Vegan Bodybuilding & Fitness

The only thing I would try, is get your butt a little lower. I was always taught to get the deadlift started when you're butt is low and your quads are as close to parallel with the floor. Just a thought, but those lifts are big man, really impressed.

Lift wasn't too bad, maybe practice some lockouts as I noticed you had to hitch the last inch or two. Solid weight though. Only had a quick watch now as I'm off to bed, just gone 11pm with me. Will watch again tomorrow and see if I can come up with any constructive feedback. Wasn't a horrible lift though, nice work.

Hope you have a great Christmas mate, what have you got planned for it?

A whole lot of nothing is what I have planned for my break, although I might hit up the local Gold's gym for their free 7 day pass and get some workouts in.

5/3/1 1RM Test Week

5x100 jump rope w/ 5x2 widest grip pullups

Squat
8x75 lbs
5x145
3x215
1x285
1x320
1x345
1x365 fail
1x365 PB

Bench
8x45 lbs
5x95
3x145
1x195
1x215
1x235
1x245 PB

The lifts went well, other than the fail at 365 and stupid spotter on my final bench set. I dropped both of these lifts 5 lbs off of what I originally thought I'd lift due to my performance on Tuesday. The bench lift is in line with my theoretical 1RM using Wendler's formula, and the squat number I lifted is 5 lbs over my theoretical 1RM.

Squat 365 lbs fail:
The bar slipped a bit when I got down in the hole and it threw my balance off a bit and it wasn't going back up.


Squat 365 lbs:
I just barely hit parallel on this one. I made sure to have a better grip on the bar and hold it tighter so it wouldn't slip again.


Bench 245 lbs:
Notice the stupid spotter here - I told him that I was doing a 1RM test, that the lift and lockout would probably be pretty slow, AND NOT TO TOUCH THE BAR UNTIL I TOLD HIM TO! This is a major problem facing America these days - the kids just don't listen or follow instructions! I actually had to yell at him twice while I was lifting that "I've got it!".

Good work on the squat!

If you find that you get stuck at that mid point for the toughtest spot, consider trying overloaded half squats where your ROM at bottom will end at the depth of your sticking point. So, if you find that right in the middle of your full ROM is where you tend to have trouble, set the pins at that spot, add maybe 20-40 lbs. to your current max, and hit some half squats to your sticking point with a bit more weight than your max, and you'll build some extra strength through that spot over time. Looks like you come out of the hole quite strong, but the spot where you need to push your hips through (my weak spot on the deadlift, not as much on the squat) is where you might be having a bit of trouble. Heavy deadlifts from just below the kneecap will help with that a bit as well, getting you to strengthen that hip push during the transition where most people tend to have their weakest spot.

Nevertheless, great progress, onward to 400!

Cool, I now have some videos to watch while I drink my morning coffee haha!

That annoys the shit out of me as well with the bench spotter, they just don't understand that a 1RM is probably not going to be the fastest rep in the world. Last guy I yelled "hands fuckin off" as I was pressing, he didn't speak to me after that and I felt kinda bad lol

Thanks a lot for the tips on squatting, VE! I was very happy to hit my 200/300/400 bench/squat/deadlift goals, now I'm definitely going for 300/400/500! Hoping to hit it at least by the end of this year, if not sooner.

I decided that I'm going to go back to the basics with a 3-month round of Madcow and then go back to 5/3/1. When I restart 5/3/1 I'm going to program in more weighted assistance, rather than all the bodyweight stuff I was doing previously.

I ended up signing up for Gold's gym free 7 day trial membership so that I could lift on my break, as the school (work) gym was closed for the holiday. Only made it there twice - hit one squat/bench/row workout and one squat/OHP/deadlift workout at the entry weights for my Madcow cycle. I didn't really like it there - a few too many meatheads, and the knurling on their barbells was crap.

So my Madcow schedule will look like this:
Monday
Squat/Bench/Row
Wednesday
Squat(light)/OHP/Deadlift
Friday
Squat/Bench/Row

Weights increase weekly by 2.5% over the initial levels, rounded to what I can fit on a bar with 2.5lbs plate increments. Squat/Bench/Rows increase on Friday with a heavy set of x3, followed by the same weight on Monday x5. OHP/Deadlift increase each week with a heavy set of x5. Squats on Wednesdays are light to recover a bit from Monday and to save strength for the Deadlift. If I can't finish the heavy set, I don't increase the weight.

