People say that you can’t burn fat or increase muscle mass or be a great athlete as a vegetarian. This is not true. I’ve been a vegetarian all my life, and the thing that’s held me back from making progress isn’t a vegetarian diet, but instead the types of foods I eat. If your diet isn’t clean, then it doesn’t matter if you eat meat, or you don’t eat meat, you won’t make any progress in your fitness endeavors.

This artice isn’t about which lifestlye is better. It’s about shedding some light on the whole vegetarian issue and providing our side of the equation.

Myth #1: It’s difficult for a Vegetarian to get protein

When I made the effort, I was able to take in about 170 grams of protein, which is close to the bodybuilding recommended intakes of protein (1 gram per pound of bodyweight). I’m still unsure if this is the optimal intake necessary. I personally think it depends on your activity level. Hence, if you’re just a guy who goes to the gym 3 days a week or if you don’t work out at all, your recommended dietary intake of protein will be much lower. But lets stick to this 1 gram per pound of bodyweight equation. How do vegetarians get protein?

There are numerous foods that have ample sources of protein. The following are my top ten sources of protein:

1. Peanut Butter
2. Almonds
3. Veggie Burgers
4. Cottage Cheese
5. Soybeans
6. Milk
7. Tofu
8. Kidney Beans
9. Protien Powders
10. Protien Bars

I usually consume some almonds after each meal. One protein bar, some milk with protein powder, and cottage cheese snack pack are staples I consume throughout the day. If you plan ahead, you’ll be surprised at how quickly it is to increase your protein intake.

After doing my own research I came across some other protein intake recommendations. The most common of which was .8 grams of protein per kilogram bodyweight. For me, that’s an intake of 72 grams of protein. No wonder my strength shot up once I ate 170 grams.

Myth #2: Vegetarians don’t get enough calcium

This is as ridiculous as not being able to get enough protein. Milk is a good source of calcium for vegetarians. But even if you don’t drink milk if you follow a varied diet with a good number of calories, you’ll be able to get almost every single vitamin and mineral and macronutrient you need out there. Like I said earlier, all it takes is a little bit of planning, experimentation, and research.

Some of the high-protien foods that you already consume such as tofu and soybeans have ample amounts of calcium to help meet your dietary needs. Tofu has about 683 miligrams of calcium per 100 gram with about 15 grams of protein.

The recommended level of calcium for adults is 1000 mg per day. A slightly higher intake is recommended for adults above the age of fifty. You see lots of cases of ostoperosis in this age category. This has nothing to do with vegetarianism. Simply stated, if you don’t meet the minimum requirements, you’ll see problems in the future.

Myth #3: Vegetarians are skinny. There’s no way you can get big and strong with a vegetarian diet.

Just because the majority of Indians in Ahmedabad are stick-figures does not mean that vegetarians are skinny. Sorry, that was a personal rant. The point is that both vegetarians and non-vegetarians are skinny. Being skinny or weak has nothing to do with being a vegetarian. It has to do with caloric intake. If you have a positive caloric deficit (eat more than you burn), you’ll be able to build lean muscle mass, get stronger, and have more energy throughout the day.

Robert Cheeke is a really good example of vegan bodybuilder who has been able to build up some nice lean muscle mass and maintain it. At 14 years old, he was only 89 pounds (my sister’s 13 and 114lbs). He began lifting immediately and bulked up to 133lbs at 17 years old. Using bodybuilding methods of meal frequency, and increased protein and carb intake, he packed on 19 lbs in 12 weeks through the Body-For-Life program. He’s been a competitive bodybuilder and fitness author ever since.

The point is that Robert Cheeke was a skinny kid who packed on close to 100 lbs of muscle in five years because he did things right and he was motivated. Putting on muscle has nothing to do with your lifestlye. It has to do with vitamins, minerals, macronutrients, caloric intake, and hard training.

I’m going to stop right here. Almost every other Vegetarian Myth out there can be summarized by what I’ve written above. Let’s forget about the argument about which lifestyle is better. Choose your own lifestlye, do your own research, and make your own rules.

Live With Intensity!

6 rounds of:

• 5 reps Narrow Supinated Grip Chin-ups
• 10 reps Pushups
• 10 reps One-arm KB Squat Thrust
• 12 reps Lateral Lunges
• 12 reps Sit-ups

The one-arm KB Squat Thrust proved to be extremely difficult. Here’s how you do them: hold a kettlebell in one hand, drop down into push-up position, and perform a pushup with one hand on the ground and the other wrapped around the kettlebell. Now pull-in your legs and stand up. It’ basically squat thrust with one hand wrapped around the kettlebell handle. The kettlebell also puts some extra stress on your hips as you stand up. I want to steadily transition to doing these with one hand. Overall, the workout was great. Time was 46:43.28, a little longer than I’d expected, but intense.

Check out the puhups and chin-ups videos. I will have to do a video for the one-arm KB Squat thrust, as I couldn’t find anyone who did them that way. The sit-up links out to a seal doing a situp. Pretty funny. And finally, I went much deeper on the lateral lunges. That’s another video I’ll have to make.

