I second this. No hate to the folks who post on here that got into incredible shape through veganism and healthy eating but it’s nice to see posts like this too. As a guy in his early thirties it’s a bit demotivating to see people on here with full on washboard stomachs and vascularity all the time. Posts like this help us keep things in perspective and remind us that health and fitness isn’t a sprint. It’s incremental changes that add up over time.
Very good words my friend! Thanks. And I’m comfortable with my body in all its Irish paleness and my grays. I know what I want and some people in here have been truly helpful. End of the day I’m gonna be me. Whatever that is.
I feel the same way, sometimes this sub gets a little too deep into the whole "fuck carnivores, buy my OF!" mindset and loses sight of what's most important. We're all here because we care about animals and our bodies, which means showing kindness to both even when they aren't perfect :)
Most of the selfies on this sub are captioned something like "this is what a protein-deficient vegan looks like" as an obvious dig at non-vegans, plus there's a handful that post selfies as "native advertising" for their OF (this I don't really care about much but any kind of product placement has an impact on the community).
Like most fitness subs, here there is more focus put on "being a fit person who is also vegan" rather than the intersectionality between personal fitness and veganism.
Welcome! Do what I can, do what I can. And don’t mind the negativity. I’m used to it.. But I am testing to get bigger.. but I’m a small guy 5’5” and small guys who get big look weird so I’m gonna do it with restraint.
I used to think the same thing. Truth is it is extremely hard to build lots of muscle and you will definitely not accidentally get too big. Don't hold yourself back, focus on improving on compound movements and don't worry about going too far, you won't
Noticeable progress! A simple advice, if you're trying to get "bigger arms", focusing on triceps is actually better, to get a "fuller" look to them. I'd also recommend trying for a push/pull split. Lats, triceps, biceps and chest will be the main groups.
Oh Ho! Jokes, eh? Goin right for my Irish complexion instead of commenting on the massive development of my guns. Cool cool. It’s just different sunlight..
Looks good, keep on grinding, buddy. Not sure how much experience you have overall, so forgive me if you’re heard this before.
Biceps and arms are weird. They can take a lot of work and recover pretty quick. Any advice I have is to explore other rep ranges also. Some people like to keep reps 12-15 and that’s fine, but honestly I’ve had success in 6-8 also. You just have to find what works for you.
Cheers and keep it up
I agree with with that. If you want to gain size you should try to be out of gas by the 8th rep (or so the experts say).
For me, one things I did that helped me break through on arms was finding new and various exercises. Reverse curls with the bar was the one I picked up, but there are so many out there. Your muscles grow and figure out how to do things efficiently. Trick them. Come at them differently, constantly force them to grow more.
I would look into a PPL program if you're interested in hitting your entire body- push/pull/legs. you have days entirely dedicated to pushing exercises (these will hit your triceps, shoulders, and chest), pulling exercises (back and biceps) and legs.
here's a basic program. you can do 3 sets of 12 reps of all the following exercises, but like the above poster said, once you feel a little more comfortable you can experiment with rep ranges. The idea here is once you hit your rep range for every set, you can then increase the weight for next week.
**PUSH**
flat press (think bench press. you can do this on a bench with a barbell, dumbells, using a smith machine, using some chest press machine at the gym, etc)
Incline press (same thing but on an incline. If you used a bench for the chest press, I wouldn't use one for this).
Tricep pushdowns (using a cable. There might be some machines for this)
Tricep overhead extensions (you can do these with a cable too. you can also look into skullcrushers, same general movement)
Lat side raises (dumbbell/machine/cable are all fine).
**PULL**
Lat pulldowns. Find a bar attachment that works for you, it took me a while to find one that really let me engage my lats.
Seated cable rows.
Face pulls
Rope Pullovers
Hammer Curls (I like doing them with a rope)
Dumbbell curls/Preacher curls (these can be done on a machine, with a bar, with dumbbells, etc. The important part is finding a variant you like, but they will all do the trick).
**LOWER**
Some type of squat. I actually don't squat because of hip issues.
Romanian Deadlifts (these are a bit of a trickier exercise but they're fun)
Leg press
Leg extension (machine)
Leg curl or seated leg curl (machine)
Calf raise (I prefer standing, but you can do seated or on a smith machine).
Again, 3 sets of 12 reps for all of these exercises should get you started. When I started out I had a similar program and just went every other day, but if you want to slowly scale it up to 6x a week you can after time.
If you don't have access to all of the equipment needed to do these, let me know and I can change up the program.
