VoodooSeb

For reasons I`ll disclose later, I have a new focus for my training efforts. Of course the last few months have been so incredibly busy that I`ve barely been able to maintain, let alone make progress, so it`s the perfect time for a re-tune anyway. I`ve posted in other threads where I`ve been as far as powerlifting goes, and I`m happy with what I`ve done there. I also briefly got into natural bodybuilding some years ago. While I loved being big and ripped for ego purposes, it was awkward and cumbersome being almost 220 pounds and very lean. It was a lot of very laborious eating and training intensity that was unmatched. I have no desire to do that again. I`m sitting just under 200lbs now and have a strong incentive to put my efforts into being ultra lean with good, full muscle belly development. I`m going to let go of my traditional split for a few weeks to address a more metabolic routine. I`ll be doing a circuit of sorts, and cutting back from 30 minutes of cardio per session to 20 minutes of intervals as well. My routine will be as follows: Decline DB press (alternate w/ incline DB press) DB military press standing cable curls isolateral row rope pressdown DB deadlift 4 sets of 8 to 10reps, each set will allow for rest only from one exercise to the next, 3 minutes of rest between sets. I will also do two very specialized ab exercises I have "invented" at the end of the circuit workout. 3 sets of 10 reps each. The goal is to bring out muscle separation in the shoulder/chest girdle, bring out striations and definition, and enhance muscle shape as opposed to adding size. I`m not unhappy with my upper body size, and you`ll probably notice a lack of leg training. My legs are freakishly oversized from a lifetime of BMX and I`m fortunate enough to not have to train them much. I could probably walk into the gym cold and squat 4 plates per side right off the bat (not that I ever would). Working to build the ol` "surfer`s V" or Adonis Belt and bring out the serratus, too. I`m leaving out some personalized details, but you get the idea. Here`s me at 38: Here is me at 38: Me at 27: me at 27 Me now at 39: me now

Best wedding ever. Every single guest said it was the best wedding they had ever been to in every possible way. We did it not only on a budget, but we planned the whole thing in just a few weeks (about 10 weeks of forward motion on it). My wife hand made every decoration, from table settings to ALL of the bouquets. I wrote the ceremony, from the greeting to the closing, and we wrote our own vows. We arrived to the reception on a boat (it was held at a venue on a lake) to the welcoming cheers of not only our guests, but about 200 restaurant patrons!! All I can say further is that as stressful as wedding planning is, just plow through it and keep your expectations in sight. Know what is completely unreasonable and what is just lofty. Go for what makes YOU happy, not what you think your guests will be talking about afterward. Believe me, our friends will talk about our wedding for a long time and we operated on the most humble of means. Make it count. Make it yours.

I can tell you that if it`s measured on Vegan standards...it`s definitely NOT us LOL. We are totally off the wagon on this one, but at least we are offering *some* seafood as an alternative to red meat.

THanks Vegan bakeries are not that common it appears. We had a pretty easy time finding an all organic bakery, which is a good alternative. I can tolerate enough eggs and dairy to make a cake for this particular day

Yeah, I`m marrying the most amazing, talented, loving, beautiful woman I`ve ever known on the 16th of this month. It`s been a challenge to get this far, not with her, but with the wedding. We`re paying for nearly the entire thing ourselves, organizing every last detail, and designing the decor as well. Small wedding, probably not more than 40 guests (if we end up with that many). I think the only day I looked forward to more in my life was the day my son was born. I can say this: planning a wedding is STRESSFUL!!!! We have called in every favor we could get, begged and pleaded for discounts where we could get them, and we`re still flat broke. Still beats the hell out of being in debt before the marriage even begins. We didn`t do anything extravagant. It`s all elegantly simple, and because of that....naturally beautiful, just like my bride. One irritant you folks may relate to on some level: We had found a great vegan bakery to make our cake. We looked at pricing and called to confirm what we wanted. It was going to be roughly $120...a great deal!! As soon as we showed up to pay our deposit they asked what we wanted the cake to say. TOld them hey, it`s a wedding cake, they dont usually say anything. The bakery owner says "it`s a wedding cake? Those start at $350". Exact same cake, not one single difference, three times the price. We promptly told them to shove it. Found a completely organic bakery who`s doing two cakes for us for under $100. They`re basically turning two of their standard cakes into wedding cakes with how theyre decorated and not charging us any extra. Score. Anyway, there`s my story for the day.

