Author: veganhealthbenefit

It doesn’t hurt that I took this break. I had soreness in my right shoulder, but it’s not a stinging pain like nerve issue or anything. I worked *hard* doing 5 sets of my face pulls and 5 sets of my Bulgarian squats. The soreness came 2 days later. I worked as a volunteer doing large dishes, and being on my feet moving around large dishes may have cause me to have general soreness but a better explanation is I worked extremely hard doing the two exercises mentioned before.

Right now, and today, I feel quite good and I did work again as a volunteer. I don’t have the soreness. Because of all of these fact I lean towards it being delayed onset muscle soreness from hard workout. That type of soreness is normal and I accept it as part of my training. It won’t slow me down in the future, but I just want to be sure my right should is 100% to go before I get back on the handstands and pushups.

It’s kind of flighty to change exercises once again, but I need to adjust to overwork on any body part, and it’s possible that pushups *and* handstand work at the level I do is pushing too far. I can drop the pushups. The same muscles are worked during the handstands. I just saw a flashy new exercise of the decline diamond pushups and thought to add it.

Finally, I want to move the face pulls to the hardstand day, and do them after I do the handstand. What else can I do or do I need to do? Probably none more for now. I good pull-up type exercise would be beneficial but I don’t have a place with a horizontal bar at this time. I can hold off.

Finally, I can do my ab work . That’s a lighter impact. I was watching Dr. Mike Israetel discuss abs and he says they don’t need to be worked since the big compound movements work them, such as the squats but I would assume also the handstands. He’s more focused on weight training. He says if you really want to do them to pop, ideal is some sort of weighted ab machine. He mentioned a couple other things.

Pulling back and looking at the big picture, I won’t drop the Bulgarian squats or other squat type. It is my favorite but it is by far the most intense exercise from an energy perspective. The handstand uses far less energy in my opinion. Squats are the #1 most important exercise for good health to me.

It’s not constant. Also, it may not be related to the handstand. When I am sitting in bed and rest the inner elbow on the pillow it may become more pronounced. I think I had the same thing when I rested my arm funny while on an recumbent bike working on computer. I did in fact make a specific adjustment to avoid pressure right on the elbow and it fixed the problem back then.

Today, the workout schedule has elevated pushup and ab routine. I removed handstand from today as rest. I am motivated to do it but taking a day off will be good. Today was to be a rest day but I feel good. I did 4 sets of Bulgarian squats which was intense but I proved myself I can do it, with sufficient break between sets. I have good weight and will progress more soon.

Bulgarian Split Squat Standards and progress prediction

The strength standards for Bulgarian split squat show below the ‘novice’ category (2nd category) of 67 lb, being at 50 lb. It could take me some time to reach 67 lb, but a key part of gaining muscle is the concept of ‘progressive overload’, which shows the need to increase weight regularly or muscle will not grow.

I can’t add 5 lb a week. If that was possible I’d add 250 lb by the end of next year and be in the highest category of ‘Elite’. It’s probably not even every two weeks. A wild guess is every 2.5 weeks I can add 5 lb if I push hard. Time will tell, but difficulty level and form breakdown is obvious. If I have form breakdown then I can’t increase no matter what the goal. A pretty attainable goal is 5 lb every 4 weeks. Let’s speculate it’s 5 lb every 3 weeks. If so, it will take me 10.2 weeks to novice category of 67 lb and 37 weeks to reach the intermediate category of 124 lb. 124 lb is a 62 lb dumbbell in each hand, or using cables.

I’m happy the way my legs look. They are lean and with definition, but I have potential to get bigger faster with the history of soccer and good leg size in the past. I might actually be close the leg size I have had in the past. I don’t know.

With no injury and no unforeseen break in training, at 5 lb a week I would reach 67 lb in 21 weeks. My weight may increase to 160 lb by then and that means I’d have to have a higher value to reach novice category. If it’s every 4 weeks for 5 lb, that’s 74*4/5 or 59 weeks: this makes sense.

Other variables: Weight increases also may not be linear. Age: 50. Even at this age, I have strong faith in my quad work progression and enjoy it.

Decline diamond Pushup: Progress prediction / advancement for increased difficulty.

