Derek

Thanks guys!!! Had an AWESOME day thanks to that! Everyone in this city reads Style so it was super exciting!

I also hit my shoulders today for the first real time in two weeks and had a fantastic workout on them too so I'm really happy! No pain!

Barbell Military Press: 95x15, 115x12, 115x12, 125x12, 125x14

Upright Row: 95x12, 95x12, 95x12, 95x12

Super set Bent Over Laterals: 10x12, 10x12, 10x12, 10x12

Seated DB Lateral: 10x12 (FST-7 style, got wicked pump!)

Short and sweet. FST-7s have been making my delts grow like nothing else. Mixed results on the other muscle groups, but my shoulders love 'em!!

Let's see pics from Baltimore VegFest after this weekend!

 

Would love to see some group pics.

 

Have fun meeting our other DC VBB members!

 

Stay SWOL!

 

RC

Will do!!!! Can't wait, and gettin' SWOL-er all the time

Wow. Impressive to say the very least! Thanks for the inspiration!

Thank YOU! I'll keep up the work with all this awesome support!!

Short post b/c I'm sleepy. Got our NEW VBB shirts yesterday and rocked them in the gym today! Hit Quads AM and Hams/calves PM (brutal)! None of my injuries spoke up so I'm really happy about that, and I even let the weight creep up on a couple moves! Wanted to kill it, so I even took a set of squats to 30 reps! Was really light weight for me, but I can't go heavy yet and I'm taking it all the way to the floor so it was tough!

Dumbbell Walking Lunges 35.0x12,55.0x12,55.0x12,55.0x12

Barbell Squat 115.0x15,135.0x15,155.0x20,155.0x30

Leg Press 270.0x15,360.0x20,360.0x20,410.0x20

Leg Extensions 130.0x12,130.0x12,130.0x12,130.0x12,130.0x12,110.0x12,110.0x12

Since I started splitting up legs like this my hamstrings have been progressing by leaps and bounds. Wish I had started sooner!

Seated Calf Raise 135.0x12,135.0x12,160.0x12,185.0x12,165.0x12

Calf Press On Leg Press Machine 360.0x12,360.0x12,365.0x12,380.0x12,360.0x12,360.0x12,360.0x12

Lying Leg Curls 70.0x12,90.0x12,110.0x12,120.0x11

Seated Leg Curl 90.0x12,110.0x12,130.0x12,130.0x12

Romanian Deadlift 115.0x12,115.0x12,115.0x12,115.0x12,115.0x12,115.0x12

Marcella and I started the day off with 6 30sec wind sprints before breakfast. It was a gorgeous morning so they were actually enjoyable! This evening I was stoked because I felt stronger than I have in months! It was especially satisfying after having to hold back on yesterdays chest workout. The weight went up on everything, but I was most happy about the 70lb pull ups I did! Haven't gotten that in probably 9 months!

Pull ups 0.0x15, 35.0x9, 55.0x8, 70.0x5, 70.0x6, 35.0x10

T Bar Row 90.0x12, 135.0x12, 160.0x12, 180.0x10

V Bar Pull Down 80.0x12, 100.0x12, 120.0x12, 130.0x12

Barbell Bent Over Row 80.0x12, 100.0x12, 100.0x12

Machine Row 110x12 (FST-7 style)

Off day tomorrow

Getting back into the swing of it! Today I did a 2-a-day (which I'm supposed to be sworn off of from overtraining) but the evening workout was just triceps since I ran out of time and couldn't do them Thursday. I had to mix up my chest routine and keep it low volume, light weight and high reps to avoid bothering my shoulder, but I got it done pain-free! Here's what I did:

Incline Bench Press: 135x15, 135x15, 155x12, 155x12

DB Bench Press: 55X12, 55x12, 55x12, 55x12

Incline Cable Cross: 40x12 (done as an FST-7)

Not my best by a long shot but I was happy to be able to do it. My tricep workout went much better as listed below, and I even had Marcella take some footage that we will hopefully post soon!

