sydneyvegan

Added Chins and more dips to my normal arm workout today then finished with some deadlifts... I figured it was a nice way to go into the weekend and I have been on a high all day...

The Volleyball I do is indoor. but all the crouching, jumping etc seems to really work your legs. It was just normal training for me... It is always 3 hours, it usual involves drills. spiking and then a couple of games. Beach Volleyball can be a lot of fun, easier on the body as well when you dive for the ball... Today was just a normal Shoulder day, nothing exciting to report, I found the last sets hard going put I was able to push it out... I hope all animals are able to get some form of reckoning when they are treated badly, be it a flea or a whale...

I realise that there are quite a few vegan shoe manufacturers out there, but I would love to recommend Veganwares, http://www.veganwares.com they are based in Melbourne and they make really good shoes that are comfortable and long lasting, plus they will make custom stuff. Different colours, shapes, sizes etc plus other vegan stuff, guitar straps, cuffs, even bondage stuff I am told They ship overseas, and some of the models can be seen on mooshoes. Sorry, had to promote an Aussie Company Chris

Yeah I enjoy living in the inner west, good food and shopping and everyone is pretty easy going and laid back... IMO it beats the Surry Hills, Darlinghurst, Paddington area anyway There are 2 gyms in Newtown that I know of, Ultimate gym near the station (A bit too many roids for me) and Newtown gym on King st, which is much more laid back and tolerant... There are quite a few macrobiotic places now, including a chain called IKU, where everything seems to be Vegan... It was a good trip, I guess that hardest bits were through Devon and Cornwall and a couple of days in Scotland when it was sleeting and I had a headwind, I would do it again though... Chris

Hey, Thanks to the advice of Daywalker etc, I changed my leg routine today... Hopefully I can get the weights and the reps up soon, I suffered a bit today from 3 hours of volleyball training on Sunday... It would seem 'volleyball' legs take a few days to disappear. Warm up, Leg extensions - 3 x 12, 200 pounds Squats - (Smith Machine) as my gym doesn't have a squat rack 1 x 12 at 220 1 x 12 at 260 1 x 8 at 350 1 x 2 at 440 (I wanted to see what I could do) Leg Press (inclined) 1 x 12 at 440 1 x 10 at 520 1 x 4 at 616 Hamstring curls 3 x 12 at 110 Calf raises 3 x 20 at 150 10 minutes on the bike Oh and Thanks Raven for the thoughts on my Avatar, I love elephants, I think they are a totally amazing animal, gentle, strong and Vegan yet with the ability to remember people who have hurt them and wait to get their revenge....

Just a friendly warning on dried figs... Some aren't Vegan!!! They sometimes use Glycerin to keep them moist (which as you all know can have an animal source)... I'm not totally sure, but I think organic or sun dried are more likely to be OK... Chris

Did Chest and Back today (see day 1 above)... Added Cable Cross overs and Pec Deck to the routine... I figure I am only doing chest once a week, so I should work it as much as possible... That and I watched a guy bench pressing do a set of 6 at 400 pounds, it sort of inspired me somewhat... I will add some more to my leg day as well, given that I am only really doing squats...

Thanks Everyone... Ok a bit more about My background and Training Goals... I have been training seriously for about 2 years and have gained about 15kg's as well as reducing my bodyfat percentage... I currently train 5 days a week, play volleyball 2 times per week, as well as cycling and walking when I get the chance.... My goal is basically to gain more muscle (but usable muscle, hence the strength aspect, I really don't want huge bulk, yet have no strength to go with it) but at the same time reduce my body fat percentage (ideally to get a flat stomach and a six pack). I tend to change my routine every 6 weeks or so, switching from building phases to fat reducing phases... Chris

