joelk

Either one of the routines xCx gave you should work fine. Your goal should be to get stronger and the size will follow if you are eating properly. Just stick to one routine and be consistent

Barbell curls and dumbell curls or close grip chinups, 2-3 working sets of 5-8 reps twice per week. They are a small muscle group so they don't need many sets or exercises and they tend to revover pretty quickly. Fast rep speed and don't lock out at the top or bottom of the movement.

Meals for yesterday were -

Meal 1 - Vega shake, chia seeds

Meal 2 - Sprouted rye bread, chia/sesame seeds mix, Sunwarrior shake

Meal 3 - Tempeh, broccoli, chia/sesame seed mix

Meal 4 - Sunwarrior shake, yerba mate, creatine

Meal 5 - BCAA, spirulina, creatine

Meal 6 - Lentil burger wrap, spinach leaves, tomato sauce. 1 packet vege chips

Trained with a mate of mine last night - we've been planning it for a while now, just haven't had the time to fit it in.

Just did some squats, chest, triceps and abs

Squats - Bar x 20

60kg x 8

100kg x 5

140kg x 3

165kg x 2

Dumbell bench press - 25kg x 8

35kg + 2 minibands x 6 x 3 sets

Bench press - 60kg x 8

100kg x 5

120kg x 3

135kg x 2

Bench press w/minibands - 70kg x 6 x 3 sets

Dumbell skullcrushers - 22kg + 1 miniband x 6 x 3 sets

Trunk twists - 10 x 3 sets

The protein deficient vegan diet will blow your guts out, guaranteed.

Yep, it's guaranteed....

Hey - I know I'm late but I was out of town - congrats on the comp!

Thank you!

Great looking workout bro, so the bands are pretty tough huh??? Might have to give them a try sometime!!!

Yeah the resistance they provide is very different to just lifting free weights. They'll train me to lift faster, which will give me more power

Sorry for the delayed reply...

Happy birthday mate

re-edited mine.. kicking butt!

Woohoo!! Well done, your numbers are looking good!

I always used to have half a serve of protein, teaspoon of creatine and a banana. I'm too lazy to train in the mornings now...

Thanks for the support mate, all of us are breaking down stereotypes in our own ways!

Am loving the gear you guys sent to me, the cap and t-shirts are getting a lot of use - wore them into GNC the other day when I picked up a rawfood bar and the guy was saying that he is interested in giving veganism a shot because he has never felt comfortable consuming animal products. He said he will check out the VBB site... I think he was a little surprised that a vegan was a lot more muscular than him!

Had a short workout last night - have started training at my parents place a couple of nights a week - left my old gym and will focus on training at the powerlifting club and with my brother, along with MVS.

My brother's gym has everything we need, although I'm looking around for a decent power rack to squat in and use for pullups - at the moment we have a chain hanging from the ceiling with the chinup bar attached, it spins around a bit when we're repping out on it.

I just did a little bit for legs, back and delts.

Squats - Bar x 20

60kg x 5

80kg + 2 mini bands x 5 x 5 - made such a difference going through the positive portion of the reps

Deadlifts - 60kg + 2 mini bands - 5 x 3 sets

Static lunges - 60kg x 5 x 3 sets

Pullups - 6 x 3 sets

Lateral raises - 10kg plate + 1 mini band - 5 x 3 sets - the bands put me to shame - couldn't really hold the plates up to get a contraction in my delts as the bands were pulling my hands down.

Meal 1 - Vega shake, coconut water, chia seeds - awesome stuff!!

Meal 2 - 2 slices of sprouted rye bread, chia seed and sesame seed mix ( I soaked them together overnight with a little bit of spirulina), spinach leaves and a veggie burger.

Meal 3 - Tempeh with broccoli and 1/2 avocado

Meal 4 - Sunwarrior shake, 3g creatine, yerba mate

Meal 5 - 10g BCAA's, 3g creatine, 20g spirulina

Meal 6 - Same as meal 2, except used tempeh in place of the veggie burger

Thanks mate!

Had a small session last night, wanted to test out the bands for the first time.

Just did a bit of upper body stuff, might do some legs tonight.

Bench press - Bar x 20

60kg x 5

100kg x 5

125kg x 3 x 3 sets - couldn't resist going heavier than I intended

Pushups with bands - 6 x 3 sets - Used the two really small ones, felt weird to start with but the type of resistance was awesome

Bench press with bands - 60kg x 6 x 3 sets - Used the two small ones again, I can't believe it took me so long to discover these, they will be very beneficial

One arm chinups - 5 x 3 sets

Military press - 60kg x 6

85kg x 2 x 2 sets

Dumbell skullcrushers with bands - 20kg x 6 x 3 sets

Back to strict dieting, comps are only a few months away and I need to get lean but retain as much strength as possible

Meal 1 - Ultimate meal shake - nearly finished, excited to try the vega

Meal 2 - Lentil burger, broccoli, chia seeds, raw quinoa (soaked it overnight)

Meal 3 - Same as meal 2 but had tempeh instead

Meal 4 - 10g BCAA's, yerba mate, 15g spirulina

Meal 5 - Sunwarrior shake, 3g creatine - so glad to have some more Sunwarrior. I think it is just as good as the Nitrofusion, just like the fact it is raw and tastes awesome

Meal 6 - Packet of tempeh, hummus, pita bread, mixed green salad

Dieting has just started... will slowly start cutting the calories down over the next few weeks and bump up my cardio

Thank you!!!

