Vegan Bodybuilding

REVIEW: lift, run, bang ebook

2012-01-29T14:08:00.000-08:00

Now there is a title you'll either love or hate! These two books are based on the blog of the same name ( click here to check that out). A friend of mine had the books & so I thought I'd check them out as they are both quite short. I won't give away the whole program here, but the ideas are pretty basic (translated: that means I like them!), you get two books, one for mass building, one for strength peaking, you also get excel sheets to plug-in your own numbers & use the system. The whole system is built upon eating a lot & lifting pretty heavy most of the time. I liked the 80% : +10%: -10% rule. It's so easy to add into your training & yet I'd never thought of it, that is a change to my 2012 log book right there! (80% of your workout should be 'ok', 10% great, 10% will be crappy. Simply writing it down in your log will allow you to see how you are going, if you have too many -10% then you are doing something wrong, if you are hitting a load of 80% &/or +10% then you're heading the right way...how simple is that!). That one rule was worth the read in itself & there is plenty more in there for someone who wants to improve their lifts. The good thing is neither book is over 40 pages! Read the mass one first (it's a little over 30 pages), then read the strength one (26 pages). Read them in that order as some stuff is covered in the mass but not in the strength, so it makes more sense that way. You can read & digest these in an hour or so, then go straight to it if you want. I liked the simple style & common-sense approach to lifting. The dietary advice is pretty much useless to the vegan, veggie or even meat reducing athlete, but you can get some ideas of the amounts needed to eat to grow larger & yes sometimes the younger guys & gals need to slip in some junk to add mass (but outside of the very youthful, 'bag of bones' junk food should be a very rare treat). There is a little swearing in the book, if that worries NEVER hang around with powerlifters or similar types as aggression tends to 'loosen the tongue' when you lift flat out max weights.
As a final note there was plenty about lifting, a very little about running & nothing about banging in the book, so if you expected anything else you are out of luck (also all the pictures are of big, sweaty guys, not the heaving bosomed young ladies, so again tough luck).
The whole thing costs $15 USD so if you like the powerlifting/powerbuilding style of training then this could be of use to you. I can probably guarantee you have heard 90% of what is being said before, but if this book actually gets you DOING IT, then it's $15 well spent!

To get hold of lift, run, bang click here

Contest time

2012-01-28T06:00:00.001-08:00

We'll be having quite a few contests over on the VBB facebook page - click here then join & join in!

REVIEW: Barology 101

2012-01-25T12:38:00.000-08:00

Barology 101 is the first in what is likely to be a series of DVDs that covers the activity commonly called 'extreme callisthenics'. The activity itself uses bodyweight (this doesn't prohibit the use of weights outside of the time you devote to the activity). Basically you have a bar, or bars & throw yourself around like a cross between a gymnast, a trapeze artist, a tumbler & a hand balancer. It is VERY high intensity stuff. If I remember correctly the word 'callisthenics' is derived from the ancient Greek words 'beauty' & 'strength', so callisthenics would have roughly translated to mean 'beautiful strength' (my guess I'm not sure if that's fact?).

In this 2 DVD set you are introduced to the movements commonly used in the sport. It is not an instructional DVD as such. They do show progressions, but you are not taken through the activity. The DVD set is more of a demonstration film, showing you what can be achieved & showing you the progressions, but you don't get training advice & pointers. For a visual learner this would probably be enough, but if you are a trainee who likes to be talked through their training, then this one on it's own will not be enough.

The 2 DVDs cover a lot, from memory I can remember progressions for:
push-up
pull-up
dip
handstand
row
isometrics
core
ab wheel
some flag progressions
squats
deadlift
lunge
calves
step-up
obviously muscle-ups
even some equipoise thrown in

...& there were plenty more I probably have forgotten about.

One small niggle I did have was that although each progression was clearly stated, they didn't name each exercise & as someone not experienced in the extreme callisthenics field I had no idea what to call some of the movements? Even a numbering system would mean you could say "Let's try muscle-up variation number 2" so you could have some idea what you should be calling something. I'm guessing detailed instructional DVDs are to come in future instalments, at least I hope so as some of the movements look tricky for a novice & I'd certainly be interested in seeing some detailed instructions on how some of this is done as I've not seen any other product attempt to bring this sort of training to the general public.

A final point is it does seem that a lot of vegans gravitate towards bodyweight exercise, so if you're going in that direction it will certainly be worth you seeing just how far you can take it, this certainly isn't the callisthenics your mother did watching that VHS video in the living room!

Would I recommend this set? If you are interested or intend to try out extreme callisthenics then yes I think it might help you avoid some pitfalls you might stumble into without some advice being available. I think with some spoken instruction this would have made the ideal starter kit for the novice 'barologist', as it is it offers many insights that will help you design progressions, but not give you all the details you need for every exercise. As more instalments come out hopefully they will cover these shortfalls.

One of the guys involved in this project Dan Attanasio (aka Kalosthenos on the internet) is a vegan & you can find out more about him here

To get hold of barology 101 Click here

REVIEW: I will be Iron by Budd Jeffries

2012-01-04T11:31:00.000-08:00

First off a disclaimer. I have had issues with bud Jeffries in the past, to be honest he ripped me off when I sent off for stuff (I wasn't the only one view click here for full details of that), anyway with that disclaimer out of the way here's the write-up.
Bud wrote this book about how he lost about 120 pounds by doing kettlebell swings.
I must admit the book didn't grab me. The first point was that Bud did a load of different things. Yes, he did swings, but he also changed his diet, did 1,000 rep sledgehammer work, did 1,000 rep bodyweight stuff , 1,000 rep punching etc., so which worked? Did anything work alone, in combination, if so what & was anything unnecessary? We just don't know?
His idea is to work up to things like 1 hour of continuous swings, doing 1,000 swings without a break etc.
Bud seemed surprised he gained endurance & put it down to swings. My first option would be that he lost 120 pounds of fat, if that didn't increase endurance then nothing will! What impressed me a lot more was the fact that he lost so much & yet kept most of his strength, now that is pretty good going as most guys lose their strength as they lose weight, so that is a good result.
I got the impression that Bud was one of those freaks of nature & so found that doing 'stuff' made him strong & he developed amazing endurance. Unfortunately he is what's known as an 'outlier' or outside the normal, so the 'stuff' that works for him probably won't for most of us, in my view. He seems to be born strong, he mentions himself that he comes from a family of exceptionally strong, robust people. My experience would point to most people being unable to do many of the routines he supplies without a very long time building up basic strength & endurance first.
I consider the routines like this. You could spend an hour doing swings & get some benefits, maybe very good benefits, or you could spend an hour doing a fully rounded training routine. Which would give the best results in terms of muscle make-up, balance between muscles & physical performance? I can't see how any one movement could compete with a fully rounded routine unless you were specifically training to do endurance swinging?
Towards the end he gives a few variations adding in other tools, a few that stuck out are:
Tire flip (or biceps remover as I'd like it renamed) let's be honest tire flipping is a fairly high technique movement, most people deadlift it up & then heave it over (you actually push forward with your torso & then use the knee to help turn it over), even guys who train with tires a lot (strongmen) know that tires done badly for even a rep can cause biceps tears & yet Bud wants you to do high reps repeatedly until exhaustion, a good way to destroy your biceps in my view.
Another odd choice is very high rep punch bag work for fighters, I prefer purposeful training. It's like the martial arts instructors that have you doing 1,000 kicks. You ingrain how to do a sloppy kick a 1,000 times! I prefer to learn with skill, quality practice makes perfect, reps do not matter & for a fighter learning to punch sloppily can be the quickest way to meeting the canvas in my view. You don't need to do hours punching & punching endlessly, a round lasts a couple of minutes then you rest, then you go again, slogging away for ages won't improve that, it will just stop you learning the perfect punching form & THAT will end your match a lot more quickly than you can imagine. I'd prefer a fighter getting a few minutes of picture perfect punches, then rest, then repeat for the allotted rounds (+ 20%, so if you fought a 10 round match, you train for a 12 round encounter OR do ten rounds with 20% longer each round, do not do both at once, this leaves you enough in the tank to overpower a fading opponent), Quality trumps quantity every time in this case. One good punch can finish a match whereas 500 sloppy punches will be brushed off.

OK those are the bad things I found with this book. The good things are; I do like swinging, it does seem to aid the recovery & also has a good effect on the lower back of some lifters (see this abstract here for a look at loading mechanics & possible back benefits). Bud is quite motivational & a really, REALLY strong guy who can encourage great performances from people. He does lay out a lot of options for you to play with, just do what you are able.
One of the best bits of the book in my view was actually the end where you had a lot of different kettlebell users of different knowledge levels giving their views on swings. There was a LOT of info tucked into those last few pages that (for me at least) was a lot more usable. You had one guy talking about how he fit swings in to help his deadlift, another guy about how he used swings recovering from knee surgery, it was a gem of an ending in my view. I would suggest someone buying the book got their moneys worth in those pages, & a lot more immediately useful to you unless you are already a swing machine.

Anyway having just finished the book that was my initial thoughts about it. If you want to check out the full details click here & get swinging :-)

New VBB artcle about Dan Attanasio aka Kalosthenos

2012-01-03T05:04:00.000-08:00

Just added a new article about Dan Attanasio (Extreme Callisthenics athlete) on the VBB site, to check it out Click here
Just to give you a taster here's a short video clip:

So have we any new year resolutioners out there?

2011-12-20T07:20:00.000-08:00

I don't really set goals at new year that much. Most of my goals for 2012 where already set earlier this year (I'm aiming at increasing my deadlift & squat by a reasonable amount over the next year- actually in the case of the squat it's the high end of reasonable as I am a rubbish squatter, but there you go might as well aim high!).
Anyway, have you got goals to set for 2012? If so let's have them. Here's some ideas to help you reach those goals.

Write it down:

Put it somewhere you can see it regularly. I'm aiming at 185Kg squat, which is my toughest goal as I'm not a natural squatter & it will be about 2.5x bodyweight lift for me so it may take more than 12 months to get there? Anyway to 'remind me' I've redesigned my wallpaper on the computer, I went & grabbed a load of guys squatting big weights, wrote a big, red 185 in thumping HUGE numbers over it, so everytime I look at the computer I see the number 185 & squats, but you could put something on your fridge, put something by your bedroom lamp, whatever, but somewhere you'll read it.
Also make sure you keep your goals, your goals (I stole that line from Dan John), if you are trying to lose fat, then suddenly trying out the latest powerlifting training from Eastern Europe may not be the best thing in the world for your goal- if you are anything like me I get excited when I read new stuff about training & yes I want to try it out..but you can't reach your goals if you are swapping stuff up all the time, sticking to a plan is the best method. Before making any change go back to that thing you wrote out (your goal), does this change move you towards or away from your goal? Answer that before you make any change (yes this is a tough one to do, I know!).
Here are some quick & rough rules for achieving your goals.

Dieters:
If you're looking to lose fat then 80% of the effort should actually go into the food journal, 15% into training & 5% recovery (prehab/rehab, recovery etc). That's right, you will get better results by really focussing on what you're eating & writing everything down, then seeing how things affect you. This % is the starting place of your diet, I don't think you can (or should) keep a food journal forever, but this gets you going correctly & you can actually see what you eat, calories etc, it leads you towards a decent eating plan. If you have a lot of weight to lose (say a year or more of dieting) then look at returning to a food log once a quarter or every 6 months at least & write out a week & see where you are. This is actually good practice for everyone, just to see the amount of junk you are eating & ways to tidy up your diet to move towards those goals.

Mass gainers:
70% should be focussed upon eating more & trying to keep those calories as clean as possible, again only 20% should be on your training. Many people can train hard, but many fail on eating enough to grow, especially on a vegan diet which can be less calorie dense than a typical meat eaters diet, the rest fail on the other 10% which is recovery, so sleep, stretching, self myofascial release, massage, pre-hab/rehab etc, they simply don't do it or enough of it.

Athletes:
80% sports specific skills, so playing the game, practising specific skills etc, 10% strength training, 10% other (recovery planning, rehab/prehab, massage, self myofascial release etc). Yes 80% should be doing something directly related to your sport.

Goal setting:
Goal setting is important. You need to set some numbers & dates for goals if you can. Do not just say "I want to be slim for the beach this year". That is not a goal, it is a vague dream. A goal is "I want to lose 10 pounds of fat by June 1st 2012". Now you have a goal, you can work backwards & set up a plan to hit that goal.

Obviously these are rough guidelines as there will be some athletes who need to gain muscle mass, or dieters who are trying to hit a weight class in a contest, those are outside these general guidelines, but I thought I'd write some very rough outlines about how you should be thinking about those goals right now, so you can plan them, not just waste your time with vague dreams.

One final tip is announcing your goals makes them MUCH more likely to come true, so why not pop your goals up on here right now (I did, so how about you?), then you will be loads more likely to hit that goal in 2012...if you can't do that then consider - Is the goal realistic? Do I REALLY want it? Because if you can't even say it out loud, then you're unlikely to have the mindset to achieve it!

With all that said get your goals set now, have a great holiday season, then get on that plan when the clock chimes 12 on the first day of 2012!

Rob Bigwood: Vegan Arm Wrestler - the interview

2011-12-11T06:42:00.001-08:00

I just noticed that the Vegan Society have started to put their older stuff online. You can download it here
or read it below. For those who don't know Rob is the best vegan Arm Wrestler in the world (& in my view one of the top arm wrestlers period!). Don't forget to support the vegan society & show your support by joining them or at least subscribing to their magazine.
Hopefully you'll enjoy this interview I did with Rob back in 2009:

Rob Bigwood-Vegan Mag Article

REVIEW: Easy Strength seminar by Dan John & Pavel

2011-12-11T05:42:00.001-08:00

This was a L-O-N-G view. It was 14 DVDs! If you've viewed Dan Johns DVD set Intervention, then you will have seen some of the Dan John stuff before, that's not necessarily a bad thing as I think he uses quite a basic, understandable approach, but if you are thinking about getting one or the other this covers a lot of the same ground & includes Pavel as well. I liked the theoretical stuff, & just about all the training hints they have are going to be useful to someone. It's a shame they didn't have an 'average' trainee to use as most of the people doing the lifts were pretty good (not your typical people turning up in the gym), but you can only show what you can show, but bare in mind that you yourself or your clients if you are in the business will not be so proficient at the lifts & will need a lot more coaching & time to get things right. I did have my doubts about one aspect of the DVD set & that was the 'Even easier strength' section. This was picking 5 lifts, done at a very low percentage of your maximum (say half what you could normally lift) & doing 3x3, 5,3,2, 5x2 or 10x1 (reps first then sets, so 10x1 is 10 reps/1 set) up to 5 times a week for 40 days. They didn't seem to cover 'accommodation' into the example. Accommodation is where you actually become more efficient at doing a movement, so you can lose muscular size & absolute strength by doing the same weight over & over. As an example think of the guy at the gym you saw doing the same weight 12 months ago as today, often you'll see they look worse than they did 12 months ago when they first started doing that weight, this is because the body has adapted to that weight & actually working LESS to move it than when they first did it. I don't really follow how NOT progressing could be better? It is progression that leads to positive adaptation that lead to greater strength &/or size. Maybe for an in-season athlete it may kind of keep them ticking over, but I can't see where the claimed big strength increases would come from? Maybe I just don't know the science enough, but all of my training career the basic idea of progressive overload has been the cornerstone of my training routines. I couldn't follow their arguments, they didn't make sense to me. That was my one gripe with this DVD set. It was only one piece of a really big DVD set, so I can't complain as most of it was pretty interesting.

This set is a lot of cash, so you might not be interested in getting it unless you are an athlete or train athletes or really like Dan John &/or Pavel, but for an athlete who isn't into lifting sports (so not a powerlifter or O-lifter) this will give you some idea how to structure your training for best results.

For full details about the DVD click here

REVIEW: Jason Ferrugia's Renegade Recipe Guide

2011-12-07T07:07:00.001-08:00

There are a couple of points about this book. First off it is not vegan, there are recipes with eggs & honey that I have found in it. I know at the time of writing Jason was supposed to be a vegan (I'm not sure about now?), so I was hoping for something without any animal products, but there are plenty without, so it's not too hard to find plenty of good recipes. The second thing that might affect you is that some recipes use ingredients you may not have, not ultra-weird, but unusual like buckwheat flour, that you don't usually have & would have to make a trip out for if you wanted to use the recipes as written.
I got the negatives out of the way first, but apart from those gripes there are a lot of things you might want to try out in here. I'm not a great one in the kitchen, so cooking isn't really the top of my 'fun things to do' list, but I do like to eat, so having a few new options is always good.
This is simply a recipe guide it isn't like a planned eating system like say the latest precision nutrition plant based eating section, so you will still need to plan your eating using some common sense, but the choices are varied & you are bound to find a few things you like in the collection of goodies available.
Just to give you an idea here's the list of recipes you get:

Breakfasts & Shakes… Page 7

Banana Berry Blast Protein Shake… Page 8
Apple Pie Protein Shake… Page 9
Banana Nut Bread Protein Shake… Page 9
Mocha Rocket Fuel Protein Shake… Page 10
Chocolate Peanut Butter Banana Protein Shake… Page 10
Chocolate Chip Mint Protein Shake… Page 11
Tropical Fruit Protein Shake… Page 12
Chocolate Peanut Butter Cup Protein Shake… Page 13
Orange Creamsicle Protein Shake… Page 13
Pumpkin Pie Protein Shake… Page 14
Pina Colada Protein Shake… Page 15
Almond Butter Cocoa Protein Shake… Page 15
Sweet Potato Pie Protein Shake… Page 16
Vanilla Macadamia Cream Protein Shake… Page 16
The Hardgainer Cure Protein Shake… Page 17
Our Favorite Protein Shake… Page 18
Spicy Tempeh Scramble… Page 19
Southwestern Style Eggs… Page 20
Breakfast Burritos… Page 21
Blueberry Buckwheat Pancakes… Page 22
Banana Oatmeal Pancakes… Page 23
Protein Oatmeal Pancakes… Page 24
Almond Butter Cup Hi-Protein Oatmeal… Page 25
Apple Cinnamon Hi-Protein Oatmeal… Page 25
Raisin & Nut Hi-Protein Oatmeal… Page 26
Almond Butter Cup Hi-Protein Oatmeal… Page 27
Apple Cinnamon Hi-Protein Oatmeal… Page 27
Vanilla Blueberry Hi-Protein Oatmeal… Page 28
Frozen Bananas and Strawberries… Page 28
Breakfast Potatoes… Page 29
Almond Butter Toast… Page 30
Breakfast Quinoa… Page 30
Brown Rice Pudding… Page 31
Mint Lassi… Page 32
Trail Mix Bowl… Page 32
Fruit & Nut Bowl… Page 33

Side Dishes & Snacks… Page 35

Sitto’s Hummus… Page 36
Escarole and Beans (side dish)… Page 37
Roasted Root Vegetables… Page 37
Collard Greens… Page 38
Brown Rice and Broccoli…Page 38
Basil Walnut Pesto… Page 39
Paper Bag Roasted Red Peppers… Page 40
Cashew Cream… Page 41
Red Pepper Cashew Cream… Page 41
Steamed Kale with Tahini Dressing… Page 42
Yellow Split Peas and String Beans… Page 43
Mjedherra (lentils with wheat germ and onions)… Page 43
Roasted Spiced Cashews… Page 44
Chickpeas with Wheat Germ and Tomato… Page 45
Baby Bok Choy with Cashews and Ginger… Page 45
Roasted Garlic Toast… Page 46
Kale Chips… Page 46
Roasted Beets with Orange Slices… Page 47
Black Bean Dip… Page 48
Spinach Dip… Page 49
Collard Greens with Slivered Almonds… Page 49
Wild Mushroom Quinoa… Page 50
Fresh Guacamole… Page 51
Yam Fries… Page 52
Creamy Pumpkin Brown Rice… Page 52
Mango Salsa…. Page 53
Italian Spicy Potatoes…. Page 54
White Bean Spread… Page 55
Hummus Quesadillas… Page 55
Artichoke Hearts with Cherry Peppers… Page 56
Vegan Garlic Mashed Potatoes… Page 57
Artichoke Hearts with White Beans and Tomatoes… Page 58
Spicy Brown Rice with Crimini Mushrooms and Caramelized Onions… Page 59
Egg Salad Sandwich… Page 60
Mashed Cauliflower… Page 60
Roasted Tomatoes… Page 61

Salads… Page 63

Vegan Caesar Salad Dressing… Page 64
Quinoa Salad… Page 65
Raw Kale Hempseed Salad… Page 66
Artichoke Heart and Pea Salad… Page 66
Eggplant and Lentil Salad… Page 67
Raw Fennel Orange Salad… Page 68
Tabouleh (Parsley Salad)… Page 69
Warm Chickpea Salad… Page 70
Spicy Watermelon Salad… Page 70
Carrot Almond Salad… Page 71
Broccoli Apple Salad… Page 72
Balsamic Mixed Bean Salad… Page 73
Arugula & Mango Salad… Page 74
Fattoush (Middle Eastern Salad)… Page 75
Summer Cucumber Tomato Salad… Page 76
Warm Black Bean Salad with Oranges… Page 77
Soups & Stews… Page 79
Lentil Soup… Page 80
Yellow Split Pea Soup… Page 81
Spinach Soup… Page 81
Roasted Butternut Squash Soup… Page 82
Curried Red Lentil Stew with Chickpeas and Quinoa… Page 83
Chickpea Soup with Brown Rice and Escarole… Page 84
Barley & Bean Soup… Page 85
Black-Eyed Pea Soup with Lemon and Sage… Page 86
Portobello Mushroom and Swiss Chard Soup… Page 86
Arborio Rice Soup with Cabbage and Beans… Page 87
White Bean Soup with Kale… Page 88
Kale Chowder… Page 89
Cold Cucumber Avocado Soup… Page 90

Pastas & Entrees… Page 91

Spaghetti Marinara… Page 92
Brown Rice Penne with Spicy Tomato & Spinach… Page 93
Pasta with Olive Oil and Sage… Page 93
Brown Rice Pasta with Peas and Mushrooms… Page 94
Eggplant and Kale… Page 95
Spaghetti Marinara… Page 96
Cauliflower with String Beans in Coconut Curry Sauce… Page 97
Roasted Cauliflower Spelt Wraps… Page 98
Tomato Avocado Sandwich… Page 99
Pizza Marinara… Page 100
Brown Rice and Beans… Page 100
Sweet Potato Topped with Black Beans and Kale… Page 101
Portobello Mushroom Steaks… Page 102
Quinoa Burritos… Page 103
Baked Eggplant with Tomatoes… Page 103
Black Bean Soft Tacos… Page 104
Raw Flax Burger… Page 104
Black Bean Burgers… Page 105
TLT (Tempeh Lettuce & Tomato)… Page 106
Gluten-Free Eggplant Parm… Page 107

Desserts… Page 109

Raw Chocolate Pudding… Page 110
Sugar Free “Almost Raw” Chocolate Pudding… Page 110
Hi-Protein Chocolate Mousse… Page 111
Vanilla Mousse… Page 111
Vanilla Cream… Page 112
Sweet Potato Pudding… Page 112
Dessert Butter Bars aka “Cut ‘em & Eat ‘em’s”… Page 113
Raw Pineapple Cheesecake… Page 114
Raw Almond Butter Chocolate Cake… Page 115
Vegan Chocolate Cake… Page 116
Baked Bananas and Raisins… Page 117
Blueberry Pudding… Page 117

If these sound like the kind of thing you want to cook (the pancakes tend to use egg, so they are no good for you - I have been told you can swap in something like gram flour..but what do I know?) you can get the ebook by clicking here

Animal Aid Christmas Fayre 2011

2011-12-06T15:36:00.001-08:00

Click here to see the full write-up

Dusan Dudas - Vegan Bodybuilder & author

2011-11-21T10:01:00.001-08:00

New write-up on the author & bodybuilder Dusan Dudas on the main VBB website - Click here for the full story!