Been a professional musician for 17 years now. Degree is in guitar but I play bass and most percussion as well. Some of my favorite music to listen to while training is 5 finger death punch, Killswitch engage, Pantera, Mudvayne, etc... I can`t do the real heavy stuff anymore. Way back in high school I was as hardcore metal as it got with slayer, venom, exodus and so on. My personal influences range from Joe Satriani and Steve Vai to Dimebag Darrell and Mike Ness (from Social Distortion).

HOnestly, no, I haven`t started a journal. I`ve got so many irons in the fire right now it`s all I can do to stay on top of keeping myself fed and bathed LOL. Planning a wedding from scratch and trying to figure out how to pay for everything out of your own pocket is a huge task....so I`m coming to find out

When I first got into bodybuilding I developed a program that was intended to carry me through my first year to establish a "year one baseline". It has ended up being a permanent fixture in my training, as well as the foundation for all of my clients` programs as well. It is based on 4 13 week "phases". 12 weeks of training,1 week of recover/recoup/whatever you`ll call it (I like to call it CNS deprogramming LOL). For the very new trainee, the first two weeks is reserved for anatomical adaptation training. I`ll illustrate the program for the experienced trainer: weeks 1 - 4: Setting baselines, establishing your foundation. Basic, compound lifts to build a strength base and strengthen joints, and to build a frame of skeletal muscle stimulation. Heavier lifts, fewer reps (6 to 8, generally), more rest between sets. This is also where anatomical issues like biomechanics and injuries will identify themselves. Weeks 5 - 8: Evaluate your goals, refine the program. Focus on lagging lifts or bodyparts. Start to see your body as a whole, develop your eye for personal symmetry. Less barbell work, more specific lifts, slightly higher rep range (8 to 12). Weeks 9 - 12: Specific effort to attain a specific end result. (very personal. Can be anything from crazy oblique striations to better bicep peak or even that last inch from the waist or those last few pounds you were shooting for). CLEARLY identify your goal. Make any necessary changes to the program to get you there, maintain what has proven effective over the previous 8 weeks. Week 13: reevaluate. Did you hit your goals? Why or why not? Use this week to applaud yourself for the effort and to gear up for the next round. Training frequency will stay the same same throughout. I prefer a schedule that gets each muscle group three times in two weeks. (My legs are freakishly responsive so I`m lucky if I train them 2 or three times a month, but that`s another discussion). I do encourage a split routine to keep the intensity very high and time in the gym to an hour or so on the training itself. Cardio can tack on a few more minutes. My personal split is chest/biceps/triceps, shoulders/back, legs. When I`m in full force, my routine is this : Monday CBT, Weds SB, Friday CBT,Sunday Legs, Monday 2 SB, Weds 2 CBT, Friday 2 SB. That gives a full day between upper body workouts, and three days recovery before repeating the bodypart. I do abs just about every workout. I will usually superset them in with my last exercise of the day. I`ve discovered an ab exercise that works very, very well so I don`t have to go crazy with the sets and reps. 4 sets of 10 - 12 is all it takes. Obviously there will be tweaks to the program if someone`s personal goals are extreme. For instance, I`d have someone stay on phase 1 for 6 to 8 weeks if their goal was to add a significant amount of muscle in the shortest time, or if they wanted to drop an extreme amount of bodyfat I`d spend more time on phase two. With that said, I have found that this program delivers the most satisfying and motivating results. If you`re 20 pounds over weight and your goal is to "get shredded", you`ll get discouraged blasting straight toward that goal with no checkpoints along the way. Following the phased program you`ll get more visible results quicker, and stay motivated. And for the person wanting that beach body and gain 25 pounds of muscle, they`ll find that adding a little bit of muscle, then chiseling it down to a rock solid, lean body will be far closer to what they actually wanted to look like and won`t waste 6 months trying to "get huge". There is obviously a LOT more to it than what`s written here. once it goes from being *A* program to being *your* program, it`ll be personalized to you as an individual.

