The Vegan Adonis

How To Never Catch A Cold Again! (Eat For A Strong Immune System)

“The Doctor Of The Future Will No Longer Treat The Human Frame With Drugs, but will rather cure and prevent disease with nutrition.”

Thomas Edison

We are living in an unprecedented time. The human being of today has access to a tremendous amount of information. From a logical standpoint, this seems like a good thing, and to an extent, it is. However, this tremendous amount of information can sometimes be a double edged sword. With all of the great information available, there is also a large amount of misinformation available. Because of that, many people are left feeling confused. For example, even if we only look at scientific studies as guidelines for how to do things. One study will seemingly prove one thing to be true. Then, another study will come out, and prove the opposite. What is the result? Mass confusion! That is where we find ourselves as a species now, in many ways. We are in a state of mass confusion about even the most basic things, such as diet.

Our diets play an incredibly massive role in our health. I can’t stress this enough! If someone hasn’t experienced the boundless energy and mental sharpness that can accompany a diet that is truly (and I stress truly) nourishing, it’s hard for them to understand the difference in how they can feel with a simple diet change. We are taught from a young age that a balanced diet consists of meat, dairy, grains, and of course fruits, vegetables, nuts, and seeds. Yet, heart disease is the number one killer in developed countries all around the world. The last time I checked, there are no wild animals dying from heart disease, cancer, or diabetes. These are diseases that we can prevent and often reverse with a few simple lifestyle changes, particularly in our diets. After all, you are what you eat. Many people already know this, yet still continue to make poor dietary choices.

Why is this? I believe there are several reasons, one of which is that they’ve been misinformed. Other reasons include the fact that it can be very challenging to break what are essentially lifelong habits, and the fact that it is so easy to eat foods that aren’t good for you. It seems so harmless to put something in your mouth, chew, and swallow it. For someone to say you’re destroying your health with such a seemingly harmless act seems a bit extreme, but it’s actually true. So, the question is, what changes do we need to make to our diets in order to maximize our health? The good news is that they are fairly simple, and when you see how good you can feel, and the years pass by without you getting so much as a cold, you’ll have no doubt that the changes you’ve made are absolutely worth it. The bad news is, depending on how you eat now, you may have to change the way you eat completely, which could really test your willpower.

So, just what is a healthy diet? You will get a different answer depending on who you ask, but in my opinion there is absolutely nothing that beats a whole food plant based diet. The sheer fact that it is the only diet that has been proven to not only stop, but reverse heart disease puts it in a class of it’s own regarding our health and longevity. I have been plant based, or vegan if you prefer, for just about 5 years as have my children. We haven’t been sick once since, with the exception of when I first went vegan and regularly ate processed crap masquerading as food. This has been a game changer for us, since I used to average around 2 to 4 colds a year, and sometimes the flu. My children would also get sick several times a year with colds, stomach bugs, fevers, and other common illnesses. At 35 years of age, people are often dumbfounded that I am free of all of the typical signs of aging. I say all this not to brag in any way, but to say that I’ve discovered a way of eating that works, and works well. It allows me to stay healthy 365 days a year, year after year.

So, what if there was a way for you to stay healthy 365 days a year, for many years to come? Would you make the necessary lifestyle changes? If the answer is yes, then I wholeheartedly believe by the end of this article you will have all the tools necessary to do so. There are a few guidelines you will need to follow, and while they are simpler than you may think, it takes some discipline and consistency to instill any new habit. They are as follows.

