Honestly, I'm starting to wonder if there's even a point to nutrition

[Staurm]

No, actually what I do is have two arm-curling weights at either side of me, hold onto the handles, and do the pushups. Here's a pic

That's what I do too! Do you also place them next to each other with your feet apart for balance and do them that way?

[Staurm]

You notice why vegetarians are so thin? Many of them suffer from malnutrition and lack of minerals. Just because you eat a bunch of vegetables doesn't mean you are healthy.

As for them, their diet is unhealthy as well.

No it's not, you can get all the nutrition you require from plant sources, and its often more ecologically sustainable.

[Gandalf_The_Grey]

No it's not, you can get all the nutrition you require from plant sources, and its often more ecologically sustainable.

Well, I'd say it's always more ecoligically sustainable.

I've wondered that myself, I know you can get many types of protein from plant sources, but can you get all the proteins you get from meat? And can you get it in the same abundance? All I know is Sepultura's singer, Derek Green, has been a vegetarian for something like 16 years, and just look at the guy!

[MegaOctane12]

I have found that if I try and be realistic about healthy food and eat it 70% of the time I can eat junk food 30% of the time and not feel unhealthy as a result, I also enjoy it more. I also stick to eating healthy things when I don't see eating them as a chore.


Also I think if you are working out and your friends don't, but you are the same size or smaller then there is something wrong with either your diet or your training, its most probaly both, although its hard to say because you didn't post your regime. To build muscle you need more protein than you have been told, at least 1gram per pound of body weight, at least. Also, you need a proper regime to see results, I find a three day split is effective. Also I find that back workouts really help alot, I feel when I'm walking around that I am more supported and stronger, exercises like bent over dumbell rows, rowing machine, lat pull downs or chin ups, basically anything where you are having to pull thing's will build a big back.

If you train your chest and your back you will shoot out and you will look bigger. My regime is :-

Chest/Tri
5 Min warm-up
Dumbell Flat Bench - 4 sets 6-8 reps
Weighted Dips For Chest - 4 sets 6-8 reps (last set to failure)
Incline Dumbell Fly- 4 sets 6-8 reps (last set to failure) (Lay so head is at the top of the bench)
Skull Crushers - 3 sets 6-8 reps (or close grip bench press)
overhead cable presses 3 sets 6-8 reps (last set to fail) (or close grip bench presses)

Back/Bi
5 min warm-up
Deadlifts 4 sets 6-8 reps (last set to failure)
Bent Over One Arm Dumbell Rows 4 sets 6-8 reps
Lat pulldowns 3 sets 6-8 reps (last set to fail)
(I would prefer you to do chins instead though if you are strong enough to lift your bodyweight)
Barbell Bicep curl 3 sets 6-8 reps
One arm Dumbell Hammer curls 3 sets 6-8 reps

Delts/traps
5 min warm-up
Seated Dumbell military press (Sit on Bench while executing) - 3 sets 6-8 reps
Lateral dumbell raises (side) 3 sets 6-8 reps (last to fail)
Barbell Shrugs 5 sets 6-8 reps


Legs I do on back day or whenever I go gym I combine back and leg days because you need machines for these.

[Gandalf_The_Grey]

That's a pretty good workout MegaOctane. You're much like me in diet, 70% healthy and 30% junk (I say as I'm drinking a can of coke now; damn my weakness). I've only recently figured out the perfect workout myself, but I have been finally seeing the results. I've just been naturally scrawny and skinny my whole life, so it's an uphill battle. But even though I'm not as strong as my friends, I'm getting there and definately have them beat on the abbs. I do my workout every second day, as follows.

Start out with gentle warm-up with a yoga stretching routine.

Arm Curls:
Always keep a good heavy weight. 3 sets of 10 reps.

Abbs:
I lie back, put one foot on the opposite knee, the put my arm from the same side as the leg through the hole made by my leg. Then I do crunches that work just my left, then switch and do just my right. It works really well.

Then I do strait-up situps.

Then I do leg-lifts, where I lie on my back and put my legs together and lift them right up, then lower them an inch above the floor and repeat.

All 4 of these are done in 3 sets of 10.

Pushups:
As described above, do them holding the dumbbells. Right now I can only manage 2 sets of 10 because I just switched to this method, but I will work it up to 3 sets.

Thingamajigs:

LOL, can't think of a name for it. I take my arm-curling weight at one side at a time, and lift it at my side up to my armpit. This works those muscles that connect your neck to your shoulder really well.

2 sets of 10, will get it up to 3 when I get used to my pushups. I like to keep all my muscles capable of a consistant number of reps.

As for my legs I'm not sure what I can do. I walk whenver I can, but the sciatica kills me when I walk more than 20 minutes. I tried leg lunges but it made the sciatica much worse.

[LuckyG]

I found out all I needed to do was take 3 appricots a day and constipation isn't an issue at all anymore. It's amazing how well they work!

I had three nectarines yesterday, and this morning I think I shit out my entire intestinal capacity. Just thought y'all would like to know.

[thcbongman]

No it's not, you can get all the nutrition you require from plant sources, and its often more ecologically sustainable.

You can, but most vegetarians, especially vegans suffer from malnutrition because they don't eat enough from plant sources. As I stated, you have to eat alot of beans and nuts. Tofu as well.

Well Gandalf, you claim to know about that already, but obviously you are doing something wrong. You either aren't eating enough, or you are aren't giving parts of your muscles proper rest. You have to consistantly eat meals, at least 6 times a day. It's pretty tough to do, but once you get use to it, you'll be big in no time.