REVIEW: Gym boss interval timer

2011-11-07T14:54:00.000-08:00

This is a nifty little device I got a couple of weeks ago now. It isn't perfect, but as a decent, basic interval timer it does the job.

Ok, let's get the bad stuff out of the way. First off it is not that intuitive to use, I've had it several weeks & I still need to read the instructions to set it up (hee hee that might just be me though!), second point is you can only set one work time & one rest time - so you can have up to 99 intervals, but each of those must have the same work times & rest times, for example you could do 2 minutes work & 1 minute rest, but every set will have the same 2 minutes work & one minute rest, so you can't have, say different times for each work or rest set, if you wanted to do for example a 90 second front plank, then a 45 second side plank with one minute rest each time you'd be out of luck.

Those are the bad points, but the good points are that you can set it up to beep & if necessary vibrate (useful for louder gyms or headphone wearers), most often you won't even need different timings, so one rest & one work time is usually ok, you can get handy arm or wrist straps (you can also attach it directly to your clothes if you prefer), once you've set it up it is easy to actually start & stop, you can do up to 99 work sets, for stuff like planks, kettlebells etc it is really great for keeping you honest about time & allows incremental increases in duration, or you can do various forms of density training as you feel the need.In use I found it to be a pretty useful tool when doing timed stuff, the beep is loud enough to hear over music (or if you have ear buds in adding the vibration can help). I've tended to use it mainly for planking work & for timed kettlebell stuff, but I'm sure as time goes on I'll find other uses for it. If you are into any sort of density training it would certainly help with that. It could also just add a little variety into your training if you've not worked in timed intervals before, whether using bodyweight, barbell, or other training tool.

So far I've found it a very useful tool that I'd recommend. It may not be useful to a powerlifter so much, or probably a few other selected sports, but for the average gym goer, or someone looking for a change, or someone presently doing stuff under time, but using a clock on the wall, this is a vastly superior way of doing it in my view as you don't have to compromise your position to check your timing.

Final points are that I have only had this a couple of weeks, it seems to be working fine, but it's obviously not 100% proven durability yet (I need to to knock it about a bit more), oh yea it does have a stopwatch, but I've not used that yet so I'm not sure how well that works (I suspect it will do the job, but I rarely time things like that so I may not be using that for long while, if at all). Oh yea & be warned it comes in several colours including pink for all you guys who don't to be seen with a pink timer, so check what colour you are getting before you buy (mine is black just like in the picture).

Amazon is probably the easiest place to get hold of it, just go to their site & do a search for 'gymboss' & loads will come up, I found buying the wrist band & arm band added a couple of pounds sterling to the cost, but it was a free shipping item, so it was worth buying them all at once for me (although I've found I've not really needed either of the bands it is nice to know I've got them if I do need them.

West Midlands Vegan Festival 2011

2011-10-30T16:22:00.000-07:00

I've done a full write-up of our day on the VBB website so simply click here to read about the full adventure!

REVIEW: B-extreme DVD

2011-10-20T11:31:00.000-07:00

This video had a lot of moves on it, it showed versions of many dips, pull-ups, flag variations & other bodyweight exercises all performed out doors in a park playground. It did stop & show you a few moves. Four moves to be precise; the push-up, the pull-up, the dip & the incredible (a form of muscle-up). The DVD also gave you a taster of the warm-up they do before they start training, but most of the DVD was clips of moves.
To be honest this was not the sort of video I like. When there are fancy moves I want to see progressions, how did the person get from a basic dip to a fancy swinging round the bar with a flip style of dip. Obviously they didn't just master the basic dip, then rush off & do the fancier moves, they progressed slowly from one move to the next, & it is this progression that actually interests me most. I'm sure people already into this 'playground training' idea will find some useful additions on this video, some ideas to try out & experiment with, but for a beginners I can see problems as they have no way of moving from level one to master, they don't supply a plan of attack.

The DVD had a lot going for it. The camera usage & the way it was edited was good, it really gave a 'street' feel to the production, I also did think the music worked ok (although I'm more a metal head myself), but I think what it did lack was a decent progressive system. Maybe that was not what the video was aimed at providing, it was more a motivational piece, but in this era of youtube you get find motivation easily, but decent instruction is still a rare thing & something I hunt for everyday.
So, if you're after a motivational video with some quite fancy bodyweight moves being done on everyday playground equipment, then this will be a great buy, but if you're looking for progressive training on how to achieve those fancy moves, then this may not be the place to look.

To get hold of B-extreme Click here

Training as play

2011-10-20T11:02:00.000-07:00

Here's an important point that many, many trainees & trainers miss. For the short term anything goes, if you have to drop a dress size in the next four weeks for a special day, then yes working at things you may not like is fine. However, if your goal is long term training, with long term results (& it should be), then what you're doing must be fun for you!

Look into the average gym & what do you see? You see lines of cardio machines with TVs or other things to distract you from what you are doing, why? Let's be honest trotting along on a treadmill is boring, we nearly all hate it (obviously women like Robyn Flores are the exception here as she chooses to do 24 hour treadmill runs!).

For long term gains you need to find something you like doing & are actually willing to program into your life. There are so many options, from Olympic to power lifting, from bodyweight callisthenics (which can be very challenging), through to swimming, biking or jogging. You can have the best exercise in the world, but if you aren't enjoying doing it, then you simply will not stick to it, so find something that fits you.

Here's an example of what I mean. Think of something you did as a child that was hard, it could have been learning a handstand, riding a bike, learning to whistle with your fingers. There must have been something that you found really hard & so decided to shut the door, or go into the garden (whatever) & stick at it until you mastered the skill? Maybe it took you a few days work, maybe a month? Even if it took just a few hours, what you did was hard work, just because you wanted to get that skill...it was FUN to do, even though it was hard to do. Training should be like that, often it's pretty simple, but it shouldn't be easy. That's a pair of terms that confuse people. 'Simple' & 'easy'. No, you can't get the body of a Greek god(ess) with 5 minutes on the latest infomercial piece of junk, no it won't be easy to lose your fat, no it won't be easy to add that muscle. What it can be is simple, but to stick at it, then you have to find something you actually like doing.

Hence I think workouts should be play. Look at a bunch of guys powerlifting, sure they are loud, rude & kind of competitive, but you will soon see they are are actually having fun! The same can be said with many athletes, making the workout fun is a vital attribute to achieving compliance from a trainee. If a type of training, no matter how good, bores a trainee, then they will find every way under the sun to avoid doing it, but if you can find something a trainee finds fun, then you've got a consistently training person & so they will be much more likely to achieve their goals.

So, my advice is to find a type of training you enjoy to do & find a challenge. This is not an excuse to go easy on yourself, it should actually be a way to make you work harder, as reaching new heights in your chosen training arena should become the challenge.

Keep training fun & you should keep coming back for more!

REVIEW: Staley/Pavel Strength seminar

2011-10-19T11:59:00.000-07:00

This is a seminar from 2006, but I only got the chance to see it recently. It's a pretty expensive buy from the US, but a friend found a cheap copy in Oz & so I finally had a chance to see this 2 DVD set.

If you've got any interest in training & are vegan or veggie you may not like Charles Staley's nutritional view. When he was with Iron radio he was a member of PETA (Please Eat The Animals, not the other one) & some of his more controversial out bursts may have tainted your view on him. That being said, I'd suggest you open your mind his training views. His 'big idea' EDT (escalating density training) is a very useful way to train many clients (or yourself) if you are looking for physique changes. The basic premise is pretty simple, so as an example lets take a kettlebell snatch (as that was used in the seminar), you do sets of 5 for fifteen minutes, once you can no longer do sets of 5, drop to sets of 4, then set of 3 when you can no longer do 4, down to sets of 1 rep if you have to. You rest as much as you need between sets, but stop at 15 minutes. The idea is to do more reps each time you repeat that 15 minute workout over the weeks. Obviously there's a lot more to it than that, but that is the framework. You must keep the form tight, but that's really it, doing more in a set time frame. He also teaches Olympic lifting (I will be reviewing another Staley seminar, this time on Olympic lifting quite soon). Staley is a clear speaker & has quite a few training ideas you might find useful...I just wouldn't ask him any nutritional advice or he might annoy you a bit!

Pavel Tsatsouline (generally just called Pavel) is someone who knows movement. He's best known for kettlebells, but he's worked with powerlifters, sports people, fighters etc., basically everyone out there. He does have 'his style' which is stories about Russia & thankfully doesn't use the whole 'comrade' term as much as he used to (I find it a little off-putting). He has some very insightful thoughts on training & fixing training issues (I wish I was as fast, for me I often have to sit down & think about things before an answer comes to me). Some of the ideas like "Same but different", that is instead of doing a whole pile of different exercises find a few & try variation. So, using deadlift as an example, you could do conventional deadlift, sumo, rack pulls, standing on blocks, using bands or chains, using a trap bar, using a Jefferson lift or hack deadlift (I didn't even think of the last 2 myself & I've thought about deadlift a little!) can improve your lift, as they work the same motor pathways, but are different, so SAME motor patheways, DIFFERENT exact movement, so you will continue to improve, without risking overuse & not risk boredom either, the important point is not to pick just any movement, but one that works a weak point in your lift. Even hand position (for example a snatch grip), or foot position (sumo, conventional, close stance) also can be used just to make things a little different & so you can reap rewards.

There was a lot in this seminar. I will be watching it again I suspect as it was an information dense product. I enjoyed it quite a lot & learnt quite a few things I can put into practice in the near future.

You can get hold of the seminar at Dragon door (or you can do like mate & search about for a cheaper copy as they are out there).

REVIEW: The Naked Warrior by Pavel Tsatsouline

2011-10-04T13:58:00.000-07:00

I read this book in a day! That’s not because it’s especially short, but it was a compulsive read! I’ll start with the one annoying feature. Pavel’s sales pitch is being ‘the Russian’, so selling to the American market, he uses words like ‘Comrade’, & has phases like ‘the Party line’, a play on the old USSR communist ideology (which was actually about as communist as ex-British Prime Minister Margret Thatcher!), but I digress. Yes, he does do a lot of that ‘commi-talk’ which I don’t enjoy really & actually made me take him less seriously than I should have for a long time.

With that said on with the book. The idea sounds almost overly simple. Take 2 bodyweight exercises & focus on those to build strength. In this case he uses the one arm push-up & the pistol (a pistol is a one leg squat with the non-working leg stuck out in front – you kind of look like a pistol, hence the name). This doesn’t sound like it would be a very long book, nor would that many find that interesting (unless you want to do those specific moves), but it’s actually not about those moves as such! What it’s actually about is how to display strength using various techniques of breathing, body tension & movement cues. This is why this book will work for many athletes, whether they are weightlifters, powerlifters, athletes or fighters. Yes, you are learning 2 movements in this book, but you can apply this knowledge to ANY lift & many athletic endeavours (any that require strength). It is a technique book, not an exercise book & so the rules found in here can be applied to a whole range of strength-related activities.

I read convict conditioning only the other day & this is another bodyweight book – in this case whereas Paul Wade was against the use of external load at all, Pavel has the view that you can & probably should mix both weights & bodyweight to get the best of both. I think I agree with this idea. Also Pavel is focussed upon building strength for the word go with low rep work, Wade starts with more high rep & works towards strength, a view that Pavel thinks is incorrect ‘you can’t build strength from muscular endurance exercises’ sums up Pavel’s view of training. I do tend to side more with Pavel than Wade on this, but that is purely my personal preference rather than absolute knowledge. I know that harder low rep stuff is more exciting to me than pumping out 50 reps of something, so accept I am biased & I do know some people who can do both high reps & high strength moves (like many push-ups & some strict one arm push-ups), but did one build the other or did they learn one, then learn the other? I’m not sure?

So, if what you are after is learning a one arm push-up (or you could even try the one arm/one leg push-up) & the pistol (with bodyweight or weighted both are covered) then this book will be for you. If you want to learn some of the tricks that allow you to display maximum strength in your sport then this will be the book for you.

The book is called the ‘Naked Warrior’, so it is saying you can do it anywhere, anytime & need no equipment, but given the choice I would have added the one arm chin-up to the mix. I know that ruins the whole ‘no equipment’ rule as you need something to chin from, but then you’d have a more rounded out program in my view. That is the ‘big 3’ of the bodyweight world, yes, there are harder exercises, but everyone understands that a one arm chin is hard, a one arm push-up is hard & a pistol is hard, if you can do them with good form then you have got to be considered ‘strong’ by any honest standard of strength. Hence I think you are missing something without the hard pull that a one arm chin-up gives you. That is my only gripe really, I’d have included that as well.

I did enjoy the book (barring the whole ‘comrade’ stuff I mentioned at first), as I said I read it in one day & found it a clear guide to some techniques we can all include into our training whatever our field.

That’s about it, it’s a good read, it’s useful & you will probably learn a trick or 2 that will increase your strength if you add them in to your training.

If you're interested in the book you can pop over to dragondoor & get yourself a copy.

REVIEW: Power DVD by Jimmy Smith & Joe DeFranco

2011-09-29T15:26:00.000-07:00

I've just watched the new DVD from Jimmy Smith (of diesel crew) & Joe DeFranco. Their first product together was the amped warm-up DVD Both DeFranco & Smitty are what I think of as motivational trainers. They often don't offer too much that is astounding or new, but they are really good at getting something special from their athletes. If you are new to developing power in your own workout or in people you train then this will be an eye opener. If you've studied training for a while you will probably pick up a move or two. Mainly you get a whole lot of motivation & drive to get to the gym & train yourself or your athletes! I think both DeFranco & Smitty share that same gift of firing up their clients & this comes across in their DVD presentations as well.The DVD is broken down into upper body, lower body, full body & it does really cover a wide range of movements quite quickly with the minimum of fuss. If you're looking for a Gary Gray style explanation of movement patterns this won't be the DVD for you, but if you want a decent list of movements that will develop athletically usable power on the field then this might be the tool for you.I really enjoyed watching this product as I sometimes like to turn off the more cerebral portion of the brain, just get down to to the "Here's some moves that will make you flipping strong!". You don't need to know what muscle inserts where, what tendon is attached where, just pick up the big thing & carry it, throw it or lift it over your head! You will learn how to do all that as safely as you can with this DVD. Basically this is a blue print for building a big 'Mofo' with the where-with-all to run at you & knock you over like a freight train! If you're interested in the Power DVD you can check it out at: http://dieselsc.com/store/power

Vitashine vitamin D3 spray

2011-09-29T12:25:00.000-07:00

I've just received my first batch of Vitashine Vitamin D3 spray a few days ago, so I thought I'd give you a quick write-up as this is (to my knowledge) the first vegan D3 available in the UK.I know you may have several questions. First off what is the difference between the vegan vitamin D that you can get now (D2) & this newer product which is D3. I won't get all technical as these days you can look up details like that on wikipedia, but the basics are that D2 is a type of vitamin D available from some plants (like mushrooms exposed to UV rays), this is not identical to the vitamin D you have in your bodies; it is close, but not identical, whereas vitamin D3 is identical to the vitamin your body produces. Some studies have pointed out that vitamin D2 may not be as efficiently utilised as D3 in the body - the studies are mixed in this regard. I know there are some people making big claims about the "dangers" of D2, these are false judging by most of the research out there...but most studies that show a difference tend to show that vitamin D3 works much more efficiently in the body because it's the same stuff you make yourself, so it is going to be used in the best manner.

So, with that said I chose the move to vit D3 as it seemed to me that using a vitamin that replicates the bodies own vitamin (rather than a near copy) might give me better results in terms of assimilation & utilisation. Vitamin D is not like a creatine, or a stimulant; you won't get an immediate buzz or gain 5 pounds of muscle weight in a week, although if you are very low you might get some strength gains. Vitamin D for the athlete does everything it does for 'normal' people, stronger bones, stronger teeth, etc, but some other factors also come into play a little more than the average person. The main asset, in my view, about vitamin D is immune normalisation. Many studies have shown that vitamin D can boost lowered immune systems & as athletes one of our problems is we do compromise our immune systems by training very hard, very frequently & in some cases we diet on top of that! I don't care how 'fit' you are, fitness & health are not identical terms & often to get fit for our chosen activity we are forced to compromise on our ability to fight off infection. Vitamin D is great for aiding the immune system in 'bouncing back' & so could aid you in fighting off that infection, also in some studies it appears that diseases like influenza (real flu, not those sniffles you had the other day) could be harder to catch with a higher level of vitamin D than is average today - that 'could' also work with other viruses, I've not found studies, but it would make sense. Other factors are low vitamin D can affect cardiovascular health, so bear that in mind as in some studies many people in the UK & US have been found to be low in this vital vitamin. You can have a test if you are particularly worried, but for the vast majority taking between 1-2,000 IUs a day will keep them at a reasonable vitamin D level.

So, for a few squirts of this vitamin D you'll get an improved immune system response, improved bone & teeth, as vitamin D can affect on your hormones you could get an improved hormone profile, so I'd suggest you take it if you have any concerns about your vitamin D levels.

Let's get to usage of the product - it was pretty easy to use, just open your mouth & squirt. Even I couldn't go very wrong with that one! It does have a very slight taste of oil that lasts for a few seconds, if you really can't stand the taste of oil I suppose you could squirt it into a fake milk or onto food, I've not tried that, but I can't see why you couldn't. I actually liked the product quite a bit & asked them if they'd be interested in giving us a few of their products to give to the winners of our contests which they agreed to do. As I said you won't take one squirt & then be ready to step onto the bodybuilding stage, but it could help you get less illness, so train more consistently, so make more gains, so achieve your goals more quickly, it could also affect bone & teeth health in a positive way which again can only be a good thing. All in all I'd say it was worth at least giving it a go if you have any concerns about your vitamin D levels. Right now (in the UK) you are at your highest levels of vitamin D if you've been out in the sun WITHOUT sunscreen (sunscreen blocks the bodies ability to produce vitamin D), but even so from here until summer 2012 your levels will be falling unless you take some action right now & keep those levels nice & high. What's more it may mean less illness over the winter months & so by summer 2012 you'll be looking pretty awesome with 6 months of consistent training under your belt!

If you're interested you can check out vitashine at http://www.vitashine-d3.com/

REVIEW: Convict Conditioning by Paul Wade

2011-09-27T13:52:00.000-07:00

I’ve just finished reading the book ‘Convictconditioning’. It was an interestingread...but....the author had some unfounded views about both using externalweights & bodyweight exercise. Let’slook at some of his views (I am paraphrasing his views below):

VIEW: Bodyweight exercise makes ones joints stronger &healthier for life, whereas weight training destroys joints.

RESPONSE: Well, not necessarily, if you’ve known anygymnasts then you will realise that they are more often than not sufferingwrecked joints & most use ONLY body weight exercise, they also sufferunbalanced development between muscles pretty much universally, so usingbodyweight alone will not guarantee healthy joints.

VIEW: Body weight is a natural way to move ergo it issuperior.

RESPONSE: SOME bodyweight exercises move the body in a natural way, so something like a squatwould be a normal way to move to the body, but would the same thing be true ofa walking on the hands? When in naturedid a human walk on their hands, or do a planché push-up, or do as the authorhas done a one hand handstand push-up. In nature these things are not done, so if only move done in natureshould be done, then these should not be done.

VIEW: Weights are notused in nature, so as you are never exposed to them in nature you should not beexposed to them in training.

RESPONSE: This isfalse. Let’s give some examples. I want to move a big rock, it’s in myway. I pick it up! I meet an awful guy who comes into my house& wants to abuse my family. I fighthim, throw him about a bit, lift him up & chuck him out of my home! My friend falls off a cliff, he’s hanging onfor dear life, I grab his arm & rescue him. I’m a hero! In nature you carrychildren, sick people to safety, food & supplies...the list is endless& humans have done it since we first became upright. Carrying stuff, moving stuff, even heavystuff is as nature to a human as moving their own body.

On the plus side I wouldsay he is right about the need to be able to display strength & being ableto use the body is important. I wouldsay if you can’t do push-ups, full squats & pull-ups at the very least,then you need to spend some time learning to use your body. I have seen massive guys who can’t doanything, sometimes they can’t even lift their arms over their heads as they havedamaged their bodies so much through improper weight training over many years(often they focussed on the ‘T-shirt muscles’). I do believe that you build a decent physique using bodyweight alone,but I believe you can also do that by including weights as well (yes even theodd machine if you wish to).

So, to sum up I foundthe book useful in terms of which exercises you can do, the progressions &methodology, but on the other I found it a little too zealot, he was certain hewas right & everyone else was wrong, his was the only right way. Well in truth anyone who says that isactually wrong. Not every athlete todayis a steroid user, I know many who are not, but are as good, if not better thanany old-time athlete in their field as they combine modern nutrition, withmodern pre-hab, screening & training to produce a better result than theyknew how to achieve years ago-I’m sorry but it is true! Most,if not all use weight training to achieve strength, then skill training toattain maximum performance. Could youuse body weight training & skill training to achieve the same results? Maybe in some cases, but some of theprogressions would be no good in some cases, it depends on the sport & themovement in question, so the answer is not as easy as it sounds. The idea of building strength, thendisplaying strength is not new. Theauthor states that’s body weight exercise was around when the Greeks wheretraining. Well so was lifting externalweights! In fact the most famous storyin weight training is about the Greek wrestler Milo. He was unbeatable (by all the other wrestlerswho I presume just did calisthenics), his secret? He carried a baby bull everyday on hisshoulders around an arena & as it slowly grew, so he became stronger, yeshe used progressive resistance with an external weight! I know that’s not a very ethical story (usingan animal), but it does demonstrate that the Greeks understood that externalloads where important. Further more inevery culture where strength is admired they tend to use external loads as wellas body weight movements. In Japanesemartial arts they use heavy club-like tools, in Indian wrestling they use heavymaces, in colder climates lifting ‘manhood stones’, in other cultures heavystone throwing for distance, the list goes on! I did a quick google search as I seemed to remember that even in ancientEgypt they practiced a form of weight lifting & sure enough it seems thereis evidence that they did! So my view isthat both body movement & weights make the best combination of exercisesfor a human & have done at least as long as we’ve had methods of recordinginformation!

To prove my pointhimself the author on page 26 talks about John Grimek. Yes John did do some bodyweight movements, hewas very gymnastic. He was also a Worldclass weightlifter & bodybuilder. Hewas in fact known to practice “1001 exercises”, from the old time bent press(yes ‘bent’, not ‘bench’), to Olympic weightlifting, to curling a barbell &was even deadlifting a decent weight well into old age, he could also walk onhis hands, tumble & do other gymnastic feats. So, the author actually proves the point thatweights plus learning to use the body correctly is actually a good method toachieve results. The other example is DougHepburn who again started lifting weights & went on to Olympic fame as aweightlifter, so it was the bodyweight/weights combination that appeared towork best for him as well – as a side note Doug later in his life set somerecords for lifting when over 70 years old as a strict vegetarian that as faras I know have yet to be beaten.