I appreciate the support everyone has given!

The next comp is in September, about a week before my bodybuilding comp, it will be interesting powerlifting and looking more like a bodybuilder.

Here are a few more pics

http://i664.photobucket.com/albums/vv3/Kirk1000/joelsqu_180b.jpg

http://i664.photobucket.com/albums/vv3/Kirk1000/joeldl_195.jpg

http://i664.photobucket.com/albums/vv3/Kirk1000/joeldl_195b.jpg

I hope spam had a good birthday and then can disappear

http://i664.photobucket.com/albums/vv3/Kirk1000/comp4.jpg

Here are the MVS boys.

Andrew, Noah, myself and Patrick.

http://i664.photobucket.com/albums/vv3/Kirk1000/comp3.jpg

http://i664.photobucket.com/albums/vv3/Kirk1000/comp2.jpg

http://i664.photobucket.com/albums/vv3/Kirk1000/comp1.jpg

Deadlift to 429 please

Yesterday was my maiden powerlifting comp, was a pretty good day.

Most of the really strong lifters were sitting out the comp because there are nationals to prepare for in a few weeks but there were a few guys who have a lot of potential.

I'm pretty happy with how I went, a 500kg total and won my weight category - albeit just one other guy...

There were 4 MVS lifters at the comp and all were very impressive, especially considering 3 of us were in our first comp.

I ended up with a 180kg squat, 125kg bench and 195kg deadlift (new pb)

Squat - It was my first time using knee wraps and am still shocked at how much of a difference they make, I think I'm starting to get the confidence to use them properly when i squat and to just 'drop' into the rep.

First set was 160kg - Felt quite easy, the wraps just sprung me right back up.

Second set was 170kg - Again it felt pretty good

I went for 180kg on the third which felt quite good again, it's much easier than trying it raw. Was pretty happy with that.

Bench press was next.

First set was 117.5kg which felt pretty good, I'm still not used to the paused reps but I guess it shows how strong I really am, compared to just bouncy stupid weights off my chest.

125kg felt ok, was more of a struggle though compared to how the first set and the squats felt. A couple of people watching said it looked pretty easy - was pretty happy because I needed to at least get that to get the 500kg total.

Tried for 130kg on the third but failed just below half way up. Not too disappointed, just means I have to work a bit harder on my benching. Bring on the bands now!!

Deadlifts were the last event and I had to get a pb to reach the total I was aiming for.

177.5kg was the first set and went up no problem

I then lifted 187.5kg, again it felt pretty good, so I then went for 195kg which is a pb and also would bring me up to the 500kg total.

Normally I would get psyched out when I go for pb's, which has happened to me a lot but I think the coaching from Noah and Robert Wilks at Melbourne uni helped me because it felt pretty good lifting it, I just tried to lift fast and the weight went up.

All in all it was a great day. Noah was the overall winner of the day with a 600kg total, it is great to see the MVS boys dominate.

Yep, I do the same. Usually once every week I bump my calories right up, keeps me sane too.

This years comp I'm going to try a massive carb up once a week, i.e. 600-1000 carbs for the day and then go back to my 80-100 carbs for the rest of the week.

We'll see how it goes.

VegannNY, I don't know if it is a gender thing but based on what I've discovered, women generally seem to respond better to a lower fat intake than what I would recommend for a male. The protein would be relatively the same but the women I have written diets for responded better to a higher intake of vegetable based carbohydrates and less fats, compared to the guys I have helped.

It is still a work in progress though as everyone responds slightly differently.

It's a better atmosphere than most other forums I've been on. More supportive

That's some funny stuff

Good luck for tomorrow!

Yeah, you're probably right mate, I just wanted to go and get a feel for the weights as I have hardly trained this week.

Didn't end up training, have to deal with a migraine and fever. Hope to wake up feeling better, there's no way I want to miss this comp.

Have not really eaten all day, a little bit of tempeh and salad and a Sunwarrior shake with coconut water. As nice as it was I forced myself to drink it.

Time to have an early night.

Got my order from Veganproteins this morning. Thank you Robert and Giacomo, you guys Rule!!

The package came just as I was leaving for work, ended up going in late as I was checking out all the good stuff.

Now I can get back onto the Sunwarrior and give the Vega a proper go, am looking forward to this.

Will have a light training session tonight, didn't train at the club last night, still not feeling 100% and want to feel as strong as I can for tomorrow.

Have pretty much resided to the fact that I won't weigh in at the weight I was hoping to, still hovering around 84-85kg but already feel quite depleted due to not eating much this week. Damn muscles are weighing too much!!

Either way, I'll just try and get all nine lifts and I will be happy.

Looking forward to hearing how the comp goes. good luck with it! Glad you got the bands and that your being patient and not using this immediately! I am so proud!

Hahaha!!

I've put them back in the box and kept them out of site for now.

Thanks for the support, there should be some videos to post next week

The coconut water has been great, thanks for the suggestion!