For some reason, I’ve caught the bodyweight bug again. Try these other intense workout: Bodyweight Exercise Routines

Now we are at a point of paradigm shift. A higher frequency begets greater muscle mass. Training your body in one session is also more efficient because:

• Your body was meant to operate as one piece
• It’ll save you trips to the gym if you get more work done in one session
• You won’t have to worry if you missed a “chest” or “shoulder” day.

Try the following workout three days a week:

Flat Bench Press 5×5

Barbell Squats 5×5

Barbell Shoulder Press 5×5

Bent-over Barbell Rows 5×5

With this workout, you’ll be training each major muscle group 3 times a week, as opposed to once a week. By increasing the weight that you use on each exercise, you’ll be able to hit the muscle groups with greater intensity.

Ways to make it faster:

• Don’t superset, but instead alternate between two workouts. For example, perform a set of Bench Press, rest 1 minute, then do a set of squats, rest 1 minute, then go back to bench press. You’ll be able to lift more because you’ll have 2 total minute of rest between each muscle group, while keeping your heart rate high.
• Use the other principles in your workout, including timing your workouts, and steadily decreasing the rest between each set.

If you notice the workout plan that I prescribed, all the workouts involve free-weight exercises. There are two reasons why you should use free-weight exercises:

• They are often the least-used in health clubs, as opposed to machines and cables, hence you’ll save time.
• Machines limit your range of motion and do half the workout for you. Machines were conceived for rehab use, and are good for senior citizens or extremely out of shape trainees. If you’re a guy, stick to the iron.

If you’re using machines as part of your training program, see if there are any bodyweight, free-weight, or cable alternatives you can use to get the job done faster.

The normal range for rest in a typical workout is 2 minutes. If you’ve been training consistently with the previous four principles, it’s now time to take a look at how much you’ve been resting between each set. The idea is to gradually decrease your workouts. The following is a 7-week plan to get your 2-minute rest period down to 30 seconds:

Week One - 120 seconds
Week Two: - 105 seconds
Week Three: - 90 seconds
Week Four - 75 seconds
Week Five - 60 seconds
Week Six - 45 seconds
Week Seven - 30 seconds

• If you feel as though you’re getting too tired during your workouts, or if your form is going bad, then correct the issues before decreasing your rest periods further.

Try this system and get back to me.

Intensity is as much a product of how one organizes their workouts as it is a mind-set. I’ve realized that my workouts are much more intense when they are planned to be short as opposed to being long. You can only do two things, workout for a long time, or workout at a high intensity. There is no way you can go for long at a high intensity.

Just as a sprinter will lose speed after a certain distance, you will lose breath, control, and form after a certain amount of time. The key is to design workouts which are short in nature and are timed against the clock. Competition often yields the best results. Think of the stopwatch as an enemy you must conquer and as a foe you must defeat.

Have you been putting all your effort into your workouts? Post your thoughts to comments.

The idea is to move faster within your workout. Supersets have been used for years to enhance the intensity of their workouts. Here’s how I would use them in our sample program:

Day One: Chest

Flat Bench Press 5×5
Superset:
Incline Flies 4×8
Barbell Curl 4×8

Day Two: Legs

Barbell Squats 5×5
Dumbbell Lunge 4×8

Day Three: Shoulders & Triceps

Barbell Shoulder Press 5×5
Superset:
Standing Side Raises 4×8
Lying Triceps Extension 4×8

Day Four: Back

Bent-over Barbell Rows 5×5
Superset:
Bent-over One-arm Dumbbell Rows 4×8
Lying Rear Delt Raises 4×8

Definitions:

Superset – Two exercises performed one right after each other without any rest. You may rest only after both exercises are completed, and then repeat the superset for the desired amount of sets.

Tri-set – Three exercises performed one right after each other without any rest. You may rest only after all exercises are completed, then repeat the tri-set for the desired amount of sets.

Circuit – Four or more exercises performed one right after each other without any rest. You may rest only after all exercises are completed, then repeat the circuit for the desired amount of sets.

• Notice that I have not prescribed supersets with any of the major lifts or lower body exercises. Doing so would prove to be too intense and may risk injury, as I do not know the fitness level of my readers.

Time your workout with the superset method, and then compare it to your previous workout. Guarantee you’d have shaved off some time!

Timing your workouts is a very simple technique that can enhance your results at the gym. Here is how to do it:

Lets take the chest workout we use yesterday:

Day One: Chest

Flat Bench Press 5×5
Incline Flyes 4×8
Barbell Curl 4×8

At the end of your workout, you check your stopwatch and it says 30:12:48.

Your goal for next workout: 30:12:47.

It’s that simple. Often times, you’ll be able to shave off 30 seconds off your time. However, if you do worse then it’s clear that you need to improve on certain things. You may have a few problems:

• Need more rest
• Improve diet
• You may be going too heavy
• Your form may need work

Start timing your workouts and get back to me.