Hey, I live in Annandale (so near Glebe and Camperdown), it's pretty laid back and not under the flightpath so it's a good area to live in... I know Hiscoes, I work in Alexandria, so I train at the gym that is next door to my office, the day goes a lot quicker when you can disappear in the middle of the day... Yeah there are some great Vegan places in Sydney, Bodhi as you said, plus a couple in China town, Sydney Vegetarian on Pitt St, 2 or 3 in Newton and Enmore, as well as a bunch of Macrobiotic Vegan cafes around the place... I don't tend to go hungry... I lived in London for 2 years (Hammersmith), it was were I got the motivation to switch from being vegetarian to vegan... I saw a fair amount of the Uk whilst I was there, I cycled from Lands End to John O'Groats before I left plus a few other trips. Chris

I agree... Would love to see some more.... As yet I haven't run into any other vegans in Sydney that are willing to go to a gym

Any tips or suggestions on my training would be greatly appreciated, particularly from the strength guys... Chris

I don't know much about brands in the US, but I find I get the best results from productsThat contain grapefruit seed extract... It is know for it's anti-bacteria, germ etc fighting ability and it sure seems to work... Good Luck...

Day 5 Bicep Curls - 21s, 3 sets at 70 1 arm Tricep push downs - 1 x 12 at 60, 1 x 10 at 70 1 x 8 at 80 Reverse curls supersets with Inclined dumbbell curls 1 x 10 at 60 ss 1 x 10 at 33 - 3 sets of these Rope extensions supersets with rope pushdowns 1 x 10 at 110 ss 1 x 10 at 100 - 3 sets of these Preacher curls - 1 x 12 at 70, 1 x 10 at 90, 1 x 8 at 110 Dips - 3 x 15 or more if I can Day 6 and Day 7 are rest days, then it is back to day one... I work abs most days, so I haven't included them.

DAY 3 Seated shoulder press - 1 x 10 at 130, 1 x 8 at 155, 1 x 6 at 165 Front Raises- 1 x 12 at 28, 1 x 10 at 33, 1 x 8 at 39 Lateral Raises - 1 x 10 at 28, 1 x 8 at 33, 1 x 6 at 39 Cable Lateral raises - 1 x 10 at 20, 1 x 8 at 29, 1 x 6 at 40 Shrugs - 1 x 12 at 66, 1 x 10 at 77, 1 x 8 at 88 Machine Shoulder press- 1 x 10 at 120, 1 x 8 at 140, 1 x 6 at 150 Day 4 Cardio

DAY 2 30 mins bike Squats - 1 x 12 at 220, 1 x 10 at 260, 1 x 8 at 290, 1 x 6 at 330 Calf raises - 3 x 10 at 150 10 mins bike

Here is my current program, all weights are in pounds, current weight is 225. Split into days so it will post, here is day 1 Day 1 Dumbbell Bench Press 4 x 6 at 90 each arm Lat Pull Down 4 x 10 at 150 - slow 2 secs down, pause, 3 secs back up Incline Dumbbell bench (weight is each arm) 1 x 10 at 70, 1 x 8 at 75, 1 x 6 80 One Arm Rows - 3x 10 at 80 Decline Bench - 1 x 10 at 190, 1 x 8 at 200, 1 x 6 at 220 Seated Rows 3 x 12 at 200, the machine at my gym doesn't go any heavier

I am going to post a training log, so check it out and see what you think... Any suggestions or tips will be greatly appreciated... Chris

Thanks for the welcome everyone... Being fairly big to start off, isn't always an advantage... Getting rid of body fat is my biggest challenge, so it's all about getting the balance right between, lifting big, eating enough and keeping the body fat at a reasonable level... Hey it's getting cold here now, we are almost in winter.... it's getting as low as a chilly 10C

Hello from the southern hemisphere.... I only just discovered this site, glad to see that there are so many vegans out there that are into weight training and so much good information... Here is a bit about me... I've been Vegan for 4 years (was vegetarian before that, until I saw the light), I'm currently training 5 days a week... I'm 6'3 and 225 pounds at the moment, but I'd like to bulk out a little more, hoping to get to about 240... I can get bigger, but then I have to buy new clothes... Chris