Brighton vegfest 2013

Our weekend at the vegfest was probably the busiest event we've ever held with radio interviews, talks, contests & challenges!  To check out our weekend click here

Bodycheck pre-workout supplement

  

Review written by Alex Mitchell Amateur vegan bodybuilder

 

I am a complete sceptic when it comes to products. Especially products that claim, you can decrease time between workouts by taking a few simple pills. I was always in gyms and training with people who will dismiss these types of products as placebos and unnecessary.

But then I tried it; at first I saw some improvement, after training legs as an example. I wasn’t so stiff; I could actually move and sit down with relative ease. This was brilliant because it allowed me to concentrate fully on cardio the next day without having my legs dragging behind me.

When I was reaching the midpoint of the cycle, I did feel like I had far more energy. Instead of being tired and sluggish for morning cardio I felt better rested, more energetic. Much like when you have had that perfect night’s sleep and eaten cleaner for a while; you get this invincible feeling almost. At the midpoint of the supplement bottle this is how I felt.

I have come towards the end of this bottle, which is unfortunate. But let’s look at the results. At the beginning of the thirty days I was doing cardio four mornings during the week, weights 5 times a week and cardio after weights (I am currently on a cut). I was sluggish tired and found my weights slowly creeping up but still not augmenting as you wish. Then after this 30 days (90 in a bottle and you take three a day) I can up my cardio, because 4 mornings was too easy. Of course it’s still hard but I feel far more capable. And on the weights front I am not restricted by the aches and pains experienced usually with this course of training, and the weights used were still going up at an accelerated rate.

So coming into the supplement as a sceptic I would definitely say that I am a converted fan, and I will be buying another bottle.

For more details about bodycheck click here

Cissus Quadrangularis no longer gives a false positive in drugs tests

A few years ago I wrote about the plant Cissus Quadrangularis (Click here for that write-up).  Last weekend I decided to check up on where we stood with the plant.  So I contacted the UK branch of WADA (World Anti Doping Agency) & got the reply that it now does not give a false positive.  This is great news, but it will probably still be worth checking with your own federation you compete in & probably your own regional WADA office as I'm not sure how recent this is nor how long it will take any updated tests to filter through the system.  I obtained the information from Sarah Foxton at ukad.org.uk (United Kingdom Anti Doping) & I'm not sure if it's the same worldwide, so check first!  Also bear in mind with any supplement the risk of cross contamination is always possible.
I suppose I should take the time to check if there is any update on the research on cissus q as I kind of lost interest when I found out you couldn't compete while using it.
Just thought you'd like an update as this is quite a useful supplement.

Cholesterol in plants

How much cholesterol is in plants?
Many people actually believe that it is zero, but you might be surprised to hear that there is in fact a little (very little) bit of cholesterol in plants.  Plants have mg/Kg whereas animal products have g/Kg (a massive difference).

Here are a few:

Source	Cholesterol/ (mg kg)
Palm oil	20
Coconut oil	14
Soybean oil	29
Corn oil	55
Peanut oil	24

These are tiny amounts (so tiny that measuring them has been a fairly recent development).  Also note these are the amounts in the purified oil, NOT the whole plants.

For those wanting a little more I suggest they read this pdf to get a clearer picture of where we are at right now with the whole.

I thought you'd find it interesting, especially if you thought plants contained zero cholesterol.

Special thanks has to go to Jack Norris RD for pointing out the pdf used above.

New year Squat frenzy (or why I'm not strong..yet)

 See note at the bottom about this picture

Today I finally realised something that has on the edges of my mind for a while. ...I’m not strong!  Now let me qualify that a bit, strength is kind of hard to define, you can be strong at say pull-ups, or deadlifts, or whatever, but being ‘strong’ means being able to do your chosen skill well, with a decent amount of weight.

For a short while I’ve been moving over from a powerlifting style training routine to a more weightlifting-esque style of lifting.  That has proven somewhat more difficult than I expected as I’m reasonable at the powerlifts (2 x bodyweight deadlift, 1.5 x bodyweight bench), but the stiffness I developed in those endeavours is just what I do not need for doing Olympic style lifts.  For example overhead squats touching glutes to calves I have to work up to even lifting bodyweight.  From standing to parallel I’m pretty good, below parallel I suck!  It’s like I have to fight myself down, I’m kind of weak & stiff at the same time in that portion of the lift!  It’s the same with the other squat variations, but not quite so bad weight-wise, I’m not strong in the bottom part, I’m also not fast.  Those are two things you need to really do reasonably well at Olympic lifting being fairly strong & fast at just the place I’m weakest & slowest, it’s a pain.