I see the strong gymnasts working hard on this exercise in standard form so worrying about running out of useful hypertrophy progression is premature, probably. I use an easy version, with top edge of shins on the chair instead of feet. Progress is measured in reps, but also that distance between the fulcrum of the legs and it’s distance. I’ll go to middle of the shin, and then ankles. Once 5 sets of 12 becomes quite easy will I have to do something like add weight. Also, the angle should be changed in some way for increased difficulty. However, less of the upper chest may be impacted, so other form of progression may be required. Weighted backpack, possibly. It won’t take much weight to make them considerably more difficult.

In summary, I probably can reach intermediate level weight on the Bulgarian squat around a year and a couple months. Progression on the decline diamond pushup doesn’t the same measure of progression as simple weight that the squat or other weightlifting standards do.

Diet change: Cutting back bread

I think I said this before in the blog but my homemade whole wheat bread seems to be the culprit in my slow weight gain over certain periods, and I can see myself overeating when I make it these days. It’s far less of a problem when I eat the pasta and black beans. I am cutting back to virtually no whole wheat bread. three meals of 5 ounces of whole wheat pasta, measured dry, and 2 of those with a can of black beans each, are hearty meals. I also eat spinach with those meals. Cooking it is very easy.

To be honest, I decided to focus on 4 compound movements since I was watching some videos by a strength training trainer and scholar Jeff Nippard, who says the bulk of research shows that 10 to 20 sets per week is optimal but it does vary between people and I still have to find the optimal for myself. However, the 7 sets I did per week is under that on the Bulgarian split squat. I might as well push it, and I’ll ease up going to 4 sets today, potentially going to 5 in a few weeks.

A great video is: Training Volume and Frequency | Chapter 2: The Fundamentals Series

The fact is, I don’t want to quit. I will have to lower the sets if I’m being demotivated on a regular basis, but the data show that over 10 sets is very beneficial. The plus side is, noob gains come at the lower end of that range so I can enjoy the quicker gains.

Edit: 5:30 PM

Results of first time Bulgarian squats at 4 sets.

My first squat attempt today was poor because I changed position what seemed to be a small amount but had a major impact. I thought maybe I was short on energy. I left after 3 reps, got some caffeine, but then readjusted, putting my foot back in the place I used up until now. It went better. Still, the start there was rough but I did 2 sets of both of the day’s exercises, and went to the store and got blueberries, ate a bunch. My final two sets of each exercise went well. It is likely I could do 5 sets but why push it right away, I figure. I’m staying with 4. I think 50 lb with the split squats is getting easier but I need to go up to 12 reps, 4 sets, before I increment my weight to 55 or 60 lb.

Face pulls at 4 sets: results

The face pulls are pretty good. It’s subjective what exactly is a form fail. I think I came close to form fail by not pulling back far enough on the last rep our two. That’s a good set then, I figure.

I am very pleased that I didn’t have a big struggle with my split squats. I rested the right amount of time. I need to be able to pull off a good amount of volume, and 4 sets is good, but 5 will be better on a routine every 4 days. I don’t have a lot of exercise to worry about. 3 good compound movements, and I could try 5 sets of each, then maybe, just maybe 6 if 5 works out.

They say recovery is much better on a whole food-plant based diet. I’m getting into the volume range where I will be testing recovery. 4-5 hard sets should get me some soreness. I’m eating quite well as far as calories. Plenty.

In the future, I can target my lats somehow in a more targeted way but to be sure with a compound movement, be it bodyweight rows, straight arm pull downs (if equipment is available), or pull ups or chin ups if I can find a horizontal bar somewhere.

Hamstring is important but I dropped the Nordic curl at this time. I get some work on the hamstring but trying to get every single muscle is pushing the envelope. I need sustainability, and adding more and more exercises ensures it won’t be sustainable.

I have to remind myself that aesthetics in street clothes is the primary goal of this training: to prove a plant based diet can grow respectable muscle mass, to promote the Starch Solution which solved my high blood pressure, cholesterol and weight issues permanently. At this time, injury prevention does matter but it is secondary in terms of exercises performed specifically for that.

