veganjkd

Dude. check out your local `for sale` pages in the paper and on the net ( gum tree is good for this). so many people tend to get a set of home free weights and then after they sit there gathering dust for 6 months they sell them! Often you can find the york bar bell/dumb bell sets for sale second hand.this could open some more options. I used to train at a gym but had to quit as i could not afford the fees. I now train at home,no bench just a bar and some dumbells. I cant lift as heavy as i could in the gym so i have to train smart, sometimes you have to adapt to what is available!

Mac Danzing. Good fighter and vegan of course. Jake shields. great fighter,great jiu jitsu and lifelong vegetarian. Nick and nate diaz. two bad ass jiu jitsu/mma fighters and both veg*n i think. Frank Mir gina carano . yes she is smoking hot! Lyoto Machida. Forest Griffin. Stephan Bonnar. Luke Cummo.Seems like a cool guy,maybe vegan? has a good attitude to health,nutrition and the enviroment. rickson Gracie.the man is a legend. how did i miss him off my list?;CRO COP!

Hard on the knees? how about hard on your toes?! Inevitably you will mess your rythm and if barefoot will give your toes a good whipping,it hurts! Especially if using one of the heavy thai jump ropes. Jumping rope is awesome,it develops endurance,leg strength,stamina and burns a bunch of calories

i was hesitent to post this as my intention is not to get into some back and forth debate but this has been bothering me for some time so what the heck! I have found myself on a number of occasions reading posts on the various vegan health, fitness and training forums from vegans referring to various studies and so called research notes etc that have directly from `Studies on rats`. Such studies I will generalize under the term vivisection. For vegetarians and vegans to quote from these studies with faith in the results is both worrying and kinda disturbing for a number of reasons. Firstly it is giving credibility to the vivisection industry and the sadists that waste life and resources and money carrying out these `studies`. Second it shows some ignorance of the fact that Rats and other non Human animals are entirely different from humans and as such almost all of the data gathered is worthless when applied to humans . I worked for ten years as a vet nurse providing medical and nursing care to sick and injured animals and as such it breaks my heart to hear vegans quote statistics from some lab where countless animals have Suffered and died and expect me to react positively or to take a new approach to my nutrition or supplementing based on some BS study that involves the captivity and emotional and physical torture of other animals. These days I work full time for a vegetarian charity and we have on occasion come across research done in similar labs that may give positive views of the vegetarian/vegan diet but we absolutely reject such studies and the data and never refer to them as they are of course ethically unsound . So next time you come across some protein study from a vivisection lab please refrain from expecting the rest of us to cheer and clap these sadists in white coats for the great work they are doing on behalf of the body building industry. Wise up vegans!

I have been tinkering in the local gym for a couple of years weight training to supplement martial arts training and running with no real plan but with a bit of an understanding of nutrition. I have tried various body building programes with info i have got from various sources,5X5, low reps high weights,pyramids etc etc but have never really seen any gains.Have done lots of bodyweight workouts and love my kettle bells workouts but i am wanting to start to develop more of the bodybuilding look..whatver that may be for me! given that my gym membership runs out at the end of january 2009 with no hope of renewal i really had to think about things. that done i started off with a two light week programe of ; bench press 20kg x 25 seated row machine 28 kg x 25 dumbbell deadlift 40 kg x 25 dumbbell curls 10kg x 25 dumbell tricep extension 10kgx25 left/right ab crunch machine 35kg x 25 i did 3 sets of the above in one session in the same order and trained 3 times a week for two weeks around muay thai and running . Since then i have kicked it up to the following; Dumbbell bench press 60kg(30kg x 2) x6-8 reps Bent over dumbbell row 30kg 6 reps each arm Chin ups 6 reps dumbell bicep curls 28kg( 14kg each arm) 8-12 reps dumbell triceps extensions 24kg 12 reps dumbell bicep curls 28kg (14kg each arm) 8 -12 reps Triceps cable pull/push downs 55kg 6-12 reps 4 sets of the above in one session. Next day in gym i do the following dumbell squats 60kg 6-12 reps Dumbell deadlift 60kg 6-12 reps leg extension machine 75 kg 12 reps Seated leg curl machine 60kg 12 reps Ab crunch machine 50kg 12 reps dumbbell shrugs 80kg 6-12 reps seated dumbell calf raises 60kg 12 reps 4 sets of the above in one session so i do two sessions of each of the above workouts each week.(does any of this make sense?!) .My goal being to build muscle and stength. focussing on these heavier weights(i weigh about 80kg) and simple compound excercises i have finaly noticed a difference in that i am definately building muscle enough for others to notice,not the intention but a good indicator none the less.My strengh is definatley up as well indeed my body weight has gone up slightly and body fat gone down a little(always had a bit of a beer gut!). I still I train muay thai 1.5 hours twice a week(5 -7 five minute sets of rope jumping,with 10 push ups,squats,crunches,burpees,squat thrusts in between each rope jump set),then bag/pad work.kicking,punching,elbows,knees. and usually some sparring as well and finishing each class with 50 push ups,50 sit ups,50 leg raises I am sticking with this 4 times a week alternating weight programe until january and then in my last month at the gym i will be doing the following; Deadlifts 4-6 reps Bench press 4-6 reps one armed dumbell row4-6 reps Barbell curls 4-6 reps triceps extensions 4-6 reps Training 5 sets of the above in one seesion,4 sessions a week lifting as heavy as i can go without any faliure. i reckon its working well thus far ,i have found the move to lifting what for me is much heavier has made some real gains and i think finishing like this will be a good ending as such! after that its back to my light dumbells and my kettlebells at home :0( feel free to comment/advise etc.

