Hello all,
Regarding pheros i admittedly don’t have a wealth of knowledge… but regarding diet and exercise i know a thing or two. I don’t claim to know it all but it is a field I invest a lot of my time into.
If anyone on the board has any questions about weight training products… diet pills, diets, or lifting/cardio regimens… i’m more than willing to give my 2 cents…
I know im not the only one of the board who has a passion for fitness im sure but i’m offering any help i can give for those who seek it
a brief backround of me: I’m a 24 y/o male roughly 215lbs now - 6’1" I’ve been training for about 6 years. started my journey at 175lbs heh… tall and skinny I generally don’t go above 12% bf and do dip into 10% and below depending on the circumstance…
anyways… like i said - i’m only here to help those who want it Don’t be affraid to PM me - i’ll keep all info confidential if you’d like. please bare with me… i can only get on the internet once a day… roughly in the afternoon.
Thanks all! good luck with your fitness pursuits!
~Haz~
i’ll try and answer all questions and PM timely… if my computer was working i’d be here 8 hours a day at home ahahaha - don’t thik the wife would enjoy that one too much!
My pecs always seems to be a really difficult place for me to develop any real mass, so do you know of any good pectoral exercises, particularly ones using free weights?
In addition would you be able to recommend to me any resources that would help me to develop a good vegetarian weight gaining diet plan?
Sorry for dumb question, but can you have egg white or whey (milk) based protein? If not i would say that wheat or bread should be best. And no soy never, worst protein for guys i think
Well it depends on the type of vegetarian you are, I’m personally what they call a “Lacto-ovo” which means I do indeed have dairy products. I usually start my day off with a whey protein shake containing about 50 grams a protein per glass, and I have my fair share of wheat, bread, and yes soy protein (yeah I know it’s bad for guys but as a vegetarian my protein sources are somewhat limited.) But unfortunately I really can’t stomach eggs, it’s not so much a moral thing as much as a taste thing… they just taste disgusting to me.
Mix the fact that I’m a vegetarian and the fact that I’ve got an extremely high metabolism makes me what they would call a hard gainer. The good news is that since I added whey protein into my diet and I started working out at least 2-3 times a week I have put on a good 30 pounds of muscle weight. Which puts me at a toned and healthy 180 pounds… but I don’t exactly look ripped if you know what I mean.
at I mean.
i had problems developing my chest also… i’m still trying to develope my upper chest something fierce… i was using a barbell for a while and recently switched to dumbells. the key here is to switch up your excercises every few weeks to keep hitting the muscle a different way. I set my bench at different angles for my incline from week to week. Also sometimes i will lighten the weight up and do more reps and really feel that burn… other time i will increase the weight and do less reps.
my 2 favorite excecises for my chest are incline dumbell bench press and fly’s. i also do my flys at different angles from week to week.
as far as diet goes… i’m not too familiar with the vegan diets however peanuts are a good source of protein and contain good fats that benefit you HDL (good cholesterol) - Do you include egg whites in your “do not eat” list? if not - they will be your best source of protein… and you can eat a friggan dozen at a time ahaha. I would say your main sources of protein will come from nuts and protein powders. A quick search online will probably yield some good bodybuilding diets for vegans… you can find ANYTHING on google these days Infact: i just ran one and an article came up on Bodybuilding.com - The Future Of Bodybuilding! Huge Bodybuilding Site. - here is the direct link Bodybuilding.com - Mike Mahler - Getting Big & Strong On A Vegan Diet!
lastly… what i’ve been doing lately - is doing my chest on mondays and about 3-4 days later… doing 3 sets of pushups. I’m not over-working my chest but im still giving the pecs some extra stimulation later in the week!
good luck with your training! keep us posted on how your doing!
also… you need to switch up your excercises. Keeping the muscles guessing is important. You need to hit them different ways and at different angles. Adjust the angle of the bench… adjust your weights/reps. some days go heavier weight than normal… but lower the reps. other times lighten it up a tad and do more reps and feel the burn.
my favorite excercises and incline dumbell press and flys - both are great for your chest - and the incline dumbell press will build your upper chest which is what makes your chest look bigger
Wow that link was exactly what I’ve been looking for.
Your suggestion about mixing it up seemed particularly valid because I’ve been known to find myself in repetitive ruts with my work outs, so I’ve totally gotta keep that one in mind.
Okay here’s another question for ya, the link you provided about vegan bodybuilding diets suggests something called “rice protein powder” now is it useful to mix up your supplements, for example one week whey protein, and another week rice protein. Or should you just stick to one protein supplement source?
I got the same problem with the “Hard Gainer” - Worked my ass of at the gym going every other day (almost without missing) for 6 months - protein shakes during each workout (brought the protein in my gym bag, mixed with the water I drank during the workout) - and tried to keep a fairly high calorie/carb/protein diet
In the six months I only managed to gain about 15 lbs (went from 130 to 145 lbs) - I did however get significant gains in the amount of weight I could lift - about 50% increase on the bench press, 100% increase in shoulder exercises, 80% increase in arm exercises, 50-80% increase in back exercises - generally speaking… depended on the actual exercise as well.
I’m one of those unlucky f#$%#ers who has the space at the bottom between my pecs that kinda goes in - any exercises you guys know which help grow the muscle to hide that?
Yes I have that my self…It was quite deep when I was younger.
It was embarrassing the most when I was youngest too..
My mother always told me it would make me stronger if I decided to work it out, telling me the only way to deal with it is to work out.
Well Mom was correct it has actually flattened out now, as my chest expands from working out.. My massive rock hard throbbing muscles are pulling and stretching that former pit from a quarry to a river.
Any chest expanding exercise is going to do it.
Butterfly’s, Around the World, close, mid, and long grip bench press… Push ups! Overheads..etc
Oh and to just to also clarify. Use weight! not machines…
Some machines aint too bad, however most are just making you think you are doing more then you are…
However you need to give your muscles the terror of real weights.. be it flesh or steel.
I don’t know all too much about rice protein. I’ve never used it… i would suspect it’s a different type of protein and that you could use them together at times… if i was trying to bulk up - i would use both… if i was going to maintain i’d go for the rice protein. Let me do some research on it and see what i can find… like i said… i’m not very familiar with the vegan diet’s but i will do some digging and see what i can find.
I generally don’t go above 12% bf and do dip into 10% and below depending on the circumstance…
Don’t be affraid to PM me - i’ll keep all info confidential if you’d like. please bare with me… i can only get on the internet once a day… roughly in the afternoon.