Having said all that Ido think the book is worth reading. Youdo not have to swallow the dogma of the author, but you can use the exercises,progressions & ideas in your training! Plus let’s face it, doing a one arm chin, a planché push-up or walkingon your hands does look pretty cool to most people!

OK let’s get to the goodpart of the book. The exercises &progressions! First off these are allpretty good. Even those in post rehabshould be able to do most of the easier progressions (as normal check with yourmedical advisor first) & you can move on to some really advancedprogressions that will challenge just about anyone.

The exercises are brokendown into 6. These are the push-up, thesquat, the pull-up, the straight leg raise, the bridge & the handstandpush-up.

The progressions arebroken into 10, so each of those 6 exercises start with a dead easy versionthat most people can do, then each of the 10 variations get slightly harderuntil you reach a REALLY hard ‘Master step’ (as it’s called, the hardestversion possible). So in the book youget 60 exercises fully explained with photos & written descriptions, alongwith that you get a whole pile of variations to do if you feel like a change& also some variations to go beyond the ‘master step’ once that is mastered. So, basically you get a LOT of information foryour money. In the end the author doesthe pragmatic thing & does include details about how to add to bodyweightmoves to a program using weights. Thisis great as most of his audience will be iron-heads so it makes sense toinclude that even if the author does not agree with their use.

Overall, if you ignorerhetoric & focus on the training it is a good book. I know you seem to need a ‘hook’ for productsthese days, so I suggest you ignore the title, ignore the rhetoric , but takethe training seriously as it could be useful for you. Finally if you are looking for a bodyweightexercise program, then this would be a good option. For those who train with weights it gives youa reasonable ‘game plan’ for adding in some bodyweight stuff that willchallenge you over time.

My final point is dowhat the book says & start with level 1 even if you can do more & spendsay at least 4 weeks on every level before moving on (as you progress you mayneed more than 4 weeks before progressing up a level, but probably not for the first few levels ifyou are healthy). I think the program ispretty good & you should get good results. You’ll also be able to impressyour friends with some fun bodyweight ‘tricks’ like 1 arm chins, 1 arm push-ups& other cool stunts!

On a (kind of) unrelated point it's also good to support vegans if they end up in prison (easily done with the draconian laws they have these days), so pop over to the Vegan Prisoners Support Group & help vegans in prison get ethical food choices, toiletries, clothing etc.

REVIEW: Dan John's Intervention DVD set

2011-09-24T06:03:00.000-07:00

Check out Intervention for yourself here (or if you're round my way & have 4 hours spare we can sort out a viewing for you :-)

I thought I’d try something a little bit different as I thought that maybe you’d like to see some of the training-related products I buy or people I know have purchased & I get to see. These products range from bodybuilding, powerlifting, strongman & related subjects, through nutrition & recovery therapies. I try to spend about an hour a day either reading or viewing something from the above subject (often more than one as I swap from product to product as the mood takes me-I’m a little ADD when it comes to training stuff!).

So, for my first review of products I think I’ll do Dan John’s DVD set called “Intervention”. This isn’t a vegan product, but a training product. Intervention is a 3 disc set where Dan first explains his philosophy then puts selected people through some movements he believes are especially important. To sum it up Dan repeats himself a lot, he preaches pretty basic lifting & he doesn’t blow your mind with a fantastic Latin vocabulary as he talks about muscles & movement. To put it into one sentence I like Dan John a lot! All his training ideas make sense (to a basic guy like me anyway), his ideas can all be backed up with common sense (if you haven’t picked up something heavy & carried it before then do that, you WILL get stronger & become a better athlete). A lot of vegans won’t like his dietary ideas (I don’t) & the velocity diet is not the most nutritional sound idea I’ve ever heard of, but it’s his training ideas I like. So, who should get the Intervention DVD? If you want to get strong I’d suggest you get it. It may not be the best fat loss package as you’d need a dietary side covered in more detail, but the training would benefit a lot of ladies & gents looking to lose fat.

I think even athletes like runners, cyclists etc will benefit from this (yes even you need to weight train as well I’m afraid). This would be ideal for any sports person, any beginner strongman or lady, or a beginner in any strength activity. It could also be useful as a change of pace for those into specific strength sports like powerlifting, Olympic lifting etc if you need a change for a cycle during your off-season. As I said also those wishing to lose fat could be helped if you included a whole food vegan diet into the mix as you’d lose fat & add muscle which would make you look awesome!

You can see if you like Dan’s style by nipping over to http://danjohn.net/ & seeing if he’s the type of guy you want to hear speak for quite a few hours!

Anyway, as this is a little bit of a expansion of the blog including some reviews let me know what you think? Do you want more of the same, less? Let me know below! Assuming people don’t demand I stop doing reviews I’ll keep adding them as I finish watching/reading them so you can keep up with what’s new & exciting in the way of information in the training world.

Oh yea as a final side note I’m doing these off my own back. To keep things real & allow me to be ‘cutting’ when necessary I do not intend to affiliate or get any inducement from any product reviewed. They will all be stuff either me or my friends have bought so any view I express will be my true feeling on the matter- if that upsets some people then so be it (as I’ve seen some dire products out there – shake weight anyone!). So just to be clear I will make nothing from any review, ever, period! Just so you know.

London vegan festival 2011 write-up

2011-08-23T02:22:00.000-07:00

Click here to get the full write-up of the days events & the results of the shoulder press contest(you might even find out how Matt lost his clothes :-)

Below I'd like to highlight the main sponsors of the shoulder press contest. If you're looking for these types of products go & check them out as they are helping to build our community!

Viridian vitamins - top quality vitamins & other supplements, one of the best around

Fitness Superstore - for all you training equipment needs

Good Hemp Nutrition - UK grown hemp protein powder

V-pure - makers of an algae-based DHA/EPA pill (great for cell repair & recovery)

CONTEST! London Vegan Festival

2011-08-05T09:46:00.000-07:00

The latest news is we have a last minute event at this years London Vegan Festival 2011 We have a dumbbell shoulder press contest with females lifting an 8Kg dumbbell for repetitions & males lifting a 16Kg dumbbell for repetitions. The winners will be the one's doing the most repetitions. The contest will be at 2.45 in the main hall.
Main sponsors of the event are:
Fitness Superstore
Good Hemp Nutrition
v-pure
Viridian vitamins
& as usual we'll try & get everyone who enters a prize on the day!
So hopefully I'll see you all there on Sunday 21 August at Kensington Town Hall W8 7NX pop along to the stall & either enter the contest or come along & cheer them on at the main stage 2.45!

UPDATE:

We've just had confirmation of the exact prizes we are getting from fitness superstore

So, for the male & female winner to share we have:

pull-up bar with handles

65cm pilates/stability ball

That's along with a choice of 1Kg tub of either choc or strawberry hemp protein powder from Good Hemp Nutrition

A bottle of DHA/EPA pills from v-pure

& some selected supplements from viridian

Those are for the male & female winners - we will try to make sure everyone who enters has a prize on the day!

Post rehab at last!

2011-06-14T10:00:00.000-07:00

Finally I'm ready to return to training that's not pure rehab. Unfortunately, I've run into a few issues. I've had to deal with - The main issue is training enthusiasm, it's hard to keep the weight on the bar down! At the moment my strength is still well above my stability in both the shoulder & the back, so although the prime movers can lift the load, I'm basically begging for a injury if I let things loose & heave up the old iron. So (for a change) I've decided to play it a little bit smarter & focus on the issues at hand.
As I said my stability was an issue so I've decided I can limit the amount lifted & still work up into quite challenging training by adding instability to my training for a cycle, I've also decided that in my core work I will return to adding flexion moves into my training (crunches, sit-ups etc). I haven't done them for ages due mainly to reading the work of Stuart McGill & others who put forward valid arguments against them....but despite the logic it seems in practice (for me at least) that a wider, less tight gut & it coincided with my only back injury ever, after going the best part of a year without any flexion for the core area, so they are back in the mix. This doesn't mean the planks, roll-outs, bird dogs etc are gone, they just share the spot-light & I'll be monitoring flexion reps, so intensity over repetitions will be the key, keep those reps low & the intensity high.
So, on with the show...

The Shrug bar

This is my shrug bar (trap bar, parallel grip deadlift bar or whatever else you'd like to call it). It's got 2 sets of grips, so you have a normal 1" grip or you can turn it over & it has a 2" grip handles if you prefer. I also have some bits you can add on & make it 7 foot, so it fits nicely into a power rack.
This is the first type of deadlift I'm doing. As you don't need to do that 'bar wiggle' to get the bar around your knees like you need to with a straight bar & the weight is more centred it makes for an easier lift. I've also been doing upright shrugs with it as well on a rack.

I've found some unusual ways to use the shrug bar as well. One I'm going to be using for a while will be the unstable shoulder press.

My training area is kind of small, so these pictures can be a little hard to make out, but in a nut shell the shrug bar has the talons added (that extend it to 7 feet), then it's put on the safety squat rack, then you add some weights to the bar, but the weights are hung from resistance bands

The band is double knotted - yes I was starting off with 1Kg on the bar, embarrassing, but add a little every week & starting extra light are the best idea when coming back from an injury.

I find using the 2" grip handles of the shrug bar are good for this one as it sits comfortably in the hand & makes the height perfect for me.

Other stuff

You have to watch your shoulder rotation while you get back that strength/stability you need, so I tend to use a safety squat bar for anything that involves the bar on the back. For a cycle or 2 this will be my main bar for any work where the you put stuff on your back

This is my safety squat bar, some bits that aren't obvious are where you add the weights is set slightly forward, so as you add weight the bar 'locks' onto your shoulders. You do not even need to hold the bar for it to stay on your back!

Note, in the picture above how the 'prongs' that go over the shoulder naturally dip downwards. The more weight you add the tighter the bar 'grips' the shoulder. For anyone with shoulder issues these bars are a god-send!

On the picture above you can clearly see that when the weights hang straight down the prongs are dipped.

This bar is great for anything where you need a bar on your back. One think to bear in mind. As the weight is slightly forward of a normal back squat position, if you squat it actually feels more like a front squat (or maybe mid-way between a front & back squat feeling?). For stuff like calf raises you can hold the uprights for extra safety if necessary, for split squats you can grab a side rail or the upright if balance goes. You can also do a modified form of eccentric training by going down using only legs, but using legs & an arm pull to aid the standing portion of the lift.

As well as relying heavily on those two bars I'll be experimenting with other ways to lighten the load & focus on the stabilisers rather than the prime movers for a cycle or two, so unstable push-ups (on low gymnastic rings, stability ball or other unstable surface), sand bag work (so shoulder & squat, shoulder & press, maybe even curl the thing, who knows?), I'll be testing out some thick bar work to see if I can develop the same intensity as a heavier weight on a normal bar (I have got the hand size of a young girl, so we'll see how that one goes!). As I recover maybe even unstable bench press (adding weights similar to how I loaded the shrug bar above, so hanging from elastic resistance bands - or I have some ultra-hardcore looking chains I could hang from those). I've also been doing a load of shrug variation to improve scapulae function, so traditional upright shrug, bent over (Kelso) shrug, chin bar shrug (various grips), push-up shrug (shrugging in the push-up position - the chin & push-up style can be done with a weight vest for a fun variation or a dip belt for the chin versions add resistance as necessary) & I'm trying out some other stuff for this week before I settle on a cycle to really dig in & get some rewards from a strong stabilising system, then begin the real work of getting my strongest ever for 2012!

I don't think you need to do this to get well. Doing l-flyes, some band/strand style pulls & some other classic rehab stuff will work the shoulders, planks, bird dogs, moving up to Turkish get-ups will certainly help rebuild the back. I'm basically adding this in for variety & to keep things interesting. Having to juggle light shrug bar where the weight is bouncing around on bands is somewhat challenging when you have a shoulder stability issue on the mend, whereas pushing up a light shrug bar can be a real de-motivator. So this is a fun exercise, I'm going to enjoy. I just thought you'd be interested in some of the less usual ways I'm approaching the recovery from my setbacks I've had this year.
Any questions, ideas or anything else then post below

Vegan Strength Nutrition

2011-06-09T04:50:00.000-07:00

OK, just in case you've missed them (as I'm asked quite a lot) on the VBB website there are several guides. I'm including some here. Bear in mind that this is a starting place, from there you monitor your results, as obviously you metabolism, your activity levels, your exact goals etc will all play a part in your overall results. So these are not exact formulas you have to follow to the letter, they are guidelines, or to be more accurate guesses based on scientific research, some variation is to be expected, so monitor to make sure you are heading towards your goals.
Anyway I'll put up the eating program below, this won't get you into contest shape if you're a bodybuilder, nor get you to the powerlifting finals as those require a more personalised approach, but they will get you going towards your goals of more muscle mass or less fat.

Vegan Strength Nutrition 2
You can download your own copy to keep or print out here

A Slightly unforseen logo design gaff :-)

2011-05-18T02:14:00.000-07:00

First off I will say we did have the design way before this product came out...but someone pointed this out to me.
First look at the VBB logo:

Focus on the letter "I"

Now look at this:

or for how you'd really look:

That's right the VBB logo appears to have a 'shake weight' on it! :-). Is that kind of ironically cool, or just plain silly, I'm not sure? (but I now have some idea what my 'friends' will probably be buying me next xmas :-)

Nutrition for activists

2011-05-17T11:23:00.000-07:00

I've written a few flyers for talks I've done. I thought you might be interested in reading them. The first was a basic guide to eating for hunt saboteurs (but could be used by many activists). It was given out during a talk a did earlier in the year. To view the short piece below you need a browser that can read HTML 5 (so if you're having issues download the latest version of MS Explorer, Firefox or whichever browser you prefer), it should also be readable by most phones using android or similar
Nutrition for Sabs

If you cannot read the above or want to download, but are finding it hard you can download a Word version of the document here (right click & 'Save file as')

Xmas Back Injury 2010

2011-01-08T11:34:00.000-08:00

This is a very personal post about my Christmas injury. On the 27^th December I bent over & suffered a bad back trauma. This was the second time in as many months I’d suffered an injury to the back.

I began digging into the research & resources all about back issues, the causes of back pain & possible corrections for my condition (NOTE: I’m not a medical professional. I am a qualified massage therapist & personal trainer, so any actions I use to correct my perceived issues may not be suitable for you. Always run any exercise program past your medical adviser before you use them).

First off I discovered an interesting fact. In an acute injury, the injury often recovers at the same rate whatever protocol you use. That is whether you go to a chiropractor, an acupuncturist, or just use pain killers & bed rest; many acute injuries (one’s that clear up quickly) tend to take the same amount of time to recover whatever you do. So, the person who said to you “Wow! I went to this person & I was better within 2 weeks!” is just as likely to have improved at the same rate with no intervention at all! You can get pain relief by using other protocols, but not improved healing on an acute injury. Chronic injuries are different (injuries lasting 3 months or more), these do seem to be affected by manipulation, possibly acupuncture & several other protocols.

The real issue with an acute back injury is what you do after recovery as re-injury is much more common if you do nothing. So, what are the issues that arise in acute back injury - that is a back injury where the pain goes within a few weeks- we are NOT talking about chronic back injury here. Although some of the advice below may help a chronic back sufferer, see an expert & run it by them as some conditions can be made worse by inappropriate exercise. First off are the multifidus muscles that run up the spine. There is some speculation (with research to back it up...but not absolute proof) that these muscles can be oddly affected by injury. In the area of an injury the fast twitch muscle fibres of the multifidus appear to shrink (the fast twitch muscles are the ones that react quickly & strongly to any change), the muscle also begins to get hyper-stimulated & so are more activated than they need to be (again ONLY in the area of the injury).

For those who don’t know what the multifidus muscles are. They are a whole group of muscles that run up each side of the spine, they kind of grip one vertebrae to another all the way from the top to the bottom (sometimes they cross two or more vertebrae). They are one of the main groups of muscles that facilitate spinal movement. You can only really feel them down by your waistline (& a little above), they are bands of muscle each side of the spine, but as they go up other muscles sit on top of them, so you cannot feel them directly anymore. So think about it, if these guys are ‘gluing’ your spine together & helping to support the skeletal frame & they only cross one or two vertebrae, then what happens when one gets injured, shrinks & get’s hyper-stimulated? It will be pulling inappropriately when it doesn’t need to & it will not be able to react to a sudden movement like bending over, twisting or even reacting to a sharp change in balance. Also remember this will happen on ONE SIDE of your spine only, so what does the other side do, what do the structures immediately above & below do, what happens to the whole spinal support structure? That depends really on where it is, how bad it is & what you actual do. There is worse to come. Apparently the multifidus muscle has this weird atrophy that shrinks the fast twist muscle & it does not appear to rebuild very easily without specific work, which is bad...but it CAN be rebuilt, which is VERY good news!

As well as the multifidus you have to look at the other muscles of the body. So, checking out glute & hamstring strength (especially left to right asymmetries), hip flexor tightness, adductor tightness, internal-external hip rotation, quadratus lumborum (QL) tightness (again left to right differences can be common here).

In my own case I found the following:

Tight right QL

Weak right glute

Weak right Hamstring

Some anterior pelvic tilt

Some multifidus asymmetries (my bird dog had gone to pot)

So, that’s what I found when I was able to test myself after the second incident. I believe the first back issue (caused by a poor deadlift) actually caused some multifidus issues, but prior to that I had been developing some left to right asymmetries for some time, pushing much more on the left side than the right. This was mainly due (I believe) to some nerve damage I have on my right big toe that makes balance a little harder that side & so the body is shying away from fully committing to that side during the big lifts?

So what exactly happened on the 27^th December?

OK I will bare all (literally) in these pictures below.

In both pictures I am attempting to stand up straight without flexing. The pictures are taken on the morning of the 28th Dec & the 2nd Jan. Within 6 days I am back to near symmetry!

Here’s what are you seeing on the 27^th December photo? The right hip is being raised by an ultra tight QL, you can’t see this so clearly, but the spine is completely flattened when seen from the side (no I’m not putting up side shoots as I was naked! You’ll just have to trust me), the lower spine lost all extension all the spine looked completely flat when seen from the side top to bottom. The spine took on a scoliosis-like look as it literally appeared to snake up my back, the left shoulder & scapula are raised. The glutes ‘disappeared’ (again seen better from the side, but I think you can see this well enough here). The whole back lost any muscle tone, the lats switched off as well – this is the first time I’ve actually witnessed muscles being visibly inhibited & structure being visibly altered in such a drastic way through one injury that took mere days to right itself. For comparison I’ll put the 2^nd Jan photo up, so 6 days later I was nearing total symmetry again, the back has regained its natural curvature & the scoliosis-like effect is gone, the glutes are back, the scapulae & shoulders are near level.

So, everything’s ok, right?....WRONG!

I put myself through a pretty extensive screening once I was able to move correctly. I found my ability to do a bird-dog on one side had become problematic (that may be a multifidus issues), the weak glutes & hamstring on the right, tight right hand side QL, some anterior pelvic tilt, limited internal hip rotation (worse on the right), tight adductors on the right, I’d also developed a tendency to ‘tail tuck’ at the bottom of even a bodyweight squat. Obviously I have a lot of work ahead of me! Looking at the issues it becomes clear that I’ve been developing these issues for some time & only now are the ‘symptoms’ starting to show. So, this probably isn’t going to be an overnight fix. So, what are my plans?

Well first off I bought an inversion table. It seems like that will help with the immediate symptoms while I try & deal with the ongoing problems & hopefully aid in warding off another back issue while I work on the problem.

Enjoying a first go on the inversion table (there's

even the box it came came still in the background)

Next up I began a rehab protocol, that consisted of:

Plank

Side plank

Bird-dog

Hip Hiker (standing on a step & raising & lowering the hip)

Internal & external hip rotation (you do external hip rotation as tight external rotators can sometimes stop a hip internally rotating)

Glute bridging

Bodyweight squat (working on keeping the form super tight)

Hip adduction

Hip abduction

Leg curl on stability ball

Self myofascial release on the back, glutes, hamstrings & hip flexors (try using a tennis ball down the back. Start with the ball at the top to one side of the spine, arms by the side, raise the arms first above your head, then across the body, wiggle a little. Now move the ball down a cm & repeat – do that down both sides of the spine to experience some real pain!). Check out a quick guide I did on self myofascial release (SMR) at pdf version (right click & 'save as') or MS Word version (right click & 'save as') for some details on how to do simple SMR.

That along with the inversion was the foundation of the rehab, but as things move along I will start to introduce some unilateral lifting (like split squats, suitcase lifts, one arm overhead pressing etc). Why unilateral? Well think about it, I have a left to right imbalance, if I just ‘work harder’ on the bi-lateral squat or deadlift for example I’ll just reinforce the improper movement dysfunctions I’ve already developed. I have to learn to strengthen both the left & right hand sides on their own, until the right can learn to ‘keep up’ with the left. I suspect that due to the nerve damage in the right big toe that I may need to revisit unilateral lifting a few times a year to make sure everything stays in balance.

I’ve suffered a setback, that is very true. I’ve had to re-evaluate my goals, set some things I had planned for 2011 onto the back burner for this year...but, I’ve found an issue, I have found a weakness, which begs the question “If I fix the weakness, how strong will I get?”. If I fix myself right will 2012 be a really record year for lifting & gains? How much have I been held back by being imbalanced? These are exciting questions that I hope to answer over 2011. Let’s hope I can rebuild a more symmetrical strength that translates into much better lifting & much better results. That’s my goal for 2011. I don’t want to just get back to where I was before the whole ‘back issue’ started, I’d like to soar beyond it, using the new knowledge I have discovered about myself to really improve beyond what I would have been able to if this issue hadn’t come up.

If there is sufficient interest I don’t mind putting up stills or even short youtube clips about my rehab adventure, let me know below if you’d be interested in following the adventure? But do bear in mind, this is NOT a prescription for back injury recovery. I am not a doctor, nor am I qualified to diagnose. If you intend to incorporate any exercise or rehabilitation protocol (even chiropractic work or acupuncture etc) then always run it past your back specialist first as each condition is unique & each person is slightly different, so always check first & even if you get the go ahead NEVER work into pain. You cannot beat a bad back into submission, it will always have the last say if you try to go head to head in a ‘suffering contest’. So, be sensible, take things slow, & aim at slowly returning to full physical function (or as ‘full’ as your condition allows). Any questions, ideas or anything else just write below.

Finally this was a pretty hard post to write. Baring your all (in the case of some of these photos it was pretty damn close!) & confessing your own mistakes is quite a hard thing to put up online & let the world read. Hopefully you’ll all take some time & not just post a comment, but to check your own bodies out, fix any asymmetries or other issues before a problem rears its ugly head & puts you onto the sidelines for a while. Prehab should be an issue every athlete or lifter takes seriously. Hopefully I’ll be taking a lot more care of the ‘little things’ from now on as by doing that I can keep lifting & hopefully still keep making gains for many years yet!

Animal Aid Christmas Fayre 2010

2010-12-06T14:08:00.000-08:00

This year we ran a stall & did the annual xmas push-up contest. For the first time at the event we had under 16's competing! To read all about our day Click Here

Post Thankgiving damage control - you've got it wrong!

2010-11-27T04:29:00.000-08:00

In my view many, many people go wrong after a festive event & Thanksgiving in the US is one of those. Firstly you eat & drink too much during the day. Then you get up the next day & go for damage control. Even vegans & vegetarians who may shun the turkey still often tend to overeat, then go for the old "work it off" idea by really hitting the gym after the celebration. I actually believe this is counter-productive!

