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Vegan Aspirant for Amazonian strength and physique


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Alright so I now feel entitled to take part in this vegan sharing of training journals, because two days ago I finally made the leap in to vegetarianism (not quite vegan yet, but the only dairy products I ingest is chocolate chip cookies that contain some whey powder extracted from milk- aside from that I steer away from pretty much all dairy products). It's a gradual process and once I've gotten more used to the green lifestyle I'll probably take the full leap into veganism.

 

So I currently do a 3-split program and today was back.

 

Warm-up (cardio):

55 mins of house (this is househttp://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6s6a8jOFuaM)

 

Assisted wide grip chin-ups:

3 x 12 (pump)

1x 6 (strength)

 

Stiff legged dead-lifts

 

40 kg: 12 reps

50 kg: 12 reps

55 kg: 12 reps

60 kg: 10 reps

65 kg: 8 reps

70 kg: 6 reps

75 kg: 4 reps

80 kg: ½ rep (needed sugar at this point)

 

 

Dumbell rows

 

18 kg: 12 reps

20 kg: 12 reps

22 kg: 12 reps

24 kg: 8 reps

 

Usually I do a couple of strength sets in dumbell rows as well and will top it off with 6 reps with a 28 kg or 30 kg dumbell, but was feeling lethargic today (perhaps due to the sudden change in diet- still need to adjust my macros)

 

 

Lateral cable pull-downs

 

40 kg: 12 reps

45 kg: 10 reps

50 kg: 8 reps

 

 

Seated cable rows with narrow grip

 

25 kg: 15 reps

30 kg: 12 reps

35 kg: 10 reps

40 kg: 8 reps

 

 

Hyper back extensions on slanted stanner (without weight)

 

3 x 20 with simultaneous row movements

 

Usually I try to skip in between sets and do some push-ups as well for back day, but like I said I was feeling kind of lethargic today.

 

So anyway this is me now (pics below):

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wings.jpg.eeca90d9815643d83de44edaf5cb41b9.jpg

Edited by Vegan Aspirant
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Hi Kareno and Pope and thanks for the words of encouragement. Am finding the vegetarian/vegan lifestyle a bit difficult at the moment, though this mostly because I'm living off of take-away currently due to some circumstances at home. And also because I am in an unhealthy love-relationship with sweets that usually contain both eggs and butter (although technically I'd *still* be vegetarian if I ate sweets containing egg, but barely.. Just kind of seems self-defeating from both a moral and health point of view... But damn am I tempted!)

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Upper body day

 

50 mins of some funk routine (not really cardio, but got some blood flow going... sort of eh)

 

Bench press

 

40 kg: 12 reps

45 kg: 12 reps

50 kg: 8 reps

55 kg: 4 reps

60 kg: 2 reps with a spotter

 

 

Dumbell shoulder press:

12 kg: 12 reps

14 kg: 10 reps

16 kg: 8 reps

18 kg: 5, barely 6 reps

 

 

Lateral Dumbell raises

 

8 kg: 15 reps

9 kg: 12 reps

10 kg: 12 reps

12 kg: 9 reps followed by 6 more reps

 

Cable pull down with wide grip (straight 90 degree back)

 

40 kg: 3x12 reps

 

 

Bicep barbell curls

 

18.5 kg: 15 reps

23.5 kg: 3x 12 reps

 

Finished off with 8 reps of bicep cable curls with rope bicep exhaustion.

 

 

Skull crushers

18.5 kg: 12 reps

23.5 kg: 2 x 12 reps with some recovery time towards the end

 

Finished off with 12 reps of tricep cable pull downs with rope for heavy pump.

 

 

I coach and make training programs for people on a regular basis which includes me having to show the excersizes and many a times do at least a few sets of every work out I show. I did a program today where I pretty *worked out' with him and also did a little house dance routine that had my pulse up, but I don't include that in my total sum of neither resistance or cardio.

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Also am still feeling lethargic, so the above logs I've shared with you so far is what I'd call mediocre effort on my part. I just feel low on sugar and unusually lethargic since I made the transition to vegetarianism/veganism. any f you encountered something similar in the begining? If yes does it eventually go away once your body gets used to the new diet?