Today:

Madcow Week 1

5x100 jump rope w/ 5x3 widest grip pullups

Squat
2x5x45 lbs
5x115
5x160
5x205
5x245
5x285

Bench
5x45 lbs
5x80
5x105
5x135
5x165
5x195

Barbell Rows
5x45 lbs
5x75
5x100
5x130
5x150
5x170

Lifts were easy for the most part. I did all squats low bar, below parallel, save the last set. For some reason I have a mental block to getting below parallel on the final heavy set. I should have been able to get below parallel on the squats, but for some reason when I saw my hips hit parallel in the mirror I stopped. I've tried not looking at them when i squat, but I find it hard not to watch my form. I have been using the mirror as an aid to make sure I'm getting the right depth ever since i started lifting. I went a little light on rows to make sure I had my form in check, since I haven't done BB rows in 7 months.

Madcow, Week 1

5x100 jump rope / 5x3 widest grip pullups

Squat
5x45 lbs
5x115
5x160
5x205, 3 seconds down, pause, explosive up
5x205, 3 seconds down, pause, explosive up

OHP
5x45 lbs
5x75
5x100
5x120
5x130

Deadlift
5x135 lbs, slow and steady, hook grip
5x205, hook
5x260, hook
5x315, over/under
5x360, over/under

Again, just the start of the 3-month cycle, so these weights are less than what I can actually lift for 5 reps. I'm giving myself the recommended 3 week build-up period, to hit my last 5-rep bests in week 4. Seems that I've put on a bit of weight since I last checked prior to my 1RMs last month. The gym scale told me 200.5 lbs clothed, so probably around 199 lbs. However, that is with half a day of eating and hydration behind me, but also a bowel movement. I'll check again in the morning at home, although it will still probably be close to that high as I already had my bowel movement today. I didn't think I had kept up enough food intake over the 2 week break from work, but I guess so! I usually lose weight on my vacations because I tend not to eat as much when I'm not at work where I can structure my mealtimes properly.

'That's 200 solid ass pounds!'

Good work buddy.

All the best with Madcow mate .

Cheers, guys!

I checked my weight the morning after and I was at 199 lbs, although that was after breakfast so probably closer to 198. However, 198 is still a bit higher than my usual 195-197 range, so it's something! It's a bit weird seeing 200+ lbs on the scale though, never wanted to get up that high. This is the most I've ever weighed. My previous heaviest from when I was a younger lad (also did some lifting then) 16 years ago was 190 lbs. I'd really like to see how strong I can get at 200 lbs. While I like the thought of higher strength with a bit more weight, I don't really want to have to increase my eating to support the added mass. I'm eating a hell of a lot as it is and don't care for it.

MadCow Week 1

5x100 jump rope, 5x3+ widest grip pullups

Squat
5x155 lbs
5x165
5x205
5x245
3x290
8x205

Bench
5x80 lbs
5x105
5x135
5x165
3x200
8x135

BBRow
5x75 lbs
5x100
5x130
5x155
3x175
8x135

Farmers Walk:
2x25m @ 75 lbs each hand, 1 minute rest
2x25m @ 85 each hand, 1 minute rest
2x25m @ 95 each hand

Everything went fine today, no real stress on the lifts, as expected. The x8 sets after the heavy set were interesting. Felt it a little on the squats but it was pretty easy after the bench and rows. Felt a little saucy after the main work and felt like doing a little grip work but didn't want to just hold on to a bar. Decided to use the EZ-curl bars instead of dumbells, probably pissed off some gym curl-bros in the process, whatever. Wasn't sure how heavy to go, but found the grip challenging at the lighter weight due to the length of the bars and the lack of knurling in the center of the bar. The bars ended up shifting a little and tilting forward and backward during the sets. Next time I'll do it with dumbells, however if I keep this up that will only last so long as the heaviest dumbell we have is 110 lbs. I'm sure with knurling and the much shorter lever-arm of the dumbells it will be much easier.

I dare say that squatting has given me a rather solid ass.

By the way, that's totally going in my sig line!

Haha, great new signature. You need to have your best Ronnie Coleman voice on if you say that out aloud!

Hahahaha this comment is sig worthy too :p
Hope everythings good where you are dude, haven't stopped by in a while! Are you following a new programme now?