What I actually suggest is that you stick to the plan! That's right! If you have goals & you are on your way to an objective, then do not alter the plan due to one failed meal. Rather like if you 'fall off the wagon' one evening, the next day you right back on. Continue the plan! One failed meal (however big) will not cause you to destroy all progress, but throwing away the system you are using to try & make up for a bad meal will cause yet another day off the plan, another failure! Do not go & do extra exercise, do not starve yourself. Eat your regular food, do your normal workout, return to a stable routine. This is the secret to success in training. There are no quick fixes in this game. Whether you're trying to lose fat or gain muscle, it is rational training & diet done consistently that will get you the results over time.

Over the next few days you will receive many, many 'quick fix' ideas about how you can rev up your metabolism, cut that fat super-fast. Ignore them, in fact those suggesting it probably do not even understand what it means to have a structured goal & a plan for fat loss or muscle gain. If you get straight back to the routine today I can guarantee that one meal will not affect you in the grand scheme of things. If you fall off the plan & try to 'catch up' I predict failure. Lastly, if you don't have a plan, then I can guarantee failure. Don't waste your time on the quick fix either, take some time formulate a plan to achieve your goals & start that instead of going for the quick fix option. That way over the winter you will slowly, but steadily achieve your goals & by summer people will be asking you for your secret!

Space food

2010-11-18T09:47:00.000-08:00

My friends (Hello Liz, Maz, Jaz & Lilly)
came back from Holidays a few weeks ago & bought me a pack of these!
They are space strawberries! No, they don't come from space, but they are what astronauts take with them into space. This packet only made it as far as Brighton though.
The ingredients were 100% strawberries & they were kind of desiccated & a little bitter. To be honest they didn't taste too much like a strawberry as you & I think of them & I don't think I actually ever buy them given a choice...but it was weird having spaceman/lady food & seeing what they have to eat when they go into space as you never really think about munching in space. Personally I'd think could you take something like sprouts....well seeds & mud as they'd survive take off, then the low gravity would surely make sprouts grow like crazy...wouldn't it? (I really don't know much about growing stuff in space as I don't expect to be doing it any time soon :-), but for now it looks like bitter strawberries are the best you space adventurers have to look forward to :-)

We've been training wrong!

2010-11-18T09:23:00.000-08:00

That's right! ...at least according to some.
I don't usually single out people who say or do stupid things, but I read this advertisement for a new DVD & it got my blood boiling!

According to this you are all making a mistake working out those silly old biceps & hamstrings. The secret is to avoid working any of those pesky big muscles & only work the smaller accessory (how the hell do you even do that?).
Apparently she's done 10 years of scientific work (yep, I believe that one!) & experience to make this 'discovery'. According to her you will get 'bulky' if you work any major muscle directly (What!). Oh yea, she also advocates no more than 3 pound weight should be lifted by women.
...& there was me thinking she was just making these women burn loads of calories with light, repetitive activity & then starving them...silly me! Gwyneth Paltrow suffering thinning bones is obviously NOTHING to do with the fact she won't lift over 3 pounds of weight, starves herself with 'cleansing' & other extreme calorie restriction.
The fact that many of us have helped cure thinning bones with sensible weight training, a decent diet & some sunshine must be a strange coincidence. If only we'd starved our clients & insisted they never lift anything heavy then the condition would have corrected itself as we worked those accessory muscles (Yes that was sarcasm!).
I wouldn't recommend this one for your xmas stocking - buy a decent book or DVD that shows women they are every bit as able to lift as men &, on the whole, don't get 'too bulky' unless they are genetically inclined towards muscle mass building (& that can be corrected by mild dietary modification as a rule.

West Midland Vegan Festival

2010-11-02T04:54:00.000-07:00

Just a quick post to let you know that there's a new page up about our day in Wolves at the festival at http://www.veganbodybuilding.org/wolves10.htm We had a great day with talks by me & one by Pat Reeves. There was also a push-up contest on the day as well!

Special thanks has to go to Fitness Superstore for being the main sponsor at the push-up contest (go check them out if you need any exercise equipment)

Hemp Milk

2010-09-29T06:59:00.000-07:00

This has recently come out in Waitrose supermarkets chain & health food stores, so as it was on offer I thought I'd get hold of some just to see what it was like. First off it's not as high in protein as a soya milk (about half), so if you are desperate for protein this may not be for you, but it's still a reasonable source for most people. On the plus side it does have some very healthy fats in it naturally & does taste quite nice (250ml gives you half the recommended daily omega 3 fatty acids!). It is fairly sweet, not sickly sweet, but as I tend to drink unsweetened soya milk you notice the difference. It works well on cereal & does ok in hot drinks. I've not used it for cooking.
I found the taste pretty good with a kind of nutty taste. You can drink it for the carton if you like without it needing to be flavoured, it doesn't have any bad after tastes.
The fat content may look higher than say soya milk (nearer the amounts found in whole milk), but this fat is Essential fatty acids (EFAs) & so they will likely be used for cell creation, repair & other metabolic processes so it should not stored as body fat. This can be a useful additional source of health fats.
Personally I can down a litre no problems. Certainly any athlete wanting to add muscle mass will need enough EFAs to build those extra muscle cells & this can be a convenient source of those fats, a reasonable protein source & less carbs than cows milk (around half - a bit more than unsweetened soya milk, but much less than either whole or skimmed cows milk). If you're not interested in added muscle mass everyone still needs EFAs for maximum health, so adding this drink can really benefit anyone, especially if you've not been taking care of your EFA intake before (or don't like flax, hemp seeds or walnuts for example).
I'd try it if you can get hold of it as it could be a useful tool in your nutritional arsenal.

For more details go to Good Hemp Milk

Zen Physio Deep massage device

2010-09-29T06:20:00.000-07:00

I've just started using using this new tool. It's pretty heavy duty massage machine that I use for just a quick going over of tight areas (I'm a qualified massage therapist, so it's useful to add to my bag of tricks). You obviously have to have some idea when this is suitable to use. It's especially good if you've got just some tight muscles (say you slept at an odd angle, tightened up from sitting for ages or have areas that naturally tighten up like the back etc). The infra-red is quite subtle so don't expect a massive heating of the area (approx the same heating feeling as you'd get from a 1MHz ultra sound device I'd say).
Some people find it a little too vigorous especially over the organs, but others find it pretty handy for loosing them up a bit. Basically if you like a harder style of massage you'll like this, if you like the softer approach then this may not be for you.
For the strength athlete it's role is to aid the relaxation of tight muscles, help reduce or improve DOMS. Obviously do not use on any muscle that is damaged by an injury, so don't us on bruised or cut areas, or anywhere you suspect might be a muscle tear as it really won't help. Do not use directly on bones either stick to soft tissue areas (although the exception is you can run it over the scapulae [shoulder blades] with no ill effect).
Who would I recommend it for? Well anyone who gets tight muscles. A massage will work better, but most of us can't afford a daily massage, but they can afford to use this daily if necessary. With it's long handle & cable you can use it on your own.

Finally I didn't get anything for putting this up. I bought the device & after using it for a while on both myself & other people thought some of you might find a review helpful. There are a lot of similar devices out there, that I'm sure work just as well, but this one is certainly one I think could be useful.

Internet gurus Vs cardio

2010-02-16T07:35:00.000-08:00

Robbie Hazeley - Champion over 50's vegan bodybuilder

OK I've been reading a lot lately about cardio that's been pretty ...well wrong.

"Steady state cardio doesn't work"

"You only burn fat using high intensity cardio"

I've even read that steady state cardio makes you fat!

So, is steady state cardio the villain, is it a waste of time, does it "do nothing"...no, whoever says that, whatever their apparent experience is wrong. I've worked & been in communication with many, many athletes in the strength field including bodybuilders. When I say bodybuilders I mean all types, natural people, fitness & figure competitors, drug taking people, on all types of diets, & what I've found is when you are already training with weights steady state & diet works, look on any bodybuilding stage (be it natural or drug taking) & you'll find that weights plus steady state works. In fact I'd go further & say that often if your aim is to diet down to those really low % fat levels so you get abs popping out & paper thin skin over your muscles then you'll only have energy for weights & steady state. All the energy goes into the weights, there shouldn't be anything left for interval sprints, kettlebell lifts etc. If you have enough left for more intense activity then you aren't dieting hard enough or training hard enough under the iron.

Denise Nicole - vegan figure competitor

For a normal guy or lady the options are more wide ranging as you're often just after a flat tummy, moderate fat levels & just a 'beach buff' look, so you have options. If time is tight I'd suggest a metabolic workout using complexes or very short breaks between exercises, get in & out the gym in a way that combines both heavy-style lifting with cardio exertion. I don't believe you get the best of the weights or the cardio by doing this, but you'd certainly get enough to get your body into decent shape in a short amount of time. Another option is the to do weights at a slower pace working on strength gains (&/or size gains if those are required), then add cardio. Yes it can be high intensity style cardio, it works! The trouble is it doesn't always fit into your lifestyle & low intensity can often come to the rescue & keep that cardio going. Let's say you come to a session & energy is high, well feel free to bang out some sprints, hit the stationary bike with a vengeance, go swim as fast as you can for intervals, but sometimes you may not have the energy or indeed the motivation to go as hard at the cardio. This may be for many reasons, stress at work, late night, even hitting new record can lower the 'spare energy' for cardio. So, do you do a sub-standard 'High intensity' workout, that does next to nothing or do a decent low intensity session that gets the job done? Another reason may be you simply don't like doing higher intensity cardio, but enjoy lower intensity work. If you hate something you simply won't do it with any consistency, so if you love your slow run around the woods, but hate the interval sled pushes, I'd suggest that maybe you'll be more likely to keep up the runs, but drop the sled pushing as soon as you can think up a justification. I believe the 'getting it done' is more important than the perfect program for you. Sure making you do hill sprints 3 times a week might get you to your goals slightly quicker than three times a week around the woods for 45 minute jogs....but if you enjoy the jogs, look forward to the jogs, plan to get those jogs in whatever & on the other hand loath the hill sprints, use any excuse not to do them, which system do you think will bring most results?

Anthony Aurelius - vegan, Natural bodybuilder & martial artist

I personally have seen countless examples of steady state cardio in action (along with diet & lifting weights). Steady state works. Whether steady state is right for you is quite another issue, things like time, enjoyment, goals & many other factors mean it's not an obvious choice, you need to ask yourself questions & answer honestly. Me, I'm happy to mix & match depending upon my time & energy & how I feel. I often do steady state with friends in the morning, I live near the sea, we hit the beach jog & chat. A chilled out start to my day, sets me up in the right zone & I get some interaction I'd otherwise miss with friends. It's as much social to me as exercise, but other times often when I'm alone I do go for higher intensity, I sprint, I get out the sandbags, kettlebells, a barbell or even just bodyweight & go for some higher intensity stuff. 10-20 minutes full-bore cardio can bring you a sick feeling in the tummy, shaky muscles & a desire to just lie there for the rest of the day! But for me I need that work at least once a week just to remind me that cardio can be tough. So, I stand with one foot in each camp I do both the steady state & the higher intensity cardio. I enjoy both for their different reasons & I think maybe that would be the best method for most people who are in reasonable shape.

Jane Burton - vegan figure competitor

For those who are overweight, new to training or have other issues I'd always start with steady state, first walking, then jogging, stationary bike, slow swim or whatever you like to do. Do that until you feel very comfortable doing 30-45 minutes, then try adding some faster endings to your training, so if you're running just add a fast run to the finish over the last 100 metres or so, you won't sprint, but you'll start getting used to just going a little bit faster towards the end. After you've done that for a while, then it's time to move on to increasing the intensity with maybe a small jog & a few fast runs, then finally begin to ease in sprints as you gain confidence (back off if you notice any problems). I usually aim at 8-12 sprints over around 12-15 minutes. I tend to use a heart monitor, but you can go by time. A good rule of thumb for the healthy individual is to sprint just before you feel fully recovered. Once you can no longer sprint but just reach a fast run, then it's time to stop, your session is over for today...really push it, force those legs into a sprint even if they don't want to do it! Then rest & recover.

Martin Whittred - vegan grip master

So, when you're on the internet next time & you read that steady state doesn't work or makes you fat or whatever, know that the person saying that is either ignorant or is trying to simply push 'their' training system (& often part you with your cash!). Steady state works, high intensity cardio works, they are all tools that you can use to achieve your goals, so if you plan at getting into shape for the beach this year & are about to embark on a diet & training plan, but have been confused by all the chatter on the internet, bear in mind there are 1001 ways to reach your goals it's just comes down to picking one or two & sticking to them, that way you'll soon have the body you want come summer time!

A different look at dieting

2010-01-16T09:19:00.000-08:00

Here's an article that takes a different view about dieting than most trainers (although it has some support from the likes of Brad Pilon & his "eat stop eat" ideas). Basically the theory here seems to be you are more active when you are hungry, therefore by allowing hunger to build between feeds you'll burn more calories, by being more active. The basic problem with this idea is he appears to have used animals, not humans to actually test his theory. Basically you could very easily recruit humans for this type of study if you wanted & you could see see how it affects them. Also it does seem to be aimed at those who don't train. We usually have set training times, it may possibly be the case that a sedentary person may become more active eating less, but for those who train (& anyone who trains I call an athlete) not eating enough to fuel training will actually make exercise less effective. There are many studies out there that show this, you need to fuel before, then refuel afterwards if you want to get maximum results.
Obviously there is some tailoring needed. I used to say EVERYONE needs 6 meals a day if they are in training. That is until I started to sort out a diet for this tiny girl who needed very little calories & came to realise that having 3 or 4 feeds a day will work as well for some...depending on your goals.
A big strength guy (or very muscular lady) will certainly need 6+ feeds a day, no doubt if you're trying to gain you'll need to ram in the calories. If you're after holding onto size or losing some fat then you can try some variations. I don't think intermittent fasting doesn't work, I don't think 3 meals a day doesn't work. Some people with hectic lifestyles might find that eating only 3 meals or just not being so careful with their diets but fasting for 1 day a week is the best option for them. It may not be the "Best possible way", if they could get pre-prepared food, find the places to eat, had time to sort out a different plan, but it may be "The best they can manage" & if it gets the results they want then it could well be considered the 'best method', even if it's not what is more commonly advocated.

So with that in mind would 3 meals a day work for someone trying to lose fat...well it could, you'd eat less calories, it depends how it effects your training & metabolic rate overall. If you save 300 calories by eating just 3 meals a day, but by doing that your training isn't so intense & you burn 250 calories less, & because of eating less & the less intense training your metabolism slows so you burn 75 calories less...well you'll see that 'saving' 300 calories actually cost you MORE calories in terms of calories burnt, so it's all relative to total calories in to total calories out not just a simple matter of calories consumed in a 24 hour period.
Generally, unless you're really small you'll need to eat more than 3 times a day if you wish to add muscular size, to loss fat again most people who train tend to do better on more frequent, smaller feeds than less frequent, but bigger 'gut busters'.

I know you're going to ask so here's my basic plan (the guide starts with someone who has zero healthy food) :

1/ My first step is to 'tidy up' someone's diet, so it might be as simple as adding in a wholesome breakfast rather than sugary cereal or white toast. It could be porridge, whole grain toast whatever. Just to get them started on the way to healthy eating.

2/ While they start on the one above I have them order a cook book that contains a selection of healthy eating choices. Once they are comfortable with step 1. I get them to pick 1 or 2 evenings a week & try out a recipe, write down every one you like

3/ Once you have found a few meals you like you can begin to add them into. Now I'm assuming if you've started from zero healthy meals that you eat out as fast food places or make bad food choices when you eat out, so now we need to use the net & the local paper to dig up some places that serve decent food, or if you have no option where to eat learning to pick the best options at the place you have to eat at, so going for the bean salad instead of the burger, or the steamed veggies instead of the fries are what we have to start thinking about. Ideally we'll be searching for local whole food cafés or healthier eating places, by avoiding the obvious junk food places there's less temptation to stray back to your old ways of eating.

4/ Now you should have a decent breakfast every day, a selection of meals you can cook at home & places to eat out around your home & near where you work, so now we start to include more of the meals (& continue trying out a new recipe once or twice a week - let's build up a big list of healthy options). With this you'll also be doing exercise, so now we've got you eating right we can see what tweaks (if any ) you need to lower the fat or add to the muscle mass.

5/ Assuming you're after fat loss & all the changes in diet & exercise aren't getting results then we need to tweak your eating a bit. The first basic idea would be to slightly lower your intake of starchy carbs by a little, losing a few grams of starchy carbs & replacing that with more green veggies will shrink your calories a bit as well as increase your intake of micro nutrients.

6/ We wait for 4-6 weeks to see what results we're getting. Assuming no changes we'll then try lowering portion size once again, this time by keeping the ratio of foods the same but cutting equally from every portion on the plate (take a little off everything).

7/ during points 5 & 6 where we are cutting calories it is important for every athlete to know something about refeeds. Planned refeeds are an important part of a dieting plan once you start cutting calories & can even be used in a general healthy eating plan to allow for structured eating of 'junk' food. A refeed does not have to be junk food, having a huge whole grain pasta meal followed by a healthy high calorie dessert can be a refeed meal. Some people advocate refeed days & they 'can' have there place in a diet, but as a rule I like to stick to refeed meals. Looking at it from a realistic perspective, it's harder to over eat in one meal, than in one day. Suppose I have a night out planned, so I pencil in my refeed meal for that evening. I could go out, have a meal, a glass of wine & a dessert, yep that's going to be a bigger than normal calorific intake, but if I get up have fake cream muffins & custard for breakfast, then later that day warm coconut fat poured over a full sized vegan pizza & fake ice cream for afters for a snack, then a few hours later a packet of biscuits dunked in fake cream, then in the afternoon a full roast dinner with all the (vegan) trimmings followed by a stupidly high calorie afters..oh yea & snacks inbetween (as it's a refeed day) of crisps & other high cal stuff. Then I can see you hitting a whopping calorific intake, whereas one meal...even a gut buster is kind of self limiting, you can only eat so much in one sitting however much you'd like to eat more, so there is a built in 'damage limitation' . So, I do say it's worth having 'structured refeeds', by structured refeeds I mean planned, if you don't plan the meal, you just say "I'll do it when I feel like it", you will tend to slip & one weekly refeeed will soon become 2, then 3 etc. Also by planning your refeed you can have what you really want, say you love pizza, well ok, you're planning to go out on Thursday, so you can eat that pizza with your friends, even have a dessert if you like (wow you can get that new vegan ice cream you wanted to try out). You're not mesing up your diet, it's part of the plan! Also if you know you are going to have it on Thursday, when you get that urge on Monday, you can say "OK I won't have that pizza today, but come Thursday YOU ARE MINE!". Why have a refeed at all you might be asking, wouldn't you lose more by not having a refeed? We'll lucky you asked, as it happens when you eat below maintenance several things happen to your body after a few days, the thyroid decreases output, so your metabolism slows, you tend to become more efficient at using calories as well, this double whammy means that you end up feeling like you have less energy while at the same time you use less calories. A refeed sends a message to brain "No worries, plenty of food available let's start burning!", the thyroid boosts production & the body feels it can afford to burn a few extra calories. So you can actually lose fat by adding in a refeed once (or at most twice) a week (I tend to start on 1 a week & rarely need to put people on 2). A refeed meal is one meal, not an evening of binging, plan it, don't just go crazy from 6pm to 2am having a beer & junk fest. As I said earlier it doesn't have to be junk, it can be just a big helping of a high calorie meal, the secret is it MUST be higher calorie feed. Having an extra spoon on legumes on your bean salad isn't a refeed it has to send a message to your body to loosen those controls, boost that thyroid & slacken off on being so efficient with those calories, so you need to eat a decent amount of calories in that meal. Junk is ok, high calorie health food is ok. A couple of things to avoid hydrogenated fats shouldn't be eaten as a refeed, they are poison, don't eat them at all if you can avoid it, heated oils that are high in EFA's shouldn't be eaten as they become carcinogenic so stick to fats that are mainly monounsaturated or even something like a coconut oil which is high calorie but heat stable - it's a refeed so high fat is not your enemy today!

8/ Beyond this if the fat still isn't coming off then we'd have to start tailoring your diet with ideas like no starchy carbs in the evening, carb cycling (assuming you are are carb sensitive type), a fat sensitive type will do better having fat cycling days. I've never heard, nor come across a protein sensitive type (someone who stores fat easily with higher protein intakes) they may exist, but I know no one who has found one. Most people who need to lose fat are either fat-sensitive, carb-sensitive or a combination. That is carbs tend to make the carb-sensitive person fat more easily, while fat makes the fat-sensitive person fat more easily. These both need different approaches to diet & VERY different diets. Most people will not be one extreme or the other, but if you tend to be more one than the other knowing will help you with any changes you need to make if the weight just isn't coming off. Bear in mind that most people will achieve their results without the extremes of carb cycling etc, for most just eating a balanced wholefood diet will be enough to get them into shape once they start training, if you need to go further than that I would suggest you find some help (this can be a nutritionist or even a book if the cost of a health adviser is too much).

9/ Final points. I would try & keep a food dairy starting a week or 2 before you start making changes. Get an idea of what you are eating. Yes it's a pain & yes sometimes if you eat out you have to guess at a calorific intake, but it gives you a baseline. This is what you are eating now. After that I would work out the amounts of the new foods you are introducing, then keep a rough track (detailed is ok too, but most people don't have time to track every calorie in detail everyday), if you get to stage 8 & the fat still isn't coming off then it's time to REALLY use the food diary & start working out totals & working out how to cut those calories. This is where a food expert can come in handy, they can do the hard work for you, they can swap round your foods & suggest things you may not have thought of. I would keep in that structured refeed or loses will not happen so easily, but a tweak here & there can be all it needs to get things moving again. You can do this yourself, it takes time, a pen & paper & a calculator but you can do everything you need with a basic book on dietary needs (in the case of most vegans that be be to include a vitamin B12 source, an omega 3 Essential Fatty Acid source & if you live in a cooler climate a vitamin D during the colder months as minimums all seem to be common things that most vegans need to address).

That's as far as I'd like to go a general dietary plan. If you're starting out right now today, then get a food diary & do a bit of weight & measuring, keep tabs & move slowly towards a wholefood diet & away from refined foods. That along with some exercise will be enough for many of you to get into fine shape & never have to even worry about calories or dieting.

My new wrist wraps

2009-11-24T01:12:00.000-08:00

I don't use many training aids as a rule. I don't normally wear a belt when I train (although I will be testing one out in the very near future, so look out for that), nor do I wear elbow or knee wraps, super suits or even lifting straps that often. I prefer to lift without specialist lifting gear...but...Recently I've been suffering a touch of tendinitis, in the right wrist, so my options were rest it with no training at all for that arm, or get some sort of support for the wrist. I went with the wrist support option!
Anyway I looked about for a bit & finally found a pair online at the vegan sports shop, this shop actually does some serious bits of kit. It's run by some lads in Scotland who provide gear for powerlifters, strongmen & weightlifters & unlike many specialist vegan shops it hasn't inflated it's prices just because it deals with a niche market.
After a bit of looking about I went for the 'blood stripe' design (you've got to go with a name like that!) & delivery was super-fast, so I could get back to some upper body training without a break. The wraps are great for my needs. I only use one on my right wrist, but the difference is like night & day in terms of pain when training (especially pushing). Obviously once it recovers I'll be doing some serious rehab & eventually I aim to drop the wraps, but to me they were well worth the few pounds they cost me to keep me in the game while the wrist has time to heal up.