How To Never Get Sick Again

A minimum of 90 percent of your diet should come from plant based whole foods, preferably organic ones. That means no more than 1 meal out of 10 should contain processed ingredients. Processed ingredients include anything that doesn’t grow outside. This includes things like high fructose corn syrup, trans fats, hydrogenated oils, MSG, all long chemical sounding ingredients in general, artificial flavor, artificial color, and all the other strange non food ingredients that are added to our food.
Get plenty of Vitamin C, but get it from whole foods. Synthetic vitamins are not the same as those occurring naturally in plants. There are many great plant based foods that are high in Vitamin C such as kiwis, virtually all citrus, and amla which is a type of berry that you can get in powdered form form for only a few dollars.
Ground yourself daily. Grounding is essentially placing some part of your body in contact with the earth, it could be the ground, a rock, a tree, or anything else that allows direct contact with the earth. The ground is filled with what are called free electrons. When we come in direct contact with the earth, we absorb these free electrons, and they help to neutralize free radicals, which reduces inflammation in the body. Chronic inflammation can lead to a wide variety of illnesses and premature aging. It also improves heart rate variability which basically means it makes your heart’s job of keeping blood circulating through the body easier. It can even improve sleep. All you have to do to ground is go outside barefoot and stand or walk in the grass or dirt, or even sit up against a tree. Try to do this for at least 20 minutes daily, though anything is better than nothing. If you can’t ground outside regularly for some reason, you can easily purchase grounding bracelets, pillow cases, sheets, and more online. These will keep you grounded while you’re indoors.
Drink plenty of water, preferably spring or distilled water. Water is crucial for all bodily functions, and is one of the simplest ways to flush unwanted toxins from the body. Also, you can squeeze half of an organic lemon into your water for an extra Vitamin C boost, and some added taste as well. How much water each individual needs varies based on several factors, but a good rule of thumb is to make sure your urine (I know, not the most glamorous thing to talk about.) is clear or close to it throughout the day. If it gets darker, simply drink more water.
Get a minimum of 20 minutes of sunshine daily whenever possible. Exposing our skin to direct sunlight causes our bodies to produce Vitamin D, which is actually not a vitamin at all, but a hormone that is critically important for our physical and mental well being. An added benefit is that you can work on your tan. If you live in an area that gets very hot in the summer, avoid sunbathing from 10am-2pm due to the increased risk of sunburn. Remember, everyone can tolerate different amounts of sunlight. If you can handle more and have the time, go for it. If you can’t then take it easy and stick to 20 minutes.
Eat nutritional yeast daily. Just 2 tablespoons of nutritional yeast contains 30 percent of the RDA of zinc. It also contains lots of b vitamins and several other minerals as well, as well as some protein. It has a cheesy flavor and can be added to many simple foods to enhance the flavor. Most brands of nutritional yeast are fortified with Vitamin B-12 and while this can be beneficial for those that aren’t getting adequate B-12 already, I prefer the non fortified kind.
Eat plenty of legumes! You are probably already doing this one, and great job. Legumes are another great source of zinc, in addition to a variety of other nutrients. Any legumes will do, but if you are really into being as healthy as you can be, I recommend that you make chickpeas your first and most frequent choice. This is because other legumes are acidic, whereas chickpeas are alkaline. The idea is that by reducing the acidic foods you ingest, and simultaneously increasing the alkaline foods in your diet, you can drastically reduce inflammation and increase your overall health. I will be writing an article going more in depth on alkaline foods in the future.

In conclusion, these changes are not fancy, nor complicated. Anyone can make them, but you have to decide how important your health is to you. These days, it’s easier than ever to see how valuable it is to be healthy. Our bodies are not meant to get sick, that is why we have an immune system. If we become sick, it’s because our immune systems have been temporarily compromised, usually by certain dietary and lifestyle choices. Once you experience what it feels like to be truly healthy, you’ll never want to give it up. You may want to come back to this article from time to time as a remind, which is why I would advise bookmarking it as a reference point. Health is the foundation of our entire lives, and if we have to develop a bit of discipline to improve our health, it’s well worth it. Let’s let our food be our medicine.

With all my love,

How To Build Muscle On A Vegan Diet Fast!

“The Best Way To Predict The Future Is To Create It.”

Peter Ducker

We’ve all seen it. The stereotypical scrawny vegan that certainly may be healthy, but is far from inspiring at a glance. Let’s face it. Humans are visual beings. Appearance is important to us, though many of us haven’t made peace with that fact. With that being said, building muscle isn’t merely a vain pursuit, it benefits one’s health in a myriad of ways. Namely, anti-aging. Resistance(weight) training is probably the closest thing we have to a fountain of youth. While building muscle can certainly be challenging, it absolutely does not have to be complicated. The differences between building muscle for someone on a more typical diet and someone on a vegan diet aren’t drastic, but they do exist. In this article, I’ll show you how to build muscle on a vegan diet in as simple a manner as possible.

I remember when I first went vegan 5 years ago. Within a year I went from this:

To this:

I didn’t want to have to show you that, but it’s for your own good. Just kidding. Seriously though, keep in mind that I’ve been working out for 19 years and that didn’t change between the two photos. In all fairness, some people would say that I look great in both pictures, and they’re certainly entitled to their opinions. However, for me, I was light years away from the standards that I have held myself to for over a decade. The only thing that changed was my diet. I had no idea what I was doing. I was bloated, holding more body fat than I wanted to, and my performance was suffering massively. I’ve seen this happen to far too many people. They go vegan and become bloated, or lose muscle. Don’t get me wrong, I love being vegan and I think everyone should at least give it an honest try, but when you go vegan, there is a learning curve. Whereas before you may not have put much thought into what you were eating, now you’ll have to make a some effort. It doesn’t have to be overwhelming, but you do need to have a basic idea of how to structure a well balanced diet. Honestly, this doesn’t only apply to vegans, but anyone desiring a better physique.

