Vegan Weight Training Blog

Everyone around me has been sick for weeks. I felt a tingle in my nose this weekend, so I’m taking this week off of weight training so that I don’t become sick. My next break has been rescheduled for the week of November 10th.

Yesterday I squatted 220 pounds for 5 reps without failing, although I had to rack the weight a couple of times to rest for a few seconds in between reps. As far as weight goes, 220 is not a whole lot. But psychologically it’s a milestone because those two 45-pound plates on either side of the bar are kind of intimidating.

Compared to the other people at the rec center, I’m doing very well. In the year that I’ve been going there, I’ve seen less than 15 people doing barbell squats. (The smith machine doesn’t count.) Of those 15 people, less than 5 were squatting with good form. And of those people, there’s only one guy who I’ve seen putting up as much weight as me. (Actually he does a whole lot more, because he’s a powerlifter who has been training for many years.) Among the people I’ve seen squatting, there are only a couple of guys who do it regularly. Even the powerlifter guy doesn’t squat on a regular basis–he mostly does upper-body stuff. So I am the only person I know of at my gym who squats on a regular basis with correct form.

I’ve been following the "5 sets of 12 reps at 65% to 80% of 1RM with less than 45 seconds rest between sets" formula for hypertrophy with a few selected isolation exercises over the past couple of weeks. This scheme is giving me the "pump" that you always hear bodybuilders talk about. I thought it was supposed to be a pleasant feeling, but I’ve gotta say I’m not a fan. It makes my muscles look bigger in the gym mirrors, but it also makes me feel like the mobility of my limbs is uncomfortably restricted.

I’ll continue to include pump-inducing exercises in my regimen because I do want to get a bit bigger in certain areas. However, if that’s the way you have to train to be a bodybuilder, I don’t think I’m a bodybuilder at heart. I want to look good and get big, but I am more interested in becoming strong. So I guess I’m more of a powerlifter. I want to be able to lift a lot of weight, naturally, without damaging my body or becoming grotesque in appearance–whether through too large muscles or too much fat.

I was really inspired recently when I came across a video of Naim Süleymanoglu’s gold-winning performance of the clean and jerk at the 1988 Olympics. He was in the zone, operating on pure willpower, with total confidence. That’s the way I want to lift. On top of that, he was neither musclebound in appearance like many bodybuilders nor overweight like many powerlifters. His body looked fit, balanced, and healthy. I might be wrong, but I got the sense he was drug-free.

My left knee started hurting after Wednesday’s workout. It freaked me out because I couldn’t identify the cause. There was absolutely nothing unusual about that day’s workout that I could recall. I didn’t notice any pain until I sat down and drank my post-workout smoothie. When I got up, I felt pressure and pain. The upper exterior part of the kneecap hurt, which made me think I must have banged it against something. But there was no bruise.

The pain was the worst when my knee was bent all the way. I put some ice on it a couple of times over the next few days, and skipped Thursday’s cardio. I also took today’s Squats off the schedule. But after warming up at the gym and doing some Bench Presses and Pendlay Rows, I noticed that all the sudden the knee didn’t hurt. So I did a few light squats. Now my knee no longer hurts when I move it, although it still hurts a little when I touch the top of the kneecap. So I’m going to do those heavy squats tomorrow.

I was really disappointed when I thought this might knock me back a week, so it’s a relief to see that it won’t. I was just about to squat 220 for the first time. That’s not a lot compared to most people, but it’s a lot for me. Seeing both plates up there on each side of the barbell is a nice accomplishment I’m looking forward to.

"Muscular hypertrophy is produced by using higher reps, 8 to 12 RM (65 to 80% 1RM) or more, of the specific exercise."

"It is accepted among many bodybuilders that repeatedly performing five sets of twelve reps of an exercise with minimal rest between sets is optimal for producing muscle hypertrophy."

"[If] muscle hypertrophy is the only concern, rests of 45 seconds or less are best."

-Mark Rippetoe, Practical Programming

I’ve scheduled a number of isolation exercises into my routine. I’m doing them at the end of each workout, after completing the major "structural" lifts such as squats and deadlifts, which I’m still doing according to the Bill Star 5×5 model. The purpose for the additional exercises is mostly aesthetics. According to the quotes above, it  sounds like I should be doing 5 sets of 12 reps at 65 to 80% of my 1RM on these exercises. But how should the weight be ramped, if at all? Should I start at 65 percent and increase the weight with every set until I get to 80%? For instance, if my 1RM is 200 pounds, should steadily ramp up the weight from 130 to 160? That’s not much of a range. Or should I split the difference and do sets across at 75%? For now, my plan is to do all 5 sets across–that is, at the same weight. I will do the maximum weight I can do while still completing all 5 sets. Depending on the exercise, I may or may not include warmup sets.

As of August 27th I’m back on the Bill Star Intermediate 5×5 lifting program. Abandoning that program in order to do (almost) nothing but isolation exercises for a few months was a mistake, but I learned from it and I don’t regret having made it. Like I’ve said from the beginning, I have the rest of my life to lift weights. As long as my mistakes are in the area of efficiency and not safety, I am fine.

My next week-long break will come after 6 weeks of  training, on October 7th. I think this is a rather short schedule to be on compared to most people’s, but last winter I discovered I had to include such frequent breaks in order to prevent illness. Maybe during the summer I can train longer without becoming sick, but I don’t feel like trying it.

I will continue on the intermediate 5×5 until I plateau, at which point I will switch to the advanced 5×5. I have added the Press to my regimen, and once I get my form down on that exercise I will learn and add the Power Clean. Both of those exercises come from the book Starting Strength, which I recently finished reading. I’ve been thinking about going to a local powerlifting gym and paying for a few sessions with a strength coach in order to get some feedback and instruction on my form. The Power Clean is especially intimidating to me, and I would like to be sure I do it correctly.

I’m adding in a very limited number of exercises to the 5×5 program in order to affect the areas of my body which I think need more attention. On Mondays I’m adding a single ab excise, and a series of neck exercises. (And the Power Clean, once I learn it.) On Wednesdays I’m adding weighted pull-ups, calf raises, and shrugs. On Fridays I’m adding a single tricep exercise, a single bicep exercise, weighted dips, and a series of wrist exercises. I need to buy a dip belt in order to perform the weighted dips and pullups, but for now I am using only my body weight.

Once I buy a dip belt I will follow for dips and pull-ups the same sets/reps/progression scheme prescribed for the Incline Bench Press in the intermediate 5×5 spreadsheet. This means 5 sets of 5 reps, once a week. I don’t know if it’s advisable to use a different scheme for the isolation exercises, but because I am doing those exercises purely for aesthetic purposes, I will try a sets/reps scheme designed for maximum hypertrophy. According to Starting Strength, "repeatedly performing five sets of twelve reps of an exercise with minimal rest between sets is optimal for producing muscle hypertrophy." I just need to figure out how to optimally ramp the weight with such sets.