As a rule I keep aids to a minimum, but for contest where they are allowed & for recovery are 2 areas I think training aids like these can come into their own. If you have a nagging issue or 2, or an annoying injury, that can be bypassed with a training aid (while you work towards a recovery), then they can mean the difference between a forced training break & continuing towards your goals, so I'm all for them...when used correctly. I must point out that yes wearing a super suit, knee wraps, wrist wraps & a belt will add to your total, but I don't believe they add the benefits of spending the majority of your time training in the raw. Obviously a powerlifter who competes equips has different needs, but even these should take some time training in a t-shirt & shorts, just to build up that base strength level & not be forced to rely on the support of a suit 365 days a year. Yep, the weight will go down quite a bit without the gear, but you'll build a better base if you spend at least a portion of your off-season training lifting without support (obviously taking into account any injuries & issues - don't be stupid).
So do I recommend wrist wraps...well if you need them yes, for most people probably no, unless you're entering a contest that allows wraps, you don't need wraps (as I said I only wear 1 wrap when training), if you have wrist issues benching or curling then they could help (when the pain subsides consider some wrist rehab with some progressive lever bar work, grippers, wrist curls etc). You're goal shouldn't be to hide a weakness with wraps or any support gear, it should be to work around an injury, so it can heal, then CORRECT that problem & get the area strong enough you don't need the aid anymore. At least that's my take on the whole training aids debate.

Test driving some hemp protein

2009-11-10T06:50:00.000-08:00

Recently we at vegan bodybuilding hooked up with Caroline from Good Oils who asked us to try out their new Hemp protein powder. Having tried several varieties of hemp protein we agreed, with the proviso that we could say whatever we wanted about it. This wasn't a sponsorship or anything, just us giving you our honest take on the product.
OK first off the nutritional profile- well to be honest it is pretty good, in fact better than the comparable stuff from Canada (the main supplier of hemp protein concentrate in the world at the moment), it has a slightly higher fat content, & hemp is a great supplier of healthy fats & slightly lower in carbs (the overall calories being similar for both products). Plus as it's grown & processed in Devon in the UK then for anyone in Europe it makes more environmental sense to get it shipped from here than first dragged across the pond from Canada, so straight off the bat this new hemp protein scores a couple of points.
Obviously taste is a factor. We tried out the unflavoured. Hemp actually has about the best taste of any protein on the market that I've tried, so I wasn't sure how this product with the extra fat & less carbs would match up? Thankfully it tasted as good as any hemp protein I've tried. It will certainly become part of my regular dietary intake.
I must say I certainly can recommend this product & think that everyone in the UK & Europe should at least consider giving it a go as with the extra healthy fat (used in cell manufacture & numerous other hormonal, immune & other systems) & less carbs would suit those trying to gain or maintain lean muscle mass while keeping fat to a minimum.
Pricing is also a factor & again this is pretty competitively priced, with it's 2.5Kg tubs being lower priced than the bulk suppliers I compared them with.
To find out more about this new hemp protein click here. It certainly gets a big thumbs up from us!

Vegan strong arm tactics

2009-09-19T02:46:00.000-07:00

You've heard the stories about those vegans strong arming their way into getting what they want? Well here's one guy who can really 'strong arm' you!
Rob Bigwood one of the strongest arm wrestlers on the planet just got back from competing in 2009 South Jersey Fitness Expo in Atlantic City, NJ.
Rob came 1st using his left hand & 3rd using his right (he got 3rd with the right because his elbow slipped, he wasn't pinned).
We're looking forward to Rob crushing the opposition as he works his way up to number 1 in the world!

Rob Bigwood - Vegan Pro Armwrestler from Rob Bigwood on Vimeo.

New Vegan Bodybuilding messageboard

2009-07-28T16:27:00.000-07:00

Yep, at last we've decided it's time to get a messageboard of our own up & running. It's still being tidied up over the next few days, but it's open for members right now, so if you're interested go & check it out here

A few new foods I bought yesterday

2009-06-19T03:17:00.001-07:00

Yesterday I bought a few new things I'd not bought before, so I thought I might share them with you. OK so some of them are not the least processed things I've ever bought, but I do like trying out stuff that's new to me every now & again, so yesterday I went on a bit of a new things 'frenzy', so here they are (I'll put up the basic macronutrient breakdown for you as well)

Clear spot

I've not seen this brand before, but they had a few things, so I bought a couple just to try them out. Both are tofu based products & organic. I bought:

Sesame burgers
energy 121.8 cal per 100g
Pro 16.1g per 100g
carb 3.1g per 100g
fat 5.0g per 100g
one box is 190g & contains 2 burgers

Sea cakes
energy 110.1 cal per 100g
Pro 12.7g per 100g
carb 6.5g per 100g
fat 3.7g per 100g
one box is 190g & contains 2 cakes

Vegideli Gourmet meat-free quarter pounders

I've had vegideli stuff before, but not this particular product which is also gluten-free for those of you who have to avoid gluten.

You get 2 burgers per packet so as it's easier I'll do the amounts below as per burger (each of which are 114g in weight)

per burger (114g)
energy 208 cal per burger
Pro 21.9g per burger
carb 7.8g per burger
fat 9.4g per burger
one box is 228g & contains 2 burgers

I tried one of these last night & they were pretty good just grilled. But it does depend if you're a fan of fake meats.

Provamel Tofu mince

I suspect most of you have tried TVP mince at some point. well for a change I decided to try out some of this tofu mince which looks kind of similar, but comes out of the fridge section & is made of tofu, not TVP. A mate of mine raves about it, so I thought I'd give it a go this week...oh yea & it's organic.

energy 173 cal per 100g
Pro 17.5g per 100g
carb 1g per 100g
fat 11g per 100g
one box is 180g

Fry's vegetarian 4 chicken-style burgers

(guest starring Onnie the cat!)
Fry's is a big name in the fake meat producers & I do enjoy their products, so I'm looking forward to eating these later this week:

energy 174 cal per 100g
Pro 11.5g per 100g
carb 18.1g per 100g
fat 5.4g per 100g
one box is 320g

So those are the next things I bought this week, as i don't often go on new things buying frenzy I thought you might be interested in the kind of stuff I buy when the mood takes me to buy something new.

New vegan cookbook, not vegan!

2009-06-19T02:45:00.000-07:00

One book I do NOT recommend is the new book by Pat Crocker. It is a prime example of what a vegan cookbook shouldn't be.
I first read about it online in the Canadian press, then hunted out a copy at a local book store as I couldn't believe that anyone would actually try & sell such a misleading book, but unfortunately the stories are true, the book is as bad as the article claims.
Why you'd call this book a "Vegan cook's BIBLE" when it's not even a vegan cook book remains a mystery to me? Apparently Pat did a full 8 months of research into a vegan diet....you know what that means..well nothing...it's like a surgeon doing a full year of studying anatomy in a text book, are they then an expert at surgery...no they need to get actual experience DOING surgery to gain the experience. No one on the outside can understand the issues & the food issues we have to overcome by standing on the outside, Pat proves this by studying the problems for 8 months & yet still not understanding what it is to BE a vegan & what a vegan actual is. The inclusion of honey & the promotion of fish just doesn't sit well with the average vegan looking to purchase a cook book.
From what I could see this book offers nothing to the vegan (whether you are strength athletes like us or the general population), & to be honest I've seen much better recipes in the countless other books out there from people who understand the issues & dilemmas we face & I'd suggest you spend your money on one of those & avoid this book.

Turin veg festival 2009

2009-06-09T06:14:00.000-07:00

I've done a page here If you want to go & check it out. We had a ball!

(the picture was done by Andrea Malgeri - http://andreamalgeri.blogspot.com - at the festival & is of all the british gang who turned up on the day from Vegan Bodybuilding & Peter S from vegan runners

Bristol vegan fayre 2009

2009-06-03T02:24:00.000-07:00

I've added a new update to the VBB website about our weekend at the vegan fayre. Hope you enjoy it?

click here

Sorry I've been busy & updates

2009-05-28T09:54:00.000-07:00

I've been a bit lax with the blog of late as I've been editing the new seminar DVD & getting the new T-shirt design printed http://www.veganbodybuilding.org/stuff.htm . I'm off to the Bristol vegan fayre this weekend http://bristol.veganfayre.co.uk/ , then a few days later to the Turin vegfest http://www.vegfestival.org/
At both we are running a stall, doing a talk & running a contest (at Bristol it will be Shoulder press for reps & at Turin push-ups for reps). Both events should be good & if you can come along it would be great to meet any of you!

Core Stabilisation

2009-03-26T09:39:00.000-07:00

I had a query from a girl who wanted to strengthen her core muscularity. She had back issues so sit-ups & crunches were out as any movement like that aggravated the neck, so I quickly snapped a few pics of a few static holds you can do that will strengthen the area & work to 'resist motion' which is a major function of the abs & core region that is overlooked.
If you are just starting I would simply move into the position then lower until you get a feel for the movements, but once you are confident you have them correctly mastered begin to hold each position for time. I would work up to 90 seconds or so, then begin to either add weight, lift a limb or use some other method to make the stance more difficult.
I've included 4 (5 if you include both sides of the side plank), which will work your static holding strength & anti-rotational strength. Do these exercises once or twice a week will aid you in increasing your deadlift, squat or any other exercise that needs a strong core.

Front plank

In the front plank the body should be straight & the spine should follow its natural curvature. The top of the arms should be at right angles when viewed from the front & sides. Do not lift your head, but let it follow the natural flow of the rest of the spine. Do not let you belly sink down (so you look like a seal). The idea is to use your stomach muscles to keep your belly in place (pink socks are optional)

Side plank

With the side plank you are using your obliques to stop your hips sagging into the ground. Your upper arm should be at 90°. An important point to note is the spine & neck should remain straight so the head shouldn’t droop or be pulled upwards, but the whole spine should be straight.

Bird dog

With the bird dog you are resisting rotation, so the idea is to keep the back flat & the curve of the spine natural. The head should not droop or be raised, but the neck should follow the natural curve of the rest of the spine. Your back & buttocks should be level, not twisted. You lift the opposite arm & leg, so in this example you’ve got the right arm & the left leg raised.

Shoulder Bridge

The shoulder bridge works the back muscles directly. In the pictures I should have the feet just a little closer so the bottom of the legs are at 90° to the floor. The idea is not to extend the back, but to hold the body in its normal position with the spine holding its normal shape, so don’t lift the hips too high, just enough to keep the back in its natural shape.

Final points

If you need any further explanation then feel free to leave a comment & I'll get back to you. If you are doing stretches for the back, do them after you have done these, not before.
Work up slowly & start off easy. Learn to do the moves right first, then go up in time. Stop as soon as you feel the form is slipping, do not hold a pose using the wrong form or you’ll do more harm than good.
Don’t start these while you have a bad back, be patient, let any back injuries heal, then start adding them into your day.
Twice a week is plenty.
Use a mirror to begin with to see if you’re doing them right, or get someone to check out that you are getting into the right position.
Get hold of a book & write down how long you hold each position for, the date you did it, etc. It is probably best to set a day or 2 aside each week (like say Monday & Thursday for example) & those are the days you do them, that way you’ll form a habit of doing them those days. Aim at doing a little bit more every week.

The weakness you hide

2009-03-09T10:01:00.000-07:00

Above you see what I call a perfect squat. It's the style I prefer, high bar, close stance. That's not to say wider stance lower squats are any less, but for me, my 'minds eye' squat is the one above. If you could copy the above & even get to moderate weight, you'd be at, or very near what people would call strong.
I'll confess to you that squatting is not my best move, I'm not a strong squatter, but I do love to squat. Well, let's be honest actual squatting isn't what I love, I look forward to squats, I love finishing squats, but doing squats isn't the nicest thing in the world, but I know squats are an absolute must for me. My deadlifts are better than my squats, I could play to that relative strength & get up to a reasonable deadlift level, but I know that building my weak squat will fix a weak area & I'll come out a stronger man by doing an exercise I'm actually not good at. Work your weaknesses, work the exercises you least enjoy, learn to love the exercise you're worst at, as that is probably where your weak link is. I'm sure I heard that somewhere, but I can't think who (but thank you whoever you are!). One day I will do a decent squat, using a decent weight, my weakness will morph into a strength (or if not a strength, then a damn good try at one!).
Now look at your own training. What exercises are you avoiding, what lift are you worst at & enjoy least. Don't you think it's time to get that lift into your routine & hammer it into submission, learn to love it, learn to enjoy even a 1Kg increase, then watch all those little 1Kg increases add up until, before you know it the lift skyrockets into a good weight, then maybe even a great weight!

(The pic above I pulled from the book "Purposeful Primitive" by Marty Gallagher. Get the book, it's well worth a read!)

Stallone at 62

2009-02-23T13:27:00.000-08:00

I'm not sure whether this is how he looks or some added CGI, but here's the leaked picture of Stallone in his latest film 'The Expendables'.

Not a vegan thing, but assuming the pictures aren't doctored, then he's looking better than most over 60's (barring our own over 60's hunk 'Super Roland' of course :-)

'Super Roland' older than Stallone but still kicking butt in the gym :-)

Heart attack grill!

2009-02-23T06:02:00.001-08:00

Ideas for some of you bulkers? how about an 8,000 calorie burger! You don't even need to ask if these people are crazy.
How long before we get the vegan alternative - an 8,000 cal burger with a bun deep fried in coconut fat ;-)
There's a few seconds of adverts at the beginning of this clip, but worth it to see the craziness that follows...

Watch CBS Videos Online

New Slide show

2009-02-17T11:13:00.000-08:00

Just updated the slideshow of a few Vegan Bodybuilding members & one loss. Prenna has given up being a vegan & stopped training :-(

Off the Hoof Issue 2

2009-02-16T08:39:00.000-08:00

The second issue of "Off the Hoof" magazine is out right now. This issue includes how to eat vegan when in training (or start eating vegan if that's new to you), an interview with Savate superstar James Southwood & Amazing World Record holding Powerlifter Pat Reeves.
You can get your issue of "Off the hoof"here

PS My server appears to be playing up - there is a picture of the cover of issue 2 above, but until the server sorts itself out you'll have to trust me on that :-)

Pat Reeve's competes 2009

2009-01-28T12:56:00.000-08:00

In Pat's first outing in 2009, we see her qualify for the Nationals with a bit to spare. read the full details here

paleo-diet : A different view

2009-01-21T06:45:00.000-08:00

[OK Bill Pearl is veggie, not a so-called paleo-diet advocate, but at least the shorts are kind of cave man :-) - the pic is from Bill's book "Keys to the inner universe", a huge book with more exercises than you can shake a stick at & well worth buying]

For once, not my own thoughts, but another blog I stumbled across.
This site here does a good job of covering both the arguments for & the reasons against advocating the paleo-diet as an idea

Confidence to grip hard

2009-01-09T04:52:00.000-08:00

How confident you can really grip when it's necessary? If you fell off a cliff, could you really grip that branch & stop yourself falling to your death? If you think you can have a great grip check this guy out & see if you trust your grip as much as he does...I know I don't trust mine quite that much!

Many ways to get fit

2009-01-09T04:49:00.000-08:00

Here's one of the more unusual ways to get fit

Come over to the darkside young gym jedi :-)

Brighton Vegan Fayre 2009

2009-01-02T05:40:00.000-08:00

Just a quick heads up on the upcoming Brighton Vegan fayre on 21 march. We'll be running a Hammer curl contest on the day (males curl 12Kg, females 8Kg) it will be for the most continuous reps, so get training.
They'll also be a few talks on the day by the VBB team with me & Robbie Hazeley (2008 over 50's Mr UK, over 50's Mr Great Britain & 7th in the over 50's Mr World) giving a talk, also world record holding powerlifter Pat Reeves & a talk by Anthony Aurelius, so we're pretty prominent in the fayre. So, get training as we'll expect you there at the fayre!
For more details check out http://brighton.veganfayre.co.uk/

CWC 2008 - the write up!

2008-12-02T01:57:00.000-08:00

The day at the fayre was amazing & the push-up contest was (as always) awesome. For a full write-up just click here

Female push-up winner - Hana Bristow 18 reps

Male push-up winner - Dave Arnold 81 reps

Hopefully everyone attending had a fantastic day, we certainly did! I would like to take the time to thank everyone who sponsored the push-up contest by donating prizes (everyone who entered left with a prize :-) & suggest that everyone try & support Animal Aid as they do a fantastic job out there!

Obama responds to vegan question

2008-12-01T05:33:00.000-08:00

Here's a quick youtube bit with obama answering a question about plant-based diets:

Here’s the transcript:

Nikki Benoit: “Thank you, Senator, very much for your strong environmental position.

The United Nations actually has reiterated that factory farming is contributing more to global greenhouse gas emissions than all of transportation. I think that as a global community we really need to be the leader and moving more towards non-factory farming animal agriculture. It’s very egregious. There’s 10 billion land animals that we are funneling our precious water and grain through when 70 per cent of all of our grain could help feed the world’s hungry. So, as the next leader of the most amazing nation in the world, how can we set the example on the more nutritional, plant-based diet that’s more eco-friendly and sustainable, that can maintain our water resources and all of our grain. Thank you very much.”

Senator Barack Obama: “Okay. Well, it’s a great question.

Now, I have to say in the interests of full disclosure, that I do like a steak once in a while. I’m just being honest. I like barbecue. I’m not going to lie. But the young lady makes a very important point and that is this: right now, our food system world-wide is under enormous pressure. It’s under enormous pressure because as a consequence of climate change, you’ve had severe changes in weather patterns. We don’t fully understand what these effects are. But, for example, Australia’s had huge drought which has taken a lot of crops. Grain production has been much lower. And supplies are tight. You’re starting to see riots around food in places like Haiti and other poor countries around the world. And what is also true is that as countries like China and India become wealthier, they start changing their food habits; they start eating more meat, more animals. And what happens then is because it takes more grain to produce a pound of beef than if they were just eating the grain, what ends up happening is that it puts huge pressure on food supplies.

Americans would actually benefit from a change in diet. I don’t think that that’s something that we should legislate but I think that it is something that, as part of our overall health care system, we should encourage because, for example if we reduced obesity down to the rates that existed in 1980, we would save the medicare system a trillion dollars. We would reduce diabetes rates. We would reduce heart disease. So, the fact that we subsidize some of these big agribusiness operations that are not necessarily producing healthy food and we discourage, or we don’t subsidize, farmers who are producing fruits and vegetables and small scale farming that gets produce immediately to consumers as opposed to having it processed. The fact that we are not doing more to make sure that healthy food is in the schools. All those things don’t make sense. It is important for us to re-examine our overall food policy so that we’re encouraging good habits and not bad habits. For example, just making sure there are more fruits and vegetables in school lunch programs. That would make an enormous difference in how our children’s diets develop. That would make us healthier over the long term. It would cut our health care costs and maybe it would help people elsewhere in the world, who are in less wealthy countries, feed themselves as well. So, it’s a great question. It’s important.”

The link between malnutrition & violence

2008-12-01T05:16:00.000-08:00

Found this bit of useful info about the link between violence & malnutrition here

Strangely enough I was just rereading Bob Hoffman's 1940's book 'Better nutrition' & he was mentioning about meat consumption & how the tribes that ate most where most dominant & violent in certain regions of the world. So, in effect Bob Hoffman could be saying (without realising it) that the higher the meat intake of these tribes the more malnourished they were becoming (through lack of fruits & vegetables), so the more violent they have become!
Violence when being malnourished would be a survival trait. You would need to move to an area where there is more food (which may be occupied by other humans or violent animals), you could reduce your tribe size by violence within the tribe until it was small enough to get enough food to be nourished properly, or you would have to fight to get your share of any nutrition available. It makes a kind of evolutionary sense the more malnourished you are, the more violent you are.

CWC this Sunday

2008-11-27T08:52:00.000-08:00

Don't forget the Christmas without cruelty fayre is this Sunday (30 Nov) 10-5 at Kensington town hall in London (get off at the kensington high street tube).
Exciting extra news. We've got Joni from vegan fitness on the stall (also known as the North west of England Bench Press champion 2008) & he's bringing along some vegan (obviously!) chocolate coated protein bars 22 grams of protein per bar, so keep an eye out for him on the stall (I don't think you'll miss the over 100K of him some how :-).
The annual push-up contest will be being held at 4PM & remember the earlier register for the contest, the later in the event you'll be competing (so you'll know what to beat!), so sign up early.
See you there!

Illegal to exercise!

2008-11-26T04:55:00.000-08:00

In this place it is! You can jog & walk, but stop & stretch out or do a sit-up & get yourself arrested

A review: Muscle, Smoke & Mirrors vol 1 by Randy Roach

2008-11-22T04:15:00.000-08:00

Here's a quick summary of the above book. Basically before we start this book was funded by the Weston Price foundation, so we kind of have an idea exactly which direction this book is going to take & where the main focus is going to be turned before we even open the pages (we all know about the Weston Price Foundation & their anti-veg stance).

First of all the book opens in the early days of strongman (Sandow et al), & on to Barnarr McFadden (& that silly veggie diet he promoted-yep, a negative view straight from the start), then takes a quick swerve to suddenly include the dentist Weston Price (who up until this moment history has never mentioned as being so important in the physical culture movement :-), but according to this book, he appears as an almost pivotal figure, there is a brief mention of Robert McCarrison & his study of the virtually veggie Hunza, but that is soon passed over as we moved back to the momentous events of Dr Price!

This book makes a few errors in their timings in my view. It is implied that any interest in vegetarian living is just about replaced by the high (meat) protein diet by the 1940's (possibly only slowed by war time rations in the UK & Europe-although this isn't mentioned), but in the 1940 Bob Hoffman book "Better Nutrition" He clearly states that a lot of his mail to the magazine "Strength & Health" is still concerned with having more articles on vegetarian eating & planning vegetarian bodybuilding diets! Not quite so dead really (& Hoffman is a renowned "anti-veg", so for him to confess that must have been difficult). As a side note I believe it was actually Hoffman & the introduction of steroids that really hit vegetarian physical culture movement, keeping these drugs secret while Hoffman could show his athletes success story on the 'Hoffman diet' that was high meat & dairy, but as I said that's just a theory, but the dates do seem to fit rather nicely & Hoffman did basically own both the bodybuilding & weightlifting community at that time.

Anyway, back to the story, the next anti-veg statement is first a story about how amazing Armand Tanny (Mr America 1950) is eating a diet of predominantly raw meat (something Armand only admitted publicly only later), which he accepts, without question & yet when Roy Hilligenn (Mr America 1951 & pound for pound the strongest clean & jerk in the world ever-according to some sources) admits to being a life vegetarian who has never consumed an animal in his life he basically calls the guy a liar (because you can't get big &/or strong without meat-that's about the perfect example of circular logic as you're going to find!). It then goes on about how the high (meat) protein diet really improved physiques, with some mention of steroids. He also takes issue with Bill Pearl & his disservice to the sport by giving up meat & goes on to say that Bill is wrong as there are substances in meat that are vital (classic Weston Price Foundation propaganda with no basis in truth). Mr Roach also calls Bill Pearl a liar about his steroid use (which Bill admits taking), but he's always said he gave them up towards the end of his career, which Mr Roach discounts without proof (as it would also mean a veggie, ex-steroid taker could compete against the best in the world, which to Mr Roach's eyes is impossible, as you cannot be big & strong without eating meat - again note the circular logic - it cannot be true because you cannot build or maintain a big body without meat, so he must have eaten meat???).