Related Topics:

• How Can I get a Quick Workout at the Gym? – Choose Whole-Body Movements
  
• How Can I get a Quick Workout at the Gym?
• 5 day workouts
• The First Reason You’re Fat
• The Road less Travelled

For those that have read my post An Analysis of Weight Loss methods and Program (don’t worry if you didn’t, it’s a long one), know that I developed a pretty intense program. The program was great but one thing I had not factored in was the time factor. Perhaps that is a program I can pursue during the summer, but certainly not right now.

After trying some of the workouts on my own, and then playing around with a few other methods, I’ve decided to really sit down and see what I need to go. What exactly are my goals?

This time I incorporated a few more “environmental” factors:

Goal One: Continue to burn fat

This is an obvious one. I have been doing a good job of steadily burning off fat putting on muscle. Now its time to take everything I’ve learnt and take it up a notch.

Goal Two: Remove exercises which stress knee

I’ve been complaining of a knee problem for the past few weeks. It doesn’t seem anything serious, but I should still lay off the knee for a while until I get it diagnosed. Besides, my lower body is huge. I’ll still be incorporating one or two lower body exercises. I’ve noticed that nothing happens to me when I squat, but it’s the “Reaching” exercises such as swings and pulls, and “balance” exercises like overhead squats that cause the pain.

Goal Three: Lower frequency of training

Until I graduate, time will be a big factor in my training. Hence, a lower frequency is most likely going to come about naturally. If I have time, I’ll train. If I don’t, I won’t. But the goal is to get in at least 4 workouts a week.

Goal Four: Be able to do 20 straight pull-ups

This is a goal I’ve had for a while, but never really focused too much on it. I believe my max is around 8 or 9. This will work in two phases: 1) Include the pull-up in regular training and 2) develop pull-up specific workouts. Phase 2 will come about only after I’ve achieved the desired levels of body fat.

Primary goal is to burn fat. But one must keep in mind all the other factors that affect their training before they develop one. Hence, I’ll be alternating between the following two workouts with slight modifications along the way to gradually increase the intensity level:

Day One

Kettlbell Press 8 reps
1 minute Shadow Boxing
Pull-ups 4 reps
1 minute Shadowboxing

Stretching: 15 minutes

Day Two

Medicine Ball Twist and Chest Push 8 reps
Run 1 lap
Jump Squats 15 reps
Run 1 lap

Stretching: 15 minutes

I’m unsure as to how many rounds I’ll be performing. Be sure to check out my workout log in the near future for updates.

Instead of going into detail explaining each principle, I believe it may be easier if I showed you how to use these principles into your training. To start off, I’ll write a generic program and then modify it step by step.

The first principle is to choose whole-body movements.

Here is our generic program:

Day One: Chest & Biceps

Flat Bench Press
Incline Bench Press
Incline Flies
Cable Crossovers
Barbell Curl
Concentration Curls

Day Two: Legs

Barbell Squats
Leg Extensions
Dumbbell Lunge
Lying Leg Curls
Seated Calf Raises

Day Three: Shoulders

Barbell Shoulder Press
Front Dumbbell Raises
Standing Lateral Raises
Lying Rear Delt Raises
Barbell Shrugs

Day Four: Back & Triceps

Wide-grip Pull-ups
Bent-over Barbell Rows
Bent-over One-arm Dumbbell Rows
Lying Triceps Extension
Triceps Kickback

• All movements are performed with a 3×10 rep scheme

Ok, so that is a very typical training program used by gym-goers. The effectiveness of this training style is debatable. Naturally, your goals determine your program.

The first step in developing a quick, intense workout routine is to identify exercises that work the most muscle, and focusing solely on those exercises. Accordingly, you will have to drop down overall volume, but increase the time spent on each individual exercise. With this method you’ll be able to take a 60-minute workout and perform it in 40 minutes, or a 40-minute workout to 25 minutes.

Here is what I would do:

Day One: Chest

Flat Bench Press 5×5
Incline Flies 4×8
Barbell Curl 4×8

Day Two: Legs

Barbell Squats 5×5
Dumbbell Lunge 4×8

Day Three: Shoulders & Triceps

Barbell Shoulder Press 5×5
Standing Side Raises 4×8
Lying Triceps Extension 4×8

Day Four: Back

Bent-over Barbell Rows 5×5
Bent-over One-arm Dumbbell Rows 4×8
Lying Rear Delt Raises 4×8

Primary changes I made:

• Condensed the workouts to only two to three core exercises
• Switched triceps from working with back to working with shoulders

Take some time to analyze what I did, and then apply it to your own routine.

Whole-Body Movements:

In my opinion, there is a difference between whole-body and compound movements. Compound movements often involve only one movement plane. For example, a Bench Press works many muscle groups, but there is only a singular pressing movement at a horizontal position. Whole-body movements typically throw away all the rules of movement plane by encompassing multiple movement planes and positions.

For example, an Burpees is a perfect whole-body movement. It is involves upper body horizontal pushing (push-up), lower body horizontal pulling (leg pull-in), and lower body vertical pushing (squat jump).