Eiji

Here's the other thing. None of these supplement companies are regulated. The whole vitamin/supplement industry! No regulation at all. That means we as consumers put faith into a corporation that is trying to make the biggest profit for their investers/owners to give us a pure unadulterated product. Yeah right. There needs to be some testing for sure. How the hell do you know what is in the bottle?

Spirulina is actually a whole food so not exactly a supplement in the usual sense. I do agree with him even though he is tiny and not very strong. I have taken less and less of my protein from powders and have not noticed a difference. I do notice a big difference with bcaas though. I have half a jug of MRM that I can't even use since I tested allergic to pea.

I was top recruit at my last academy and the workout that helped me the most was what I coined the 2 min drill. I set my watch timer to repeat automatically every 2:00 min. Start the watch 20 push ups then run till the beeper 20 4 count flutter kicks then run till the beep 20 air squats then run till the beep Repeat for 8-9 rounds for 48-54 min of continuous pt 20 reps of each got easy so I bumped it to 25, then 30, then 35. I was doing this in the heat of the day and in full sweats. I had a modified version to do with a breathing apparatus leaving out the flutter kicks. IMO "functional" exercise doesnt add much if you are training the way you need too. For example burpees are a functional exercise but I don't need to do them if I can do 80 push ups and can run a 6min mile. If I can do those and you can't I will smoke you at burpees all day long no matter how many burpees you have done before but burpees wil not get u a 6 min mile and 80 push-ups. Many traditional exercises are much more functional than so called functional exercise.

Keep it up Tank! I alway tell people, unsolicited advice..I know, that consistency is the key. it doesnt matter if you have a bad workout, bad day, a string of bad workouts, bad day etc.... Overall you keep moving forward to achieve your goal.

5'9 at 90kg and your looking to get bigger? Seriously?!? check out this site. Unless you at a high bf right now I dont think you could add much more naturally http://www.weightrainer.net/bodypred.html

9/2/15 Another good day even though I havent been getting enough sleep. I average about 6 hrs per night. Breakfast smoothie: banana, raspberries, blueberries, spinach, amla, spirulina, OJ, almond milk time to change things up a bit. Im still going to do 3-4 full body sessions per week but will cycle 4 different workouts. Each workout will have an upperbody push, upperbody pull, a lowerbody, and an abdominal exercise. I will be working up to 10 sets per exercise depending on the time I have per workout. I like to do one set of each exercise with about 30 sec rest for one round and then repeat. Upperbody Push Ring dips, Ring push ups, Overhead press, Handstand push up/ elevated piked ring push up Upperbody Pull Pull ups/chins on bar or rings, Rowing movement with bar or rings, assisted one arm chins Lower body Front squat, Deadlift, Pistol squat, Jump squat Abdominals Standing abwheel rollouts, Hanging leg raise toes to bar, Front lever progressions, L-sit holds 11:30 preworkout: 3 dates, 3 scoops amino energy, creatine workout: 10 min jumprope warm up 7 rounds of: Pull ups x 10 rest 30 sec Elevated Ring push up x 20 Rest 30 sec Front squat 135 x 5 Rest 30 sec Standing Abwheel x 2 I usually do my standing abwheels going up a slight ramp to make it a bit easier but I did these on the ground and touched my nose each rep...bad ass. Lunch: a big mound of soba noodles and about 1/4 watermelon Now here comes a little back story. I have been dealing with mild eczema since I was 25. Its been off and on with scaly ichy patches on my chest and back. For the last 4 months it has been pretty bad. every time it seems to clear it comes right back when before it was intermittent. It was one of the reasons for going plant based but after 2 months and no relief I scheduled an appt with an allergy specialist. the appointment was today and I had a rash test done. I had reactions to peas, tomato, sesame seeds, pistachio, and hazelnuts. The test has approximately 25-30% false positives and some reactions to allergenic foods such as wheat and soy may not show up I have to go on an elimination diet for 2 weeks and start introducing foods as long as the rash has cleared. If the rash has not cleared I can assume the eczema is caused by something else. so in the mean time I am limited to a restricted diet uhggg. Dinner: Kale fried rice topped with black beans 2 cups brown rice, 1 bunch kale, 3 cloves garlic, sea salt, cayenne pepper, 1 cup black beans.

I used to do stairs quite a bit. We have a run of stairs in a neighboring town of 295 steps up a steep hill. I would jog up/down with 50# vest Jog up/down no vest Walk up/down w/2 35# Dumbbells I haven't done that in ages though

I am feeling a lot better. Thanks for checking in. I have not increased food intake. I only eat when hungry and stop when I'm full so some days I eat a bunch and some days less. I haven't noticed that I have eaten any more than usual. I do however generally eat a lot. I intake 60-70 of my family of 4's food.