I know a small bit about oldtime physical culture & even my limited knowledge could pick flaws in the book. From the early days when George Hackenschmit mentions in his book "The way to live" published in the early 20th century that he knew many vegetarian men who were very strong (so is George a liar as well-George was a meat eater, with no reason to lie about what he knew), right up to Guys like Bill Pearl competing on a veggie diet or Doug Hepburn fighting back to health from alcohol & drug abuse on a vegetarian diet to set records in strength in his 70's that not many men in their peak could match! Are all these people liars? Did they all secretly consume their steaks? Why would they even bother to lie, there is no gain in them lying. Bill Pearl won't get any extra glory by saying he was a veggie than he has already, what did Doug Hepburn gain by saying he became veggie? These guys out there & many others who may not be quite in that strength league, but plug away in gyms week in/week out go to PROVE you don't actually need any animal product to become big & strong. Certain there is no substance in meat that is vital to human survival & health as the Weston Price Foundation have touted in the past.

Now before you go away thinking I didn't actually enjoy the book or find it useful, you'd be wrong! Despite the (in my view) inaccuracies & the dismissive attitude to anything that didn't fit the Weston Price view of the world, let me say it did open up several new avenues of research for me & was quite an enjoyable read (if you like old-time physical culture stuff like I do). Also I have focussed on the negatives I found in the books, the points I believe that reflect the Weston Price Foundation involvement (not to say Mr Roach 'doctored' his research, just that his interpretations are coloured by his own beliefs - as are all of ours). The majority of the book, when outside the obvious anti-veg stance, is a great read. It also made me consider that maybe it's time to actually try & find those original works by Dr Western Price & Dr Robert McCarrison for the beginning of the 20th Century & see what the guys themselves had to say about the Hunza people & there virtually veggie lifestyle (& amazing health) & Dr Weston Price & his studies of people who ate a predominantly meat based diet (I'm not sure what Dr Price exactly even measured-I know he was a dentist, & I have heard mentioned that it was actually the teeth he studied predominately, but I'll find both their works at some point soon & see what they actually did find during their studies).

I’d say overall it is a good book to read, but bear in mind it does have an agenda of its own, like any publication funded by an organisation with certain goals in mind. But I’d still buy it if you like reading about the greats of old-time physical culture.

The arm experiment...the beginning

2008-11-14T11:53:00.000-08:00

I've been reading Coach John Christy's book "Real Strength Real Muscle”. He advocates micro-loading for a long time, using the same exercise. As a challenge he offers you a chance to prove for yourself whether his system works, by using the humble barbell curl. His challenge was simple pick a weight you can get 3 sets of 7 reps (3x7) with, but only do 3x6 (for week 1). Rest 5 full minutes between sets. Next week add 1 pound. That’s it! The trick is you do that every week for 1 whole year (52 weeks), & if you’re still gaining after that move down to ½ a pound a week, then continue on until you stall. He believes you’ll gain anything up to 2 inches (or more!) on your arms by following this simple formula.
OK what about illness, we all get sick, right. Well that’s covered. Any minor illness that makes you miss a session simply drop the weight to 80-90% what you were doing, then add 5% each session until you’re back up to 100%, then back to the pound a week.
I not completely convinced (or completely disbelieving) about this system, but I thought, I’ve never done very long term micro-loading & keeping to one bodypart means I can see how that fares against the rest of me & how I have been growing (I didn’t fancy the idea of being stuck with EVERY exercise being long-term micro-loading as I get bored with any exercise & like some variation, but I can do a curl with a barbell once a week no problems for a year, so we’ll see how it goes (you could use an EZ bar or similar if you prefer, but stick to the one you choose as bar weights differ).
If anyone else wants to jump onboard with this let me know (as accountability is a real aid to motivation) & I will need the odd reminder to stay with one exercise, without variation, for a whole year!
So barring any illness or injury you’ll be looking at me adding 1 pound per week until I stall or the 52 weeks end.
Bring it on!!!!

I've got to get me one of these!

2008-11-13T10:25:00.000-08:00

I've never, ever seen one of these peg boards before, maybe they're
more common in the US, but I've never seen one...I WANT! Got no idea
where I'd put such a thing, but man they look cool to do :-)

The guy doing it in a weighted vest...AWESOME!

you ever wonder...?

2008-11-11T07:04:00.000-08:00

...what would happen to those guys if they ever gave up the steroids & stopped training completely...
well have a look at these 2 youtube clips
before

after

I personally would have hoped the guy would have tried to keep in some sort of shape, he had fans (& in my view that translates to responsibilty). I mean obviously the size would slip with ending the gear, but with his natural design he'd have slipped into a great drug-free physique, if he'd kept the diet & training going. maybe the loss of strength & size was too much so he had to back away competely from fitness in any form? I was a little disappointed to see one of the great physiques slip down like this, but I'm biased I like bodybuilding, natural & unnatural, it's kind of like art, the aestetics appeal to me, I suppose it would be like someone doing a great painting, then slashing it up, sure it's theirs, they can do it, but it's disappointing no one will be able view it as it was.
think I've gone on enough on that one....

Fantastic Elastic?

2008-11-09T14:39:00.000-08:00

We’ve all seen them, maybe you’ve used them? People love them or hate them. I’m talking about the resistance band. Resistance bands can be used for a host of things. Rehab, activation work, adding resistance to bodyweight training, used in place of weights, mimicking strand pulling moves, right up to adding substantial resistance to heavy squats, deadlifts, shoulder press or bench press work.
I’ve personally found bands to be great for dynamic work (improving acceleration of certain moves) & for certain rehab. Although certain conditions like chronic fatigue syndrome & fibromyalgia don’t usually respond so well to band work, for many conditions it’s a real boon! (with any medical condition consult your doctor before trying them out)
Most of the activation exercises I’m presently working with I’ve learnt from reading the works of guys like Mike Boyle & Eric Cressey, if anyone is particularly interested I can bring someone in to film a couple moves, but both these guys cover his stuff much more fully than I do. I have found activation exercises useful for preparing to lift & although I don’t agree 100% with these guys about everything, I’d say the case for learning to activate the right muscles at the right time does help with lifting & I do use it myself. So, if you want a few activation protocols let me know & I’ll drag a camera person over to film a few basic activation moves using bands & bodyweight.
I have found some use for dynamic training of various exercises both to improve acceleration & just for a change of modality while still focussing upon a particular movement. Here I’ve pictured a couple of set-ups I’ve used with some success. One is the dynamic box squat using a safety squat bar (you could use a straight bar, but I prefer the SSB for this exercise);

The other is the dynamic dumbbell shoulder press (in this case using a jumpstretch platform). This is actually quite a challenge for the core as well as the delts & triceps.

Unfortunately, being a somewhat reclusive trainee I often train alone, so therefore you can only see the set-up, not the bands in action, but I’m sure the idea is clear enough, the bands stretch & so as you lift the apparent weight increases, so you are forced to accelerate harder to achieve you goals, by doing this you learn to accelerate HARD, which is what you need to improve your lifting. By the way ‘accelerating hard’ will not translate into moving quickly when you get heavier, sure with lighter weights you’ll move relatively fast, but once a heavier weight is lifted the extra acceleration you’ve learnt will really help you get a lift you previously failed to master.
If you’re interested in other moves using bands before you rush out & purchase some leave a comment & I’ll see what I can do about doing some of those (photos or maybe youtube if you don’t mind crumby stills camera video quality), so any band questions let me know & hopefully this will be another tool in your training box you can have fun with over the colder months.

Off the Hoof magazine

2008-11-03T04:20:00.000-08:00

A new vegan/veggie magazine hits the stands today.
Off the Hoof is light hearted & more exciting than the average vegan magazine. It also has bits from me in it regularly, as well as interviews of fitness, sporty & health names from around the world, rants from Maz the Gob & at around 100 pages plenty of other stuff.
You can subscribe by going to http://www.offthehoof.co.uk/

Postage is free within the UK, but even those outside will enjoy it I expect as it offers something very different to the world of magazines.

Oh yea & issue 1 has an interview with Robbie Hazeley the vegan bodybuilder in it!

Cissus quadrangularis: one plant - many answers

2008-10-24T07:26:00.000-07:00

Sometimes something comes along that is so good it’s hard to believe. Imagine a plant that has been in safe use for centuries. One that heals bones & joint problems, lessens pain without side effects can aid in the healing of overuse injuries, help solve gastrointestinal issues such as ulcers or acid reflux, is full of antioxidants & vitamins, can help with fat issues. Would you pay for a product like that? Of course you would & to be honest so would a lot of us.
Well you’re in luck because this isn’t some fantasy of an ideal supplement but a real plant that has been in use & is recorded in ancient Ayurvedic texts & has been shown by modern medicine to be completely safe. Cissus quadrangularis is that plant (we’ll call it Cissus from now on just to save the extra typing :-). The science gets a little tricky & much of the reasoning behind what it does is a little speculative, but it gets results, even if the science behind this wonder plant isn’t fully understood. First of all it gives pain relief & anti inflammatory effect at around the level of aspirin or ibuprofen, note the effect is slower to come on, but it lasts & without any side effects associated with these drugs (1,2).
The bulk of the studies on Cissus has been on the repair of bone & these have shown that bone is healed at a highly accelerated rate (3,4,5). Some studies have used cortisol to stimulate bone breakdown & Cissus appears to halt the effect of this hormone on the bones. So, interestingly if cortisol is halted in bone tissue, what about muscle tissue where it has a similar breakdown effect? So, far there are no studies on this possiblity as far I know, but it’s one I have got my eye out for as the implications of a totally safe, natural anti-cortisol product that is actually beneficial is a very real possibility.
One of the primary effects of Cissus is thought to be an increase in collagen turnover, so with increased synthesis & replacement you could expect quicker recover from overuse injuries, cartilage & tendon repair & this seems to be the case through anecdotal evidence although as yet no formal research has been done in this area beyond the probable finding in bone research studies that it seems to be increased collagen repair that seems to be a major factor (3,4,5).
As well as these benefits you also get a product that is packed full of antioxidants & antimicrobial substances (6)
Let’s look at the ‘side effects’ now. First off is fat control. Cissus tends to make you leaner (7,8) The treatment of ulcers & acid reflux (9), it will ease ulcers & reduce or relieve completely acid reflux. There is also anecodotal evidence that after 15-20 days continuous usage there is increased blood flow to the muscles & so bigger pumps. This effect isn’t universal, nor is it proven scientifically, but a certain proportion of users seems to be getting this result, enough reports to make it seem worth a mention.
So basically you get a product that will help control pain with no side effects (for the vast majority of users), will aid bone health, appears to help joints & connective tissue, is packed with usable nutrients, antioxidants & antimicrobials, can aid stomach issues, can make you leaner & might well give you massive pumps. Do you really want anything more from one supplement?
Dosage & type is the final issue I’d like to cover. First of all there are a selection of preparations available out there. The active ingredient is said to be Ketosterone & there are many amounts out there from 5% Ketosterone to up to 50% in some capsules. So, you’d think the higher the dose, the better. But in my view this is wrong. Cissus is a plant extract, like many such products there are a vast number of phytonutrients that work synergistically together to produce an effect much greater than the whole. The purer, higher grade ketosterone lacks many of these nutrients & so could possibly be less effective than the less pure alternative. I would aim at a product around the 6% ketosterone mark myself, it is levels around this purity that many studies have used & so the effects are known & there’s little guess work. As for dosage, between 3-6grams per day seems to have the desired effect (although the very small or very large may need to modify the dosage up or down slightly depending upon their need) . An average sized adult should be aiming at around the 5 gram mark. Take half first thing in the morning & half in the evening. You can take it with food or without. I tend to take it away from food, but I don’t know if there is any reason you should avoid food, but it fits my timing plan well.
Are there ANY downsides? Well, there is one obvious one, & that is taste. It takes a few days to adjust to the taste. Some of you might want to cap them yourselves (or buy pre-made capsules), but realistically if you stick with it for a few days you soon adjust. It smells worse than it tastes, so don’t sniff before you drink! I suppose the other possible bad effect could be you are a non-responder or maybe an allergy, but apart from that I can’t think of any reason not to give it a try.

1 Indian Journal of Pharmacology 1984 Vol 16, issue 3 pages 162-163. An experimental study of analgesic activity of Cissus quadrangularis. SP Singh, N Misra, KS Dixit, N Singh, RP Kohli
2 J Ethnopharmacol. 2007 Mar 21;110(2):264-70. Epub 2006 Sep 26. Analgesic, anti-inflammatory and venotonic effects of Cissus quadrangularis Linn. Panthong A, Supraditaporn W, Kanjanapothi D, Taesotikul T, Reutrakul V.
3 J Indian Med Assoc. 1962 Jun 1;38:590-3. Cissus quadrangularis in healing of fractures. A clinical study. Udupa KN, Prasad GC
4Indian J Med Res. 1975 Jun;63(6):824-8. Studies on Cissus quadrangularis in experimental fracture repair: effect on chemical parameters in blood. Chopra SS, Patel MR, Gupta LP, Datta IC.
5 Indian J Med Res. 1976 Sep;64(9):1365-8. Studies of Cissus quadrangularis in experimental fracture repair : a histopathological study. Chopra SS, Patel MR, Awadhiya RP.
6 J Med Food. 2003 Summer;6(2):99-105. Antioxidant and antimicrobial activity of Cissus quadrangularis L. Chidambara Murthy KN, Vanitha A, Mahadeva Swamy M, Ravishankar GA.
7 Lipids Health Dis. 2006 Sep 2;5:24. The use of a Cissus quadrangularis formulation in the management of weight loss and metabolic syndrome. Oben J, Kuate D, Agbor G, Momo C, Talla X.
8 Lipids Health Dis. 2008 Mar 31;7:12. The use of a Cissus quadrangularis/Irvingia gabonensis combination in the management of weight loss: a double-blind placebo-controlled study. Oben JE, Ngondi JL, Momo CN, Agbor GA, Sobgui CS.
9 Journal of Medicinal Food. September 1, 2004, 7(3): 372-376. doi:10.1089/jmf.2004.7.372. Mallika Jainu, C.S. Shyamala Devi.

Nutrient timing - ISSN position

2008-10-10T14:42:00.000-07:00

here's some research pre-published on pubmed today stating the updated ISSN positon on nutrient timing. They pretty much lay down what we've talked about during our discussions on nutrient intake during & after training. We haven't really discussed pre-training nutrition, which is important. I'll have to get around to that, but it's mentioned here & I pretty much support the idea of carb/protein ingestion before training (exactly when depends on your digestive capabilities, but 1-2 hours before would be my advice if possible)
Here you can read for yourself:

J Int Soc Sports Nutr. 2008 Oct 3;5(1):17.

International society of sports nutrition position stand: nutrient timing.

Kerksick C, Stout J, Campbell B, Wilborn C, Kreider R, Kalman D, Ziegenfuss T, Lopez H, Landis J, Ivy J, Antonio J.

ABSTRACT: Position Statement: The position of the Society regarding nutrient timing and the intake of carbohydrates, proteins, and fats in reference to healthy, exercising individuals is summarized by the following eight points: 1.) Maximal endogenous glycogen stores are best promoted by following a high-glycemic, high-carbohydrate (CHO) diet (600 - 1000 grams CHO or ~ 8 - 10 g CHO/kg/d), and ingestion of free amino acids and protein (PRO) alone or in combination with CHO before resistance exercise can maximally stimulate protein synthesis. 2.) During exercise, CHO should be consumed at a rate of 30 - 60 grams of CHO/hour in a 6 - 8 % CHO solution (8 - 16 fluid ounces) every 10 - 15 minutes. Adding PRO to create a CHO:PRO ratio of 3 - 4:1 may increase endurance performance and maximally promotes glycogen re-synthesis during acute and subsequent bouts of endurance exercise. 3.) Ingesting CHO alone or in combination with PRO during resistance exercise increases muscle glycogen, offsets muscle damage, and facilitates greater training adaptations after either acute or prolonged periods of supplementation with resistance training. 4.) Post-exercise (within 30 minutes) consumption of CHO at high dosages (8 - 10 g CHO/kg/day) have been shown to stimulate muscle glycogen re-synthesis, while adding PRO (0.2 g - 0.5 g PRO/kg/day) to CHO at a ratio of 3 - 4:1 (CHO: PRO) may further enhance glycogen re-synthesis. 5.) Post-exercise ingestion (immediately to 3 h post) of amino acids, primarily essential amino acids, has been shown to stimulate robust increases in muscle protein synthesis, while the addition of CHO may stimulate even greater levels of protein synthesis. Additionally, pre-exercise consumption of a CHO + PRO supplement may result in peak levels of protein synthesis. 6.) During consistent, prolonged resistance training, post-exercise consumption of varying doses of CHO + PRO supplements in varying dosages have been shown to stimulate improvements in strength and body composition when compared to control or placebo conditions. 7.) The addition of creatine (Cr) (0.1 g Cr/kg/day) to a CHO + PRO supplement may facilitate even greater adaptations to resistance training. 8.) Nutrient timing incorporates the use of methodical planning and eating of whole foods, nutrients extracted from food, and other sources. The timing of the energy intake and the ratio of certain ingested macronutrients are likely the attributes which allow for enhanced recovery and tissue repair following high-volume exercise, augmented muscle protein synthesis, and improved mood states when compared with unplanned or traditional strategies of nutrient intake.

Hardest email in a while

2008-10-07T04:09:00.000-07:00

Before I start I would like to say I will not put up anyone’s private issues without first asking permission, so I have asked to put this up before I published.
I got an email the other day from a person who had suffered from anaphylactic shock due to eating a nut coated cereal & as a result had lost the ability to produce saliva & a host of new allergies. They had been through the medical system, trying doctors & nutritionists with no success. They had been forced to eat liquidised food & chocolate (which they sucked), their weight had plummeted due to lack of calories & limited nutrition. One nutritionist suggested they add cream to their liquidised cream, but when informed they had developed an allergy to all dairy products was told they couldn’t help them & to go away! (I was personally shocked that anyone calling themselves a nutritionist was so limited they couldn’t devise a liquid based eating plan without the option of dairy!).
So, our emailer was left with nowhere to turn for help by the medical system so they turned to the internet.
Anyway, I’m not sure how many people they approached before they found our pages, but hopefully we could offer some help. As it happens the ‘bodybuilding’ side of came in very useful for this. When you get a dieting bodybuilder they often ingest a fare amount of calories as liquid, so we have a range of liquid options in place for people to ingest. Also knowing & working with those in the raw food market we also have a keen eye on ‘super foods’ available on the market like algae’s & wholefood powders that would work in a liquid diet.
Obviously living on a liquid diet wasn’t a long term solution, but our first job had to be to get their immediate nutrition sorted out. This is also a time I suggested keeping IN an animal product as they could eat liquidised chicken soup & I had real concerns that if they dropped the chicken out of the soup they might die! If they decided they didn’t need the chicken later, then they could remove it at a later date, but until they were on the mend I suggested they keep it in.
They also believed that artificial sweeteners had made the illness much worse. I’m not sure if the research is out there to back up that particular claim, but I certainly advice against the use artificial sweeteners where possible as they have been implied in quite a few conditions & it appears only the power of the companies backing these products that keeps them from being investigated thoroughly, if not banned.
So, we have a person here with no saliva & on an inadequate liquidised diet, suffering dangerous weightloss & multiple allergies, so here’s what I offered in the way of advice. Hopefully if anyone else out there is suffering related problems this might help you too:
~~~~
As you suggested I can't actually diagnose. I am a qualified sports
nutritionist & personal trainer & I am taking a nutritional
consultancy course, which, when completed would allow me to recommend
food stuffs for you directly, but to recommend what you could do at
the moment could lead to barring as both a trainer & failing my course
(for diagnosing without a qualification). However, what I can do is
suggest what I could do. The first thing I would do is look towards
the raw food market & natural body building fields as they've brought
out some interesting stuff:
Vega by Brenden Brazier http://www.myvega.com/ is a protein powder
plus it contains quite a few other nutrients
Raw power is another product you might want to look into www.rawpower.com/
Here's a few others from vegan essentials to look at
http://store.nexternal.com/shared/StoreFront/products.asp?CS=vegane&CategoryID=112&Refresh=True

OK there's a couple of complete food replacements. Let's look at what
else I'd need if I had your condition:

For just protein/calories I would consider a simple protein powder.
There are many out there. Like Soya protein, pea protein, rice
protein, hemp protein I've got a list of supplement sellers on this
page many of whom sell various protein powders
http://www.veganbodybuilding.org/supps.htm ). To those I would add
certain things:

EFA's - these are essential fatty acids. One of the reasons you
probably aren't thinking too well is lack of calories, but also lack of
EFA's. The brain is predominantly made of fat, cutting off this fat
makes thinking pretty hard (as you imagine), so you will need to find a
source you can tolerate. Udo's blend is available in most places
around the world in the fridge of your local health food store. It
can be mixed with a shake or taken off the spoon, but you do need this
daily. I would aim at a couple of tablespoons a day, that could be
split over several meals if necessary.

B-complex (containing B12) - I would find a capsule that contains this
(I think vegan essentials sells some? www.veganessentials.com ) &
either add these to your shakes, or open the capsule & swill the
powder around in your mouth for 1 minute before swallowing.

Spirulina or algae - I would consider investing in some form of algae
that can be added to your food. These foods have loads of nutrients
for the amount you take, so it may cost a bit, but you'll probably
benefit.
Again I'll give you a vegan essentials link, but if you look around
there are many companies selling these sorts of things, so look around
& try out a few, then I'd find things I like
http://store.nexternal.com/shared/StoreFront/products.asp?CS=vegane&CategoryID=134&Refresh=True

The soups are a good idea. I would stick with those, but I would also
invest in a juicer. I wouldn't so much juice the sweet fruits, but
things like green leafy vegetables, carrots, etc - basically all the
vegetables you have on the side of a plate in a normal meal. I would
need to buy more than the average consumer as there will be a lot of
waste (you throw away a good deal when you juice), but it will get
some nutrition into me. I would have as at least one juice with every
meal. I would have one sweet juiced drink per day only, the others
all savoury type juices based around leafy vegetables.

I'm not sure how often you eat right now, but I would be planning on
upping your eating to around 6-8 times a day. You wouldn't need to
eat much, a soup with juice, a shake with juice, but basically every 2
hours I would plan on getting nutrition down me. It is possible to
pre-prepare juices, by juicing a lot of stuff AM & putting a days
worth of juice in the fridge, then drinking as its needed, shakes take
about 5 minutes to put together, get a stick mixer & a large container
(like a shaker they sell to mix protein drinks in your health food
store) & just whiz them up with the added oil &/ algae etc if they are
required that day.

Simple things you can add to shakes that bump up the calories. I
assume you had your problems with PEANUTS? but there are other nuts
out there. In your health food store there are nut butters, tahini &
I would invest in those & consider adding some of those to a shake,
also wheatgerm oil is a cheap oil you might want to add, debittered
brewers yeast is packed with nutrients.

If a person isn't producing saliva they are also not producing the
enzyme that first works on food on the way down to the stomach, so I
would invest in some digestive enzymes. Yes, they are a tablet, so no
good for you, but you can whiz then up in the food, so they completely
break up (something that could also be done with vitamin/mineral
pills by the way).

I would plan on only eating chocolate after a meal. I would get what
I NEED first, before I have what I want. The shakes, soups & juices
would be my nutritional safety net. Next the chocolate will add some
calories, but little else really. You can buy dairy-free chocolate
that gives you more antioxidants & without the bad effects of the milk
(milk is an allergen & some nutritionists say it heightens any allergic
response), most supermarkets & healthfood stores now sell a variety of
dark chocolate that is nutritionally far superior to the dairy bars
out there. Chicken probably isn't an allergen, so won't make the
problem any worse. There are other options like adding beans, tofu,
tempeh etc, but I wouldn't like to shrink your food intake anymore
than it already is at the moment, so I would consider adding those in
as other options, rather than just having chicken soup all the time.
You can always lose the chicken once you've got your eating sorted
out.

Once I was up to eating 6-8 times a day. My next course would be to
begin introducing solid food. Basically I would follow a weaning
plan, just like you do with a baby. Start with things like mashed
banana & steamed mashed carrot etc & work up, just like you do with a
small child. There is no reason your body cannot, given time re-learn
to produce saliva. Everything is there, it's just shut down.
Anaphylactic shock cannot destroy the salivary ducts or production
centres, just close them down, so it should be possible to get them to
switch back on given time & patience.
The EFA's will help remove damaging chemicals, heavy metals etc & the
extra nutrition by eating regularly would help a lot. After all that
was in place & I was comfortable with that eating plan I would begin
weaning. One meal would start with a little mashed banana or steamed
mashed carrot before the meal & slowly increase from there. I would
swill it around my mouth for a bit, try & remind the saliva glands to
do their thing :-) It will probably take time, but hopefully things
would slowly return to normal.

That would be my basic plan that I'd use towards recovery. My aim
would be to reactivate my saliva glands & get back to solid food. I
wouldn't rush the process, but I would head in that direction over
time.
Once I felt I was on track for recovery I would also consider some
weight training as I would have lost a lot of muscle mass & strength.
Obviously I wouldn't be lifting massive weights, but most people male
or female in show-business or modelling use weights these days to keep
in shape & the fat low. Obviously I'd have to get the nutrition in
place first & feel ready before I started that though, at the moment,
in your position, I would focus on getting the nutrition in place

Hopefully looking at what I would do in your position has given you a
few ideas of your own & anything else just let me know.

Tiredness during workouts

2008-09-25T13:49:00.000-07:00

I get quite a few emails a week about various issues & as I try to answer everyone who mails in. I suddenly thought today why not put up some issues that some of you might have & my suggestions. Well here's the first. This guy contacted me suffering from lack of endurance during workouts. Like most mails I get, it doesn't cover a lot of the issues that I really need to zero in on a problem, but it gave me a chance to give some general advice on what bases you should have covered if you suffered general fatigue - especially during or soon after exercise:

