Vegan Bodybuilding & Fitness

Back in 2009 - the anorexic girl got pissed off at her boney ass and bought two (non-pink) dumbells & barbell set for home. She took radical action and turned herself into a healthy, strong confident woman.

Going to Univeristy, I lost some muscle while surviving some late night studying at the library by attacking the vending machine. My biggest downfall was the fact that my ex-bf failed to bring my weights to Netherlands from UK - so my home gym was no more. The GYM is a scary place - with one room so testosterone infused it makes you wanna put on a deep voice and put a sock in your underware to better attempt to fit in... Unfortunally, the two barbells are there - I look at them like forbidden fruit. I only used it once (Sunday morning, no-one was around) - the bar alone is far too heavy for deadlifts

Anyway, now I'm 53kg (165/5'5), BF: 20%, BMI: 19ish. Weak as a kitten, having had a gym membership for 1.5years. Failure loves irony.

I want my strong self back (and my nice round ass back too). I have exams in about a month, but hell, ive been putting off training for forever cause "Its not the right time". There's never gonna be the perfect time, so I might aswell start now. And exercising does help me concentrate. I know that as long as I put together a plan and I have it blessed by some knowledgeble people ( like YOU! ) I'll have no problem sticking to it. And I am kicking myself for not doing it earlier - but procrastination should be my middle name.

This is my mock work out, awaiting for blessing.

Work out 1:

Chest Press: 3 sets of 8-12 reps
Rows: 3 sets of 8-12 reps
Dumbbell Shoulder Press: 3 sets of 8-12 reps
Tricep extension
Barbell Squat: 3 sets of 8-12 reps
Leg Extension: 3 sets of 8-12 reps
Exercise Ball Crunches: 3 sets of 10-15 reps
Lying leg raises


Workout 2

Dips: 3 sets of 8-12 reps
Wide grip pull downs
Lateral Raises: 3 sets of 8-12 reps
Triceps Pushdowns: 3 sets of 8-12 reps
Dumbell Curls: 3 sets of 8-12 reps
Leg Press: 3 sets of 8-12 reps
Dumbbell Lunges: 3 sets of 8-12 reps
Cross body crunch: 3 sets of 10-15 reps
Hyperextensions: 3 sets of 10-15 reps

So, I'd alternate between the two workouts doing them every other day hopefully managing 3-4times a week.

Congratulations on making a commitment to your health and fitness, and welcome to the forum!
Your programs sound great, I started out with a similar program. All over body workouts are a great way to boost your initial progress!
I would however suggest you follow this program one day on, one day off, to give your body a chance to recover in between. If you would rather do it consecutive days, I would train upper body one day then lower body the following day. It doesn't really matter too much, and if you'd rather just stick with your own plan don't let me sway you. But this is why a lot of bodybuilders do split training (for example, they will train chest one day, back the next day etc. which gives each body part a chance to rest and recover while another area is being trained.)
It is just as important to give muscles a proper rest between workouts, (you don't grow in the gym, you grow when you're body is recovering and rebuilding!) As you are doing whole body training you wont really be allowing for rest in between.
Just my suggestion
Also remember increasing protein, especially post work out, is going to help you build muscle

_________________
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When I started training 6months ago I also started on a full body program like yours Ily, and whilst I made some newbie gains... It wasn't all that impressive. Also doing 8 exercises per session tired me out and I found by the last few... well they were a waste of time.

I started Stronglifts 5x5 about 7weeks ago and despite taking 3 weeks off in the middle (travelled around USA) I am now back to the regular program and have increased my bench-press by 20lb (started at 60lb and currently attempting 85lb tomorrow), my military press by 15lb and my bent-over rows by 25lb. I got an ankle injury due to running, so haven't been doing the squats (which are the largest part of the work-out) BUT I am still getting great results with the upper-body exercises. I have added in two additional exercises... assisted chin-ups and dips as well. So I do 3-4 exercises only per work-out. I love it and am always hanging out for my next session.

When I did the full body program I increased my weight on exercises by maybe 5-10lb (over a few months)... but the strength and visual gains on stonglifts has been far greater. I am going to continue it for another 7 weeks and hope to be benching 100lb by the end.

Here is the program http://stronglifts.com/ There are a lot of guys on here that have a lot more experience, advice and info r.e. this program so if you decide to take it up then definitely post your questions.

p.s. I am a 27 year old female, medium sized frame... so it doesn't only work for guys! Although my BF has been doing it with me and has seen even greater gains.

Good-luck

_________________
Life is 10% what happens to us and 90% of how we react to it. Our Attitude towards life determines life's attitude towards us.

Thank you for all your inputs - I will take them all into consideration! But as you all pointed out, a full body workout every other day is the way to start - I will for sure amend it when it comes to that. There are 8 excercises, however, I tend to do them in either Supersets or Trisets. This works really well for me - I don't waste time, I don't get bored and extra bonus is high intensity. This method sucks on Monday night when everybody is at the gym burning off the extra week-end beers...(TOO MANY PEOPLE!)

One of those really badly organised meetings which took 3 hours. It was 9PM but decided to go to the gym - once I did 5mins cardio, I was hyper again!