The first sentence is true. Now the next statement while also true leaves out some important issues: Gluconeogenesis is the conversion of proteins/amino acids to glucose, the preferred fuel for the body. This process is incredibly inefficient and produces toxic urea from the extra H+ ions as a byproduct. Your kidneys then have to work hard to get that out of your system. The urea turns into ammonia in the body and that is why sometimes sweat can smell like cat piss when someone is exercising in a carb deficient state. Ketosis/fatty acid metabolism byproducts are ketones like acetone. They are very acidic and toxic to the body and causes metabolic acidosis in the body. Also overworking the kidneys. Why anyone would want to force their body into ketosis is beyond stupid. The reasoning that somehow carbs are not our best fuel because we don't have essential carbs is complete rubbish. Forcing our bodies to run on protein or fat is akin to putting diesel in a formula one. Try running fast in a carb depleted state Try working out carb depleted Low carb diets are complete rubbish, destroy performance, and are unhealthy. Check out plantpositive YouTube channel

Sand bags are super easy to make. Go to your local hardware store and pick up a 50lb bag of sand and a roll of duct tape, I use gorilla tape. Wrap the entire bag with duct tape and you have a 50 lb sand bag that is very durable. You can also cut the bag open first to pour some sand out to make a bag that is lighter. Very affordable. Less than $10

Example of a double progression W=workout W1 135x6,6,6 W2 135x7,6,6 W3 135x7,7,6 W4 135x7,7,7 W5 135x8,7,7 W6 135x8,8,7 W7 135x8,8,8 W8 140x6,6,6 When u first start you will probably be able to add more than 1 rep per workout but this is a great method to keep the gains coming at a speed that is sustainable for the long haul.

I would recommend 3 days per week of a full body workout for 3 months utilizing a double progression method with 3 sets of 6-8 reps for each exercise. Alternating with an A and B workout. A Barbell squat Bench press Pull ups/ chins Leg raises B Standing overhead press Barbell row Deadlift Leg raises Start light and don't get greedy

9/1/15 Tofu and kale scramble with hash brown potatoes. 10 min jump rope 30 min on the water rower for 6300m More tofu and kale scramble with hash brown potatoes. Lunch: 2 sandwiches Ezekiel bread, avocado, cucumber, broccoli sprouts, hummus Snack: 1/4 of a large watermelon, 1/4 cup pumpkin seeds, 2 apples Dinner: chick pea shawarma wraps. Recipe from minimalistbaker.com the best vegan recipes I have found. Baked purple potatoes

Sorry if my intro read like I was trolling. I'm not. Looks now that I've gotten some supplement advice on my training log, here on the forum, my strength and stamina are back. Yay!

Nice. I'm am also new to the forum and vegan for 2 months. In San Diego.

I myself haven't found negatives all that helpful. The technique you describe is similar to what's call "grease the groove" or GTG. GTG is extremely helpful for being able to do more reps rather quickly and can be done almost daily. Instead of trying to hit a set # of total reps go for one set per hour or so. If at any time that set becomes difficult you are done for the day. GTG sets are typically done with around 40% of max reps so 1 rep is perfect. The routine would look like this Day 1: 16 sets x 1 rep Day 2: same Day 3: same Day 4: same Day 5: same Day 6: 1 set x max reps Day 7: rest Day 1: 16 sets x 40-50% max reps Continue this for 4-6 weeks for excellent progress. You can also continue your other training as usual but probably not do a heavy back workout on day 5/6 I have used GTG many times with excellent results. Specifically I went from 4 rep max on pistol squats to 15 reps in 3 weeks. And 2 rep max with chins with 50lbs to 7 reps with 50lbs in 2 weeks.

