years of getting worse, only in the past 9 months have I finally gotten much better!), hopefully it's something that won't give you trouble for too long!

Keep up the great work! As for knee pain, something to consider as well - if you happen to have flat feet by any means (or, are used to wearing shoes with poor arch support for too long), orthotics might alleviate the pain overnight. My left knee was KILLING me last fall/winter, couldn't squat without 3 days of pain afterward, any jumping, crouching or fast movement would set it off as well. Chiro did a foot scan, got some custom orthotics, and I was pain-free within 2 days of wearing them. Sometimes even a slight imbalance or poor arch support can lead to strange knee pain out of nowhere, all it might take is something simple to help correct it as well!