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vegans are the one of few rare breeds that take a whole bunch of nutritious food, smash it up in a blender/processor and drink way more than maybe could possibly chew and swallow. instead of 1banana handful of grapes and a salad its more like 3/4 bananas a whole bunch of grapes, bluberries, almonds, avacado, coconut water, or a whole bag of spinach/kale, half a cucumber, garlic, few celery sticks bla bla u get the point loads of raw stuff, give you what you need.

 

some of that lethargy may be coming from toxins having a jog thru your blood on the elimination route. but if you keep the fruit content up esp. lemons and oranges, you will breeze thru the transition

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(Yesterday)

 

Lower body day- short but to the point

 

Lunges

30 metres of lunges with 6 kg dumbells

30 metres of lunges with 7 kg dumbells

30 metres of lunges with 8 kg dumbells

 

 

Squat

 

40 kg: 15 reps

50 kg: 12 reps

60 kg: 12 reps

65 kg: 10 reps

70 kg: 8 reps

75 kg: 6 reps

80 kg: 5 (well more like 4½) reps

 

 

 

Legpress on angled legpresser

 

200 kg: 12 reps

240 kg: 10 reps

280 kg: 8 reps

320 kg: 6 reps

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Have you tried doing your cardio after lifting? If you are trying to lift heavy, you really should be fresh. I don't think you need more than 5 minutes of cardio to warmup before lifting. You might find your energy levels to be a bit higher.

 

I agree with the fruit suggestions. I generally have a couple random fruits (apple, orange, pear, etc) 15 minutes before lifting, and then two dates and a banana right after. The dates are really good because they are high in sugar and potassium.

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Thanks Dylan

 

Alright here are some pics of my - without a doubt- *most* musculare body features, namely my thighs and calves. I actually used to hate my thighs and legs and thought they belonged to male bodybuilders (before I got into bodybuilding) and would actually envy people with chicken legs (can you believe that? lol). Now I strut them at (almost) every oppurtunity I get, because on high heels, these babies (flexed thighs and calves) look like something taken out of the Amazons and that's *definitely* nothing to be ashamed of! In fact I've been getting compliments on them- something I'm not used to being surrounded by stick thin (more like thin-fat, 'cos basically no muscle there anyway) chicks all my life, so never actually thought people (especially the opposite sex) found big muscular legs attractive. Anyway enough babbling, here they are and currently my calves measure 46 cm in circumference:-p

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2.jpg.2b5556bd0b48d8fffcba9eca84631139.jpg

1.jpg.2f5a61f30aae3c3b8a8c7097500430fb.jpg

Edited by Vegan Aspirant
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Yesterday was back day and for once I tried something new: I completed all my excersizes in 45 mins, which is 1/3 of the time it usually takes me on an efficient day! Reason for this is because I skipped my strength sets in DL and Bent over Barbells and did supersets consisting of dumbell rows and cable pull downs with 5 seconds max in between the sets. I had to chew my ego on this one, because these supersets had me lifting only on medium capacity. so yeah this is what I did

 

 

Warm-up (cardio):

 

50 mins house/dancehall (real cardio)

50 mins funk (just some routine practise, so no high heart rate)

 

 

Stiff leg deadlift:

40 kg: 15 reps

50 kg: 15 reps

60 kg: 12 reps

70 kg: 2 x 8 reps

 

 

Bent over Barbell (this was almost sheer technique and basically no real resistance involved because I've been dodging this excersize for a very long time due to lack of balance in lower back):

 

30 kg: 3 x 15 reps

35 kg: 12 reps

 

Dumbell rows and cable pull down SS

 

DB rows/ cable pull downs: 18 kg- 12 reps/ 40 kg- 12 reps

DB rows/ cable pull downs: 20 kg - 12 reps/ 35 kg- 12 reps

DB rows/ cable pull downs: 18 kg- 12 reps/ 35 kg- 12 reps

 

 

Currently this is what my back looks like:

