alkahest

So I had trouble sleeping last night and woke up this morning feeling SORE in my ass from the squat day. I still pulled together the will to get out of bed and get started with my 2nd week of 5/3/1.

Warm up: treadmill for 10 minutes - 102 calories

Military press:

5x45

5x45

3x50

3x65

3x70

4x80

pull ups:

4

4

3

4

4

Dips:

10

10

10

8

8

Jump rope between each set.

Once I finished my body weight exercises I felt way too depleted to do any conditioning so I made my way home and prepared myself for being insanely tired all day at work. It was not pretty.

I read on Wendler's blog to do conditioning 3 days a week and I have been doing 4 with the hill sprints and I think I overdid it a little. I am going to Lay off on my squat days from now on as I think that is just way too much leg work for a beginner like me to handle in one day (boy do those sprints feel good though!).

Can't remember specifically what I have been listening to each session but I have been blasting Meshuggah, Inquisition, Damages, †††, and The Melvins quite a bit at the gym.

5/3/1 - Week 1 - Day 4 - 04/01/12

Squats:

5x50

5x65

5x80

5x85

5x100

6x110

Lunges - alternating legs with 12.5lbs in each hand

5 sets of 20

Sit Ups:

20

15

15

15

15

Jump rope between each set

Hill sprints

ahhh! Ok it's been 3 workouts since I have posted anything. My schedule has been hectic and it's been more important to do my workouts than to write about them. Anyway, first week of 5/3/1 is going very well! The last day of the first week kicked my ass (squats). So I am going to do 3 posts.... one for each work out.

5/3/1 - Week 1 - Day 3 - 03/30/2012

Bench Press:

5x55

5x65

5x80

5x85

5x100

10x115

(don't remember a lot about this session but obviously I killed it on the reps of the last set!)

Pull ups:

5 sets of 4

Push ups:

15

15

15

10

12

between every set I jumped rope.

Finished with hill sprints.

first day of 5/3/1! I'm embarrassed to admit this but I was so excited/anxious to start my new routine today that I could barely sleep last night. Woke up super early and did some research and foam rolling then off to the gym.

10 minute warm up on treadmill - 100 calories

Military press:

5x45lbs

5x45lbs

3x50lbs (warm up)

5x55lbs

5x65lbs

7x70lbs

Pull ups:

5 sets of 4 (these still kill me)

Dips:

5x10

5x10

5x8

5x8

5x8

I jumped rope between every set then finished the whole thing off with 8 hill sprints using the tabata method.

I can already tell that I am going to be sore! Can't wait to get into the other days.

Worked out this morning at 7am so I'm feeling a little distanced from my session now. I'm gonna try to reach back into my brain and get back in that headspace for this entry.

10 minutes on the treadmill - 101 calories

Front Squat:

3x85lbs

6x100

6x100

6x100

Romanian DL:

same as squat

I feel like I am going too light on both of these exercises but need the light weight since I have been super setting them and do a sort of clean to transfer between the exercises. Once I switch to 5/3/1 this wont be an issue.

Calf Raise:

3 sets of 15 at 45lbs

also mixed these into the above super set.

Barbell Row:

3x80

6x90

6x90

6x90

Leg lift:

5 sets of 10

back extensions:

3 sets of 12 with 10lb weight

held the weight behind my head this time instead of in front of my chest. this made things much harder and I felt like I was doing it "right"

The best part about today's work out was that by the time I got to work I was full of energy. Also got a little more serious about keeping track of my food today. I've actually been struggling to eat as many calories as I should. Having a desk job definitely makes breakfast and snacking hard but I was able to get in 2,187 calories which hits pretty close to my 2,250 goal. However my macros are not on track at all. Need much more carbs and protein and a little less fat. But being aware of it already feels like a step in the right direction.

I'm really excited to start 5/3/1 - I feel like I need a new routine. I'm going to spend sunday trying to find my 1RM for each of the exercises and then jump into it on tuesday morning. Alright... time to make some tea and get ready for a good nights sleep.

Got up at 7am to get to the gym by 7:30 and I felt almost hungover (I had a couple drinks the last night and didn't eat nearly enough yesterday, a mistake). It was a struggle to get myself there but I am glad I did. Here is the workout:

Push Press:

5x95lbs

5x100lbs

5x100lbs

broke a record for myself on this one!

Shoulder Raise:

5x50lbs

5x50lbs

5x50lbs

these were hard today and my form was really lacking. maybe I should have gone down in weight

pull up:

3 sets of 4

still struggling with pull ups but I am getting the hang of it

Bench Press:

5x105lbs

5x110lbs

7x110lbs

felt good about getting the extra couple reps in there on the last set

Bench Dip:

3 sets of 15

Plank:

3 sets of 45sec

The routines I have been doing so far are just ones that I made up based on my limited knowledge. I'm not totally sure if I am grouping exercises together well or not. Because of this I am going to start doing 5/3/1 starting next week and hopefully keep much better track of my daily calorie intake and macros.

Hey I recently joined the board and have been spending time reading through your journal. I've gotten lots of great info, inspiration, and ideas from reading it. Keep it up!

So last night I only got about 4 hours sleep because I went with my girlfriend to see a couple of friends DJ and was out late. Didn't get in my usual morning session so I had to hit the gym after work and it was PACKED. Wasn't able to superset most of my exercises unfortunately do to lack of open equipment.

Did 10 minutes on the treadmill: 101 calories

Front Squats: 3x95lbs, 5x100, 5x100, 5x100

Romanian DL: same as squats

this was a record for me as far as weight, felt good but I kept it to a low rep range to make sure I didn't overdue it. Still, it felt pretty easy.