So, after months of slowly losing muscle and feeling bloated, I finally started to piece things together. It took some time, but eventually I got rid of the bloating, leaned out, and began to feel great, even better before. Can you guess what happened next? That’s right, I started looking better and better. Within 6 months or so, I was as ripped and strong as ever, as you can see here:

How’d I do it? I implemented a few key principles that honestly changed my life. I now feel better than I ever have in my 30s. I’m lean, strong, flexible, and have more energy than a teen on prom night. Okay, maybe not quite that much energy, but I feel amazing. I haven’t been ill in almost 4 years, not even a cold. Now, I’m going to give you all the tools I used to create this transformation so you can do the same. If you’re not currently in the shape you’d love to be in, or you’re just a go getter looking to take your health and fitness to the next level, you’ll definitely want to read on.

I used this success to create some basic rules for being in great shape as a vegan. They’re simple, and can be applied by anyone intelligent enough to read this article. They are as follows:

Stop eating processed vegan meats. Sure, they’re high in protein, but they’re also usually high in sodium and often contain oils that are high in Omega 6 fatty acids. Consuming too many Omega 6 fatty acids causes inflammation in the body, which over time can lead to a whole host of illnesses. Omega 3 fatty acids on the other hand reduce inflammation and are healthy for the brain and heart.
Don’t eat too much salt. I can’t stress this enough. Most people eat far beyond the recommended daily allowance for sodium. This can lead to bloating, which makes you look and feel like crap. It’s also not healthy in the long run, and while I’m not suggesting that anyone tally up their salt intake, doing a little due diligence to check labels can go a long way. Also, Try eating 1 or 2 meals a day with little to no salt. Something I do is eat Japanese sweet potatoes covered in cinnamon, lentils, and sweet peas all mixed together. It tastes great even without salt because of the Japanese sweet potatoes.
Limit your fat intake. Vegans tend to eat nuts, seeds, and avocados more than the average person. There’s nothing wrong with that, but if you’re looking to be lean, use moderation.
Take fermented protein powders. Seriously, your digestion will thank you for this one. Protein powder certainly isn’t essential, but when you’re trying to consume enough protein to build muscle, it’s very convenient.
Train with maximum intensity. This one applies to anyone, but this wouldn’t be complete without it. I recommend that anyone looking to build muscle naturally train with the highest possible intensity, but very briefly. This means weight training for no more than 30-45 minutes at a time, but making it so challenging that it seems like hours. Apply yourself, focus, and give it your all. Then leave the gym, rest, and recover. Always train safely and with proper form. This will keep you injury free, and therefore making progress.

That’s all there is to it guys and girls. If you are new to weight training and have no idea how to create a routine, you can check out my article on a practical way to begin weight training. It contains a basic workout routine that you can use for 3 to 6 months, and then perhaps create your own routine from there. So, as you can see, it’s fairly simple to build muscle on a vegan diet, but it’s not always easy. Now let’s get out there and represent health and conscious eating in the right way.

How To Lose Weight On A Vegan Diet Fast!

“Everybody wants to go to heaven, but nobody wants to die.”
The Marines

Some people seem to think that because something is plant based that automatically makes it healthy. Nothing could be further from the truth. Some people also seem to think that it’s easier to get lean on a vegan diet than others. While this does have some merit, ultimately, it’s not the whole truth. Getting lean, or ripped on a vegan diet can absolutely be done, but it requires one to have and apply some basic understanding.

Firstly, let me just say getting ripped is never easy unless you’re naturally very lean. Secondly, it’s not necessarily harder on a plant based diet, but there’s less good information available. At least, for the time being. The problem is that there are so many conflicting sources of information. For example, people saying carb up, the vegan keto people (Don’t get me started with those.), etc. Let me clarify something. I don’t condone extreme diets in any shape or fashion.

That includes any form of starvation, or any other form of eating that drastically restricts one from eating a wide variety of foods. The key word here is foods, because alot of what is being sold as food is anything but food. I’m not saying we should eliminate processed foods from our diets entirely, but they should be looked at as treats, and therefore eaten in moderation.

The vast majority of what we eat should be whole foods if we sincerely desire to get ripped, or simply look and feel our best. However, although it does promote great health and overall well being, eating mostly whole plant based foods isn’t enough to ensure that we’ll be bringing sexy back when we hit the pool in our swimsuits. There are a few more key things to understand. Without further ado, here are the keys to getting shredded on a vegan diet.

