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[Radium]

Anyone?

I was an ironhead, really "religious" about it, the power rack was my altar of pray.
I was addicted to it, and felt extreme surges of euphoria after each squat/deadlift set.
I was pulled apart of it by some consequences which prevented me from being able to obtain the diet required for keeping up the training at that level.
I can't wait to resume the hobby, once I become able to afford the diet again (nothing especial, no supps, just heaps of meat and vegs)
It was the best anti-depressant therapy I ever had.

There are a bunch of different schools regarding training:
- the casual meathead bodybuilding "pumping" school
- the classic "strength" training using weights
- bodyweight/gymnastics training freaks

I avoided the meathead school, and was/am a proponent of strength training (both with iron and bodyweight).
There are many good books about it:
- Convict Conditioning
- Dinosaur Training
- Starting Strength

Each is worth its weight in gold.

1 Like nobody likes this.

[Hummingbird]

I do lift, and enjoy exercise and good diet a lot. Helps me stay healthy and disciplined.
My diet is vegeterian with no supplements, and I don't find it any more expensive than "regular" diet.
Only when I add tons of vegetables and mushrooms to my basket, I might be surprised by the receipt at exit lol.
That stuff is getting more and more expensive over time.

[Radium]

Nice to know a like minded lifter!

Were you able to gain significant strength (and mass too) on a veggy diet?

[Wyald]

I do the bodyweight/gymnastics traing and also do a little bit of martial arts, particularly bo staff.

[nobody]

I normally do martial arts and calisthenics year round, weight lifting 6 months a year. Lifting is only deads, squats and bench 2 months on 2 months off. However, I took the last year off from lifting because of money problems but I plan to start again in a few weeks.

My diet consists mostly of fish, fruits and veggies, no processed foods of any sort and no refined sugar.

The value of these types of activities can not be over stated, especially the character building part of lifting. Pushing yourself to failure both mental and physical can teach you more about yourself than most would imagine. I am sure without it I would not be alive today.

nobody

[Radium]

The value of these types of activities can not be over stated, especially the character building part of lifting. Pushing yourself to failure both mental and physical can teach you more about yourself than most would imagine. I am sure without it I would not be alive today

I cannot agree more!
Lifting not only harden your bones and muscles, but harden your mind and character as well.
Converting weak souls into real women & men.

It also makes you used to constantly keep "competing against yourself" and breaking your previous bests.


Getting used to this habit will translate directly to other aspects of your life, such as career, education, love, etc.

In this part of the world, power racks are unheard of, let alone being available for sale!
So I built my own, and all my money was spent on buying the materials,
So no money left for transport,
Thus I manned the **** up and carried all the materials on foot from the warehouse 5 miles away from my place over 3 trips.
I'm really proud of building my own iron altar.

[Hummingbird]

Nice to know a like minded lifter!

Were you able to gain significant strength (and mass too) on a veggy diet?

I started lifting weights and eating a veggie diet approx at the same time. biggest strength and mass gains happened during the first few months.
what I learned over the last few years, which might help someone with the same goals:

strength gains come the slowest, and might change drastically from time to time. for example, increase in body fat brings huge strength gains.
when the body fat % drops, so does the strength. no matter the diet. but what's the real drawback for the strength gains regarding the veggie diet:
creatine. it is quite lower in vegeterians, due to the natural source of creatine being meat. and more creatine = more strength, basically

mass gains: for the first half year my mass gains skyrocketed. that was the period when I increased my calory and protein intake. it's called "noob gains"
after that mass came more slowly, but I don't focus on it usually. I was always quite lean, naturally it's hard for me to gain any weight. veggie diet didn't help either lol.
but when I did a diet more suitable for mass, it did come, and at a surprising rate.
so - what I think is that as long as you follow some general dietary requirements (all essential amino acids, calories, all that stuff),
doesn't matter wether you eat meat or not.

also, some vegeterian foods that increase strength (short term) are spinach (and other plants containing betaine), caffeine, garlic and catethins from green tea. grapefruit gets more nutrients to the muscles.
iron and B vitamin supplements are a good addition overall, if you don't usually get enough (most vegeterians don't).
good luck