Vegan Weight Training Blog

When I started cutting back in May I weighed 164 pounds, and when I stopped in August I weighed 159. Now I’m at my heaviest so far, 165 pounds. I could be putting on weight faster if I ate more, but I’ve been slacking. I’m getting better about preparing huge batches of food and refrigerating them for later, though, which is the best strategy I can think of. It’s not eating that is a hassle, it’s cooking. And it’s really not the cooking, it’s the time that cooking takes up.

I had an excellent day in the gym today. A few weeks ago I switched to the dumbbell bench press because my barbell bench press was about to exceed my squat. I was trying to bench press a couple of 85-pound barbells for a set of 5 reps today, but I dropped them on my first attempt and couldn’t get them up on my second. But my third attempt went well, and I completed all 5 reps with some very intense effort. That’s a new record for me. I also squatted 230 for 5 reps today without failing once, although I did have to rack the weight and rest for a few seconds after a couple of reps.

I deadlifted 315 pounds for 5 reps today, which was a milestone for me. I wasn’t even sure I could get that much weight off the ground, but the first rep was surprisingly easy. It was one of those times when your form is perfectly solid, you’re feeling calm and relaxed yet focused, and you just do it. My amazement at pulling it off so easily kind of "broke the spell", and so the next four reps were a little more difficult. But I didn’t stall once and my form stayed fine.

I was very sore from Monday’s squats, (since it was my first day back in the gym after a week off) and so I had been considering not doing my regular workout. Before I went to the gym I even wrote down an alternate workout to do in case I was still feeling too sore after my warmup. But I did the scheduled squats even though they hurt, and moved on to complete the presses, deadlifts, and isolation exercises.

I was shooting for a set of 5 squats at 225 pounds today, but I could only complete a single rep. I tried and failed two more times, then I lowered the weight to 220,but I only completed 2 reps at that weight before failing again. I tried to bench press a couple of 85 pound dumbbells and failed to complete a single rep. Then I failed to complete a single rep at 80. I’ve done a full set of squats at 220 and a full set of dumbbell bench presses at 80 before, which was the most aggravating part.

I’ve noticed that the weather has an effect on my mood and my performance. The wind comes in before a rainstorm, the barometric pressure changes, the day becomes muggy and overcast, and I become psychologically depressed and physically weak. That’s what happened today. I remember one day like this when my normal everyday cardio session felt literally twice as hard as usual–and the only difference was the weather. Drops of sweat were rolling down my arms and off my elbows, leaving spots all over the floor on either side of the elliptical machine, which never happens.

I was also disheartened to see that my body weight has dropped by a pound when I was sure it would have increased after a week off from the gym and a bit of extra eating.

This past week has been depressing. I got a light cold on Monday, broke up with my girlfriend on Wednesday, and got stuck at a bad party in the suburbs all evening Saturday with no vegan food and no transportation out of there. All of that negativity is wreaking havoc on my system, making me weak and lethargic. But I tend to take very good care of myself, so I’m sure I’ll spring back.

I’m glad tomorrow is a cardio day. I do the max difficulty setting on the elliptical machine for 45 minutes on the "fat burner" setting, but it’s still easier than my weight training days.