Weightlifters/Workout Nuts: Advise Me
I'm 21, male, 5'11", around 155-160 lbs. I've been vegan for almost nine years. I lost plenty of weight when I first went vegan (around thirty lbs) but have never shed this weird chubby kid + old man physique. I work out regularly (2-3 times per week) during the school year, and run/speedwalk (mostly run) 5k five nights a week during the summer since I live in a nicer area then and can go running late at night. I am now working out four to five days per week and have added benchpress, step-ups, lunges, hanging oblique flexors, standing bicep curls, chest press, and delt extensions to my routine.
Given all that, I should be in much better shape than I am. However, I've still got something of a beer gut (though I don't drink) and pretty minor man-breasts. Aside from that I'm pretty skinny (some would say twigish)--I wear size 28 or 29 jeans and take a small in almost everything. I think much of my problem could be genetic (everyone in my family is horribly overweight and has high blood pressure, diabetes, etc), or due to the fact that I'm hypoglycaemic and have horrible metabolism. Another problem area is the lack of variety in my diet. I'm tied to what is available on campus at my university because I'm a faculty/employee student. I've been working on getting around this, and my school does have a handful of vegan options, but none that are terribly healthy.
Here's my current near-daily workout (not in this order):
3 x 40 step-ups
1-2mi running at ~6mph
100-200 calories on the eliptical
40lbs weighted lunges (20 per starting leg)
70lbs oblique twist (25 per side)
25lbs weighted hanging oblique flexor (25 per side)
4 x 10 20lbs standing bicep curl (20 per side)
5 x 10 75lbs pec deck
2 x 10 + 1 x 5 60lbs sitting bicep curl
2 x 10 + 1 x 5 60lbs laying squat press
2 x 10 + 1 x 5 75lbs benchpress
2 x 10 + 1 x 5 40lbs laying chest press
2 x 10 + 1 x 5 60lbs delt deck
5 x 10 75lbs leg extension
5 x 10 100lbs leg curl
5 x 10 100lbs weighted crunch
2 x 25 100lbs weighted back extensions
50 pushups throughout the day
25+ bench dips throughout the day
Racquetball once or twice a week, but my usual mate broke his hand last game so...
My food intake is, again, a problem because of my living situation. I try to get high protein intake and have been eating homemade protein biscuits (peanut butter + honey or agave nectar + oats + high protein hemp powder) before and after workouts in addition to a high-protein "power bagel" with peanut butter for breakfast/early lunch. For dinner I usually have something tofu/tempeh-based, but sadly the vegetarian place on campus is chock full of carbs and fat and comparatively low on protein. Sometimes I'll grab a burrito or Middle Eastern food off-campus. I tend to snack throughout the day (hommous + pita chips, fruit cup, granola bar, etc) to try and keep my metabolism up. I don't smoke, drink or do drugs, and I rarely if ever drink soda. Maybe once a month if I'm out at the bar with friends and feel like something other than water. I drink a latte with an extra shot of espresso about a half-hour before my workout for energy. I am working on cutting my soy protein intake down, as I feel the excess estrogen might be a contributing factor.
Sorry for the long post, but I feel like the details are important here. For those here who do lift or otherwise exercise pretty often, what would you recommend adding or subtracting from my routine? I've never been to a trainer or anything like that, aside from when I played hockey years ago, so I'm not sure if what I'm doing is right or completely wrong. Since I started this new routine (which, admittedly, isn't much different than my usual one) I've gained a few pounds (presumably muscle), but I don't look like I've lost any weight at all. I don't want to turn into any kind of hulking monster or anything, but I could stand to gain some definition and lose some belly and chest fat.
Again, any guidance is incredibly appreciated. Many thanks.
"I've still got something of a beer gut (though I don't drink) and pretty minor man-breasts. Aside from that I'm pretty skinny". They call this "skinny fat", and the cure is to do more squats. By the way, I didn't notice any squats in your routine.
If you're looking for "cosmetic" muscles, you might be able to squeeze by without squats. But if you want functional muscle, you're gonna have to step up and do them. Not in the smith machine, and not to parallel; proper form all the way down. When you do them properly, you will realize that you are working out your entire body, and you'll feel like a million bucks.
I could ramble on and on, but instead, allow me to recommend this book: http://www.amazon.com/Starting-Strength-2nd-Mark-Rippetoe/dp/0976805421/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1258325196&sr=8-1
It's only $29.95. You might be able to find it for free on some torrents, but you would never do such a thing, because you're a good person. It's the perfect book for someone looking for a basic workout plan. It explains how to properly perform squats, overhead presses, deadlifts, cleans, etc, and it includes a good basic workout program.
