jonathan

I put the excellent training down to the quality smoothies supplied by the liquid nutrition department of the Edinburgh Vegan Cult. Without them, you would surely fail! Jonathan

Not much I am afraid. Moving house, twice, getting married and going on holiday have all taken their toll. My bench is still stuck at 297lb and my bodyweight is about 257lb. I am however much leaner than I was at 264lbs, so I think that my muscle mass has increased as I am stronger than ever. Although at the moment comically unable to lift for heavy single reps! An example of this is that I wanted to max out on deads on Wednesday. My goal was 230kg/506lbs. I got to 210kg/462lbs but that felt a bit too heavy so I didn't go any heavier. I dropped back to 180kg/396lbs and pulled 10 reps! That should give me a 1rep max of 240kg according to an online calculator. Same with bench - 8 reps 105kg/231lbs is now super easy - I did 8x100kg/220lbs close grip. But then 127.5kg/280lbs felt pretty heavy for a single the other day. Jonathan

Your grip will suffer vastly if you wear gloves. It really only takes a small amount of work on your grip work to take it to a level where it will rarely ever fail. I hardly ever train grip now but recently I double overhand deadlifted 180kg and held it at the top for 15 seconds easily. Jonathan

Actually for me mine go blue when they mix with my blood. It takes a lot of tan to cover that up! Jonathan

http://www.exrx.net/WeightExercises/ErectorSpinae/BBDeadlift.html The best all body lift that you can do Chins are very good - I personally prefer bent over rows, but that might be because I am crap at chins! Jonathan

As you may all have suspected, I'm going to chime in and say don't bother with gloves as they negatively affect your grip and are unnecessary. Benny Boy - the callouses will be hard and potentially a bit painful for a few weeks but they settle down after that and are really useful to have Jonathan

Yeah, that shit should be banned - I am just sick of reading about spirulina abuse in the newspapers these days.

I just noticed that you are 6'4" and 75kg too. I am 6'8" and started out at about 77kg. I started with isolation stuff and gained a bit of weight, but I made the best progress doing the compound work like barbell squats, deadlifts, bench, bent over row, shoulder press and power cleans. I'm at about 117kg now, three years later Jonathan

Hi Great that you are keeping a log over hear but I have to ask why you start every session with curls? I assume that you are a relatively new lifter, and you don't even need to do any bicep specific until your arms are 16inch plus. Just stick with bent over rows, chins and deadlifts If you want any help constructing a programme give me a shout Jonathan

I have it from a good source that Arnie and his those he competed with were entirely natural. The IFBB has always had strict drug control measures - I mean you only have to look at Ronnie Coleman - he is a cop so he would never consider taking drugs. But my favourite natural strength athlete is Greg Valentino Jonathan

I defend my smoothies and say that they transcend the divide between solid and liquid food. They are simply fantastic, and I say poo poo to anyone who disagrees!! Jonathan

Nice photos Finbarrio One thing that I will say is that it looks like it's pretty cold there! I met a couple in Nepal a few years ago who lived in Vermont and they couldn't stand the cold in winter. A very beautiful place though Jonathan

Its to get the blood filled with sugar, which makes the veins pop out! It's a crazy sport! Jonathan

Bah, I don't think that either Jay or Ronnie should have won. There is simply no symmetry/aesthetic value at all to their physiques. It's just about mass Jonathan

More back than chest generally. That includes deadlifts and cleans though. I even row a bit more than I bench (110kgx8 for rows and 105kgx8 for bench). Jonathan

Congratulations Meggy

Aye, gaining weight is a really good way to boost your bench I would say that you are at perhaps 125kg/275lbs already at the moment. As Bronco says, powerlifting form will help you greatly. I think also doing a periodised routine, ending with one rep maxes will help condition you to move big weights for low reps. Good luck with it - I am also very close to 300lbs - 297lbs at the moment! Jonathan

Are you saying we don't wash? Do you not see us standing in a river?

The farm sounds like a really exciting project for you Something like that would have been wonderful for here too, the only problem is that any sizeable property within a commute of Edinburgh is really expensive. Well the whole of Scotland isn't particularly cheap either. By CSA do you mean some sort of co-op? Michael, if you can make it over in early May it really is the most beautiful time here - everything is in bloom and the weather was perfect Jonathan

There is an outdoor velodrome in Edinburgh

Huge - nah - still a long way (30kg/70lbs) to go. Imagine how massive I will be then! Actually - I just look a bit bigger at the moment than I have recently (even though I have been heavier) because I have dropped some fat. It's amazing that even a wee bit off makes you look bigger. The river was fantastic. I love swimming in rivers and lakes, and this is one of the best that I have been in. The water was clear, with a hint of tannin from the peat bogs. It was even quite warm too. I just got annoyed with myself for not bringing goggles with me - there were huge shoals of minnows in the second pool (the one with the nudity). If you stood still for more than a second they would swarm around you and start nibbling you all over, though mainly on the legs. Crazy stuff Jonathan

Well actually in later spring (May) we will be having another Edinburgh Vegan Strength Meet-up. It was just a weekend this year, but next year we hope that it will be more like 4 days. Powerlifting on Friday and Strongman/woman on Sunday just doesn't give you enough time to rest! Of course you know that you are all welcome whenever you want to visit I think that we will have a fair bit of space, even if loads of you come. If push comes to shove, there is a large attic where I think at least 10 people could sleep. The whole commune plan is really very exciting. The great thing about the place that we have got is that there is plenty of room to extend should be need to. Most exciting for Kathryn and I is that there is that large attic, which could be converted into a large room for us. Whilst obviously being a commune which has space shared with everyone, being a couple we do need a wee bit of space for us. I do think that there is space for at least another 2 people in the place, so if you play your cards right, the next member could be you! Cheers my friend - * touched * Jonathan

Hehe, I've seen that pictue before! Man, you don't log in for 6 or 7 months and you miss all kinds of crazy stuff! Good to see you Michael Hello mate! You know I couldn't pass up a burrito thread. It's so true! How's life going in general anyways? We are moving house next week and shortly after moving into a wee little vegan commune with Buzz and Daywalker Jonathan

No probs - we were just worried about you! Jonathan

Hey Jen - why aren't you posting your log on VF anymore?