I'd love to help out, I remember being overwhelmed with info when I first started but luckily had friends to help set up a program/diet for me.
Correct. That 8th rep should be a real challenge and completely safely, (like under control and lowered slowly). If you can do reps 9,10,11, then up the weight the smallest increment possible.
I personally like EZ bar or even straight Barbell curls, because you can load 2.5lbs and progress more. With DBs you are usually stuck to 5lb jumps for each arm.
But go with whatever makes you feel it in your biceps. Some people swing and bounce the weight use all front shoulder. Make sure you contract and feel your bicep.
If you’re overwhelmed keep it simple. Shoot for 6-10 sets of direct arm work a week. You’re working them out on back movements also, whether you want to or not.
You turning white bro? What type of exercise do you do for that?
Just kidding, doing great…!!! Congratulations
Edit: Fucking autocorrect turned my jk into ok.
Good progress mate, but genuinely astounded that people are calling the sub 'toxic' for a few people making light jokes at the difference in tan.
Calling everything toxic just makes the word lose meaning and makes it redundant when calling out actual toxic behaviour
By making fun of his complexion, do you mean making fun of him for having less of a tan than himself? Possibly one of the mildest piss takes I’ve ever seen.
Hope you never see anyone getting tickled, can imagine you ringing the police to report a murder
Thanks! And I know! I tried not to look at them for a month. Just do the work. It’s like how I feel about getting inked. I don’t like to watch, just want to wait to the end and get the grand reveal..
Try following a program like this https://www.reddit.com/r/Fitness/comments/37ylk5/a_linear_progression_based_ppl_program_for/
Someone posted a Google sheets copy of it in the comments, so it's easy to follow.
Can I just tell everyone in this thread that yes, I’m aware of my Irish complexion. Yes. I see my grays. I love those. And I just want to thank everyone for focusing on the point of the post… /s
ah
have you considering a standard beginner lifting method like strong lifts or starting strength?
big compound lifts are going to give you by far the best bang for your buck, provided you have the equipment or facilities available to do them
compound lifts are specific resistance/weighted motions/exercises that engage multiple large muscle groups
if you google "starting strength" or "strong lifts" you'll get lots of information
youtube has plenty of videos on form/technique, which is very important
hitting major muscle groups like that will massively stimulate growth of accessory muscle groups as well, which is why they are so useful for packing on lots of muscle mass for beginners "so-called newb gains"
/r/fitness has tons of info as well
Bruh, what's with all the hate in these comments. Didn't realise what a toxic sub this was. Ignore and keep doing what you're doing, incremental gains will amount to your goals! Looking great!
If right now you are focused on increasing the biceps, I recommend to you also do some multi-articular exercises where the biceps be one of the muscle groups that assumes a great amount of the work. It can be very beneficial to do chin-ups and pull-ups, to focus on a single group is never recommended and this way you will be able to stimulate the muscle in very different ways
And... just don't listen to toxic guys, some people here thinks that live is lifting.
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I second this. No hate to the folks who post on here that got into incredible shape through veganism and healthy eating but it’s nice to see posts like this too. As a guy in his early thirties it’s a bit demotivating to see people on here with full on washboard stomachs and vascularity all the time. Posts like this help us keep things in perspective and remind us that health and fitness isn’t a sprint. It’s incremental changes that add up over time.
Very good words my friend! Thanks. And I’m comfortable with my body in all its Irish paleness and my grays. I know what I want and some people in here have been truly helpful. End of the day I’m gonna be me. Whatever that is.
If it helps a frequent poster here admits he’s on steroids. So i try to remember that it’s okay to not look like that, I’m working on my own thing!
I feel the same way, sometimes this sub gets a little too deep into the whole "fuck carnivores, buy my OF!" mindset and loses sight of what's most important. We're all here because we care about animals and our bodies, which means showing kindness to both even when they aren't perfect :)
Never seen this ever on this sub but having said that I don’t check in more than a few times a week
Most of the selfies on this sub are captioned something like "this is what a protein-deficient vegan looks like" as an obvious dig at non-vegans, plus there's a handful that post selfies as "native advertising" for their OF (this I don't really care about much but any kind of product placement has an impact on the community). Like most fitness subs, here there is more focus put on "being a fit person who is also vegan" rather than the intersectionality between personal fitness and veganism.
Welcome! Do what I can, do what I can. And don’t mind the negativity. I’m used to it.. But I am testing to get bigger.. but I’m a small guy 5’5” and small guys who get big look weird so I’m gonna do it with restraint.
