Ravi

is tanya dancing for Panic! or doing something else?

can you get rid of lose skin? It really depends on the amount. I was very very overweight when I was younger (between the ages of 8-16). Most people who have only known me for the past 10 years or so just dont believe me. But let's just say I was a REALLY husky kid. I lost a TON of weight in my late teens and had this issue with extra skin...and I must say that 10 years later...I have almost gotten rid of the problem....but not completely. I think in another 2-3 years of focused training and it will be gone. Every year I see progress...but it is slow and steady. You just have to stay vigilant and train hard. Personally, I think my hyper-focus on endurance activities (triathlons and distance running) were a big help early on...but after a while actually impeded my progress. I think it is important to make sure you maintain resistance training, to help "fill out" the skin, and not just drop weight. Specifically, re the abs, most people don't train the abs nearly as hard as they should. Doing 100s of crunches isn't what I mean. I mean doing weighted situps (assuming your back is good) or cable pull downs to really stress the abs. You should be hitting failure in 8-12 reps. Grab a 35lb plate and start doing incline crunches! Doing sets of 50 crunches is OK for getting strength, but for size/cut and strength, you need to go heavier. Train the abs like you would any other bodypart...only do it more often. I train my abs hard 2-3 days a week. Granted, I am not a bodybuilder (yet ) but this is what I have found works well for me.

OK, I recently got some advice that my lifting routine needs a major overhaul. For the past 4 months or so, I have been following a 3 day split as following: Day 1 - chest and back and abs Day 2 - arms and shoulders Day 3 - lower body and abs The advice I recieved was that for most people, a TOTAL BODY lifting routine is more effective. The logic is that: * The body adapts to training stimulus, so changing your workout every 4-6 weeks can help with gains. * Lifting your whole body in one day creates a bigger anabolic repsonse, since you are working out more muscle groups. * It provides the body with more ”time off,” you only have to handle 3 weight workouts a week instead of 4-6. * Could reduce the chance for injury, since you train each body part fewer times each day, you aren’t at as big a risk of straining anything. * Less likely to create a muscular imbalance, created by overworking a specific bodypart and ignoring others. What routine do you use? A split or total body routine? Have you tried both, and if so, which do you prefer? I lifted using a new Total Body routine at the YMCA today before leaving Portland. It felt great. I did about 9 exercises, 2-3 sets of 10-12 depending on the muscle group.

OK, I'll chime in here as a competitive swimmer/triathlete for 15 years. Fat Loss - your can get VERY lean through swimming. While research has shown that swimmers tend to retain more bodyfat than other competitive atheletes (runners or cyclists for example), most of the good swimmers I know have quite low bodyfat percentages. However, you need to train instensly. Just going out for a relaxing 30 minute doggypaddle won't cut it . Either get long-slow yards in, or do intense intervals. The other dangerous thing about swimming, is that since your body is kept cool during exercise, you tend to be ravenous after even a mild/moderate workout. Make sure you do not overeat. It may help to take a meal replacement drink (like Vega!) after swimming to stabilize blood sugar and prevent overating. Muscle Building - you will not build muscles in the same manner swimming as you would weight lifting. After an entire season of swimming in high school, I would notice significant size gains in my shoulders, triceps and lats, but not much else. While you will get stronger through swimming (especially if you use pull buoys or paddles for added resistance) you will not necessarily get more mass. Also, most male swimmers tend to ignore their kick. Therefore, you should plan on lifting with the lower body, and/or doing some cross-training on the bike or running to give your legs a workout. Similarly, many swimmers do dry-land training to build abdmonial and chest strength to balance out their back strength. You should plan on doing the same. Ravi

OK...many of my pics seem to have dissappeared into the ether...but here are a few I was able to rescue! I saw lots of cameras and camcorders going off at the event, so if you were there and took some pics...pls post! a poster for vegan bodybuilding...I think we managed to get a few new recruits....yeah!!!! Robert directing the troops! I gotta get me one of those... VBB had some prime real estate! and a couple other pics are here: Also, I wrote a blog post with a few more details from Brendan and Howard's talks. They were absolutely awesome! Robert...will you be making recordings of their talks available? Perhaps a DVD of all the speaker sessions? http://www.sethigherstandards.com/vegan-holiday-festival-3/

Just got back from a full day at the Vegan Holiday Festival in Portland. I must say that it was truly impressive to see so many people coming out to give their support to such am important cause. As Robert mentioned at the end of the day….”I think everyone won today, the exhibitors, the speakers, the attendees, the volunteers, the community…and of course, the animals.” mad props to Robert for following through on his "bright idea" a couple of months ago to pull this off. I drove down from Seattle for this and must say I got MORE than I could have hoped out of the event! I took some pics and will post tomorrow. Can't wait for next year's event!

do you have any before/after pics of your weight gain and transformation? pretty impressive to hear a 95lb gain! I'll settle for 25lbs!