In my efforts to whittle away the last few bits that need attention before my wedding in March (gotta be picture perfect, ya` know? LOL) I was lifting a little heavier to put on a little more upper body size. Went for the 300lb bench and the ol` shoulder just isn`t up for it (old separation/torn RC from a bicycle crash). I`m not even going to concern myself with hitting it. FWIW, I train with a guy who once benched 455 raw (I was the spotter and saw it happen. The dude`s an animal), and he never, ever benches more than about 265 these days, and he`s still huge.

Go on any forum about weight training or bodybuilding and ask how to gain weight and you`ll get 30 different answers, and see an argument or two about who`s program is "right". There is no "right". It`s going to take a great deal of experimenting and paying close attention to how your body responds. Get someone to help you who`s experienced enough to park their ego and develop the plan for YOU. One fact, however, is that the basics apply to everyone (with the .01% of people who are genetically freakish). You have GOT to put the calories in if you`re going to gain weight. And to gain that much weight, in ANY amount of time (in lean body mass anyway) will take protein, and lots of it. My advice? Yes, lift heavy. Choose three exercises for each muscle group...one basic,compound movement like bench press or squats, and two specific movements like dumbell press and pec deck flyes. Rep range for the first exercise would be in the 6 to 8 range for 4 sets. Then 3 sets of 8 to 12 of your other two. Do two major muscle groups a day, 3 or 4 days per week. My favorite routine has me doing each body part three times in two weeks. Any advice you get on the internet will be very basic. What you really need is someone who can follow your progress and adjust your program as you develop. Goal setting, as mentioned, is very important. I have all of my clients write up goals for two weeks, 4 weeks, 8 weeks, 12 weeks, 6 months, one year, and 3 years. Looking at your 6 month goal from day one seems outrageous, but seeing it from your 12 week goal it becomes simply the next thing to check off the list.

Any of you guys do squat cleans? I did them religiously when i was racing BMX. GREAT power move. I~d do them with dumbells. Clean to the shoulders, into the squat, plyometric jump to finish it. At that point, my goal was time. I did sets of 12, shooting for the shortest time possible. If I recall, my PB was 39 seconds for a set of 12 with 45lb dumbells. (and there was NO standing of any kind when that set was over LOL)

It`s a great book, Mini. An old friend of mine I hadn`t seen in about 4 years called me out of the blue one day to thank me for turning him on to that book because it put him in a place to change his life. As a fellow musician he was struggling pretty hard to get his album done and the book is all about tapping into your subconscious to let out all of your creative potential (not to mention some of the techniques in there have been proven to unleash a few more IQ points). He finished his album in about 6 months after working on it for 5 years. It`s pretty amazing how that book can affect your inner confidence (don`t really want to call it self-confidence, it`s far more internal than that). Check it out and please feel free to let me know what you think.

Having nothing to do with Veganism, a book titled "The Einstein Factor" influenced the way I think about the way I live, specifically my attitude toward the world I live in and how to use my talents to their fullest potential. Of course after my mom passed away I got a lot out of "The Power of Now" as well as "The Power of Positive Thinking". I`m actually working on three book proposals right now. All three are very different from each other, and it`s taking far longer to organize than I imagined (lol) but it`s getting there. Hoping to get at least one of them prepped in time to be able to write the book in Costa Rica.

Thanks Robert, your abs aren`t lookin` too shabby in your avatar pic, either LOL! How did you like Costa Rica? I have yet to meet someone that wasn`t just in love with the place. We`re really intending to go there and pursue citizenship. We`ve got a few ideas on how to do it in the most efficient, painless manner, just a matter of getting there and doing it.

Welcome from a neighbor in North Texas! I`m pretty new here myself, and so far it`s a great community to be a part of.

I`m in FW, nice to see someone local

I worked in a bike shop that sold those. Super fun and easy to ride, and one hell of a workout! I got the 8 speed up to about 42mph in our parking lot (absolutely true story!). It was pretty frightening but it handled a lot more stable than I expected it to at that speed. I can`t say I recommend going that fast to anyone else though. 27 years in BMX developing bike skills and I was still pretty nervous.