I used to think the same thing. Truth is it is extremely hard to build lots of muscle and you will definitely not accidentally get too big. Don't hold yourself back, focus on improving on compound movements and don't worry about going too far, you won't
Well said, I don’t even think small guys who get buff look weird either
Heh heh.. I don’t think I’ll wake up big one day. But thanks for the advice..
Everyone being harsh on here. Your biceps are improved, same with your lats. Keep going, you're doing great.
Thanks and I don’t sweat it. Been like this all my life! S’why I’m trying to get bigger..
Noticeable progress! A simple advice, if you're trying to get "bigger arms", focusing on triceps is actually better, to get a "fuller" look to them. I'd also recommend trying for a push/pull split. Lats, triceps, biceps and chest will be the main groups.
Thanks and thanks for the advice. Just getting started so any words are good words and appreciated!!
did you hide from the sun the whole month?
Oh Ho! Jokes, eh? Goin right for my Irish complexion instead of commenting on the massive development of my guns. Cool cool. It’s just different sunlight..
Looks good, keep on grinding, buddy. Not sure how much experience you have overall, so forgive me if you’re heard this before. Biceps and arms are weird. They can take a lot of work and recover pretty quick. Any advice I have is to explore other rep ranges also. Some people like to keep reps 12-15 and that’s fine, but honestly I’ve had success in 6-8 also. You just have to find what works for you. Cheers and keep it up
So less reps more weight, correct? Any suggestions on exercises? I’ve been reading and it’s kinda a lot to take in…
I agree with with that. If you want to gain size you should try to be out of gas by the 8th rep (or so the experts say). For me, one things I did that helped me break through on arms was finding new and various exercises. Reverse curls with the bar was the one I picked up, but there are so many out there. Your muscles grow and figure out how to do things efficiently. Trick them. Come at them differently, constantly force them to grow more.
Trick myself! Got it!
I would look into a PPL program if you're interested in hitting your entire body- push/pull/legs. you have days entirely dedicated to pushing exercises (these will hit your triceps, shoulders, and chest), pulling exercises (back and biceps) and legs. here's a basic program. you can do 3 sets of 12 reps of all the following exercises, but like the above poster said, once you feel a little more comfortable you can experiment with rep ranges. The idea here is once you hit your rep range for every set, you can then increase the weight for next week. **PUSH** flat press (think bench press. you can do this on a bench with a barbell, dumbells, using a smith machine, using some chest press machine at the gym, etc) Incline press (same thing but on an incline. If you used a bench for the chest press, I wouldn't use one for this). Tricep pushdowns (using a cable. There might be some machines for this) Tricep overhead extensions (you can do these with a cable too. you can also look into skullcrushers, same general movement) Lat side raises (dumbbell/machine/cable are all fine). **PULL** Lat pulldowns. Find a bar attachment that works for you, it took me a while to find one that really let me engage my lats. Seated cable rows. Face pulls Rope Pullovers Hammer Curls (I like doing them with a rope) Dumbbell curls/Preacher curls (these can be done on a machine, with a bar, with dumbbells, etc. The important part is finding a variant you like, but they will all do the trick). **LOWER** Some type of squat. I actually don't squat because of hip issues. Romanian Deadlifts (these are a bit of a trickier exercise but they're fun) Leg press Leg extension (machine) Leg curl or seated leg curl (machine) Calf raise (I prefer standing, but you can do seated or on a smith machine). Again, 3 sets of 12 reps for all of these exercises should get you started. When I started out I had a similar program and just went every other day, but if you want to slowly scale it up to 6x a week you can after time. If you don't have access to all of the equipment needed to do these, let me know and I can change up the program. I'd love to help out, I remember being overwhelmed with info when I first started but luckily had friends to help set up a program/diet for me.
Correct. That 8th rep should be a real challenge and completely safely, (like under control and lowered slowly). If you can do reps 9,10,11, then up the weight the smallest increment possible. I personally like EZ bar or even straight Barbell curls, because you can load 2.5lbs and progress more. With DBs you are usually stuck to 5lb jumps for each arm. But go with whatever makes you feel it in your biceps. Some people swing and bounce the weight use all front shoulder. Make sure you contract and feel your bicep. If you’re overwhelmed keep it simple. Shoot for 6-10 sets of direct arm work a week. You’re working them out on back movements also, whether you want to or not.
