Think you can't get strong as a vegan?

[Nadiana]

Hi, Guys--

My name is Melody; I'm a very busy and very vegan (over 8 years now) personal trainer in the Pasadena area of California. If you're interested in getting stronger, losing weight, gaining muscle, or just getting into better shape, let me know and I'd be happy to help with any questions you might have. I have well over 16 years of experience and a ridiculous amount of education in the fitness training industry.

Looking forward to these boards! :)

M

[CoriSeas]

Hey Nadiana,


Welcome! I know you can get strong as a Vegan my personal hero is Brendan Brazer, not only is he Vegan but a Raw Vegan no less and a tri-athelete. So yes you are right and it is true.

It will be lovely to have someone here with so much to give. Looking forward to hearing more from you.

[Nadiana]

is an amazing guy. His Vega products are pretty good, too.

[Hag]

Hey Nadiana welcome to VB! Would you be able to answer a question for me?

I am currently trying to gain muscke and was wondering about my protien intake. I eat about 100ish grams of protien a day (151 lbs male 20 years old) and weight train 4x per week and cardio 5x per week (intervals, biking to work etc). People have been telling me that i need to intake in a huge amount of protien 200-250g per day. What in your opinion would be ideal amount (roughly) to take in in a day?

[yblad]

i also have a question for you if you dont mind, do you know an good muscle and strenth building exercisses that dont require wieghts? i want to get stronger but i cant afford equipment. so far im doing pressups, situps and some kum nye/yoga

[Hag]

i also have a question for you if you dont mind, do you know an good muscle and strenth building exercisses that dont require wieghts? i want to get stronger but i cant afford equipment. so far im doing pressups, situps and some kum nye/yoga

Check out the bodyweight 100 on youtube, once you complete the 100 you move to the 200,250,300,400,500,750,1000 its a great work out that covers the whole body

[Jon_Veggie]

Welcome to VB Melody, are you Melody Schoenfeld? If so, I have read some of your articles in publications such as VegWeb :)

What would you say are the best vegan protein sources and exercises to build a decent physique with bodyweight routines?

[Dirty Martini]

i also have a question for you if you dont mind, do you know an good muscle and strenth building exercisses that dont require wieghts? i want to get stronger but i cant afford equipment. so far im doing pressups, situps and some kum nye/yoga

http://www.bodybuilding.com/fun/mahler57.htm

Mike Mahler is an excellent resource.

So is Alwyn Cosgrove:
http://alwyncosgrove.blogspot.com/2006/10/leg-matrix.html

This leg matrix kicks my ass every time. It's fun, but quite hard.

[yblad]

thanks hag and martini :)

[Mr. Sun]

Hey Nadiana,


Welcome! I know you can get strong as a Vegan my personal hero is Brendan Brazer, not only is he Vegan but a Raw Vegan no less and a tri-athelete. So yes you are right and it is true.

It will be lovely to have someone here with so much to give. Looking forward to hearing more from you.

I've read he's 80% raw: http://www.bodybuilding.com/fun/kristi17.htm

He's pretty cool.

[yblad]

iv been trying to put on muscle and i managed to get some wieghts free (YAY) but im having problems with actually putting on muscle. iv worked out its probably that i dont have enough protien, so iv started eating high protein meals as often as i can. the problem is im still barely managing the RDA for protien. I have been considering some form of protien powder/similar, are they worth bothering with?

[Mr. Sun]

You don't need protein powders and such but they can be helpful. This forum here will provide you with lots of good advice: http://www.veganbodybuilding.com/phpBB2/

Don't worry, they're nice. :)

[yblad]

well, i know i dont need them lol but if i want to get anything out of my exercise i do need more protien. thanks :D

[Mr. Sun]

well, i know i dont need them lol but if i want to get anything out of my exercise i do need more protien. thanks :D

Oh, I guess your question was meant for the OP. lol. When I clicked on this page I thought your post up there was the OP -- I didn't realize this was the second page.

Anyway, Paul Plevakas, a second degree blackbelt in Shotokan karate is very muscular and does it without supplements. That's all I was saying -- you don't need them but they can be helpful. Isn't that what you were asking?

That's him at the bottom of this page (he's a home-repair guy too):

http://www.drbookspan.com/classes.html

[Mr. Sun]

And that's him on the cover of the first book there.

In the back of the book it says: "Cover model Paul Plevakas, second degree blackbelt in Shotokan karate, who uses the techniques in this book without supplements."

[yblad]

yep, thats what i was aying, thanks for your help :) odly, im training for my 2nd dan (what he has).

[Jon_Veggie]

Is that guy vegan? I haven't heard of him.