2.jpg.011787d1d7f8e530204ab8995779d08e.jpg

1.jpg.0f1253f5894c03e4dbd1af08dc9510bd.jpg

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On a different note, I've realised that the reason I haven't transitioned to veganism is *not* because I don't want to or couldn't live off of only vegan food... It's simply a matter of availability. As I've said somewhere else I currently live off of take-away and whatever I can find that's ready made in the super markets. This means I inevitably end up consuming dairy products. On particularly bad days (or rather weak moments) I also eat things like cake that contains eggs and/or whipped cream (at births days/when I'm invited or generally if it's presented to me in a particularly tempting way). Because when the vegan alternative is there, I chose it without blinking even if it's not as tasty as the non-vegan version.

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Oh and on a little side note, my new jeans leggings cracked on my left leg after flexing them at ballet today lol

LOL, that is awesome!

 

Your back muscles look pretty huge as well - nice work!

 

Lol thanks! Eeh back could be better, just not really an area I've focused on that much until recently. Somewhere along the line I realised defined musculature on ones backside of the body is just as important as the front lol. In other words a nice butt, nice hams as well as a broad back and defined set of calves is just as important as abs, arms and quads. Unfortunately took me 1½ year to realise that but better late than never!

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  • 2 weeks later...

Did you work out the conditions at your house? I agree with the fruit comments, but aside from living off of take away foods, the stress at home could definitely make you feel sluggish too.

 

You should also check out vegan strength and conditioning coach Mike Mahler. I don't know the video off hand, but he's talked about the process of "transitioning" into a vegan diet. Some people struggle for a little while, and some people only go up. If you are following a good meal plan and logging your diet then you'll likely do better too. Of course, that's true of all diets, vegan or otherwise.

 

And lastly, you're looking pretty fine. You rock those thighs.

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Did you work out the conditions at your house? I agree with the fruit comments, but aside from living off of take away foods, the stress at home could definitely make you feel sluggish too.

 

You should also check out vegan strength and conditioning coach Mike Mahler. I don't know the video off hand, but he's talked about the process of "transitioning" into a vegan diet. Some people struggle for a little while, and some people only go up. If you are following a good meal plan and logging your diet then you'll likely do better too. Of course, that's true of all diets, vegan or otherwise.

 

 

Hey there Justin

 

You're definitely right about the stress factor. Long story short, I'm basically living as a nomad because my own apartment is a giant mess that hasn't seen a (decent) renovation since 1931. This means that until I'm done cleaning, disinfecting, painting and bringing in furniture, I don't really have a place to store food and cook. But I'm almost done with the kitchen, 2 more rooms to go, the entrance and lastly the bathroom and I should be done.

 

I'll look up Mike Mahler - but yeah logging my meals could at least shame me in to eating a little healthier. I try to refrain from animal fat and eggs altogether, but I would be lying if I said I haven't fallen off the wagon a few times and had some cake/Danish which both contain eggs and butter.

 

Really diet is my only setback in terms of reaching my goal because truth be told I work as hard, lift as much (actually more) than pretty much all female athletes I've encountered in the gym. Only difference between me and these pro athletes I've seen is body fat percent. And the reason I don't call myself a body builder is because I can't bring myself to claim such a title until and unless I cut down to 10 % bodyfat or at least have a (visible) 6-pack in a natural un-flexed state (my current 4-pack in a hyper-flexed pose doesn't really count in my book).

 

 

And lastly, you're looking pretty fine. You rock those thighs.

 

Thanks (at least all that cake is fuel for the quads... or at least I like to think so haha)

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Back day

 

Warm up: 10 mins on rooing machine

 

Stiff leg deadlifts

 

40 kg: 15 reps

50 kg: 15 reps

60 kg: 12 reps

70 kg: 10 reps

75 kg: 8 reps

80 kg: 6 reps

 

In between my sets I threw in sets of 15 rep push-ups, which means 120 push-ups all in all.

 

Bent over barbell

 

30 kg: 15 reps

40 kg: 12 reps

45 kg: 10 reps

 

Seated cable row

 

25 kg: 15 reps

30 kg: 12 reps

35 kg: 10 reps

40 kg: 10 reps

 

Little note: I am usually strong in seated cable rows and can pull without any greater effort, but these last 3 times or so I've done them I've decreased in strength and I wonder if it's because I've upped my compound lifts that I am losing strength in the lesser compound lifts?