you can find me here. www.myspace.com/misanthropunk

I was having a conversation with my wife last night regarding street defense/fighting. Via training in jeet kune do,kali and muay thai i have a good grounding in some very effective styles.That said,in a real life or death street situation i would hope i would avoid anything along the lines of throwing a punch! Go for the eyes! Yeah boy! eye gouge with fingers,pens,keys etc! if you can get a good eye jab in first,delivered fast and hard that is gonna give you some time to do what you need to do .Forget about trying to deliver that good roundhouse kick or trying for a BJJ choke or take down. In real time street action or home defence get NASTY and atttack with gouging,`fish hooks`,bites,groin kicks/stamps .Elbows to the nose,ears,eye sockets if you really need to get in close or find your self in close. But really try to think fast,hard,painfull strikes to sensitive areas as these will all imobilize your attacker until you decide to flee or finish them off! A lot of martial arts gyms will teach great systems/styles that work great in martial arts competiton but really fail their students when they try to relate them to self defense and street fighting.

I was having a conversation with my wife last night regarding street defense/fighting. Via training in jeet kune do,kali and muay thai i have a good grounding in some very effective styles.That said,in a real life or death street situation i would hope i would avoid anything along the lines of throwing a punch! Go for the eyes! Yeah boy! eye gouge with fingers,pens,keys etc! if you can get a good eye jab in first,delivered fast and hard that gonna give you some time to do what you need to do .Forget about trying to deliver that good roundhouse kick or trying for a BJJ choke or take down. In real time street action or home defence get NASTY and atttack with gouging,`fish hooks`,bites,groin kicks/stamps etc as these will all imobilize your attacker until you decide to flee or finish them off!

jeet kune do,empty hand kali,buka jalan pentjak silat,muay thai chaiya,muay thai.

With regards soy i was never really bothered as i have had a soy rich diet since i became vegan (at 18 and i am now 37,went veggie at 13). in the main i was interestd in the stuff mike mahler had to say regarding estrogen reduction. thanks for the replies. Dave

No Bro i was not worried..just trying to collate as much good building knowledge as possible !

Thats a very interesting reply..thanks for the heads up about the soy discussions on here,will check them out. thanks !

Hey guys/girls. I am pretty much new to `bodybuilding`/strength building as in the main i train martial arts and use kettle bells. however at 37 i have decided to try and `get big`.One the things i have read( including the stuff on mike mahler`s site)is the mention of estrogen and the use of estrogen blockers as having a beneficial affect. what is the validty of the claims that a diet with a lot of soy can increase estrogen levels in males? I want to get off to a good start and i am aware that my test levels with increase with regular building routines but any added science can only help! Does/as any one ever used any estrogen blockers or know the reality of the soy/estrogen story? thanks! Dave

Hi, new here(see the `new` posting from the u.k in the introductions section for recent pic!) I am looking to get big! Well, at the very least to build a lot more defined muscle with the intention of getting bigger and more defined. i am 37 years old. I am aiming to initially follow a basic programme on robert`s personal page then after about 3 months add extra excercises.My question is do i go big with the weights. on each excercise i will be doing sets of 12,10,8. Should the aim be to use a weight heavy enough that on the last few reps of the first 12 it is becoming difficult to lift without a real struggle/effort? Is `high intensity` the key to building in the initial stages? in the main i do martial arts but really want to get `big`! thanks for any replies/help etc.

that is very encouraging to hear! what kind of workout do you follow? my local gym is limited, a few weight machines and dumbells and cable machines.

Thanks for all the postive vibes people! will set up a training log on here maybe as it seems like a good way to shame myself into action! vegan power. dave

Vegan... uk based here in manchester.

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Hi. i am based in Manchester england. Went veggie at 12 and vegan at 18 and now am 37 years of age. My main training is martial arts which i do 3 nights a week. Two nights of Jeet kune do and Kali-escrima and one night and Brazilian jiu jitsu.I also do a saturday morning `primal fitness `class that envolves kettle bells, body weight excerises,box jumps,push ups, medicine balls wall slams etc. that leaves me with tuesday,friday and sunday evenings to visit the local gym.my aim is to lose some excess fat and to build a lot more defined musclee. i have read a lot of the stuff on here and i am aiming to follow the basic beginners programme outlined on Robert`s personal website along with extra abdominal work. at 37 is my age going against me in wanting to build extra muscle?whats the best way forward for me?