I've had a hard time figuring out what to do for a first post on this blog and thought of a lot of different ways to say something poignant or deep, but it's probably better just dive right into it!
A bit of background first. I've been vegan for 3 years now and have never looked back. The improvements in my health, energy and outlook have been dramatic since becoming vegan, not to mention the weight taken off of my conscience. About two years ago I started going to the gym at the place I was working. It was a basic run of the mill set up that was focused mostly on weight-loss and "toning". Meaning, no squat rack, no barbells and limited space. There wasn't even a bench press, just a smith machine which I and a coworker used for the three main lifts. Note: you can't do deadlifts in a smith machine...
At the time, I had pretty much no idea what I was doing and just puttered around doing whatever I thought was a good idea without any real knowledge about fitness. Eventually, I started doing the Westside for Skinny Bastards program, but not really in earnest. I made some progress though not much as my training wasn't focused. I didn't really have a goal in mind and I think that affected things. When I moved to Seattle later, I joined a local globo gym that had much better equipment than the previous gym. It was here that my goals began to take shape. I worked out their for about a year and a half while researching programs and gaining more training knowledge. I started doing Strong Lifts 5x5 which is a really great program for beginners. That started me on my road toward strength. Through lifting this way I learned that what I really wanted was to be as strong as possible.
Looking back, strength is something I always desired, but never worked toward. I guess I always wanted it to just come to me without putting in the effort and literal sweat. Like everything else in life, this doesn't happen. I also had another motive for this, which was debunking all the myths people have about vegans and strength training. There is so much propaganda around about the need for meat/dairy for athletes that it can be almost deafening. There are some really great vegan athletes out there, but they are few and far between. Moving into the strength athlete arena, the number is even less. At this moment, I can only think of one truly famous vegan strength athlete. He is the German Patrik Baboumian. An incredible athlete whom I respect a lot, but he started his training as a vegetarian. My goal is do everything completely vegan.
With this in mind, I began to find that my strength progress was slowing down at the globo gym and I was hitting some plateaus. I didn't have a training partner so I worked out solo all the time. This is ok for a while, but having another person there to help push your limits is essential I think. I also began to feel like I could use some coaching if I wanted to really get more serious about this. This led me to join a local powerlifting gym here where I could receive training from veteran powerlifter and 30+year strength coach Todd Christensen. I've only been going for just under a month and have already seen gains. My training is more focused than ever and my drive to succeed is huge.
I will make a valiant effort to keep this blog updated with training info, diet, competitions and whatever else I can related to strength and veganism. Thanks for reading!
Current Stats:
Wt: 181
Bench: 175
Squat: 270
Deadlift: 350