8/31/15 Feeling a bit sore this morning so Im going to push out my work out till this evening to give me a few more hours of recovery time. breakfast Massive smoothie with banana, mangos, raspberries, amla powder, spirulina, spinach, almond milk, water....did not taste good...I usually use a bit of oj and it tastes great but i was all out this morning... Lunch 2 cups of vegan chili with sprouted lentils, black beans, and garbanzo beans Snack rice n bean chips home made granola with oats, walnuts, pecans, pumkin seeds, ground flax, dried cranberries, sweetened with banana and molasses 1-2 pm rowing Took the kids to mission bay park and rented some paddle boards. LOL is was a bit windy and my daughter and friend got blown across the bay and I had to tow them all the way back. was a great little workout though. hung out on the beach for another hour and got blasted with too much sun and got my VitD for the week. Lite dinner at 5:00 fried rice with 2 cups chopped kale, 1 cup white rice, 2 tsp chili garlic sauce, tamari to taste. Super fast to make and very good. so good that I made another batch for the kids. Preworkout 2 scoops amino energy/ 5g creatine 15 min prior 6:00-6:40 Workout: one set of each exercise in order with approx 30 sec between each set. Assisted one arm chin with opposite hand grasping the working arm's forearm at about the middle. R - 3,3,3,3,3,3 L - 3,3,3,3,3,3 Elevated pike push up on rings with one leg extended BW x 7,7,6,5,6,6 Deadlift 225 x 3 275 x 3 295 x 3 315 x 3,3,3 Finisher 17 chins @ BW, 33 push-ups, and another DL triple at 315 8:00 snack A rather large salad. Spinach and arugula tossed in a lemon dressing topped with apple, walnuts, and dried cherries. Dressing: Juice from 1 lemon 1 tsp lemon zest 1 tbsp extra virgin olive oil 1 large clove of garlic minced 1.5 tbsp maple syrup Sea salt to taste I just made up that dressing and its a keeper 1 scoop mrm vegan protein with water You guys are the best. thank you for pointing out the bcaa/creatine issue. I think I am back.

Haha. Stairs are awesome!!!

I'm 5-11, body weight fluctuates between 183-187 @ approx 12-15% bf. I got pretty serious about powerlifting a couple years ago and got up to 205 at around 18-20% bf but I was so slow and most of the women around me said I was getting too big. I changed up my training to prepare for the Heartland Fire Academy last year and slimmed down to 190 and stayed between 190-195 at 10-12% after graduating the academy in December 14. In the last 2 months I've dropped a few lbs of muscle and hope to rectify that before starting my next academy for San Diego in November. I'll be turning 40 in September.

Nice log you got here Chris. Looks like you have made good progress since you started. What are your stats now? And how old are you?

8/29/15 Breakfast: banana, mango, raspberry, oj smoothie 2 pieces of Ezekiel raisin bread toast with earth balance and cinnamon sugar. A little splurge AM: 1 min on 1 min off jumprope for 8 rounds 20 min on the water rower. About 4400m Lunch: 2 sandwiches- Ezekiel bread with homemade olive tapenade, hummus, avocado, broccoli sprouts, cucumbers, tomatoes, red peppers. Afternoon snack: Fried rice - 1.5 cup brown rice, green onions, garlic, ginger, 1/2 cup each soybeans, peas, corn 17 oz coconut water PM: 3 scoops Amino Energy + 5 g creatine 10 min prior to start Power clean to front squat 135x3 155x5 185x3,3,3 155x5 Ring dips BW + 25lbs x 8 BW + 35lbs x 8,8,8 Power clean 155 x 3,3,3 Pistol Squat + 20lbs x 8,8 both sides HLR toes to bar x 10,10,10 3 dates 2 mile jog 18:49 24 oz water and banana Dinner: 3 cups miso soup, 1 cup brown rice, natto Snack: 1 scoop mrm vegan protein w/ almond milk, 1/2 cup broccoli sprouts w/ sesame dressing

Hmmm, well...I have discontinued creatine, bcaas, and beta alanine. I was hoping to get everything I needed from plants. Maybe I will add those back in. This is exactly what I was hoping for, some outside input. Thank you Rob and esquinchi!

I really can't pin it on anything else right now because they only thing that is different is the diet. I am bent on making this work. I do not want to give the meat, egg, fish or dairy industry a penny more of my money. The reason why I am logging training and diet is to iron out any kinks so I can thrive on a whole foods plant based diet. IMHO I should be able train as hard and as often as I did on my previous diet. Which would be 4-5 days per week. I was hoping for an increase in exercise capacity and a reduction in recovery times but that has not been the case so far. I am however open to consider that this is an issue that was going to happen regardless. Either way I am looking to optimize the vegan diet since I don't want to go back.

8/28/2015 79 days out Breakfast tofu scramble with green onions and red pepper hash browned golden potatoes Lunch Sandwich with hummus, avocado, red peppers, olives, cucumber, lettuce 17 oz coconut water Dinner About 4 cups of vegan chili. Yum

Well Rob, It really feels that my work capacity has shifted down and not because I am bigger and stronger. A year ago i was 195 with 1100lb powerlifting total and could workout everyday with no issues....