Vegan Weight Training Blog

I’ve increased the difficulty level to Fat Burner level 13 on the elliptical machine. I use the "hardest" machine at the gym. Some are easier at the exact same level than others, but this one’s the toughest. I do 45 minutes, and according to the readout I burn about 630 calories, travel almost 5 miles, and my average heart rate is about 170.

I pulled my left quad doing High Intensity Interval Training today. I’m up to six sets.(A set is 60 seconds of jogging followed by 30 seconds of sprinting.) I add another set every Saturday.

Well I am really, really happy with this program. I want to keep going with it, but I think I’d like to do some intense 3×8 isolation work for a while first, in order to bulk up some areas where I think I need mass for a better appearance. In order of importance, I want to concentrate on these muslces: abs, lats, neck, triceps, pecs, traps, shoulders, wrists, and calves. After I take my progress shots on July 20th I will reset the 5×5 spreadsheet and dive into it once again. I will then either stick with it until I plateau or until I want to cut/isolate again.

I did some internal and external cable rotations on Monday and now my elbows hurt a little again.

I’m adding High Intensity Interval Training to my program on Saturdays. One minute of jogging followed by 30 seconds of sprinting constitutes a set. I’m starting today with a set of four, and every Saturday after this I’ll add another set. I’m also going to do my Tuesday/Thursday cardio on an empty stomach from now on, to better cut fat. It seemed like the intuitive thing to do, and that’s how I used to do it, but I got paranoid once I started to really add muscle and weight. I didn’t want to cannibalize muscle by doing cardio with no food. However, I’ve been told this isn’t a danger. I’m doing all this because I want to cut some fat from my body so my abs are more defined. I’m cutting out white bread, white rice, and pasta, and greatly reducing carbs wherever I can. Also increasing fat and protein intake.

I’m upping my 45 minutes on the elliptical to Fat Burner level 12. Still doing Tuesdays and Thursdays.