Cable Triceps Pushdown 50.0x12, 70.0x12, 70.0x12, 80.0x11

Skull Crushers with Added Band 65.0x12, 75.0x12, 75.0x12, 80.0x12

Seated Triceps Press 30.0x15, 50.0x12, 60.0x7, 60.0x8 (tough with a power block!)

Bench Dip 0.0x10, 0.0x10, 0.0x10, 0.0x10

That's all for tonight. Back day tomorrow!

Started today off with a great run and ended it with a great lift! Can't complain about that! I started separating my quad and hamstring routine a few weeks ago because after quads I am always way too beat to do my hamstrings any good. I've noticed my hamstrings getting much stronger and more defined so I'm really pumped!

Seated Calf Raise 135.0x12, 135.0x12, 135.0x15, 160.0x12, 160.0x12

Calf Press On Leg Press Machine 360.0x12, 360.0x12, 360.0x12, 360.0x12, 360.0x12, 360.0x12, 360.0x12

Lying Leg Curls 70.0x12, 90.0x12, 110.0x12, 110.0x12

Seated Leg Curl 90.0x12, 110.0x12, 130.0x12, 130.0x12

Romanian Deadlift 115.0x12, 115.0x12, 115.0x12, 115.0x12, 115.0x12, 115.0x12, 115.0x12

Tomorrow is chest so here's hoping my shoulder holds up!

Thank you all for the kind words!!! I haven't seen this since right after it went up so I wish I had checked it a few weeks ago! Trying to live up to it all

Welcome! That's too bad about your injuries, but great job getting back out there, and those are some awesome goals! Luck!!

Welcome aboard Scott! Great to have someone who's eager to share information and spread the word

I didn't post yesterday even though I had a shoulder workout because after my first exercise my shoulder was killing me so I called it off. Man injuries suck! This is the last time I'll try to step it up to 2-a-days after taking 6 months off... probably. The good news is I did get in a few sets of 10 reps on Arnold Press using 75lb dumbbells, pretty happy with that. Today I just trained biceps to have an 'easy day' and it went great. So pumped I couldn't button my shirt!

Alternate Incline Dumbbell Curl 25.0x12, 30.0x12, 35.0x8, 35.0x11

Preacher Curl 50.0x12, 60.0x12, 70.0x10, 75.0x9

Double Dumbbell Hammer Curl 25.0x12, 25.0x12, 25.0x12

Preacher Curl Machine 40.0x10, 40.0x10, 40.0x10, 40.0x10, 40.0x10, 40.0x10, 40.0x10

Tomorrow is an off day so hopefully by Saturday I will be all recovered and ship shape for my chest workout! 30 days out!!!

Short workout today. My abs have still been sore so I decided to skip squats altogether and do everything else light and higher rep. I got a great thigh pump for the leg extension FST-7 and could still barely walk out of the gym, so all in all I count today as a success!

Exercise Name 1 RM

Dumbbell Walking Lunges 56 35.0x12,35.0x15,35.0x18,35.0x18

Leg Press 600 270.0x20,360.0x20,360.0x20,360.0x20

Leg Extensions 182 130.0x12,130.0x12,130.0x12,130.0x12,130.0x12,130.0x9,130.0x12

Did another great posing session this evening and my abs are coming out as strong as ever in spite of the fact that I ate over 6000 calories today and still can't do sit-ups or crunches. I am flummoxed, but obviously extremely pleased. More tomorrow, and if I missed anything I'm sure Marcella will fill in the gaps

What part of Richmond do y'all live in? I live in Newport News!

Awesome! We're just south of the river in Forest Hill. Right across from VCU and downtown.

I'm phasing in AM cardio now so I started the day with a 3 mile run that went perfectly. Weather was great and had Marcella and our dogs with me so it was fun. My workout this evening started off really strong, but towards the end my shoulder and abs were acting up so I cut the last exercise short. Was a little bummed, but had a great posing practice afterwards to make up for it!