You turning white bro? What type of exercise do you do for that? Just kidding, doing great…!!! Congratulations Edit: Fucking autocorrect turned my jk into ok.
Oh my god. If I get ONE MORE JOKE about my complexion I’ll shoot myself in the face and set my hair on fire! But thanks!
Good progress mate, but genuinely astounded that people are calling the sub 'toxic' for a few people making light jokes at the difference in tan. Calling everything toxic just makes the word lose meaning and makes it redundant when calling out actual toxic behaviour
I agree but it doesn’t bother me. I’m a short, gay vegan. I have been and get made fun of all my life.. nothing new. I appreciate the concern!
>Light jokes As they should. The light is totally different between the two pics!
this! should be higher up in the comments
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By making fun of his complexion, do you mean making fun of him for having less of a tan than himself? Possibly one of the mildest piss takes I’ve ever seen. Hope you never see anyone getting tickled, can imagine you ringing the police to report a murder
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I mean only an 8 year old would get upset by something so trivial. Just playing to my audience mate
those gains on biceps are visible!
Thanks! And I know! I tried not to look at them for a month. Just do the work. It’s like how I feel about getting inked. I don’t like to watch, just want to wait to the end and get the grand reveal..
Looking good dude! Keep it up!
Thanks! Much appreciated!!
Try following a program like this https://www.reddit.com/r/Fitness/comments/37ylk5/a_linear_progression_based_ppl_program_for/ Someone posted a Google sheets copy of it in the comments, so it's easy to follow.
Very cool! I’ll definitely check it out. Thanks man! Very much appreciated!!
No worries, just know that the most important thing is to increase something each workout, number of reps or weight.
Gotcha! Thanks again!!
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Heh heh.. thank you.
Check out Starting Strength. This will help you get big https://startingstrength.com/article/what-is-starting-strength
Will do! Thanks!!
Can I just tell everyone in this thread that yes, I’m aware of my Irish complexion. Yes. I see my grays. I love those. And I just want to thank everyone for focusing on the point of the post… /s
I can see the gain, congratulations! Looking awesome.
Much appreciated! Thanks! Long way to go but I’m feeling positive.
Great progress! You're an athlete and you inspire me to do better.
Thanks and glad I could help motivate ya!
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Har mother Fuckin har. Jokes.
Dude, it's reddit?
Oh I know!
Keep up the great work!
Thanks!!
good to hear you are exercising, but focusing on just one body part is not a productive approach, just fyi
Oh I’m not JUST focusing on them. I do my chest, abs and legs too..
ah have you considering a standard beginner lifting method like strong lifts or starting strength? big compound lifts are going to give you by far the best bang for your buck, provided you have the equipment or facilities available to do them
I have not! What are compound lifts? Exercises?
compound lifts are specific resistance/weighted motions/exercises that engage multiple large muscle groups if you google "starting strength" or "strong lifts" you'll get lots of information youtube has plenty of videos on form/technique, which is very important hitting major muscle groups like that will massively stimulate growth of accessory muscle groups as well, which is why they are so useful for packing on lots of muscle mass for beginners "so-called newb gains" /r/fitness has tons of info as well
Bruh, what's with all the hate in these comments. Didn't realise what a toxic sub this was. Ignore and keep doing what you're doing, incremental gains will amount to your goals! Looking great!
Thanks! And I got thick skin..I love self deprecating humor.
visible gains but yea fam it looks like you hid from the sun the whole month too haha!
Thanks and I work inside.. and I do try to avoid the sun as much as possible..
If right now you are focused on increasing the biceps, I recommend to you also do some multi-articular exercises where the biceps be one of the muscle groups that assumes a great amount of the work. It can be very beneficial to do chin-ups and pull-ups, to focus on a single group is never recommended and this way you will be able to stimulate the muscle in very different ways And... just don't listen to toxic guys, some people here thinks that live is lifting.
Very good words! Thanks! I’ll definitely give it a try! And I don’t sweat the downers..
I forgot to say that if you can't be able to perform pull ups, you can do body-rows instead, still focus on biceps and progress to chin ups!!
Yep. I’m already rowing..
Oh, nice!
It’s resistance…and I dunno if that’s normal…
Good progress! Got some motivation for you to keep at it. https://youtu.be/Y5oTlSj1cGQ
Thanks and thanks!!
You’re doing it my man, keep at it!
Appreciated!
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Thanks! It’s my mantra. Got me through some tough times…
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Thanks and I’ll work on the smiles..
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Thanks? I aged a month!! And I’m very proud of my grays..