Primary muscles worked:

• Quadriceps-Bulgarian split squats
• Gluteus Maximus / Medius – Bulgarian split squats
• Latissimus Dorsi – handstands
• Triceps-Decline Diamond Pushups, possibly Handstands too
• Shoulders-handstand pushups
• Traps (with handstand pushups and handstands).
• Upper chest-Decline Diamond Pushups

In street clothes, most visible are the traps, shoulders, upper chest, triceps. It could be argued that a V-taper is very important, and this requires two things: wide lats, and a trim waist. The waist doesn’t have to be super trim, especially if the legs get pretty big. Also, well formed glutes contribute to aesthetics.

Apparently, 10-20 sets is a good range per week, but I want to ease into higher rep ranges. The key exercises are the primary compound ones: Bulgarian Split squat, handstand progression, and decline diamond pushup. I have no numbness in the right hand after stretching and warming up before the exercise today, and it may not have been due to the handstand: it could have been the L-sit. In addition, knocking my right elbow while seated could contribute which I stopped.

Increasing sets on any others is pushing the envelope. I dropped some accessory exercises for now. The key is to get in the compound movements and key accessory movements which help the rotator cuff.

Quick noob gains are said to be maximized doing compound movements, the biggest of which is the squats, but the handstands are immensely beneficial and the pushups will be very good for upper body aesthetics. I can’t easily select for the very best compound movements since I don’t have equipment but I have 2 of the best.

Nordic curl is very intense so I removed it. Payoff not big enough since it’s an isolation movement (at this time). One glute medius exercise is low intensity and worth the time to help me with any IT band tightness and/or knee pain I have during extended walks and hikes.

A key to good goals is that they remain very attainable, and they are that, now. I can flip my compound exercises across the three day cycle as I see fit. Flexibility is very important to me personally. It has paid off by preventing discouragement.

One thing about the workout I may change pretty big is doing a pull compound exercise, and one that is easy is a bodyweight row (under a table). Difficulty can easily be managed. I can’t easily find place for pull-ups, which is the other logical exercise. I can drop the incline pushups. This makes the most sense but I want to see how this pans out. The handstand works the same muscles as the decline diamond pushup, just maybe not as focused.

I find a bit of dread doing the Bulgarian split squat recently, partly because lifting the 25 lb on each side with cables and holding over the arms is a cumbersome and had been difficult I’m learning to adjust to the task. Further, the squats can have a great deal of variability based on certain parameters, such as the distance between the front and back leg plus the height of the rear leg, and the position of everything in relation to the pulleys of the cables.

However, I managed to eek out 3 x 6. I’m proud I did complete these because of the difficulty level. I powered through as far as I could without losing form. I’m close to the optimal parameters for my current strength-weight, position, sets and reps. 6 is a pretty good sweet spot for me. When I hit 9 it’s time to up the weight. Increasing by 10 pounds can be a bit of a stretch. The only increments on each weight are 5 lb, so I may have to have uneven weight on either side. However, I don’t believe it’s a huge deal. Let’s say I increase by 5 lb a week for the next year. That will put me at 300 lb for the Bulgarian split squat, which is an insanely high amount. It will probably have to be less, like every 2 or even 3 weeks. Based on that information, my increases of 10 lb should be aborted and stick to 5 lb: be conservative to avoid injury.

Decline Diamond Pushup

I can feel it mostly in my triceps. The standard diamond pushup is said to work the triceps hard. I have the L-Sit to work the triceps and that gives me an intense exercise, but it’s static. The L-sit doesn’t work the chest. The L-sit is a superb exercise, but it does stress the wrists, and I have this pushup variation to work many of the same muscles. Part of the glutes will not be worked, and the shoulders won’t get stressed from that same angle. I want to work on the L-sit eventually but I’m considering dropping it to focus on fewer exercises so I can maintain a good combination with adequate sets, reps and less chance of unplanned rest days or even burnout.

The handstand pushup or it’s predecessor in the handstand progression, the plank pushup or L pushup, maximally exercise the shoulders. That way, I have good exercise hitting the body-parts where I want the most visible muscle increase: shoulders, upper chest, triceps.

I have been neglecting the isolated core exercises. I can’t let the hard work necessary deter me in this case. I still get good core activation with the handstand as well as the Nordic curl and the Bulgarian split squat.

So, with four intense exercises (BS-Squat, Decline Diamond Pushup, Nordic curls, handstands) I tax all the muscles I deem as important and more. Further, they are all compound movements.