Frito-Lay Angrily Introduces Line Of Healthy Snacks November 7, 2006 | Issue 42•45 "Here," said Frito-Lay CEO Al Carey as he edly tossed a bag of the company's new Flat Earth-brand snack crisps onto the lectern during a meeting with shareholders and members of the press. "Here's some shit that's made from beets. I hope you're all happy now that you have your precious beet chips with the recommended daily serving of fruit, or vegetables, or whatever the hell a 'beet' is." http://www.theonion.com/content/node/54916 http://www.theonion.com/content/files/images/Frito-Lay-R_0.jpg Where can I buy this stuff?

what type of foods are you eating to get in that many calories? Any issues with gaining fat/water weight?

I'm about 150 now...I got up to 160 right after the summer shape up contest (early October)...but then I went on this meditation and fasting retreat a few weeks ago (didnt eat for 3 days....yikes!) and lost 10 pounds. steadily gaining back that weight. long term goal to get to 175. seems like a healthy weight for me given my frame. Probably gonna take another 12 months to get there minimum. funny enough...my body puts on fat easily, but muscle very very slowly. I must have the most "efficient" metabolism on the planet! So I gotta be careful not to just pig out as well....

awesome, congrats! so you competing at Mr Olympia next year? If coleman and cutler step down...the field is wide open

got it!

ftw?

for me, bulking would be gaining about 10 pounds! how much are you looking to gain?

Since tomorrow is election day...I had a thought: http://www.sethigherstandards.com/wh...for-president/ What do you think? I know it is a little crazy...but can you imagine that wake-up call it would be for America to have someone with his level of energy and sincerety leading us forward? wishful dreaming I guess for those of you in the US, dont forget to vote tomorrow!

I beleive that quality of sleep is much more important than quantity. While the two may be slightly correlated, they are not 100% so. I've performed very well on 6 hours of sleep, and terrible on 9 hours...and vice-versa. I've found that the more sincerely tired I am when I go to sleep, the deeper the sleep and the less of it I need. Too often I find myself going to sleep "just because" even though my body wasn't telling me to do so. I've also found that too much electronic stimulation before bed time really impacts the quality of my sleep. I recently did a quick inventory of where I am spending my time(http://www.sethigherstandards.com/time-management-2/)...and obviously, sleep is a big part of my life and something I would love to shorten by a couple hours a night.

Hi Everyone, not sure if anyone here is a blogger, or is aware of what a "blog carnival" is...but I am starting one up. It is called the "Fitness and Bodybuilding Blog Expo" and the object is to provide a way for bloggers to get their writing exposed to larger audience (and learn from what others are writing about as well). If you have any good blog posts about diet, nutrition or any aspect of fitness.....feel free to submit them. Just click on the link below, and then the submit link on the right. I will accept articles through 11/10. http://blogcarnival.com/bc/cprof_611.html I'll post the results to my blog (in my signature) on 11/13. If you have any questions, feel free to shoot me an email. Thanks everyone and have a great evening!

Welcome! I too am a "retired" ironman (call myself an aluminum man now ...my last was back in 2003. how was the chicago marathon?

Went on a retreat in Woodland Park, Colorado. Lots of Yoga, Hiking and Meditation. No talking, reading, writing or eating! It was a great experience. If you ever get the chance to spend time in the Colorado mountains....just do it! Photo Album: the view...Pikes Peak my cabin..japanese inspired it snowed 8 inches the first night! Here I am hiking the 2+ miles from my cabin to the yoga studio.

my sister (a naturopath) makes her own. She tried feeding it to me and I revolted. It actually tastes pretty good....but you just can't look at the jar it's "growing" in.....

there'a another vegan vacation? when?

let's do it!!!! Looks like it's in April. Great. That will give me 6 months to pack on some size so I don't look like a midget next to those guys! (ok, I'll still look like a midget but at least I wont feel like one!). http://www.craigproductions.com/cp3/index.php?main_page=emeraldcup_main

I just read threw all these articles...this is really great stuff. thanks for sharing! I do have one question, however, if Raw Food nutrition is ideal for building strength...why don't we see any olympic calibre athletes that are raw or mostly raw? just thought I'd ask the question I am sure others are thinking as well!

Was listening to a CD by Dr. Deepak Chopra, and he talked a lot about the regenerative powers of the body. In a nutshell, he made the point that we get "a new body every year." Literally. We replace our skeleton twice a year. We replace our skin every few weeks. We replace our brain every few months...etc. With this rapid turnover, our body is theoretically capable of healing ANYTHING. The issue is, sometimes our bodies are stuck in a mode of operating and rebuilding that is not beneficial for health. He made the analogy that your body is like a brick house that gets rebuilt every year. If you find that the house has a slanted floor (bad!)...the situation won't improve if you keep rebuilding using the SAME BUILDING PLANS...you need a deeper level of change. This is where the natural treatments come in. He also made the point that it is his belief (based on his experience running an ayruvedic clinic) that while 95% of disease is curable, there is a small % that is genetically produced that is harder to cure naturally.

your calories seem to be fluctuating quite a bit. Are you trying to maintain a certain number of calories per day?