Loptr

I've started doing a lot more olympic lifts as a part of my routine as of late and was searching online for some vegan-friends olympic lifting shoes. Unfortunately, it seems like every shoe I've found has a leather upper or something. Do any of you folks have any suggestions? I am looking specifically for olympic lifting shoes - I'm currently lifting in Vibrams but I want to transition to a proper olympic lifting regimen.

So, I've been experiencing some knee pain, some times sharp pain mostly dull, in the outside of my left knee (think IT band) after doing low bar squats, a la Starting Strength, for about a week now. Cool story, right? Well, unfortunately I would like to find a way to fix this so I'm looking for any tips from anyone with a similar issue just to see what this could be. Ideally, I'd imagine seeing a physical therapist would be the best route and I will pursue that if the issue gets any worse today, tomorrow, or after my work out Friday. As far as form goes, my biggest issue is making sure my knees track out properly over my feet and this seems to be because I have the hip flexibility of an 80 year old nun. But, I imagine this is relevant since my knees not tracking properly means weird forces and bad things happening. I know runners can have issues with tightness in their IT bands but since there are so many other things that can come into play here, I'd like to at least get a few opinions. Otherwise, I just squatted 100 lbs x 5 reps x 5 sets - I don't know the proper way to state this, I am fairly new - but my body weight adds a bit I would imagine. I am currently 231 lbs and 5'11". My workout schedule is MWF, adding 5 pounds on each day, alternating Low Bar Squats, Bench Press, and Deadlifts on one day with Low Bar Squats, Overhead Press, and Power Cleans on the others.

Hello, I apologize in advance since I imagine there are quite a few topics exactly like this. Anyways, having gotten close to 300 lbs I decided to not get any closer. I lost about 20 lbs after switching to a vegetarian diet and have lost about 30 more after switching to a vegan diet and implementing a workout system (over the course of about 1 and a half years). But I seem to have lost much of my muscle mass in the process which has not been particularly desirable, most of which I feel has been due to me not having a proper diet or protein intake. So, as I am currently at 250 lbs and trying to hit 200 hopefully not too far in the future (preferably next Spring) I'd like some advice and maintaining low calorie intake while not losing (preferably gaining) some muscle mass in the process. I've done a little research and the idea of implementing rice and pea protein into my diet seems nice but I am unsure how to go about it or if I even have the right idea. I've no real relevant information that would help anyone other than I run/jog about 2-3 miles every morning and consume around 1800-2000 calories a day. I take a vegan multi-vitamin for B12 and all that jazz. The main protein sources in my diet would probably be beans, nuts, quinoa, and soyfoods (tofu, tempeh, etc.) but I don't really know how much I get each day. Also I'm considering weight training at some point; should I wait until I lose more body fat or would starting now be beneficial? Thanks.