VeJoe

dips are great for the chest / triceps...

I'm training for (at least I think I am) functional strength - therefore I do almost exclusively compound movements... Squats Lunges Dead lifts Pull-ups Dips Bench press Military press Hanging leg raises etc... Lately I've been starting every lifting session with deep squats (M, W, F). I've read that this is supposed to help with making mass gains. So far so good, I've gained 7 lbs in two weeks. Of course I'm sure some of that is fat, but if I have to gain a little fat to get some muscles - I'm all for it.

I buy mostly organic but spend $20+ more a week because of it. I just hope it's worth it in the long run...

50 at my best - 30 or so now. Man I need to get stronger. For me, pull-ups take a lot more effort and energy to do than pull-ups. I've only been able to do a maximum of 15 pull-ups at my best. 8 or so now.

My favorite way to eat oatmeal - is get the "quick" oatmeal... not the instant. Follow directions - it takes like 2-3 minutes to boil the water / liquid and about 4 minutes to cook. It's pretty quick, hence the name "quick oats". -So I bring 1 cup hemp milk + 1/2 cup water to a boil -turn heat down so it's just at the boiling point (half on my stove) -add 3/4 cup oatmeal - stir the entire 4 minutes or else it will stick to the bottom of the pot -at about 1min 20sec left add 1 cup frozen mixed berries / cranberries / cherries It is incredible tasting, super nutritious and quick! Also in my opinion I would ditch the grape juice and stick to water or unsweetened tea if you do caffeine. I just think the juice is too much sugar without the fiber you would get by eating the whole grapes. Oh and one other thing, if you can make it a habit to use only whole grain pasta, I think that would help you out. And healthy snacking throughout the day to keep you blood sugars balanced and energy and metabolism high. An apple here, an apple there, handful of nuts... etc. Good luck man - fortunately I've never been overweight - but I have never been able to achieve great abs and have always had a little pouch on lower abdominal - so I know that suckiness.

That's weird... I was just getting to post the exact same pic. GSP is the man - what I would do for a body like that...

Yeah what's that about? I've read articles about studies that show that microwaving your food kills most of everything that was good about it... I would like to know more about this...

I've been trying to nail this down for myself for years and I think it's one of those things that I probably worry about WAY too much... I've noticed since becoming vegan 6 months ago, that I don't seem to require as much sleep as my omnivore days... So I would like to know what everybody's sleep requirements are. I seem to be doing good on 7-8 hours / night but I'm wondering if I should try to sleep more since I just recently started lifting. So I guess I would like to know A) how much sleep you require per night? - and - B) do you require less since becoming vegan? - and - C) do you require more when training? TIA! --Joe

I tried this "third world squat" Wednesday at the gym and my legs have finally recovered ...and that was with only squatting 100lbs. It didn't really feel ackward at all - but I normally squat a minimum of 135lbs when I bring my quads parellel to the ground. So it's obvious that my muscles aren't yet trained to go heavy with this kind of squat... but you have to start somewhere, right?

The T-Nation article is interesting. I have no problem going into and holding the "third world squat" for some time. Is this article suggesting doing squats with weights all the way down like this? I am going to do squats today, I don't want to hurt myself. http://www.t-nation.com/img/photos/07-210-training/image006.jpg

I agree with you Zack. I don't even call myself Vegan for that very reason. When people ask me about why I eat the way I do or whatever I just tell them I don't consume animals or animal by-products and why. But at the same time, I believe that everyone has their place in this world. Robert is a leader, an activist so to speak. But he's got it in him. I on the other hand don't. I have two small children and the activist's lifestyle just doesn't jive with where I'm at in my life. So I just do the best I can by being as compassionate to the Earth and it's beings as I can. I don't know if I'm making any sense, but I just believe everyone has their place in the world, whether it be a school teacher, fire fighter, spiritual leader, animal rights activist or whatever. And some are followers, like me.

Just the other day I was thumbing through that new magazine from the people that write the VegNews magazine - I think it was called Greens? Well, anyway, they have a whole bunch of recipes in there and they mark them "vegetarian" or "vegan" at the top of the recipe if they are. One of the "vegan" recipes I was looking at had honey listed. I thought that was kind of strange.

chin-ups are a very good biceps exercise. And the nice thing about them is that you hit different angles of lots of different muscles depending on your grip (underhand, overhand narrow, overhand normal, overhand wide, etc.). The sucky thing about them is that they... well... suck. Push-ups are also a good biceps - and overall arms - exercise.

Maybe add some protein to your post-workout smoothie? From what I understand, your muscles need the protein within 1/2 hour of resistance training...

I ran like 3 miles one time...