Keys To Getting Shredded On A Plant Based Diet

Avoid sugar unless it’s post workout. This is a tough one for most people, but it’s crucial. All sugary foods must be avoided, including junk foods, desserts, and sugary fruits such as dates, bananas, and mangoes. I know you didn’t wanna hear that, but it’s true. Remember though, you can have them post workout. When I say post workout, I mean after lifting weights, not cardio. If you eat sugar after hitting the weights hard, it’ll replenish your glycogen(energy) stores and jump start the recovery process. If you have it after cardio, you’ll just defeat the purpose of the cardio, which is to get leaner. Also, watch what you drink, there are many drinks out there marketed as healthy that are loaded with more sugar than ice cream!
Fat is fat! Regardless of if it comes from junk food or healthy food, there are 9 calories in every gram of fat, while there are only 4 calories in each gram of protein or carbohydrates. This trips so many people up because they forget that regardless of if the fat they are eating comes from a healthy or unhealthy source, the calories still add up quickly! Sure, avocados, nuts, and seeds are healthy for you, but if you want to be lean, you must consume them in moderation. For those that want to be ripped, I recommend that no more than 10 percent of your daily calories come from fat. there is of course, some flexibility here. If you prefer higher fat, just reduce your carbs. remember though, the more fat you consume, the less food you can eat overall.
Water is your best friend. Drink lots and lots of it. Besides being crucial for the survival of every cell in your body, water helps keep us feeling full. The more water you drink during the day, the less hungry you’ll feel. In fact, sometimes when you feel hungry, you’re actually thirsty. Most people are in a constant state of mild dehydration all day long. So drink up my friend.
Lift weights! This is like the ultimate cheat code for getting ripped. Why? I’m glad you asked. The more muscle you build, the higher your resting metabolic rate becomes. Meaning the more muscle you build, the more calories you burn sitting, standing, or doing anything else for that matter. It becomes easier and easier to lose body fat.
Find a form of cardiovascular exercise you love, and do it at least every other day. This can be anything that raises your heart rate, and keeps it up. It can be intense cardio done briefly, such as high intensity interval training performed for 15 minutes, or it can be a form of steady state cardio, done for 45 minutes to an hour. Whatever you prefer and can stick with is ideal. I encourage you to get creative here. If you don’t like running then don’t run. Maybe you prefer dancing, or swimming, or kickboxing. Whatever your cup of tea is, go for it. The most important thing is that you stick with it.

Conclusion

That’s all there is to it folks. A few simple lifestyle changes implemented over the next several months could lead to you being in the best shape of your life. Whatever you do though, take things one step at a time so that you don’t overwhelm yourself. The most important part of making any change is, and always will be consistency.

How Often Should You Work A Muscle?

“The worst thing I could be is the same as everyone else. I’d hate that.” Arnold Schwarzenegger

Is There A Magic Pill?

Nowadays, we don’t have to dig very hard to find information. A simple Google search can tell us everything we want to know about a subject. At first glance, that sounds great, and it is, but there are definitely some cons that we often overlook.

We say this in the health and fitness community all the time these days. Some kid who’s been in the gym 6 months will tell a veteran who’s achieved tremendous physical development that he’s doing this or that wrong. Or that he’s over training, etc. Let’s put this into perspective for a second.

Typically, when you start something new, you ask questions. You learn from people with experience who have a tried and true resume, and you apply what you’ve learned. You don’t start working at the hospital fresh out of medical school and tell the doctors how to perform surgery. They know how already!

You learn from the experts, and allow their wisdom to shorten your path to success. These days however, people seem to read arbitrary information, and then spit it out as fact. None of this arbitrary information published by scientists is anecdotal, and no the test subjects in the study don’t count.

Why? It’s simple. They aren’t a 30 year old natural bodybuilding champion that’s been working out for 15 years. They have never reached the kind of physical development where people start to question if it’s even possible naturally.

It’s like this. You can read every book in the world on training, but until you get in the gym and start logging hours of hands on experience, learning what works for you and what doesn’t through trial and error, you have no idea about how to create a great physique.

You have to put some skin in the game! That brings me to the purpose of this article. How often should you train a muscle? There are many answers to this question, so I’ll provide some context, and allow you to make your own informed decision.

So What Should You Do?

The recommended training modality for natural lifters these days is to hit a given muscle group every 24 to 72 hours. This is because after training, muscle protein synthesis is elevated for 72 hours max. Elevated protein synthesis means more muscle mass.

So, is this true? Well let’s take a look at my physique and compare. Here is my physique at 235 lbs training each muscle once every six days. My split at the time looked like this.