~~~~

Let's start with the basics & work from there. Basically what I would
do is implement only 1 thing & see if that's the cause, if not keep on
with that & add the next. You can try out any, or all, of the things I
mention, but it's best if you find the cause, so you're not stuck
thinking you need to do everything on the list, as I suspect you
won't.
First the most important for your health is B12, if you're not taking
it, you need to. I have all my trainees; meat-eaters, veggies, vegans
& raw food eaters take B12 daily. There is a technique to taking B12,
that isn't common knowledge. Under the tongue & at the back of the
throat are modified lymph capillaries, these can absorb (amongst other
things) B12 directly into the blood stream (via the lymphatic system).
So, the best way to take vitamin B12 is to buy a capsule or pill
containing B12 & B-complex, open the capsule or crush the pill & swill
the contents around your mouth for about 1 minute before swallowing,
that way you get a lot more B12 into you than just swallowing the
pill/capsule straight down. If you are low in B12 it will take a
while to feel the effects, as it needs to slowly get back into all the
trillions of cells in your body. one final point don't take B12 with
vitamin C pills, the C disrupts b12 assimilation, so if you are taking
both leave a little time between taking the two things (you can take
low level vitamin C, like in a multi vitamin/mineral pill with B12,
but not something like a 500mg + pill).
The second thing you need to address is your EFA (Essential fatty acid
levels & ratios). Most people are low in the omega 3 fatty acid
group. Most nuts, seeds & oils contain high levels of omega 6 fatty
acids, but are low in omega 3's. To balance this up I recommend that
you get hold of a cheap coffee grinder & every morning grind up 1 or 2
tablespoons of flax seed (linseed), you can add it to a morning shake,
to cereal, to porridge or just mix with soya milk & drink it,
whatever. You can add it to any hot thing, but do NOT heat it, always
add it after you've finished heating the product or you'll damage the
fats & waste your time.

The two things above are the 2 basics everyone should be doing
regardless of anything else. From now on expect to be doing this
every day!

Let's assume these are not the problem for you. The next obvious
thing is your diet. First off how often do you eat & when do you eat.
You should be splitting your eating into 6 feeds a day:

Breakfast
Mid-morning snack
Lunch
Mid-afternoon snack
Dinner
Supper

You should try & get decent food down you for every feed, not junk.
Plan on having a 'cheat' meal once or twice a week, like if you are
going to a party having one or two drinks & a few roasted nuts or
crisps (chips if you're from the US). That will be ok, providing the
rest of the week you're pretty strict & plan out your eating so you're
getting healthy food down you for most of the time.
Let's get to the workout nutrition specifics:

Pre-workout

About an hour or 2 before you workout the meal you have should have
some protein & contain complex carbs. The carbs will give you energy
to finish your workout.
The exact timing depends on your digestion. People digest at
different speeds, so workout how long it takes after a meal before you
feel ready to hit some weights.

I've covered my ideas on workout nutrition on the vegan bodybuilding
blog on this page
click here & click here

Post workout nutrition is THE most vital feed of the day. My views on
that are also on the blog on this page click here

Bear in mind these are what I'd consider IDEAL intakes, you don't need
all the supplements, but having at least some protein powder & a
simple carb source for when you train is a good idea. I don't
recommend any specific protein powder, soya, pea, hemp, rice protein
powders all work, for a simple carb source I tend to go for red grape
juice. It's high in glucose, contains antioxidants & other
phyto-chemicals that are useful to the body. I personally only use it
for training, so I freeze a carton of red grape juice into icecubes.
I add 1 or 2 cubes to my drink during training, then several cubes to
my after training drink.

Next up we'll move onto recovery. First off have there been any
changes in your life. Increased stress, different working or
recreational activities? Are you sleeping ok? Any other changes in
your life that could account for a loss in training ability? Have a
think, try & pinpoint any changes, next see what you can do to change
those.
The other option is could it be you training? Have you changed that,
have you been doing the same thing for a long time? Strangely enough
these 2 things can have similar effects on the body. If you've been
doing the same thing for a long time, your body gets stale & you need
to change your routine, if you've recently changed your routine it may
be that you aren't thriving on the new system & need to change things
up a bit.

Let me give you a few examples of possible issues, if they apply to
you, then think about how you can change things:

1/ Your working hard at work & the training on top is just wearing you out?
A/ Try an abbreviated routine of 1 or 2 exercises & see how you get
on. Focussing upon just a few exercises hard is better than many exercises in
a lacklustre manner.

2/ You're not eating properly?
A/ Today plan out your eating, get to the shops, buy the food you're
going to need & from tomorrow switch to a better eating plan. You may
need to cut back on training duration for a while as you recover, or
even take a few extra days off while internal supplies of nutrients build up.

3/ Haven't been using the proper nutrition before, during & after training?
A/ Getting these in place will increase your training intensity &
recovery. Expect good results over the next few weeks!

4/ Stress in my life is very high?
A/ If you can sort out the underlying issues you should be working on
getting the problems sorted out, if possible. If that is unfeasible
at the moment (such as work/domestic issues etc), then consider
abbreviating your training to allow for more recovery. Consider some
stress management practices such as meditation, positive
re-enforcement, visualisations etc.

5/ Inconsistent training?
A/ Write a plan you can stick to. Give yourself something that will
motivate you. Plan goals, short term, mid-term & long term, write
them down & maybe even tell someone. That will drive you towards your
goals.

Finally we'll move onto supplements. These do have their place, but
only after everything else is in place. They SUPPLEMENT your other
efforts. In order of importance I rate:

Protein powder
L-glutamine
BCAA's
creatine
beta alanine
citrulline malate

Although I do try out others as part of my research (you can't really
write about things without having tried them out), these are the one's
I've found work for most of my clients & myself. Let's look at these
a little more closely:

Protein powder:
You can take this whenever. A small amount during training & also
taking 30grams or so after training are the most vital, but you can
have them as part of a meal or snack.

L-glutamine:
I've found this to be an excellent immune booster & recovery aid in
both myself & clients. I tend to recommend that it's vital pre-post
workout, & if you feel the need AM/PM 5 grams per serving seems around
right for most people.

BCAA's:
These are basically a fuel source doing activity. The body burns
these as well as fats & carbs during any activity, so having them
before/during training can spare these amino acids. Why do we want to
'spare' them? Well the main source of BCAA's is the amino acids in
muscle. So, by exercising you are burning muscle! Taking BCAA's you
can offer the body an alternative source, so the muscle isn't going to
be broken down to be burnt as fuel.

Creatine:
I'll start off by saying I prefer creatine ethyl ester (CEE). To be
honest there is no reliable research to prove this is the most
effective version of creatine, but anecdotally just about all the
bodybuilders I've met & talked with backstage at bodybuilding shows
over the last few years have moved over to CEE & I myself have found
it more effective than other versions out there. You can take
whichever form you prefer though. Follow the dosing rules on the
package, but if you are trying out creatine monohydrate (CM) then
don't bother with the loading phase as it's just likely to cause you
cramps & bloating as anything else, go straight to maintainence levels
8 weeks on 4 weeks off.

beta alanaine:
Basically this increases strength & muscular endurance & delays
fatigue. A lot of guys are stacking this with creatine.

Citrulline malate
Another one that delays fatigue, but also can possibly increase NO
production. Also increases arginine levels more than taking arginine
directly. So, you can possibly get the increased pumps associated
with arginine with this product without the associated risk to herpes
(cold sore) sufferers.
~~~~~
That was one reply I gave to a guy who had a problem & thought it might of interest to some of you out there?
Often, especially the new vegan can feel added fatigue. This is usually down to the fact that vegan food is less calorifically dense that a meat based diet (you need to eat more folks!). In most cases increasing the amount on your plate &/or adding more feeds per day will sort out your tiredness. I often hear excuses like the flora in your digestive tract is changing, you’re detoxifying etc. This might be true, but more often than not the actual cause, when we get down to real-world fixes is to eat MORE. Pick healthy food & keep an eye on your protein intake, like anyone training you do, in my view, need a decent amount of protein. Keep your protein up & calories high & you tend to lessen these fatigue symptoms. Finally, if you’re suffering on your diet, you are doing something wrong, don’t suffer, or live with it, get it sorted out! Seek advice about nutrition from someone who’s had some experience with vegan athletes or nutrition for very active people.
For some useful advice you could try asking on the veganbodybuilding email list we have nutritionists, competing bodybuilders, powerlifters & strongman competitors click here

J.C.Hise - a new perspective?

2008-09-22T13:55:00.000-07:00

Over the years & my fondness for old time physical culture I've read some articles by J.C.Hise, but today I read this from a guy who was in direct contact with the man & here is a few of his thoughts:

"...He often spoke of the Eastern doctrine of ahimsa. This is living your life so that you never harm any creature..."

"...Nutrition
There’s much anecdotal evidence, some of which is supported by epidemiological studies, that those races or peoples who stay strong and healthy even in extreme old age live on diets that are low in calories but high in nutritive value. In particular, those populations that consume diets that primarily consist of fruits and vegetables have healthy blood pressure, low glucose levels and low total serum cholesterol levels..."

Now I've read a little about Hise in my time & a couple of things struck me as odd:

First of all Hise was never really what you'd call a low calorie guy...In fact I've read several times about the incredible appetite the guy had. Maybe that was the odd occasion & maybe he followed a less hectic eating program most of the time, but had, kind of, binge sessions when going for maximum growth?

The other was his ahimsa attitude. I seem to remember he actually pushing a meat diet (hardly never harming another creature!), but I could be wrong as I'd have to dig through some old magazines to find the articles in question.
I just thought I'd mention a few doubts I have just so you don't uncritically read the article which I did find very interesting.

You can read the article by going here

A few points about Hise, if you've never heard of the man before. He was the first man to use heavy 20 rep squats to build his body. His influence inspired Mark Berry to champion the squat (especially for high reps) & for Peary Rader (editor & owner of ironman magazine) to take up squatting & pushing the idea in his magazines. He inspired Strossen to write the book "Super squats" & used a form of abbreviated training that has been the basis for guys like Stuart McRobert. Basically he is one of the founders of bodybuilding & strength training as we know it, although today mainly forgotten. He invented (or popularised) many exercises, like flat footed, heavy high rep squatting & Hise Shrugs being the most enduring two of his ideas.

Anyway, I have decided to try & find out more about the guy, so I’m going to try & find out if there are any books about his life, useful articles about his philosophy or any other avenues of information I can explore to see if I can discover the true J.C.Hise.

Post workout nutrient intake

2008-09-22T04:58:00.000-07:00

Ok before we start I’ve had a few people emailing me about nutrition. I’d just like to point out that these observations are not the definitive answer for your training needs. These observations are an ongoing study that is occurring in the field of training nutrition. I expect they will mutate over time as we gather more information. Also, like everything else, individual variation plays a part as well. So, bear in mind that although these are the finding we can draw from today’s research, there could be some changes over time.

Now on with the show:

Most of the information for this has come from the books “Power Eating” by Kleiner & “Nutrient Timing” by Ivy & Portman & I recommend everyone who has an interest buy both these books.
Like last time we’ll split our plan into first goals we wish to achieve from our Post-workout nutrition:

After training get (or keep) us in an anabolic state
Speed elimination by increasing blood flow
Replenish glycogen stores
Initiate tissue repair
Reduce muscle damage & boost the immune system

First let’s look at how easy it is to fall into a catabolic state

Notice how timing plays such a crucial role in your post exercise nutrition plan. Just a 3 hour delay in getting your post-exercise nutrition can push you into a catabolic state. 1

Insulin levels are also raised most by consuming a protein/carb drink 2. This actually causes blood flow to the muscles to increase, so you get more nutrition to the cells & remove waste faster. 3

For the immunity we have increased levels of plasma L-glutamine when protein-carbohydrate is consumed 4.

Also there is performance enhancement on your following training session when you consume a protein-carbohydrate post workout shake instead of simply carbs 5.

So, you can see there is some evidence about mixing simple carbs & proteins for a post workout recovery drink.

Here are the guides I would suggest at the moment:

Protein 30 grams
High glycemic carbs 40-50 grams
BCAA’s 1-2 grams
L-glutamine 5 grams
Vit c 60-120mg
Vit E 80-400 IU.

The best way to consume these:

Here’s the best way to consume the above after exercise nutrition.

Straight after your exercise, but before your cool-down stretch have your BCAA’s , l-glutamine (also a good time if you supplement with creatine to take that as well).

Now do your cool down

After cool-down now consume your protein-carbs-vitamins.

(NOTE: there has been some possible concern raised about vitamin E & health issues, so these rules may be modified if these prove to have some foundation).

New research recently

New research in the American journal of Physiology, Endocrinology has found that co-ingestion of carbohydrate during recovery does not further stimulate post-exercise muscle protein synthesis when ample protein is ingested 6, which has thrown the whole issue open once again, but this is one study that is against the general tide of research, but do bear in mind that this subject is not a closed book & a definitive answer is still some way off.

1 Levenhagen, D.K., Carr, C., Carlson, M.G.,et al., “Postexercise protein intakeenhances whole-body and leg protein accretion in humans.” Medicine and Science in Sports and exercise, 34: 828-837, 2002.

2 Zawadzki, K.M., Yaspelkis, B.B., Ivy, J.L., “Carbohydrate-protein complex increases the rate of muscle glycogen storage after exercise” Journal of Applied Physiology, 72: 1854-1859, 1992.

3 Laakso, M., Edelman, S.V., Brechtel, G., Baron, A.D., “Decreased effect of insulin to stimulate skeletal muscle blood flow in obese men: a novel method for insulin resistance.” Journal of clinical Investigation, 85: 1844-1852, 1990.

4 van der Schoor, P., et al., “Ingestion of protein hydrolysate prevents the post exercise reduction in plasma glutamate.” International Journal of Sports Medicine, 18: S115, 1997

5 Williams, M.B., Raven, P.B., Donovan, L.F., et al., "Effects of recovery beverage on glycogen restoration and endurance exercise performance," Journal of Strength and Conditioning Research, 17: 12-19, 2003

6 Koopman R, Beelen M, Stellingwerff T, Pennings B, Saris W.H., Kies A.K., Kuipers H, van Loon L.J., "Coingestion of carbohydrate with protein does not further augment postexercise muscle protein synthesis." American journal of Physiology, Endocrinology and metabolism, Sep;293(3): E833-42, 2007.

Dr Greger talk

2008-08-29T05:57:00.001-07:00

Went to a nutrition talk by Dr Greger (vegan MD & nutrition specialist). It was about the latest nutritional research over the last 24 months (06-08). He now recommends DHA (an essential fatty acid) for all people as well as flax & D vitamins. I've actually got a CD of all the research he used in his presentation so if you need any articles about DHA, vit D or latest developments in vegan nutrition over the last 2 years let me know & I'll try & dig them up.

The downside of losing fat quickly

2008-08-29T05:32:00.000-07:00

OK we all know that losing fat is a good thing. But let's look at the
way we lose it. On the internet these days we can see all these "lose
20 pounds in 2 weeks" ultraspeed fat loss plans etc etc. I've always
argued that slow weight loss is the ideal goal, why... because as you
lose weight you learn about what certain foods do to your body, you
relearn how to eat properly. If you do find some miracle system that
does work, say a heavy training schedule & dietary system you go on
for month, & you achieve your goals, then what? You can't stay on an
ultra-gruelling diet & training plan forever, you'll overtrain, get
sick & not do so well at all, but what do you eat, have you learnt to
pre-pack food to take along to places where you might not find healthy
choices, have you learnt that you might be ok to eat bread AM, but in
the evening maybe it bloats you a bit & you tend to add more fat?
Have you learnt to prepare a selection of healthy meals over several
months & learnt to appreciate the new textures & flavours
available...basically you haven't got the support system in place to
keep the weight off, you've got no idea what to eat, how to train &
what to do to keep that weight off. A slower introduction to a diet
allows you to learn as you go along, so you can slowly increase the
good & decrease the bad in your diet, so by the time you reach your
goal you will have all the tools already in place to keep to that fat
level, it will already be habit! .... That was my main argument for a
slow fat loss, rather than a quick fat loss program (a well as the
fact that often quick 'fat loss' involves lean muscle loss as well in
many cases). But I have come across another rather interesting reason
to keep fat loss slow & that is 'organochlorines'. Organochlorines
are fat soluble products that are toxic to humans, we all ingest them.
As the body doesn't like them floating about they are either excreted
or stored in fat, strangely the preferred choice appears to be storing
in fat, so obviously someone with more fat stores more of these toxic
substances. Now suppose you lose a lot of fat, very quickly? Yep, a
lot of these toxins are simply dumped into the body & you can suffer
thyroid problems, skin problems, organ problems etc etc, all the
things that make dieting & reaching & maintaining your goals harder.
By dieting more slowly you actually release these chemicals at a
manageable rate, so you will not get the extreme toxicity effects that
can be associated with quick fat loss systems. I'll put the research
below for you to look at for yourself, I'll also put up a related
piece of research about athletes, lean sedentary people & fat peoples
organochlorine levels that shows that athletes have lower levels than
either lean sedentary or fat people (lean sedentary have less than fat
people, but not as low levels as athletes).
Hopefully those of you who's goals involve fat loss who are slowly
slimming down can take some comfort in the fact that you're doing
things the best way for overall health.

~~

http://tinyurl.com/6pkbgw

Obes Rev. 2003 Feb;4(1):17-24.
Energy balance and pollution by organochlorines and polychlorinated
biphenyls.Pelletier C, Imbeault P, Tremblay A.
Division of Kinesiology, PEPS, Laval University, Ste-Foy, Québec, Canada.

Organochlorines are fat-soluble chemical compounds resistant to
degradation, so they are stored in the adipose tissue of practically
every organism on the planet, including humans. Accumulation of these
compounds in the body seems to be related to fat mass, obese
individuals having a higher plasma organochlorine concentration than
lean subjects. During body weight loss, lipid mobilization and a
decrease in fat mass result in increased concentrations of
organochlorines in plasma and adipose tissue. Organochlorines may have
adverse health effects. For example, they have been associated with
altered immune and thyroid functions and with some types of cancer. As
these compounds may reach their target organs whilst in the
circulation, their increase in plasma during weight loss might be
associated with some physiological changes occurring during weight
loss. Relationships have indeed been reported among weight
loss-induced increase in plasma organochlorine concentration and
decreased triiodothyronine (T3) concentration, resting metabolic rate,
and skeletal muscle markers for fat oxidation. Although further
studies are needed to assess the causality of these relationships,
they raise concern about some potential undesirable effects of weight
loss. Indeed, the effects of organochlorines on energy balance could
complicate body weight loss and even favour weight regain. These
notions lend support for weight-loss strategies favouring a moderate
weight loss, which would reduce risks for cardiovascular diseases,
diabetes and hypertension, without resulting in a substantial release
of organochlorines.

~~

http://tinyurl.com/5mf7p4

Med Sci Sports Exerc. 2002 Dec;34(12):1971-5. Links
Plasma organochlorine concentrations in endurance athletes and obese
individuals.Pelletier C, Després JP, Tremblay A.
Physical Activity Sciences Laboratory and Division of Kinesiology,
PEPS and Department of Food Science and Nutrition, Laval University,
Ste-Foy (Québec), Canada.

PURPOSE: Organochlorines are lipophilic compounds that are ingested
with food and that accumulate in adipose tissue. Their plasma
concentrations were compared in three groups of individuals with
different body fatness characteristics: endurance athletes, lean
sedentary subjects, and obese individuals. METHODS: The relationship
between body fat mass and total plasma organochlorine concentration
adjusted for age was analyzed by pooling data of sedentary lean and
obese subjects. The regression equation derived from this analysis was
also used to predict residual scores of total organochlorine
concentrations in trained individuals, which were compared to measured
values in these subjects. RESULTS: Plasma organochlorine
concentrations tended to be lower in athletes in comparison with
values measured among lean sedentary individuals. Their concentrations
were higher in obese individuals than in lean sedentary subjects and
athletes. Total plasma organochlorine concentration was positively
associated to body fat mass in the sedentary group (lean and obese
combined, reference population). CONCLUSION: Large adipose tissue
compartment such as observed in obese individuals is associated with
increased levels of circulating organochlorines, whereas leaner
sedentary and trained persons have a lower plasma concentration of
these compounds.

weightlifter dislocates shoulder

2008-08-17T02:41:00.000-07:00

Watch this & cringe!
http://www.mahalo.com/Janos_Baranyai

Strength or cardio for health

2008-08-10T08:46:00.000-07:00

The argument between high intensity work & aerobics still rages as to which does the best job for weight loss, but here’s a new twist.

If you do duration training or weights which do you think will lower your ‘bad’ cholesterol in the blood? Do you think it will be the duration training, an activity that due to its low intensity causes the burning of fat as its primary fuel source? Or do you believe it will be resistance training, an activity that burns primary carbs as fuel as it is so intense?

OK you know it’s going to be controversial, so I’ll get straight to it:
A study released July 08 entitled “Acute exercise-induced changes in basal VLDL-triglyceride kinetics leading to hypotriglyceridemia manifest more readily after resistance than endurance exercise.” Has the conclusion that while resistance training lowers ‘bad’ cholesterol & speeds up its removal from the blood, duration exercise does virtually nothing to the ‘bad’ cholesterol in the blood...that’s right NOTHING!

I was pretty shocked by this as I honestly expected duration to come out the winner by a mile.

This is only one study & I’d like more done on the subject, but the message has to be considered that maybe, from the point of view of cholesterol control duration isn’t the way to go, while weights & maybe interval work cardio should be considered as doing a better job of lowering ‘bad’ cholesterol.
Of course anyone starting an exercise program with cholesterol issues should consult a medical professional first & for goodness sake start off light & short, then slowly increase duration & intensity of your sessions in the gym as your conditions improve – I’d also consider a dietary overhaul as well if you really want to beat cholesterol back down to healthy levels.

Nutrition talk Brighton UK 28 August

2008-08-06T01:51:00.000-07:00

Here's something everyone interested in nutrition should be coming along to. I've seen Doctor Greger talk before & he's good, using peer-reviewed research to draw conclusions. If you can't get to Brighton, keep an eye for him around your area (or contact him & organise a talk in your local area!). He's well worth hearing!
I've put the details below
Have a good day
Pete
~~~~~
The Latest In Human Nutrition
Learn about the latest cutting-edge nutrition research, focusing on studies published in the last year.
Dr. Greger offers practical advice on how best to feed ourselves and our families to prevent, treat, and even reverse chronic disease.
Thursday, 28 August 2008, 7.30 - 9.30pm
The Brighthelm Centre
North Road, Brighton BN1 1YD
Entry £5.00 includes
wine and tasty super-nutritious snacks
To reserve a place call:
01273 626987 / 07905685765
or email lesley.jeavons@virgin.net
Michael Greger, M.D., is Director of Public Health and Animal Agriculture at The Humane Society of the United States. An internationally recognized lecturer, he has presented at the Conference on World Affairs and the National Institutes of Health, testified before the U.S. Congress, and was invited as an expert witness in defence of Oprah Winfrey at the infamous "beef defamation" trial. Dr. Greger is founding member of the College of Lifestyle Medicine and a graduate of the Cornell University School of Agriculture, where he returned to teach human nutrition, and the Tufts University School of Medicine.

facebook, bebo, myspace

2008-07-18T12:27:00.000-07:00

OK for those of you interested in these sorts of things we've got:

A facebook group - click here (I hope that's right, if not let me know!)