Bent over barbell row: 7x80lbs, 5x90, 5x90

not sure my form was so great on these. The gym was too crowded to watch my form in the mirror..

Leg lifts held steady at 3 sets of 12 reps. Need to move up on this one next time.

Weighted Single Leg Calf Raise: 3 sets of 14 at 45lbs

Incline Back Extensions: 3x15 holding a 10lb weight

all in all not a bad work out but the lack of sleep and the overcrowding at the gym kept me from getting in that good headspace. Still glad I went though.

Soundtrack: Lustmord

Had a simple protein shake after (oat milk, pea protein, banana, coconut oil, cinnamon, nutmeg, tumeric) and then made myself a sauteed okra, brown rice, and black bean burrito that was actually pretty awesome.

almost forgot.... my soundtrack today was Rise and Fall's Faith (again) and some Ruins of Beverast (feels epic for that heavy lifting!)

So I called out of work today. Yesterday I had nothing to do and I couldn't handle another day of sitting at a desk for 8 hours surfing the internet.

Hit the gym at 10am (usually do 7:30am on the weekdays). Starting with the last time I lifted (my first post) I have been paying a lot more attention to my form. Because of this I have had to either step down in weight on a couple exercises or hold at the weight I was already at. I can tell though that with the proper form I am getting a lot more out of each exercise (I am still feeling sore from my squats and DLs on Sunday).

So today was:

Warm up - 10 minutes on the treadmill - 101cal

Superset:

Push press - 95lbs 3x7

Front Barbell Raise - 40lbs 3x7

Pull ups - 3x4 (really struggle with these, I only recently stopped doing assisted pull ups)

Superset:

Bench Press - 105lbs 3x7

Bench Dips - 3x14

Planks - 3x45sec

I skipped the cool down cardio cause my legs are feeling really beat. Not sure if that was a good move or not.

Right now I am sipping a postWO smoothie of:

1 Banana, 1 packet Acai, 2 scoops pea protein, 1 tablespoon coconut oil, 1 tablespoon vitamineral green (this stuff is gross but makes me feel great), 1 teaspoon maca, 8 ounces of unsweetened vanilla almond milk.

I'm still not totally keeping track of everything I eat/macros though I am working toward it. I have been doing this a pretty short time and there has been a lot of information to take in.

Definitely glad I took the day off work. I have a lot errands and some freelance work I have been falling behind on. The gym was a great way to kick things off.

Posting before and after pics.

This is me on Sept. 30th 2011 when I started going to the gym (and before I became vegan):

This is me today.

Ok, this is my first training journal. I will start by posting my workout today:

Warm up: 10 minutes of cardio at 6mph

Superset:

Front Squat :: 95lbs 3x7

Romanian Deadlift :: 95lbs 3x7

Weighted Single Leg Calf Raise :: 45lbs (done with a 45lb plate) 3x12

Superset:

Bent Over Barbell Row :: 80lbs 3x7

Leg Lifts :: 3x12

Cool down: 5 minute walk

I follow this up with a protein smoothie with almond milk, pea protein, acai, maca, cinnamon, nutmeg, tumeric, coconut oil, and vitamineral earth.

Soundtrack today: Rise & Fall - Faith (first time I listened to it... killer!)

In general I work out 4 days a week. 3 of those days are focused on lifting and the other is a longer cardio day (usually 30 min).

My goal is to get a little bigger (I'm about 155lbs and lean), much more toned, and to be as healthy and energetic as possible! I appreciate any feedback.

Anyone know any good android phone apps to track workout progress or diet?

been finding a lot of great recipe blogs lately:

http://hobbyandmore.blogspot.com/

http://veganbreakfast.tumblr.com/ (links to recipes and lots of great blogs)

http://veggiesonthecounter.com/

http://www.vgan-jar.com/ (this one has a great protein bar recipe I have been using)

I know I have more but that is just off the top of my head...

Just discovered this site and decided I would just sign up instead of lurking.

My name is Paul and I am fairly new to the Veg lifestyle. Only stopped eating meat about 4 months ago because I read the book Meat is for Pussies by John Joseph and decided that he is right. Meat is for Pussies! Like he advises in the book I have been taking it slowly and learning to incorporate veganism into my lifestyle gradually so I am not completely vegan yet but that is the end goal.

In addition, I joined a gym for the first time about 5 or so months ago. Started out just on the treadmill but then got a personal trainer for a couple months to get familiar with weight training. Now I am addicted. I go at least 4 times a week and focus on heavy lifting and cardio. I'm a pretty small guy (about 155 lbs these days.... I lost 25 lbs of fat by dropping meat from my diet) but have started to bulk up a little with muscle.

I read about Robert Cheeke in Meat is for Pussies and that led me to this site. I also have been looking to the vast array of information by Mike Mahler for work out tips and hormone optimization.

In the past 4 months I have become a happier, healthier, energetic, and more compassionate person and I attribute that to healthy diet and lifestyle and the exclusion of meat and most animal products from my diet.

A little about me: I moved to Astoria, Queens a little over a year ago after living in Los Angeles for 8 years and it was the best decision I ever made! I am a graphic designer. I love a lot of music subcultures like heavy metal, hardcore, ambient, jazz, and modern classical (weird combo, I know) and try to go to as many shows as possible. I'm also a huge movie nerd.

Anyway, I will probably post some pics and more info about my routine in the before/after thread soon.