Day 1: Chest and triceps

Day 2:Back and biceps

Day 3: Rest

Day 4: Legs

Day 5: Shoulders

Day 6: Rest. Then repeat that cycle. Oh, and yes this physique is 100% au natural.

Now, here is my physique training at about 225 lbs working each muscle once every 3 days. My split looked like this.

Day 1: Quads and chest

Day 2: Back and Hamstrings

Day 3: Shoulders and arms. Here is what my physique looked like on that program.

Finally, here is what my physique looked like at 240 lbs hitting each muscle every other day. My split at the time was full body every other day. Simple as that.

My diet in each was always similar, although in the last picture, I was definitely not as lean. However, my basic diet has always consisted of two protein shakes and four meals a day. So, as you can see, all of these splits worked to build muscle.

I was able to increase my strength and muscle size on all of these programs. I definitely have my favorite, but my point is that there is no optimal training frequency. You just have to adjust your training volume to whatever your split is.

I will say that high volume has always worked best for me and everyone I know. I did try lower volume routines, even high intensity training, but I found that I was smaller and weaker than when I did high volume. Also, there is a certain quality that the muscles get from high volume training that you won’t get from any other style of training.

In Conclusion:

All training splits can be effective. Ultimately, you have to figure out what works for you. There is no magic pill, there’s only willing yourself to improve, workout after workout. Week after week, and year after year. So, stop looking for a magic pill, put your head down and work. Eventually, when you look up, you’ll realize how far you’ve come, and that’s what makes this bodybuilding and fitness journey so worth it. Until next time, train hard! I’m out.

Plant Based Amino Acids: A Vegan Bodybuilders Best Friend

There are NO secrets when it comes to building muscle, and all shortcuts certainly come with undesirable consequences. However, if there was one secret, it would certainly be amino acids.

Amino acids are the building blocks of muscle. Most people who want to build muscle know that you have to get sufficient protein to do so, but they don’t necessarily know why. When we consume protein, our bodies break it down into amino acids. These amino acids are utilized for many things, not the least of which is repairing and building muscle tissue.

If we don’t consume sufficient protein each day, our bodies could have less than what they need to build our bodies back bigger and stronger. In such case, all our hard work would be in vain. We definitely don’t want that! However, as a vegan we have to be conscious of a few things.

Most of our protein sources have less amino acids than animal based protein sources. Leucine in particular, is lower in most vegan sources of protein in comparison. This can present a problem, as leucine is the primary amino acid responsible for elevating protein synthesis. In other words, more leucine= more muscle.

Okay, so why not just buy some leucine you say? Well, it’s not that simple. Leucine, when taken alone, will cause an imbalance in the amino acids valine and isoleucine. Together, leucine, isoleucine, and valine are called branched chain amino acids, and they must be consumed together.

So, now the question is, how much do I take, and how often do I take it? That is a great question and I won’t keep you in suspense. You want to take 2 to 4 grams of leucine in 2 to 3 times daily, preferably once during or after your workout, with the other servings being spread out throughout the day.

Another good time to take your aminos is upon waking, and before bed is great as well. Remember though, that you can’t just take leucine, so you will want to get some good vegan branched chain amino acids, or vegan sourced essential amino acids.

If you go for essential amino acids though, just make sure they have the branched chain amino acids in them as well. If not, simply get some branched chain aminos to go along with them.

So, what kind of results can you expect from taking your aminos daily? Higher energy levels, improved stamina in the gym, faster recovery, less soreness, increased muscle mass, and more strength are things that you should be noticing within 6 to 8 weeks if not less.

Lastly, another added benefit is that when supplementing with amino acids, you can consume significantly less protein and still build muscle. Let’s say you want to have a dessert for lunch today (which I wouldn’t recommend doing too often, but sometimes you gotta live a little right?) but you’re worried because the dessert only has 5 grams of protein.

You need not worry, your amino acid supplement will come to the rescue. Just take it before or after your meal and presto! You have the equivalent of a high protein meal! Just don’t use this as an excuse to eat junk all the time or you certainly won’t look or feel your best. Everything in moderation as they say.

There you have it guys, everything you need to know about amino acids in a nutshell. I hope you guys will benefit as much as I have from this knowledge. If you do decide to supplement with aminos I would recommend making sure they’re vegan, and also finding a company that charges reasonable prices.

Kaged Muscle Branched Chain Amino Acids is a great brand price and quality wise. True nutrition also has a great essential amino acid supplement. Again, I have no affiliation, but those are two of my favorite brands! Until next time, stay strong!