I dropped the 1RM lifting some years ago, but I have to admit I`m still a little fond of certain accomplishments. This has been the busiest two months of the last 10 years, and the next month won`t be much different with Christmas, my fiance`s birthday on new year`s day, and mine not too far after, but I am starting to think (after reading on this site for several hours last night!) that I might start on a plan to re establish some strength landmarks. I`d like to once again hit a bench of 315, and a five plate squat. I`ve got two weeks of re-acclimating to do in order to prepare for 1rm stuff again. I`ll probably use a variation of the 5X5 and 5,3,1 programs that I designed myself a couple of years ago for some clients that ended up working very well. I`ve got a dodgy shoulder from a crash in a bmx race a few years ago, so I`ve got to be especially mindful of that. I~ll post up when I officially start toward the goals, and obviously commence bragging once I get there HAHAHA!!

Thanks guys, nice to receive a warm welcome As far as the lifts go, I haven`t lifted super heavy in a long time. The last time I benched over 300 was about 5 years ago. I went for 335 last summer and missed it, but I wasn`t too bummed. I only squat heavy about once a year (usually the absolute heaviest I`ll ever go is 405, but right about this time of year I`ll unrack 455 just to see how it feels LOL). And MiniForklift: I do deadlift sometimes, but it`s a hard lift for me. My upper, middle, and lower back are very stable (lats are pitifully small), my hips have the drive, and my legs have the "oomph", but biomechanically I`m not designed for a stellar DL. Even at my strength peaks my DL was 100lbs lower than my squat. But again, I don`t lift for big numbers much these days. I like to train for functional strength and let`s be honest...aesthetics are important, too!! (but honestly only for my own sake, and to give my beloved fiance a reason to stick around LOL)

Best lift ever? Bench: 410 (no lift shirt) Squat: 585 (knees wrapped and lifting belt) Both at the age of 17 and a bodyweight of 177. Both recognized, official records. I don`t lift anywhere near that now that I`m 38: DB Incline bench press: 100`s for 8 (yep, full range. None of that half rep BS) Decline bench: 285 for 5 Squat: 455 for 5 I`ve always had leg power, even as young as about 13. It was my saving grace as a former Pro BMX racer Pushing the 100`s:

So Hello, Nice to see there is a whole community for vegan bodybuilders! Some history: I`m 38, a professional musician, personal trainer, former model, competitive bodybuilder, father, and soon to be husband (march 2013!). I`ve pursued health and fitness all of my life. From powerlifting when I was in highschool to later finding an interest in natural bodybuilding. At my absolute best I was 5`10" 208lbs with a bodyfat of 5% (NOT a vegan at the time. Not even close). I`m rarely taken for even being 30, let alone coming up on 40 LOL. I learned how to eat healthy when I first got into physique transformation. I knew that 85% of my results would come from diet, so I learned everything I could about eating clean and healthy as a natural bodybuilder. Of course I ate a TON of chicken!! I`ve stayed in pretty good shape over the years, and have gotten my fiance` to embrace healthy eating....what a drag race that has become!!!!!!She is why I`m here, on this site. I taught her to eat and cook clean and healthy, she took us to organic foods. I showed her proper portioning and meal frequency, she embraced vegetarianism. I decided to try cutting out red meat, she took to veganism. Now we are both on the path to a vegan commitment. We still drink cow milk, but will replace it with Almond or coconut milk as soon as we finish the 1/2 gallon we have left. We still eat organic free range eggs, but again, will find a replacement once we run out. We are also planning to move to Costa Rica next summer. My goal is to be on a 100% vegan diet, and have the physique at 39 that most at 22 will envy...not for the sake of getting the ladies to notice me (my fiance is the most beautiful woman I have ever seen, I don`t need women to notice me ), but rather to have people ask when they learn of my age how I have managed to stay so youthful. It will open the door for me to expose them and educate them about the lifelong benefits of better eating and lifestyle choices, and give me an "instant in" of sorts. I`d like to carry that same effect into my 60`s One active goal is to chronicle my progress from now through the next six months, and write a book about my conversion and the ways it will improve my life, from basically the very first day I committed to Vegan living. If I can inspire someone else to change their perspective and embrace a more natural, organic way of living and enhance their life...I have done my job. Here is me, just before my 38th birthday: Me, at 37