Vegan Weight Training Blog

I had a couple of teeth pulled today. I’m going to be on Percocet and Amoxicillin for a while, so I think I’m going to take it easy at the gym until I’m all healed up. Maybe I’ll do some cardio after a few days. I just don’t want to tax my system too much right now.

After pulling my right quad a couple times during HIIT, I’ve started stretching between sets. I did 8 sets today, and my quads are doing just fine. I started with a set at 50% effort, then one at 75%, then the final 6 at 100%, all with stretching in between. On a side note, HIIT absolutely kills me. I couldn’t have done another set.

I take one week off every six weeks, and my latest break just ended with me going back to the gym today. I did no exercise last week, and ate as much carbs and sugar as I felt like. I found this delicious vegan chili pepper and cinnamon dark chocolate candy bar at World Market that blows away every other candy bar I’ve tried from there–and they’ve got a great selection.

All in all, I didn’t go too crazy. I had 6 beers, 1 hard lemonade, 3 meals with white rice, 2 meals with pasta, a couple slices of white bread, 2 candy bars, a bag of ginger snap cookies, a bag of licorice, some caramel corn, some waffles with real maple syrup, an iced mocha, and honey instead of stevia in my morning oats and nightly tea.  Even though having that much bad stuff in a week feels like a binge to me, I’m sure most people do much worse in their normal diet–especially considering the amount of sugary carbonated beverages they drink. Even on a break, I still can’t bring myself to drink pop, because that stuff is poison.

It’s fun to be lazy and to eat sweets, but by the end of the week I had zits on my chin and I was mildly depressed. I felt so much better after hitting the gym today. I set a personal best on the deadlift: 290 pounds for 5 reps. The first 3 reps were smooth, the 4th killed me, and the 5th was pure willpower. My form stayed good throughout–no rounding of my back at all. Pulling your shoulders back before you start the motion really helps.

Next break: Saturday, July 28th.

I’ve been taking breaks more often to avoid overtraining, and it’s paying off. I’ve had sick people around me for a week and I haven’t gotten so much as a scratchy throat or a sniffle. Six weeks on/one week off is a good schedule for me. My next week-long break is coming up soon: June 9th. I don’t drink alcohol at all except during these breaks, so that’s something to look forward to.

I’m going to completely eliminate added sugars from my diet for the next two months. No honey in my oats or green tea, and no cheat foods like cookies. (During my 6-weeks-on phase, not during my 1-week-off.) After reducing my carb intake, upping my protein intake, switching to empty-stomach morning cardio, and adding HIIT on Saturdays I’m seeing a bit more definition in my abs, but I haven’t made as much progress as I’d like to–and it’s been 30 days. So I’m going to cut out added sugar. I also think I need to increase my monounsaturated and polyunsaturated fat intake. If possible I will get some Water4Life vegan DHA/EPA, but that stuff is pretty expensive. I’d like to try out Eurycoma longifolia (aka Tongkat Ali or Pasak Bumi) for its testosterone-boosting effects as well. Oh, and I don’t think I’ve been getting as much leafy greens as I should. I sometimes make this nasty-tasting spinach/collard greens/kale smoothie that I just know is great for me, but I dread drinking it so I haven’t been making it as often as I used to.

Ok, I thought I just pulled that right quad muscle two weeks ago because HIIT was new to me, but maybe I should start stretching or do a more complete warmup, because after a week off of HIIT I’ve pulled it again.