How To Get Shredded On A Vegan Diet! (Without Losing Muscle)

Adopting a plant based diet is easier than ever these days. Getting shredded on a plant based diet? That’s a whole other story.Don’t get me wrong. It’s not that it’s hard or complicated, most people simply don’t know how.

Sure anyone can get shredded by just simply eating in a caloric deficit. The only problem is that in most cases you would also lose a whole heap of your hard earned muscle, and ain’t nobody got time for that!

In this article I’m going to give you a few simple tips that will allow you to get as shredded as the mailman’s pant leg after a vicious chihuahua attack. All the while losing very little muscle, if any, in the process. Alright, let’s do this!

There are a few golden rules when it comes to getting shredded as a vegan, and they are super simple. They are as follows:

Rules For Getting Shredded On A Vegan Diet

Don’t eat carbs after 8pm. Really, this just means no carbs within 4 hours of bedtime. So, in other words, if you go to bed at 2am, you wouldn’t have carbs after 10pm. This works like a charm. Why? Your body releases insulin when you eat carbs, insulin is a hormone that tells your body to store fat. When you eat carbs during the day, you don’t store them as fat because you burn them off for energy right away. So, what do you eat? A low or no carb protein source such as tempeh or seitan, vegetables, and a fat source such as avocado. A protein shake would also work. Ideally, you’ll be eating small meals every about 3 hours, so your last 2 meals would be virtually carb free. Do this and watch the fat melt away.
Supplement, supplement, supplement! Take protein powder, BCAAs (Branched chain amino acids), EAAs (Essential amino acids), and Glutamine. This will help your body to stay anabolic (in a muscle building state) even while on lower calories. Amino acids are the building blocks of muscles, and if you don’t get an adequate amount every day, you can forget about building or maintaining muscle. For the average person this may not matter, but for anyone training, it makes a massive difference in your recovery and progress. Protein powder is non negotiable, you need it unless you want to eat all day. BCAA’s are the next most important, and EAAs and glutamine are just the icing on top of the cake. Glutamine helps you to recover faster, and EAAs are great in case you’re not getting enough.
Stick to mostly whole foods. There’s a ton of processed junk out there for vegans, and there’s definitely a time and place for it, but when you are getting shredded is definitely not the time. I suggest hitting your target physique and then adding in a cheat meal once a week and seeing how your body responds. Some people can get away with eating more junk than others, it all depends on your particular metabolism.

That’s it! 3 simple steps to getting shredded as a vegan that if you follow, I guarantee will have you well on your way to getting shredded. Remember, it doesn’t happen over night. You need to stick to any diet for a minimum of 12 weeks before you can accurately gauge it’s effectiveness.

Well, I’ve given you all the tools you need to get more shredded than ever, and to make it simple, as it should be. Put these tips to the test and let me know how much you love the results. Until next time, I love you guys.

THE SECRET TO GETTING GREAT RESULTS IN THE GYM!

“Intensity is the price of excellence.” Warren Buffet

The formula for creating a great physique is simple. Training+Nutrition+Sleep=Results. That’s not difficult to grasp right? However, there’s another crucial ingredient. One that’s not talked about as much, but without it, you will never create a great physique, or a great anything, for that matter.

Can you guess what that ingredient is? It’s intensity. Intensity is the difference between a decent physique and a great physique. The official definition of intensity is the quality or state of being intense especially : extreme degree of strength, force, energy, or feeling.

Let’s focus for a moment on the feeling part. Intensity is a feeling. It’s not hard to recognize, you can easily tell when someone is intense. However, when the average person works out, there isn’t a great deal of intensity.

Simply watch the average person workout, then watch a champion athlete workout. There is a night and day difference. Is this because the champion was born superior?

No, of course not. It is simply because the average person trains with vague goals and a vague plan of action to get there. The elite athlete on the other hand knows exactly what they’re training for, and it is something of massive importance to them.

Fitness woman workout with barbell on bench in gym

It’s for this reason that 9 times out of 10, they achieve their goals. In other words, they are able to workout with a high level of intensity because they have given themselves a great reason to do so, but a great reason isn’t good enough.

It’s got to be a great reason for you specifically. Something that pulls at you. Something that gets you emotionally involved. I want you to grab a sheet of paper and a pen, and write out your fitness goals.

Don’t settle for vague goals, be specific. How much weight do you want to lose? How many inches here and there? How much muscle do you want to build? What shape do you want to create? Now, look deeply within yourself.

Why is it important for you to achieve those goals? Maybe it’s to have more energy to play with your children. Maybe it’s to live a longer life. Maybe it’s to overcome a certain health issue, or get off a specific medication. Maybe it’s to build a loving relationship with your body. It could be anything. The only criteria is that it must be deeply important to you.