This book changed my outlook on lifting and made me stronger. I used to do the dumbbell curls and leg presses and all the other exersizes the pretty boys in the gym did, but now I do lots of Olympic lifts and focus on form, and I look even better than I did before (hard to believe, but true).
Your other problem, as you already know, is your diet. It seems like you know what you need to eat, but you have a hard time finding it. If you could get a couple of protein shakes or protein bars in you every day on top of the other food you eat, you'll probably notice a difference (it did wonders for me). If you eat several small meals instead of a few large meals, you'll be better off as well. Don't forget to eat your greens, big guy.
So, dial in your diet, add some muscle and burn some fat by doing your squats, and keep running. Also, you'll need to purchase a good, sturdy stick, because the chicks will be all over you.
These links might help as well:
http://startingstrength.wikia.com/wiki/Starting_Strength_Wiki
http://veganbodybuilding.com/
Thanks so much for the response, man. Squats are definitely a good idea. The main reason I haven't been doing them is I don't know the proper form and know that doing them improperly is a great way to wreck your body hardcore, so that book looks like it'll help. I'll probably start out on the smith machine to get a feel for the overall motion and work from there. Would you recommend using an exercise ball and doing them against a wall?
I'm actually not looking to gain much in the way of "cosmetic" muscles; I'm looking more to get "cut" but stay at my current size more or less. Definitely not interested in bulking up, just getting more definition. I don't think I'm looking into being able to do cleans or deadlifts or anything; I just want to look decent (or better than decent) naked.
Regarding the intake issue, lately I've started eating homemade protein biscuits a few times a day. They're just 1c hemp protein powder (so 336ish grams of protein per batch) + 1c honey (I'm a horrible vegan, but bees are the worst) or agave nectar + 1c natural peanut butter + 3c oats, mixed and let sit overnight. I eat a couple before and after my workout. My sister's ex-boyfriend (firefighter, semi-pro kickboxer and former vegan) gave me the recipe and they're actually pretty delicious. Taste kind of like Nutter Butters. Again, I don't know if my protein intake needs to be much more than it is now, given that I don't want to gain much size. I have trouble doing the many small meals thing for some reason, mostly because the portions at my school are completely ridiculous and I never get very hungry. I usually eat a small breakfast, have a few protein biscuits, work out, have a few more protein biscuits, eat a cup of fruit and half a pack of trail mix somewhere in there, and eat a decent-sized dinner. I'll be done with undergrad in April, though, and then I can likely be a lot better with portions, variety and selection.
Again, thanks a bunch. It's really appreciated. A few people I've shown my routine to have commented that it's total overkill, and that I ought to split it up into two days and just throw more cardio in. Think that's a good idea?
"Thanks so much for the response, man. Squats are definitely a good idea. The main reason I haven't been doing them is I don't know the proper form and know that doing them improperly is a great way to wreck your body hardcore"
this is absolutely true. There is a lot of bad info out there (like looking up when you squat, or putting a piece of wood under your heels). Personally, I wouldn't learn how to do them in a smith machine. It would probably build bad habits. If you check the starting strength wiki, or the stronglifts.com website, you should find a decent amount of info on how to properly execute a squat. The best way to learn them is to do them, with lighter weight.
A benefit of doing cleans, squats, overhead presses, bench presses, and deadlifts is that each exersize is a compound lift. it involves more than one muscle. If you pick up a box, you're using several muscle groups in unison. Doing compound lifts mirrors this. If you're spending hours doing bicep curls, you're not really preparing yourself to pick stuff up (you don't pick stuff up off the ground using just your bicep). Hope that makes sense (I'm not the best at explaining stuff sometimes).
I'm old school, and I like doing barbell exercises. I don't do anything that involves a ball (I've tried it, and didn't get much out of it). I'm not a fan of isolation exercises; I'd rather work several groups at once. I've also heard of exercise balls popping and people getting hurt, but that's very rare.
I also run a lot, and spend 2 or 3 days a week at the track doing intervals. This is great for fat burning. Another way to burn fat is HIIT. Google it; it's pretty straightforward. You can even do it with a jump rope. You might want to have a barf bucket nearby, though. If you're doing it right, it'll hurt. But you'll get great results. Recent research shows that HIIT burns more fat than traditional jogging. Come to think of it, there's some good videos on youtube with some HIIT workouts.
Diet can be hard to dial in. It can get even harder when you're veg*n and don't have many places to get food from. If you use google, you can find some calorie calculators that'll show you how much you should be eating (and how many grams of protein you should be eating). I've also heard people say that if you eat no carbs before you go to sleep (some say no carbs after 5), you'll lose body fat. Those protein biscuits sound tasty.