 

 

Dumbbell rows

 

16 kg: 12 reps

18 kg: 12 reps

20 kg: 12 reps

22 kg: 12 reps

 

Same thing with my dumbbell rows, I couldn't even take 12 in a row but had to throw in a little pause my 6th, 7th or 8th rep in which is quite frustrating, because I usually peak at 28 or 30 kg with a minimum of 6 reps if I doing strength sets. Again I wonder if I am becoming weaker in the lesser compound movements because of my inclusion and greater focus on big and and compound exercises like dl and squats (well squats I've more or less put on a hold due to a lack of flexibility in calves and hams that prevent me from performing themwith proper technique)?

 

 

Lateral cable pull downs:

 

35 kg: 12 reps

40 kg: 12 reps

45 kg: 8 reps

50 kg: 6 reps

 

Again same thing as the previous exercises, decreased strength

 

And for fun I threw in 60 reps (3 sets of 20) lying leg raises from an elevated bench and a 1 min. plank.

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  • 2 weeks later...

Lower body day

 

Cardio warm-up: 5 mins of running at 12 kph

 

Squat:

 

40 kg: 15 reps

50 kg: 15 reps

60 kg 12 reps

70 kg: 12 reps

75 kg: 10 reps

80 kg: 8 reps

90 kg: 6 reps

 

 

Stiff leg DL (really bad day)

 

40 kg: 12 reps

50 kg: 12 reps

60 kg: 10 reps

 

(every attempt after this was just fail and could only get 3 through at higher weights than 60 kg which is atypical of my dl lifts)

 

Cardio: 55 mins of dancehall/house

 

 

(another attempt at) Stiff leg DL

40 kg: 12 reps

50 kg: 12 reps

60 kg: 10 reps

 

Again couldn't get pass 60 kg and at the same time pull of hypertrophy sets

 

Legpress (horisontal variant)

 

110 kg: 15 reps

120 kg: 12 reps

130 kg: 12 reps

140 kg: 12 reps

150 kg: 12 reps

150 kg: 12 reps

 

 

Calfraises on leg press machine

120 kg: 12 reps

130 kg: 3 x 12 reps

 

 

Leg extension:

50 kg: 2 x 12 reps

55 kg: 12 reps

60 kg: 12 reps

65 kg: 12 reps

 

 

Leg curl (drop set):

50 kg: 12 reps

45 kg: 12 reps

40 kg: 12 reps

40 kg: 12 reps

 

 

 

Machine where you kick back with your legs (supposedly good for the buns and hams):

35 kg: 12 reps on each leg

40 kg: 12 reps each leg

45 kg: 12 reps each leg

35 kg: 12 reps each leg

 

 

 

Whew been a long time since I pulled off a 5 hour training pas :-P

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  • 2 weeks later...

Right, so figured I've build enough and unless I want to start a "hormone" diet or go for muscle exhaustion (endless reps at low low weights) at the expense of my strength, now is the time to start cutting. I don't have a specific weight goal, I just want to reduce my bodyfat percent (bfp) to at least 15 (currently measure ca. 25%). It would be awesome if I could have a bfp at 15 and maintain my current weight, but that's highly unlikely and I figure I'll drop to 60-65 kg at bfp 15, including muscle loss.

 

 

My current measurements are as follow:

 

Height: 170 cm

Bodyweight: 83.5 kg

Back (at widest point):

Chest: 103 cm

Waist: 93 cm

Arms: 33 cm

Hips: 113 cm

Thighs: Left: 69.5 cm right= 70 cm

Legs: left= 42.5 cm, right= 44.5 cm

 

All measurements are taken in a non flexed (semi bloated) state. The below pics also reflect this:

1623842472_DSC02866(355x800)(257x640).jpg.e188cb0f033534a3572a0edab2bc616e.jpg

1103140708_DSC02872(442x640).jpg.76ba5452b65db4790cd661139e672a90.jpg

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