Now hang that on your bathroom mirror. Read it before you go to the gym each day. Remind yourself why you are training. If you take the time to pinpoint your goals and figure out your why I guarantee, no, I promise you that you’ll notice a newfound motivation to train.

Along with that will be a focus and intensity in the gym, and this clarity of vision, that gives birth to new levels of intensity and motivation, is what will take you, day by day, right to your goals. Now get out there and kick some ass!

ADONIS

The Simple Keys To Building Muscle On A Vegan Diet

“There is no fundamental difference between man and animals in their ability to feel pleasure and pain, happiness, and misery.” -Charles Darwin

Of all the stigmas surrounding veganism, one of the most popular beliefs is that you can’t build muscle on a vegan diet. Sure, the film “Game Changers” did a great job dispelling that myth, but when you really get down to it, the questions the average gym rat wants to know the answer to is, Can I build just as much muscle on a plant based diet as a typical bodybuilding diet?

Is it more complicated? Is it gross? Etc. These kinds of questions clearly illuminate the fact that even a basic level of understanding about the vegan diet among the average person is just not where it could be.

That’s why I’ve decided to write this article, to simplify the basic changes you’d have to make when switching over to a plant based diet as an athlete, particularly an athlete concerned with building as much muscle as possible.

However, even if you’re not an athlete, you may still find this article enlightening and perhaps it can help someone you know. With that being said, let’s dive right into it.

Keep Things Simple

Simplicity is genius. The more complicated you make a thing, the harder it is to grasp, and to keep it up becomes nearly impossible. I believe in keeping everything as simple as possible. If it is simple, you can grasp it quickly and keep it up with minimal effort. That is the key to sustainability.

A Few Small Changes And You’ve Got It!

Essentially, the only changes you need to make are your protein sources. Instead of whey protein powder, get a vegan protein powder. Some are higher in salt, so be sure to opt for a low or no sodium option unless you want to risk bloating like a balloon.

Some other good vegan options high in protein are legumes of all kinds, peas, tofu, tempeh, seitan, lean vegan meats, and soy milk. Some vegans will tell you nuts and seeds are a great option, and that’s true, when you’re not looking to be lean and muscular.

Nuts and seeds are very high in fat, and should be consumed in moderation, or you may end up kissing your six pack goodbye! Since many carbohydrate and good fat sources are plant based by default, you typically won’t have to change many of those.

This Tip Will Make Your Life So Much Easier

Get the majority of your protein from a good protein powder! If you get 75% of your daily protein from a plant based powder, you won’t have to stress about your solid meals being super high protein. Just be sure not to overeat, and make adjustments as needed.

In Conclusion

As you can see, it’s really not hard to build muscle as a vegan, it can be as simple or complicated as you make it. So, don’t believe the hype. Give it a try for yourself and you’ll see just how simple it can be.

Eventually, as more and more of us become shining examples, this will become common knowledge. Who knows? It may happen sooner than we think. I love you guys,

How Much Protein Do You Need To Build Muscle? (The Truth)

**_{“Protein is the building block of muscle.” Adonis}**

Protein, protein, and more protein! It’s a hot topic in the fitness community. The science is certainly there to tell us exactly how much we need. But there are many schools of thought on the topic.

There’s the old school train of thought, the new, and just some absurd ones. So who’s right? The obvious answer would be science, but it may not be that simple. I’ll show you why.

As a bodybuilder for nearly two decades, I’ve heard it all, read it all, and tried it all. One thing I’ve learned in all that time is, just because it’s in a book, or scientific journal, doesn’t mean it’s true for everyone.

There are way too many variables when it comes to building muscle and getting lean to make blanket statements. However, one thing that always remains true is that to lose weight, you must be in a caloric deficit (aka eat less calories than you burn) and to gain weight you must be in a caloric surplus (aka eat more calories than you burn).

Other than that, many things vary. For instance, some people, such as myself, can build muscle with remaining at eight percent body-fat, while others have to go up to around twelve percent or so. Some people can get lean while eating junk food daily, while others have to restrict calories and perform cardio to get lean.

My point is that we are all lean. With that being said, let’s look at some of the recommendations for protein intake. The RDA or recommended dietary allowance for protein for the average person is 0.8 grams of protein per kilogram of body-weight.

That is the minimum amount required for optimum health. Keep in mind this is for the average person. For athletes, the RDA is much higher. The Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics, Dietitians of Canada and the American College of Sports Medicine recommend 1.2 to 2.0 grams of protein per kilogram of body weight per day for athletes, depending on training.