So, far this year I’ve worked out 6 days this year (every other day & some sessions have been twice a day) & every session has included squats.  This is NOT a powerlifting style of squatting.  We’re talking high bar back, front or overhead & basically the sets have been short of max so far.  I am going to say now this is going to change, I’m moving to working out squats every day for several weeks, sometimes twice a day – it will be basically this: Work up to the daily max, then done, or on harder days followed by some lighter higher rep sessions.  I will do variations that will affect the max lifted like pause squats (if done using overhead squats these are extremely brutal, but I’ll do pause variations on all forms of squats that I do) & other techniques to keep everything going.  I will be doing other exercises, but squats will play a big part.  I will be backing off of squats once it becomes obvious the cycle is done, but I really want at least this month of consistent squatting on a daily basis.  After that I’ll have a short recovery then still hit the squats several times a week, but hopefully my numbers will be more tolerable after a cycle or so of really focussed squat training.

 Not used in this cycle, but chains are cool :-)

This may not be the kind of training you’ve heard about before, it is a very ‘Olympic lifting’ style of training & one I’m not used to following either, so it’s nearly as new to me as it is to you.  I have no idea how I’ll fare using it as up until now I’ve used totally traditional bodybuilding &/or powerlifting styles of training that insist on resting bodyparts or movements between sessions, not hammering & hammering the same thing day after day, so I thought I’d try it out using these first few sessions to slide into it, then going daily from now until I really hit a wall either physically or mentally - Squatting is mentally TOUGH, it’s in the top % of tough exercises to burn out the mind.  I’d go so far as to say squatting is more mental than physical, you are frightened of being crushed, overhead squats are even worse than the rest, you could drop a weight onto your head!

 Hopefully we'll be lifting all this 

& more by the end of the cycle

So back to the not being strong – To clarify I’m not strong at these lifts YET!  That’s the important point, I know I’m not up there quite yet, but it will come, so far I’ve managed to get from not being able to touch my glutes to my calves to being able to get down (yes I started with a stick!), now I’m going to be grinding out a daily recipe of squats (various back, front & overhead, with or without pause & maybe even some unstable versions if I feel I can do them safely – using discs hanging from the bar using bands NOT standing on an unstable surface). 

 Hanging discs from a bar using bands

So, that’s the plan for the first part of 2013.  It may, or may not work out as this is a pretty new method to me & goes against a lot of what I’ve learnt before, but then so is letting your knees go over the front of your toes, holding the bar overhead with the shoulders shrugged, cocking the wrists when lifting overhead, wearing heeled shoes when squatting, moving quickly when lifting.  All of this I’ve had to adjust to over the last few months, it’s been a steep learning curve, but has opened up a whole new vision about what you can do when training.  That isn’t to say the other things I’ve done are wrong, that bodybuilding, powerlifting or functional style training routines are wrong, far from it, I love doing them.  It’s just I’m exploring a new pathway for a while & see where it can lead me & if my legs do happen to get super-strong I won’t be too upset as they always been my weakest part!

So, let’s hear what you’re trying out for 2013, pop it below & we can maybe give the readers a whole pile of ideas for the new year, how about it?

[NOTE: I didn't have any pics of my recent training sessions so I grabbed a few random pics just to make it a bit more exciting for you.  I am not using a box for squatting as shown in the pic for example, it's all glute to calves]

Things I've found useful over 2012

This is going to be a bit of a mish-mash of things I've found interesting & useful for training.

First on the list is my Lions lifting shoes I'll actually write a proper blog post about these at a later date as they are pretty good.  The heel makes squatting (or snatching & cleaning) much easier for some people, it is a biomechanical thing, I feel rock solid as I've been learning Olympic style squatting using them & no issues (I'm still lifting fairly light, but I've been arse to grass knees forward - which is kind of alien to someone who's powerlifted).  Well worth the cash in my view & of course finding vegan Olympic lifting shoes aren't that easy.  One hint is to buy 1 size under your actual size.  I bought a size 8 (I'm size 9) & they fitted perfectly! (that's UK foot sizes)

Next up is a tricky one.  I was trying to think of which company I thought was the best supplement company?  Worst is easy, I was ripped off by Discount vitamin & herb on an order so I'd avoid them at all costs!  But vegan bodybuilding has had some great interactions with a few companies over the year.  One of my favourites is Veganicity, a totally vegan company with a good range of stuff.  One of the reasons that swings this one as best this year is the fact that they actually asked us what we'd like as a supplement that wasn't already easily available (we said a vegan vitamin K2) & they made it for us!  Now that is support from a company.  Not say our other sponsors aren't awesome, but this year veganicity has pulled out all the stops & really done 120% effort in working with the community! So they were pretty good.