Bebo group - click here

& a myspace page - click here

I've also got a twitter page if you're interested in my daily adventures (well ok I don't have adventures daily, just now & again!) anyway it's here

London Vegan Festival

2008-07-18T11:31:00.000-07:00

We got a downstairs stall for this years London vegan festival so if you can make it we'd love to see you. Although we're not having one of our official contests, we have got a little something different up our sleeves, so I would recommend you practice a little grip work before the show :-)

New research about protein synthesis during training

2008-04-25T03:36:00.000-07:00

Research out this month once again re-enforces the earlier blog post that taking carbs AND protein during training is the best choice.
In the American journal Physiological Endocrinol metabolism 2008, Apr 22 Beelen et al from Maastricht University in the Netherlands conducted studies on the effects of muscle protein synthesis during training while taking either a carb only drink or a carb/protein drink during a 2hr resistance session. They drank every 15 minutes during the training.
The conclusion was that even in a fed state eating protein with carbs stimulated whole-body & muscle protein synthesis rates during resistance type exercise. So, you can grow during training, if you use the right nutritional approach.

Here’s a link to the research on Pubmed

Continuing the low intensity, longer duration Vs HIIT training debate

2008-04-15T05:11:00.000-07:00

Here's a piece I found on Tom Venuto's blog you might want to read just click here
The title of his article is a play on the results & he's not actually implying that lower intensity, longer duration training is actually 5 times more effective, just that you 'could' say that, if you played with the results.

Workout nutrition

2008-04-12T11:45:00.000-07:00

Most of the information for this has come from the books “Power Eating” by Kleiner & “Nutrient Timing” by Ivy & Portman & I recommend everyone who has an interest buy both these books.
Studies have shown that there is a correct way to design your nutrition during training for size & strength as well as post exercise.
I thought we split this into two sections. First I’ll do a bit about nutrition during exercise.
OK, let’s first look at some things that happen when you train with weights (this occurs to varying degrees whether you train purely for strength, size or some combination):

ATP levels decrease
Muscle glycogen is partially depleted
Cortisol levels increase
Insulin levels decrease
Blood flow to muscle is increased
Protein degradation is increased
Muscle damage is increased
Immune system is suppressed
Acute inflammation response is stimulated
Fluid loss is increased

You have 4 main goals that you want to accomplish:
Sparing protein & glycogen
Limit immune suppression
Minimise muscle damage
Pre-preparing the body - so you recover (become anabolic) more quickly after your workout

Let’s look at them one by one

First sparing glycogen & protein:
By sparing glycogen you can workout harder before you deplete stores of glycogen. In one study a glucose based beverage gave an average of about 40% improvement over water while a carb/protein drink gave a massive 57% improvement over water 1

BCCA’s have been shown to be used as a fuel source, thus supplementing will spare muscle mass & one study shows that even adding protein to a carb drink given before training can increase protein synthesis after exercise 2

Cortisol appears to be the main issue when it comes to immune suppression. It would seem that higher levels of cortisol lower the concentration & activity of many immune system components. So, by keeping cortisol low while you train, you lessen the suppression of your immune system. In one study they compared a number of immune system functions & cortisol levels with & without a carbohydrate drink during training 3. Cortisol can increase by as much as five times during exercise, so you do risk immune suppression if you don’t take advantage of this fact

The next point is to reduce muscle damage. Now we all know some muscle damage tends to encourage muscle hypertrophy, but remember all damage must be repaired before any muscle increase can occur. Carbs again lower the biochemical markers of damage & one study showed this was by almost 50% 4
Supplementation with vitamin C, vitamin E & BCAA’s may also minimise muscle damage. One study found that although vitamin C & E didn’t enhance performance, they did decrease the levels of CPK an important indicator of muscle damage 5
So, in effect you’ll be pre-preparing the body for a quicker recovery by doing the above. Now, let’s get onto specifics, how much do you need. The numbers below can only be a guideline as we’re all different. Try it out, but you may find a little more or less of something makes all the difference to your training.
I’d stick with a simple carb have 20-26 grams (my choice is red grapefruit juice, it’s a high glucose fruit with all the extra bonuses you get by consuming fruit).
5-6 grams of protein (soya, pea, or hemp isolate is a good choice here)
1 gram of BCAA’s
30-120mg vit C
20-60 IU of vit E
If you sweat a lot or are doing duration cardio, then I’d also add some electrolytes, but don’t worry normally unless you want to:
100-250 mg sodium
60-100 mg potassium
60-120 mg magnesium
If you find it hard to add the vitamins, you can just have a C & E vitamin pill before training (split the pill & have the rest with you post workout drink – post workout nutrition to follow in a later post)
Sip this drink throughout your workout slowly.

1 Ivy, J.L.,P.T., Sprague, R.C.., et al., “Effect of carbohydrate-protein supplementation on endurance performance during exercise of varying intensity,” International Journal of Sports Nutrition and Exercise metabolism, 13: 388-401, 2003
2 MacLean, D.A., Graham, T.E., and Saltin, B., “Branched-chain amino acids augment ammonia metabolism while attenuating protein breakdown during exercise,” American Journal of Physiology, 267: E1010-1022, 1994
3 Nieman, D.C., “Nutrition, exercise and immune system function,” IN: Clinicals in Sports medicine, Nutrtional Aspects of exercise. Eds. Wheeler, K.B and Lombardo, J.A. Vol. 18, 1999, p 537-538
4 Bishop, N.C.,A.K., Rand, L., et al., “Effects of carbohydrate and fluid intake on blood leukocytes to prolonged cycling,” International Journal of Sports Medicine,17: 26-27, 1999
5 Peters, E.M., Goetzsche, J.M., Grobbelaar, B., et al., “Vitamin C supplementation reduced the incidence of post-race symptoms of upper respiratory tract infection in ultra marathon runners,” American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, 57: 170-174, 1993 Rokitzki, L., Logemann, E., Huber, G., et al., “alpha-Tocopherol supplementation in racing cyclists during extreme endurance training,” International Journal of Sports Nutrition, 4: 253-264, 1994

Soaking brown rice

2008-04-12T09:30:00.000-07:00

I have often soaked nuts & other seeds to increase their overall nutritional profile, but up until now I’ve not really looked into the pre-soaking of rice to improve its nutrition, but it seems I should have taken the time to look into this before as rice like other grains benefit from pre-soaking (rice is a grass).
The way to germinate rice is to first get hold of brown rice (preferably organic if you can), then soak it in a warm environment for 20 hours (although 20 hours is ideal, overnight will still improve the nutritional profile considerably). Using this method studies carried out by the United Nations during the year of rice (2004) found that the rice had a far superior nutritional & amino acid profile than rice that had not been soaked, it also found a much higher level of the GABA in the soaked rice (hence one of its names when sold commercially is GABA rice). 1
Once soaked, rinse & the rice can be cooked as normal.

If you’re into training & not come across GABA before here’s a brief introduction from Bodybuilding.com http://www.bodybuilding.com/store/gaba.html that should give you the basics, but beyond that you get increased vitamin & mineral availability & a better overall amino acid profile, which in itself should encourage you to start planning ahead with you meals & begin soaking rice to get the most from your meals.

By the way if you are storing rice for any time after cooking it is best to cool it rapidly as this discourages Bacillus cereus, bacteria that thrives between 4-60 degrees C & can cause stomach issues.

1 http://www.hatsuga.com/DOMER/english/en/GBRRB.html

The importance of beans

2008-03-28T04:45:00.000-07:00

Beans have been a mainstay of the bodybuilding & strength movement for decades. During the days of Steve Reeves & the muscle beach crowd, Steve & a lot of the muscle men of the time stayed at a boarding house where the demi-vegetarian owner (who ate fish, but mainly vegetarian & allowed no meat in the house) introduced them to the wonders of beans & eating a wholefood diet.

So, you can look good eating beans, but what about strength. Now, Bob Hoffman has a thing or two to say about beans:

“... but the beans we have-elaborate foods such as broiled lobster, caviar, or quail on toast must take a secondary position when these beans are around. And the beans have played an important part in the success of our world’s strongest weight lifting team too...”

Hoffman, Bob. Better Nutrition-for strength & health seeker, Strength & Health Publishing Co. 1940, P. 60

A quick story about Steve Stanko pulling an American record of 345 pounds in the clean & jerk during his first year of competition:

Steve walked over to Bob & said “Bob, if I put 345 pounds overhead, do I get a dinner of some of those beans Gracie makes?” Naturally Bob agreed & so Steve went up & put overhead 17 ½ pounds above his own previous record for a new US record, so that day he got his dinner of beans!

Again from: Hoffman, Bob. Better Nutrition-for strength & health seeker, Strength & Health Publishing Co. 1940, P. 60

So as you can see the old-timers whether training for strength or physique used beans as part of their diet, so you should consider them as well.
As well as cooking with beans you might want to consider sprouting them as a great addition to a salad, they can also be used to make paté or spreads as well as the more traditional stews, soups, chilli or countless other dishes you can add beans to.
You if you want to be “Full of beans”, then get full of beans!

Free Sandow books

2008-03-24T06:28:00.000-07:00

Sandow was the Arnold of his era. The man who brought exercise (physical culture in his day) to the masses.
He was a strongman & did poses in the classic greek style.
I stumbled across a couple of his books (in ebook form) on the net & thought some of you might want to download them as they're free.
You can download them:

Here

&

Here

Simply right click on the icons & "save as" to where ever you prefer on your computer.
I haven't read them myself yet, but hopefully they'll be a good read!

Before & after shots

2008-03-11T06:07:00.000-07:00

You’ve all seen the ‘amazing’ transformations in those adverts. Fat boy into cut man in a couple of weeks. What an amazing product! Look, the proof’s right there with the photos, & we all know pictures never lie...or do they? Have a look at this site where a guy shows you his instant before & after shots...
Click here
Cameras do lie, so do adverts, use some sense, if it really looks too good to be true, then it probably is too good to be true. To get strong & a decent physique is quite slow & takes hard work, sweat & consistency. Unfortunately, basic exercises, hard work & consistency doesn’t really sell in today’s ‘now’ society. Everyday, every meal, every training session is a small pigeon-step towards our goals. After several years you’ll be a new person, either for better or worse the choice is yours...

Slightly more on Interval Vs Duration training

2008-02-29T10:32:00.001-08:00

OK,
I had a few people say how I was ‘against’ interval style training, & I ‘only believed’ in duration style cardio to burn fat. Nothing is further from the truth!
Right I’ll give you some facts about duration training Vs interval style training; also some stuff about strength training Vs aerobic training for fat loss. Then to get a fuller picture we’ll look at the ‘why’s & wherefores’ they may have the results they got & other factors we need to consider.

First off aerobic style training Vs interval training.

There are several studies that show that interval training is equal to or (in some ways) superior to continuous duration aerobic training
~~~
J Sci Med Sport. 2007 Jun 19 [Epub ahead of print] Links
The effects of interval-exercise duration and intensity on oxygen consumption during treadmill running.O'brien BJ, Wibskov J, Knez WL, Paton CD, Harvey JT.
Eur J Appl Physiol. 2007 Oct;101(3):377-83. Epub 2007 Jul 28. Links
~~~~
Improvement of VO2max by cardiac output and oxygen extraction adaptation during intermittent versus continuous endurance training.Daussin FN, Ponsot E, Dufour SP, Lonsdorfer-Wolf E, Doutreleau S, Geny B, Piquard F, Richard R.
CHRU of Strasbourg, Physiology and Functional Explorations Department, Civil Hospital, BP 426, 67091, Strasbourg, France. fredericdaussin@wanadoo.fr

& other studies that show strength training Vs aerobics where strength training appears superior to aerobics:

~~~~
Geliebter A, Mahler MM, Gerace L, Gutin B, Heymsfield SB, Hashim SA.
Effects of strength or aerobics training on body composition, resting metabolic rate, and peak oxygen consumption in obese dieting subjects
Am J clinical nutr. 1997 Sept;66(3):557-63
~~~~
bryner RW, Ullrich IH, Sauers J, Donley D, Hornsby G, Kolar M, yeater R.
Effects of resistance Vs aerobic training combined with an 800 calorie liquid diet on lean body mass and resting metabolic rate.
J Am Coll nutr. 1999 Apr;18(2):115-21

Aerobic group: 4 hours per week
resistance training group: 2-4 sets of 8-15 reps. 10 exercises, three time a week
~~~~

Now, as interval training can be seen as a form of anaerobic exercise would it not appear that interval training is the best way to go in terms of time usage & results?
Well again, it’s not quite so simple. When we’re building a complete training package, we have to cover many factors. One of the most obvious being if we weight train (an anaerobic activity) how will that impact upon recovery if we also include other anaerobic activity (such as interval sprints). The second is every type of training has a specific effect, so interval training increases blood flow to, & from, the skeletal muscle & encourages waste product removal, while longer duration training encourages capillary growth & mitochondria proliferation, also fat storage within the muscle (as fuel-this is not noticeable surface fat, but held deep within the muscle cells near to the mitochondria for quick utilisation) & other physiological factors that can improve health.
If you’re doing a heavy workout program with weights (say 3 or more times a week) & also doing hard interval cardio (3 or more times a week), you are, in effect, doubling the amount of anaerobic recovery you need to do, this could be too much for some athletes. Also you may be missing out on some benefits you get from longer duration aerobic training. Longer duration – lower intensity exercise can be seen as ‘active recovery’ & so actually aid the body heal & repair from intense workouts with weights.
We also have some training 'gurus' out there now touting the idea that duration style aerobic activity doesn't aid in fat loss (or indeed benefit you at all). Anyone who’s spent any time within the bodybuilding scene knows this simply is not true, at least for a trained individual. It may be, that getting from high levels of fat to moderate levels may be more efficient using interval alone, verses aerobics alone, but I’m not sure there has even been studies of weight training, plus interval & ancillary training Vs weight training, plus aerobic & ancillary training, but that is the system that appears to work for most bodybuilders (whose primary goal is holding on to maximum muscle mass, while cutting maximum body fat). My observation has been that combinations of training approaches is superior to either all aerobic or all anaerobic & stating that aerobics is inferior is incorrect. It functions differently to interval style training & may not cause the same increase in EPOC (excess post-exercise oxygen consumption), but has many advantageous benefits that should not be overlooked in the rush to embrace interval training as ‘the answer’ to cardiovascular health & fat loss.

So, as you can see program design needs a little thought to avoid overdoing any one style of training & impeding recovery.
Next time we’ll look at the options for building a program using weights, interval & duration training. We’ll also follow on by looking at flexibility & mobility, their differences & how we can include those into our training in later posts.

Interval Vs duration cardio-Is it so obvious?

2008-02-10T10:18:00.000-08:00

Recently there has been a growth in interval cardio, with statements like “It melts fat”, “Just look at sprinters, compared to distance runners”. These have encouraged many people to move away from traditional cardio & to try out HIIT (High Intensity Interval Training) protocols in the hope of burning fat more quickly & in less time.
First I’d like to say I’m not saying that HIIT style training won’t burn fat, it’s just some of the observations used to reach those conclusions are, when you think about it, obviously faulty.
Let’s start with the usual statement “Just look at sprinters, compared to distance runners”. When you look at runners, yes sprinters look ‘jacked’, while the distance people looked thin, but why is that? First of all think about what you need to be a sprinter, & what you need to be a distance runner.

A sprinter: High power to weight ratio. This means that they need to generate a huge amount of power quickly, while carrying as little weight as possible. This means ectomorphs (the naturally thin) won’t have enough muscle to generate enough power, & endomorphs (naturally fatter) will be carrying too much weight, so the successful sprinter will naturally tend to be a mesomorph (naturally fairly low in fat, but with good muscular development), so we have a naturally strong, low fat looking person tending towards being the most successful in the sport of sprinting.

A Distance runner: Low weight is the priority here. Power is a secondary concern; you need to carry as little as you can, so your energy can be saved. You just need enough muscle to keep a steady pumping of the legs, anything else is wasted muscle & just extra weight to drag around the course. Here the ectomorph has an advantage over both the endomorph & mesomorph. So, naturally they would have a thinner build than a sprinter.

“But,” you’ll say “sprinters upper bodies are great too! All big & pretty well defined”. Yes & why is that? Because they do weights! & as mesomorphs muscle comes easily without too much fat, so in no time they get that ‘jacked’ look. If an ectomorph did exactly the same, would the results be the same? I doubt it, they’d need a different dietary & training routine to achieve a similar look (or as near as they could get).

Don’t believe me, well here’s a couple of pictures of guys doing 100 yard dash from the early 20th century, when they thought weight training would slow them down, these guys still ran what would be considered pretty fast times, but note the lack of upper body development compared to today’s sprint athletes. The added muscle mass of today’s athletes allows greater acceleration & top speeds, so outweighs the added mass they carry.

It may well be that HIIT will work for you as a fat burning tool, infact I do recommend that both interval & duration cardio are worked regularly, so you cover all the bases in your training. But, bear in mind a lot of what is said about HIIT is actually hype & if duration is your preference, then you will get results (as has been shown by gyms all over the world), HIIT is just another tool in your training box, not ‘the answer’ to your fat burning, cardio health goals.

I think he was pretending to be an iron head :-)

2008-02-05T08:48:00.000-08:00

I shouldn't have to say this, but being an iron head is a 'term', not a fact!

http://view.break.com/341024 - Watch more free videos

Individual form

2008-02-03T10:28:00.000-08:00

Suppose you had the best squatter in the world turned up at your gym. Suppose you could imitate exactly his form & little techniques. Do you suppose it would make you the best squatter you could be by doing that...well no it wouldn’t, unless you had the same tendon attachments, skeletal structure, and muscular strengths that guy had. It’s likely you’ll have to lift slightly different to everyone else (even Mr Perfect squat!).
There is no such thing as textbook perfect form, there is perfect form FOR YOU, but that could be very different to the way others do it. When training you must learn ‘body awareness’, never do something that feels wrong or causes pain, even if it’s a picture perfect rep, just because the movement is perfect doesn’t mean it’s perfect for you. Now I’m not saying you shouldn’t try & incorporate tips & techniques from others, as that’s how you learn, but introduce them intelligently. Start light & if it feels wrong, then drop it & find another way, or another exercise that does a similar job. There are 1001 ways to reach your goal & your best way is unique, so go & begin the search for the perfect way for you to reach your goals.

Robbie Hazeley's new blog

2008-02-02T02:06:00.000-08:00

Yet another VBB blog to appear is Robbie's new Battlezone training blog.
For his those lucky enough to have got his old B/Z emails, this will follow a similar format, with pictures, training, bits about diet & related stuff.
Go check it out at robbie hazeley's battlezone training

Early bird workouts & the spine

2008-01-30T00:26:00.000-08:00

During the night the gaps between the vertebrae expands & fills with fluid. This process, called ‘hydration’, is reversed when we wake up.
If you are one of those that exercise in the morning, it would be wise to bear in mind that it takes 45mins-1hour for the spine to dehydrate, & before that it is slightly less stable & prone to injury, so jumping out of bed & hitting a heavy set of squats or overhead pressing may not be the best idea you’ve had! Some light stretching could be done in that time, but much else is increasing the risk of injury.
If you are an early bird trainer, making the effort to arise just that little bit earlier to allow dehydration to occur in the spine could mean the difference between a consistent training routine & a visit to the chiropractor.
I would also recommend a decent stretching routine to keep the back 100%. I recommend you try out Lou's self help DVD's here as before you even buy anything you can actually phone the guy & get his personal help with any problems, THEN decide if you'd like to purchase his DVD's to help with any other problems or to pre-hab your body to prevent injury in the first place!

Meat out 2008

2008-01-29T04:56:00.000-08:00

Here's a quick link for those wanting an excuse to give up meat in 2008.

George Hackenschmidt - The way to live

2008-01-28T06:01:00.000-08:00

George Hackenschmidt was one of the most famous wrestlers of the early 20th Century. He was strong, muscular & virtually unstoppable in the ring. He was also a great thinker & philosopher. His book the way to live is, even now, a very good read & excellent starting place for anyone seeking to physically better themselves.

Read this classic book for free here

Welcome

2008-01-28T05:57:00.000-08:00

Hi,
Welcome to the new Vegan Bodybuilding blog. In this blog we’ll be having bits about what to eat, training, fitness & other things both old & new related to physically improving yourself. We’ll be adding video in few weeks, both interviews with the cream of vegan strength & athletics, through to people who’ve made changes to lose weight & overcome illness, we’ll also have training clips, routines & guides. We’ll also lead you to interesting training sites that although not vegan run, may have something to offer. Feel free to comment on the site or if you prefer a more private word, then use the “Feedback” button at the bottom of the page to email us directly.
Have fun...