For the person with a large amount of muscle mass looking to build more, even that is low in my experience and that of many people I know. I remember I built muscle to a certain point staying within the recommended range for athletes, but I eventually hit a plateau.

I increased my caloric intake, tried more carbs, more fats, training more frequently, training harder, and more. Keep in mind that I didn’t try all of those things at once. It wasn’t until I took the advice of some guys with more muscle mass than I, that I put on an extra 10 pounds of muscle. As you can see in this picture.

This made a huge difference in my physique, taking it from lean athlete to very densely muscular, and was exactly what I had wanted. So, what exact changes did I make? I went from one gram of protein per pound of body-weight to about 1.25-1.5. That’s over 2.2 grams of protein per kilogram.

I can’t tell you how quickly this benefited my physique, but I can tell you that it was quick. However, if I had listened to the scientific literature I never would’ve discovered that.

I later tried to lower my protein again, and guess what happened? I lost the extra 10 pounds of muscle! Now, I realize this isn’t for everyone. If you aren’t active and training consistently, then your body has no need for added protein, but if you train frequently, and have found yourself building muscle more slowly than you’d like, this could be the missing key for you.

Who knows, maybe you’ll take your physique to that next level that you’ve been looking for. If you have any questions, feel free to ask in the comments. Until next time, I love you guys always.

Your Inability To Focus Is Killing Your Gains!

“You will never reach your destination if you stop and throw stones at every dog that barks.” Winston Churchill

In our modern world, there are distractions coming at us from everywhere and at ALL times. Whether it’s our smart phones, computers, televisions, friends, the news, or our mothers, it often seems as if we can’t avoid it.

This is exactly why we need to prioritize focus. You see, focus is like a muscle. If you train it regularly, it will be nearly unbreakable. However, if you don’t train it, your ability to focus will grow weaker and weaker.

There is one quality need to develop focus, and that is self-discipline. The problem is, lack of focus usually also means lack of self-discipline. A person with no self-discipline is like a sailboat without a sail.

They will most likely never get anywhere, and more often than not, it will ultimately have unwanted and unforeseen consequences. Obviously, nobody wants that.

So why do so many people drift through life, only doing what they’re told? Following the already beaten path, with little to no true fulfillment? It’s very simple.

It’s hard to be disciplined. Especially when you don’t have an authority figure standing over your back, threatening you with consequences. Really think about that for a second.

As adults, should we really need someone else to hold us accountable for the things we want to achieve? If you ask me, the answer is a resounding Hell No!

True motivation comes from within, not without! So, ask yourself now if you really want to achieve that goal body. Now, ask yourself why. Why is it necessary for you. Why must you achieve your goal?

Identify why you NEED to achieve it. That reason should move you emotionally when you identify it. It should compel you into action. This is why you will become disciplined, because even though building self-discipline is hard, it doesn’t hurt nearly as much as regret.

No-one else can do it for you, and you won’t get fired, or punished, or fail school if you don’t do it. You’ll simply have to live with your unhappiness. Unexpressed desires are energy.

The stronger the desire the stronger the energy. If we don’t express it, it gets stuck inside the body. If you have children, you can easily see what I’m talking about.

Stop them from playing. Make them sit and be quiet. If you do this often enough, they will start to get into trouble. They will act out, and it will often be completely out of character for them.

This is because the energy within them wants to be expressed so badly, that it will come out in literally whatever way it can. YOU are exactly the same way.

If you don’t express the desires within your soul, you will find yourself doing all sorts of things. Smoking, drinking, drugs, sex addiction, video game addiction, a short temper, and struggling with depression.

I’m certainly not a doctor, but it is my experience that depression comes from repression. There’s no need to go through all of these things though, if we just make it a point to develop self-discipline.

There are SO many ways to do this that I won’t go into them. I will however, reveal my favorite way. Meditation. Meditation is very simple, I explained how to do it in my last article which you can read here: https://frommeatheadtomeatless.com/2019/12/19/think-and-grow-fit-part-2-how-to-use-meditation-to-take-your-physique-to-the-next-level/

If you practice diligently, you can develop laser focus with meditation alone. Self-discipline will come majorly into play here. Please be aware though, that with time, it gets easier.

It becomes second nature, the way that you naturally are. At this point, the only thing standing between you and your dream body or any other goal will be a decision to manifest it.

If meditation isn’t your cup of tea, worry not. You can cultivate focus in many other ways, and once you do, you will be shocked at the things you are able to achieve. It will be Much more than just your dream body!

With that being said, I wish you ALL the best, and remember. Successful people fail ALL the time. The difference between them and failures is that they get up, adjust their approach, and try again.

I LOVE YOU GUYS,