Exercise Name Lifting Logs

Pullups 0.0x12, 35.0x12, 55.0x9, 55.0x10, 55.0x10, 55.0x7

T Bar Row 90.0x12, 135.0x12, 160.0x12, 160.0x12

V Bar Pull Down 90.0x12, 110.0x12, 110.0x12, 120.0x12

Barbell Bent Over Row 115.0x12, 115.0x12, 115.0x12

Barbell Decline Pullover 45.0x12, 65.0x12, (was all set to do 7, but my shoulder said 'nope')

Tomorrow: A much needed rest day!

Hope your feeling a little better and awesome to see you posting on here!

Thanks! I'm trying to be careful, but I'm very bad at it

Welcome! Crossfitters are hardcore

I strained my abdominals very badly from too many heavy squats and deads last Fall and had to take 6 months off, so to pepare for my first show this May I've been following a 5 days per week split based on Rambod's FST-7's. I tend to always overtrain, so I figured this would give everything plenty of recovery time since it is volume based and I wouldn't be dealing with too crazy of weights and risk re-injuring my core. Two weeks ago I got impatient with my progress and decided to start hitting everything twice per week like I've always done, and lo and behold yesterday aches and pains started springing up everywhere . I've backed off to each muscle group once a week again starting today with my chest workout, listed below:

Exercise Name (lbs x reps, sets)

Barbell Bench Press 135.0x12, 175.0x12, 205.0x12, 205.0x9, 205.0x6

Dumbbell Incline Bench Press 55.0x12, 80.0x8, 70.0x10, 70.0x9

Dumbbell Decline Fly 35.0x10 (started hurting my shoulder)

Machine Fly 65.0x12, 65.0x12, 65.0x12, 65.0x12, 65.0x12, 65.0x12, 65.0x12

This is copied from my jefit.com phone app so the formatting isn't perfect, but it's an awesome app for pacing and recording your workouts for those of you out there with a smartphone! I would have gone heavier but my left shoulder felt iffy. Hopefully it will be good to go by next weekend!

Welcome! That's awesome that you'll be competing soon!! It sounds like a lot of your questions can be answered by looking at my wife Marcella's info and diets etc. She has been vegan 11 years, is 5'2, has the same bodyfat% as you and plans on doing her first bodybuilding contest this September. She will be adding articles and recipes here soon, and we have a ton of info on our blog which is linked in my signature. Great job making positive changes in your life and welcome aboard again!

Aloha man! Fantastic to get another fitness professional here, great addition!!

Welcome back!

Welcome! Thank you for joining! Invest in a barbell and some weight ans you can hit all the major muscle groups with compound lifts. That'll be all you need to get started!

I'm finally taking the time to digitize my workouts thanks to Marcella's shining example. I'm now 5 WEEKS OUT from my first contest so this record will come in handy in the future . I've just loaded all my routines onto my smartphone app and will begin posting them soon! I'm a show off by nature so hopefully this will keep me honest and get me some great gains!

Can't wait to see our video! Gonna be awesome!!

Welcome Nicholas!

First of all, I'm really glad you joined up because you're now in the perfect place to excel and do the things that are important to you. I can sympathize with your overbearing dad a little. My dad was like that when I was a kid, but luckily by your age I had gotten pretty big so he relented. Your dad has left you no choice but to prove him wrong! And he is wrong, as the many, many success stories here will tell you. You HAVE TO get Robert's book - it is absolutely a perfect guide for your situation. Robert goes through his own story in his book, and since you have a similar starting point it couldn't be a better fit. Get it and read it as soon as possible (this is not a sales pitch).

I've been able to gain about 25lbs of lean muscle on a plant based diet, but my story isn't nearly as inspiring as Robert's because like I said I was already pretty big at the start. Your routine looks solid, but I would strongly suggest you cut out the cardio except maybe one short day a week. You need to hoard all the calories you can to force your body to change. The single most important tip I can give you as a trainer though is EAT. Eat a lot, consistently. It has to be everyday, and it has to be so much that your body has no choice but to change. Get plenty of protein from beans, nuts and whole grains and avoid junk so you don't get fat, but mainly just eat! Do this and lift heavy and soon you'll be the fittest and strongest guy in the family!

deadlift - 245 please! thanks!

Nice lift!