[Dirty Martini]

well, i know i dont need them lol but if i want to get anything out of my exercise i do need more protien. thanks :D

Yeah, there's a lot of stuff we don't NEED (carbs would be one of those things) but certainly things that can help us achieve the results we want. :) If you're not getting the minimum RDA of protein, I'd definitely look at increasing your protein via your diet AND a protein supplement (powder).

Are you vegan? (maybe a stupid question given the thread but thought I'd ask)

Someone I know drinks buckwheat protein powder & really likes it. You might check that out.

[Nadiana]

ACK-- I have been really busy and haven't logged in in over a month. I'm so sorry!! I'll try to answer questions as best I can.

To Hag re: Protein: The average person uses anywhere from .4-1.5 grams of protein per kilogram of bodyweight, depending on how much muscle they have, how active they are, and so on. Your body isn't going to utilize more protein than it can absorb, so you'll just pee out the excess. It is true that protein tends to keep you fuller longer (as does fat), so that can be useful if you're trying to cut calories, but there isn't much logic in the hypothesis that eating a ton of protein will give you a ton of muscle.

Good veg sources of protein are: pea protein, seitan, quinoa, amaranth, most whole and sprouted grains, most nuts, soybeans and soybean products, beans and bean products.

yblad-- woah, did you ever come to the right person. Pushups, pullups and so on can be done with different hand placements in order to change the exercise. Do you have a strong broomstick and some very sturdy chairs? Put the broomstick on the chairs (MAKE SURE YOU'RE NOT GOING TO FALL!!!) with some space for you in between, and you can now do inverted pushups (pull yourself up to the bar with your body facing the bar, in a completely straight line). Lunges and squats can also be messed with in fun ways. Change the angle of your foot, jump your squats or lunges, lunge forwards, lunge backwards. Do squats on one leg, or try a pistol-- squat on one leg till your butt touches your heel. Much fun. ;)

I can't even begin to tell you how much I love to use sandbags as weight. Pick up a bag of playground sand or even kitty litter. Do everything with it. It will kick your butt. Other cheap weights you can use are: water bottles, rope (you can pull yourself up on rope and do all kinds of other evil things I can explain later if you're interested), your kids, random people on the street (Just kidding about that last one. Unless, of course, they're willing. :) )

Jon_Veggie-- yep, that's me! Wow, I'm famous! ;) See above for protein sources. As far as the best exercises, well, I never train two people the same way because everyone is different. But I always use some version of the Basic 4-- pushups, pullups, squats, and lunges. Everyone can benefit from those. I'm also, as I said, a huge fan of the sandbags, and I absolutely adore Russian Kettlebells.

[yblad]

thanks nad, and martina. im vedg not vegan, so findign them is easier lol

[Black Heart]

I'm wondering if it's possible to gain muscle mass - bulk up - as a woman? Looking at the women in the gym, some of those who lift the heaviest weights still don't look that big.

[Shamandura]

You don't need protein powders and such but they can be helpful. This forum here will provide you with lots of good advice: http://www.veganbodybuilding.com/phpBB2/

Don't worry, they're nice. :)

I had no idea there would be a forum specifically for vegan body building. Some of those before and after photos on that forum are awesome!

[Nadiana]

Black Heart--

In order to "bulk up" as a woman, you need to have a lot of extra testosterone. Many of the women you see who are hugely muscular are often taking steroids. In addition, when your body fat is as low as theirs is, you will have a lot of health problems such as losing your period (which is not nearly as fantastic as it sounds :) ).

I am not very big at all-- 5'0" and 105 lbs-- and I lift 35 pound kettlebells over my head like they're nothing. Muscularity doesn't necessarily mean strength-- many times the bigger folks are purely aesthetic. So don't worry if you're not bulging with muscles-- you can be just as strong as the big guys-- if not stronger.

[Dirty Martini]

yep. The only thing I'd look out for is building muscle under fat. If you have a lot of excess fat on your body, you're going to get bigger. The bigger muscles will push the fat out farther. However, if you lose fat as well, you'll almost definitely get smaller.

If you're already thin, your arms & thighs & shoulders might get a little bigger. Depending on where you start, it may not be much.

Here's Miss Natural Olympia 2007. She's been bodybuilding for 10 years.

http://www.naturalolympia2007.com/profiles2/new%20photos/Jill%20Kolivoski%202.jpg

Certainly, if she’s the world champ, average women who lift weights a couple hours a week aren’t going to come close to her size.

If you WANT to get bulky (and bulkier than the above), there are ways to do it. It just takes a hell of a lot of time, hard work and supplementation.

[Nadiana]

...and the genetics/testosterone to get that big. Most women simply can't, although they can get quite muscular (the amount of muscle you see depends on the amount of bodyfat you have covering it). And again, don't confuse muscularity with strength-- they are two separate entities.