I had a craaaaazy day and didn't have time to check the plan before the gym, so I improvised...

(Grouped means they were done one after the other - 3 sets each)

Back extensions 70lb x 12
Pulldowns 70lb x 12
Seated Leg Press 135lb x12

Cross body Crunch ~30
Fly Machine 25lb x 12 (WEAK! XD)
Leg abductor 50lb x 12

Tricep extensions 10lb x 12 (The fly machine was very popular - had to do SOMETHING)

NOTE: I am not perfectly sure about the weights.

FOOD:
Breakfast: 3 slices bread, 1.5/2 servings PB, 1 Jam, 1 banana.
Lunch: Peanut & Honey bar (224cals)(I had a deadline, Only realized after I'd submited my work that I hadn't eaten)
5PM: Soup, Slice bread, 2 eggs (Yeah, eggs are the only thing I have yet to give up...school canteen is not vegan-friendly)
Post gym: One scoop Hemp-Protein
Dinner: Im current munching a bowl of brown lentils with a "stir-fry" of Tofu, kale, peas & leaks.

Get a small notebook and attach a pencil (mechanical ones are nice as they have a clip and eraser) and put it in your backpack. You can right down what you want to do, and what you did, and carry it with you all the time. Also you might want to carry some sani wipes. A school gym is a breeding ground for germs to mingle and mutate, and most do not use the disinfectant spray (so use the spray before you use the machine, and not after you use the machine - though to be nice you should use it after also).

Good commitment! 9PM at night. Didn't bring what you wanted to do, so you just thought of it off the top of your head! Excellent!

Weak, sneak! It is just a baseline for you. This way, it will look so cool the next time you do it, and the weights go up, up, up! At least that is what I tell myself (sometimes I do some extra sets or I play around with a higher weight, but I don't write it down - so when I am able to do it the next time for REAL and write it down - it looks awesome to me!).

HI EVERYONE,

Last academic year took me by storm. I was part of the board of a student orgnization, and was part of a musical (in a language I don't actually realy know (dutch)), and a full time university student....hence, my whole "I wanna be fit and stong"desire went out the window.

This year I am more motivated. I feel like I can make myself more accountable. My fiancee has been into bodybuilding for a long while so he is also very supportive and keeps bugging me about my weakness. Don't get me wrong, he isn't bullying me, but his contant reminder that I can't even do 2 pushups does bug me...

Anyway, I think I am around 56kg, I'm still 165cm. So, by any medics standards I'm perfectly health. But by my standards, I have a little bit too much flab here and there...

I am very happy to have rediscovered this forum I strated, and the fact that it has a perfect workout plan - I've been procrastinating for the last months tryingto find the perfect workout plan. I took over my boyfriends old Ipod Touch and found the most brilliant apps that I can use the store workouts and keep track of progress.

My only question to you all is....how much calories am I aming for here? Cause on one hand I wanna lose a layer of fat and on the other I need some definition and gain some muscle back. I'll try post my diet on here as regulary as I can, as I know at this point it is not optimal, and would appreciate some pointers.

That's all for me, back to studying

Women honestly don't even need to work out with weights except for their lower backs.

The difference in strength between their upper bodies and mens' upper bodies is such that normal calisthenics will give them far above average strength.

If I were a woman, for the sake of convenience alone I'd comprise a workout of the following:

-pushup variants
-pullup variants
-dip variants
-handstand pushups
-situps/dragon flags/other ab moves
-pistol squats
-high volume kicking/leg raising exercises
-deadlifts (calisthenics neglects the lower back)

That would be more convenient, as almost all of it can be done without any equipment at all.

In the unlikely event somebody decides to actually listen to me for a change, I'll be happy to explain how absolutely anybody can quickly and aggressively build up to completing any of these moves in case they're unable to do them.

In my experience, women tend to workout with weights because they have too little strength to use their body-weight, using weights allows them to work with less weight for more gain.

_________________
Hakuna matata

Pix:
viewtopic.php?f=48&t=29165

Training:
viewtopic.php?f=24&t=29188

When they are unable to perform bodyweight routines, I have a simple but extremely effective program that will allow them to build up to pushups, pullups etcetera using negative repetitions.

It allows them to build up to these feats in sometimes as little as one or two weeks with diligent practice.

Not trying to be argumentative but I'm pretty sure rapidly building up to doing full deadhang pullups for reps is going to cause them to gain more strength than using light weights because they're comfortable.

The progression and variation using weights provides is far more engaging, encouraging and rewarding.

_________________
Hakuna matata

Pix:
viewtopic.php?f=48&t=29165

Training:
viewtopic.php?f=24&t=29188

That sounds pretty subjective. How are you so sure you're right?

In many cases I am completely wrong. A purely objective exercise regimen is unsuitable for almost everyone that isn't autistic.

_________________
Hakuna matata

Pix:
viewtopic.php?f=48&t=29165

Training:
viewtopic.php?f=24&t=29188

Sounds like you are back into it and off to a great re-start. How you introduced this journal was really entertaining too. Like a story, it made it fun to read. Keep posting you already have some followers.

-Dylan