Gorilla

Any tips on mass-building greatly appreciated! My typical daily menu at the moment looks something like this: --- Breakfast: Fruit salad with pumpkin seeds. Bowl of porridge oats, with a small amount of ground linseed and hempseed sprinkled on top. Snack: Dried fruit, nuts Lunch: Salad with sunflower seeds, pumpkin seeds, pine nuts. Bowl of quinoa. Snack: Rice cakes, peanut butter, banana. Dinner: Steamed veg, rice or Wholemeal pasta in tomato sauce with mushrooms or courgettes or broccoli or Lentli/bean dish with veg, potatoes Snack: Bowl of puffed amaranth cereal, fresh fruit. --- I drink still mineral water all day long: with meals, in between meals. I drink lots of herbal teas too. With my breakfast I take an echinacea tablet, gingko tablet, garlic tablet, and since I've been in Germany I've been taking a one-a-day slow-release multivit and mineral tablet. These are the only dietary supplements I take. I don't take any protein powders or protein tablets. I was drinking soya milk for a time and using it on my cereal but I read an article that warned very strongly against soya products, saying that it decreases testosterone levels. I'm not sure about it. I've read contradictory articles about soya and I just don't know what to believe. Yes, the rice cakes and puffed amaranth cereal are "processed" but there are no additives in the products I buy. I've read contradictory articles about rice cakes and other puffed cereal. Some say that they are high G.I, cause insulin spike, diabetes, fat production, while others say that they are an easily digestible, wholesome source of carbohydrate and fibre. I always combine the rice cakes and the cereal with low G.I fresh fruit so I'm hoping I'm not doing anything bad. Pasta is another controversial issue. When I'm out and about I always have a packet of "Studentenfutter" (nuts and raisins) to snack on! Any comments appreciated. Suggestions on foods that I could add to my diet. Things that I have overlooked. I'm planning to prepare more dishes with pulses and also have a go at some home-made hummus. Anyway, here are those photos thatI took last week to show where I am at at the moment http://img485.imageshack.us/img485/5246/guitar7ev.jpg http://img485.imageshack.us/img485/4999/sculpted16lw.jpg http://img485.imageshack.us/img485/9788/sculpted28cb.jpg http://img485.imageshack.us/img485/1323/sculpted37jp.jpg Best wishes, Gorilla

Hi. Just a couple of tips: Prunes, raisins, figs. They rule. Nuts: cashews are my favourite. Mmm cashews. "Lecker, lecker"!!! (That's German for "give me some cashews"!!) Oh yes it's PARTICULALY hard at Xmas time. But that's all over now and the new year is here! Bring on 2006! It's gonna be AWESOME!!

I'm 21 from England. In England you can drink alcohol in bars from the age of 18. I can honestly say I drank more alcohol before I was 18 than I have drunk in the last three years! Indeed, 12 months ago I decided to cut out alcohol COMPLETELY! At first I found the social pressure quite challenging but once I made the unbelievable progress that I've made with my physique I had the confidence to decline alcoholic drinks politely. I'm happy with my definition and I don't want to lose it: http://img485.imageshack.us/img485/4999/sculpted16lw.jpg I've discovered that you certainly DO NOT need alcohol to have a good time, party lots, perform on stage, fool around and have lots of friends! Since going alcohol free I feel more confident! I've been in Germany for about three months now as an exchange student. I've been to practically every student party/bar night/pub night. I know pretty much all of the guys and girls in my hall of residence by name. I have great friends and feel good. Alcohol sucks! I think everyone here is alcohol-free anyway but I just wanted to add my success story with regard to the POISON that is alcohol!! PS So what do you drink at parties/in pubs?? Well, mineral water, when possible. Of course, juice sucks as well, especially the concentrated kind, and ESPECIALLY these menacing "juice drinks", which contain raw cane sugar, another POISON!!! You have to look out! I'm gonna post on the thread about junk food now.

Dude! That's awesome! I'm pumping up my arms as well!

Thanks so much for this Hero. I needed to be reminded of this! It's one of my New Year's Resolutions to go to bed earlier and rise earlier. The thing is, since I've been in Germany I've been partying and socialising like mad, getting to know everyone and making new friends. Often I found myself going to bed as dawn was breaking, which is crazy. Now that I know everyone and feel really settled I'll be able to get into a more sensible routine. PS A note on New Year's Resolutions: last year one of my resolutions was to cut out ALCOHOL completely. I'm going to start a thread on alcohol...

Nice pics Rob. Awesome stuff!

Yoga works miracles! Echinacea too!!

Frohes neues Jahr!