I'm a of a thin-body type as well, and believe me you can get bigger. In 3 months, I went from a post-surgical weight of 153 to 165 while maintaining a 7% BF. It required eating a ton of healthy food, and not one bit of shit. In my first years of working out it took me a year to gain 12 pounds of muscle, because I kept screwed up without and assumed I knew everything just because I learned a lot of exercises.

Read some articles on bodybuilding.com to self-assess what you aren't doing right. You can't assume you know that, there's always something to learn about exercise, learning doesn't stop. The more you learn, the better you'll be at gaining that mass.

[Staurm]

Well, I'd say it's always more ecoligically sustainable.

I've wondered that myself, I know you can get many types of protein from plant sources, but can you get all the proteins you get from meat? And can you get it in the same abundance? All I know is Sepultura's singer, Derek Green, has been a vegetarian for something like 16 years, and just look at the guy!

Is that the new singer? I've not listened to them for years.

Anyway, this fine specimen of a vegetarian also comes from Brazil, remember. British vegetarians tend to look lethargic not only because they eat shit from Holland and Barret, but also because they don't get enough vitamen D from the sun.

[Staurm]

That's a pretty good workout MegaOctane. You're much like me in diet, 70% healthy and 30% junk (I say as I'm drinking a can of coke now; damn my weakness). I've only recently figured out the perfect workout myself, but I have been finally seeing the results. I've just been naturally scrawny and skinny my whole life, so it's an uphill battle. But even though I'm not as strong as my friends, I'm getting there and definately have them beat on the abbs. I do my workout every second day, as follows.

Start out with gentle warm-up with a yoga stretching routine.

Arm Curls:
Always keep a good heavy weight. 3 sets of 10 reps.

Abbs:
I lie back, put one foot on the opposite knee, the put my arm from the same side as the leg through the hole made by my leg. Then I do crunches that work just my left, then switch and do just my right. It works really well.

Then I do strait-up situps.

Then I do leg-lifts, where I lie on my back and put my legs together and lift them right up, then lower them an inch above the floor and repeat.

All 4 of these are done in 3 sets of 10.

Pushups:
As described above, do them holding the dumbbells. Right now I can only manage 2 sets of 10 because I just switched to this method, but I will work it up to 3 sets.

Thingamajigs:

LOL, can't think of a name for it. I take my arm-curling weight at one side at a time, and lift it at my side up to my armpit. This works those muscles that connect your neck to your shoulder really well.

2 sets of 10, will get it up to 3 when I get used to my pushups. I like to keep all my muscles capable of a consistant number of reps.

As for my legs I'm not sure what I can do. I walk whenver I can, but the sciatica kills me when I walk more than 20 minutes. I tried leg lunges but it made the sciatica much worse.

Fuck that shit man, don't ever get into a routine. And yoga is for winding down, not warming up. Warm up by going for a walk, walk until you are tired. Then when you go home if you feel energtic throw some dumbells around and do some press ups, otherwise do some light yoga. If you don't then maybe the next day. Get the blood pumping through your heart before you try lifting anything heavy. You don't need excessively heavy weights to put on some muscle either. Use the same weight until you feel like your not lifting anything and you can throw them around like they are weightless, and then build up that way. Use the same weight for ages and don't worry about how many reps you do. Wind down afterwards by relaxing and stretching. Sleep on a hard surface if you can. I sleep on the floor using a quilt as a matress, I wont have it any other way.

[thcbongman]

That's a pretty good workout MegaOctane. You're much like me in diet, 70% healthy and 30% junk (I say as I'm drinking a can of coke now; damn my weakness). I've only recently figured out the perfect workout myself, but I have been finally seeing the results. I've just been naturally scrawny and skinny my whole life, so it's an uphill battle. But even though I'm not as strong as my friends, I'm getting there and definately have them beat on the abbs. I do my workout every second day, as follows.

Start out with gentle warm-up with a yoga stretching routine.

Arm Curls:
Always keep a good heavy weight. 3 sets of 10 reps.

Abbs:
I lie back, put one foot on the opposite knee, the put my arm from the same side as the leg through the hole made by my leg. Then I do crunches that work just my left, then switch and do just my right. It works really well.

Then I do strait-up situps.

Then I do leg-lifts, where I lie on my back and put my legs together and lift them right up, then lower them an inch above the floor and repeat.

All 4 of these are done in 3 sets of 10.

Pushups:
As described above, do them holding the dumbbells. Right now I can only manage 2 sets of 10 because I just switched to this method, but I will work it up to 3 sets.

Thingamajigs:

LOL, can't think of a name for it. I take my arm-curling weight at one side at a time, and lift it at my side up to my armpit. This works those muscles that connect your neck to your shoulder really well.

2 sets of 10, will get it up to 3 when I get used to my pushups. I like to keep all my muscles capable of a consistant number of reps.

As for my legs I'm not sure what I can do. I walk whenver I can, but the sciatica kills me when I walk more than 20 minutes. I tried leg lunges but it made the sciatica much worse.

You say you know yoga stretches. You know the one where you have to lift your leg into the air, stretch it out and hold? From time to time you move it at a 45 degree angle? Don't do it for very long since you have a considerable amount of pain, but in burst, it's pretty managable.

There are also calf-raises. Those aren't as taxing as lunges or squats.