Next thing I've liked this year is my new portable pull-up/dip station.  This isn't one of those 'fit in the door frame' types it is a totally portable, use outside model.  You can use it at full height for pull-ups, suspension work (think TRX or similar), hanging with the knees bent over the bar, hanging from gravity boots etc.  You can also lower it & do things like dips, inverted rows etc.  The list just goes on.  The good thing is that during the nicer weather you can go out & train in a park or similar.  Just some bands, some rope, some suspension stuff (I have adjustable gymnastic rings personally) & something heavy like dumbbells ,kettlebells etc. This is pretty good & it should get a lot of use in 2013 assuming we don't have a summer like this year (summer?).

The start of Vegan Health & Fitness Magazine is something to celebrate for 2012! Having our very own magazine is a great step in the right direction, so subscribe if you want the latest & greatest vegan fitness info available!

Let's see what else have I enjoyed this year?  Obviously I've enjoyed the Vegan Bodybuilding events including a fab trip to Oslo earlier this year!
I have also moved this year to electronic record keeping for my training due to a 'cat accident' (fur-balls have a LOT to answer for!).  That has been interesting, at the moment I'm using MS Word for writing up training & weekly checks (weekly checks are weight, blood pressure, pulse rate etc).  I think I'll probably be looking to improve that over the next year or so as it's still a little unwieldy.  Generally though having it on computer has made things run fairly smoothly, so I've no complaints (it takes some time to sort out initially so bear that in mind if you are planning on something similar).

OK back to the best stuff - best info is hard?  I've been moving towards more Olympic lifting (I'm not an Olympic lifter by any stretch of the imagination, but I am starting to develop interests in that direction), Gregg Everett has some useful books (I've read 'Olympic Weightlifting: A Complete Guide for Athletes & Coaches' & I'm reading 'Olympic Weightlifting for Sports' both of which are pretty good), back to powerlifting I've finished Andy Bolton/Pavel book 'Deadlift Dynamite' which was very good (& as I'm avoiding deadlifting VERY frustrating to read).  Mark Rippetoe Strong enough & the new edition of Starting Strength are both good.  Obviously no one agrees with everything any one author says & that's as it should be.  We're all a little bit different & so even looking back I find I don't even agree with myself from a few years ago!
Ross Enamait has done one of the best Sandbag training DVD I've seen so far, it cuts through the rubbish & gets to the heart of the whole sandbag idea, so if you're interested in that style of training I'd choose that one. I also like Dr Yessis, he has some interesting ideas I watched his Explosive plyometrics  dvd (I could only find the link to the book?) earlier this year.  It was great to see someone who actually understands how to do plyo-stuff unlike the 1001 other trainers out there who don't know the difference between plyometrics & 'jump' training.
I know I'm missing loads of things I've read & watched this year as I usually read a book or two a week & view DVDs very often as well (I learn better by seeing, than reading when it comes to lifting).  Hopefully though this has given you a little insight into my thought processes over 2012.  I will be exploring some new avenues in training over 2013 including more stuff outdoors & maybe even some working with groups (never worked with a large group before), we'll have to see how that develops.
Oh yea my final finds for winter 2012 are neoprene knee sleeves & nuique warming-up cream that's been the hit of the cold weather this year!  Really helped get me get ready for the increased workload .  If you are suffering getting ready in this colder weather give those a go, also elbow neoprene or warming-up cream works (using both may be over-kill on a single joint for some people as under neoprene warming-up cream gets HOT!), but I've used both since the start of the colder weather & it's been great (& I've been hammering Olympic style squatting multiple times a week & no issues with the joints), so consider them as options if you're in colder climates.
Anyway, feel free to add anything below that you've enjoyed over 2012 that is training related.  Hope you have a great holiday season & a fantastic 2013!

Animal Aid Christmas fayre 2012

 Here's what a vegan runner looks like topless

We had a fab day at the Animal Aid fayre.  There were many new faces & the contest was possibly the loudest we've ever done with people screaming & chanting!  To check out the whole story of our day simply click here