Hi! Thanks: I'm not the only one then! I've been wanting to post all the time. Thanks to the good advice and good vibes here in the forum I've made good progress since I've been in Germany. Here are a couple of pictures I took with my webcam the other day: http://img485.imageshack.us/img485/5246/guitar7ev.jpg http://img485.imageshack.us/img485/4999/sculpted16lw.jpg http://img485.imageshack.us/img485/9788/sculpted28cb.jpg http://img485.imageshack.us/img485/1323/sculpted37jp.jpg Physique-specific advice/criticism appreciated. I've missed a lot of stuff on the forum while I've been absent but I'm hoping to catch up soon. Best wishes, Gorilla

Hey everybody. It's frustrating because I still don't have internet. Just wishing everyone a Happy New Year and lots of success. Gorilla : )

Ja bestimmt. Leider habe ich noch kein Internet bei mir. Mach's gut : )

That would be more than awesome! I'm loving it in Bonn. Today we went to Cologne for the carnival opening ceremony. It was good fun. I don't have internet in my room yet so I have been absent of late. Keep up the good work everyone! James the Oxfordian : )

Great work Alex. I'm loving it in Bonn. I have a great gym 200 metres from my apartment! Mach's gut!

Great to see those training photos. I've found Werdau on my map of Germany and it seems to be due east from Bonn. It would be cool to come along and support you. I will definitely look into it once I've got myself sorted in Bonn

Hi welcome Awesome photo! Quality muscle. What a foundation! You're gonna be MASSIVE. I'm also 175lbs and bulking up. Like you, I'm training hard in the gym, getting plenty of rest, drinking water all day long and eating as much food as possible! I totally agree: no supplements needed. Just look at the Gorilla!! Peace.

Yeah, I was a vegetarian for 11 years, and I fell into that category. In nearly all the time I was vegetarian, I can't recall ever meeting a vegan or being exposed to information about the egg and dairy industry. Once I was, I pretty quickly concluded that going vegan was the only right thing to do. However, even once I made that decision, it was a bit of long process to actually go completely vegan, mainly because of willpower problems and not preparing myself properly for certain situations. I'm not at all proud of that period of time when my actions did not coincide with my conscience, and I wish I could have been stronger. Exactly the same with me. As it says on the vegan society website ( http://www.vegansociety.com/html ) it's a matter of information. What with some of the information in the media, one can be forgiven for believing such ludicrous myths as "without meat you don't get enough protein or iron or B12" or "without eggs you can't get enough protein" or "without milk you won't get enough calcium" or "without fish you won't get enough EFAs". Likewise, you can be forgiven for thinking that it's not cruel to mass-produce dairy products and eggs. The companies don't tell you that they keep their cows indoors in uncomfortable, noisy conditions with pumps connected to them for hours on end. They don't tell you that they keep their hens in extremely uncomfortable conditions and that these hens suffer from all sorts of diseases because they don't have enough fresh air and are not allowed to move around. They like to boast about their "free range" hens but often this is no better, with hens being kept indoors most of the time for laying and then being slaughtered once they stop producing eggs at the required rate. At least we know now and can try to make others aware of the truth.

I bloody love a challenge me. Only just spotted this thread. I'll let you know when I break the 1000 barrier. Good work guys. Keep on rocking

Hey Corey. Thanks. Yes, it's a wonderful community. I'm just getting everything together for Germany now. I'm flying out there next Wednesday. Reading about your travelling on your website is a real inspiration. Sounded like an amazing experience

Hey dudes. I'm just mentioning this in case anybody has been doing the same thing as me: For my chest routine I've been leaving the BB bench press late in the routine, when my muscles are already pretty fatigued. I usually do bodyweight press ups, DB incline press, parallel bar dips, then either DB or BB flat bench. Anyway, today I started with the BB flat bench, which allowed me to move more weight than ever before.

Hey Michael, Yes I like to use the indoor rower as part of my cardio regime. Thanks so much for the link. I've been paying way too much for my hemp seeds, methinks. Like 4 times more than that! What an amazing restaurant! Cheers, James

Safe bro. Welcome to the team. Everyone's awesome here. Take it easy

sleep. water. diet.

Hey I've been looking around on the site and found this article: http://www.veganbodybuilding.com/article/724 Name: Alexander Dargatz Age: 28 Height: 186cm (6’1”) Weight: approx. 86kg at the moment (190lbs) Birthplace: Frankfurt, Germany Current Residence: Frankfurt, Germany Well I've put two and two together. I know I'm slow, sorry. But what I wanted to say is WOW what a physique! I am so so so inspired. And what you say in the interview is, like, SO spot on. Nuff respect

Yeah, I didn't know that use of the word either, Daywalker, but the Oxford English Dictionary says: cider n. 1. (Brit) an alcoholic drink made from fermented apple juice 2 . (apple cider) (N. Amer) a cloudy unfermented drink made from crushed apples. In other words it's REAL apple juice! Great stuff. I don't know if you've heard of Copella but they make the best apple juice. One of my best friends is the grand-daughter of the founder of Copella so when I go round to her house we drink bottles of it! They do apple and elderflower, apple and raspberry, and other delicious combinations as well as the original!

Cheers dudes http://img143.imageshack.us/img143/1518/picture791xc.th.jpg That gives me confidence. Ja, ich glaube eine WG wird besser sein, besonders wenn es awesome Menschen wie ihr gibt