Muscles in order of priority

• Quadriceps / front thigh and glutes – Bulgarian split squats
• Latissimus Dorsi – handstands (might need to later add pull-ups, cable pull downs and rows).
• Triceps-Decline Diamond Pushups, possibly Handstands too)
• Shoulders-handstand pushups
• Traps (with handstand pushups and handstands).
• Upper chest-Decline Diamond Pushups
• Hamstring / rear thigh – Nordic Curls

Ranking includes consideration for size and aesthetics. Size is important for optimal metabolic profile and other dramatic health benefits including decrease in loss of brain mass volume with aging. Size contributes to aesthetics, also. The shoulders, triceps, upper chest, lats and traps are quite visible in street clothes, but also large legs are quite visible.

The core has its own category. When I start looking defined overall, I will most certainly try to keep body fat down while doing a simple core routine for about 10 minutes daily. It will become the #1 priority.

Lats are a lot more visible than hamstrings, but the hamstrings have better health benefit to me than lats: I can grow more muscle with then, which contributes to good metabolism, and they will balance out strong quads plus contribute to injury prevention during sprinting, something I like to do. It’s a hard decision because as a former soccer player I view legs as very important.

The lats, however, are big muscles. On average the biceps femoris and the lats are basically equal in size. There is the possibility I can still do 1 set of hamstring work and then do something intense for the lats. When I get bored, I’ll switch it up. For now, keeping the same.

I have wondered what the benefit of slower reps is, but according to this video analysis of research, more important are several factors, including total volume, and number of sets per week. However, the duration should be long enough to be done in a safe manner. I assume that the rep duration can be kept consistent so that progression will be measured by increased weight in sets of similar reps. Again, I think a big factor is knowing the maximum limit to reach over 4 – 9 reps per set and trying to reach it so there the all-important ‘overload’ is reached.

I found a nice video that is inspirational. I have been progressing on my simple strength training exercises finally today.

An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure Handstand prehab, warmup, stretching, strengthening.

I have to make sure I do the proper technique as described by trainers with a focus on injury prevention and maximum progress. One technique to prevent hand pain is simply rest. As important is warmup and stretching. Below are the exercises necessary to warm up and reduce chance of injury:

Another video from a reliable Youtube channel:

Another, the most thorough of the ones I saw:

Additional steps include how to do the handstand. Some recommend rotating the hands further outward so there is less stress during the handstand. In time, though, the stretching will improve flexibility. It is said that wrist and hand pain is somewhat common for people new to handstand training. One person had to take off 5 weeks, which is something I would do if necessary but at this point I don’t have tingling or pain for more than a few minutes. However, I have to be certain it does not progress or it will set me back in training a significant amount. I am most proud of the handstand and most motivated to perform the handstand of all exercises, so I have to use extra caution.

Another strength exercise that stresses the wrist and hand is the ground L-sit. The same precautions must be taken for that exercise.

Consideration may be given to performing an exercise on parallel bars to reduce stress on the wrists, at least temporarily during periods of higher pain and discomfort.

I feel a little achy and I didn’t sleep real well. I woke up thrashing but I drank tea too late. I’m swapping my big exercises with the auxiliary exercise day. It should be easy to pull off these.

• Nordic Curls
• Decline Diamond Face Pushup
• Clam Shell for glute medius
• Neck Strength
• Rotator Cuff: I/Y/T
• Leg balance, eyes closed

The decline diamond pushup and the Nordic curls are the most intense. I bet I feel better when I start going on them.

New shoes: I found some very inexpensive shoes and although time will tell on durability, the feel really good and will do well on the trail- Skecher Escape Plan. I wanted to try zero drop shoes and was led to a Skecher outlet after reading about the Skecher GoTrail series. Those weren’t carried by the store. The Escape plan is there for $60 but online at Skecher it’s $80. I wasn’t going to spend more than $60 anyways.

I kept some soccer flats for several years even though they that callouses into my heels . They are durable but otherwise pretty horrible shoes. This brand was long ago a great one. Many people seem to still like them but they fit my feet horribly. I find it’s better to buy shoes at a store where they can be tested, whereas I made the mistake with the soccer flats and bought them through the mail.

L-sit tuck on the ground : very intense

Back when I was using parallettes it was far easier. On the ground, the shoulders have to be pushed down hard to lift the torso just an inch or two more than is required on the paralettes. I have been doing tucks well, though. My triceps are getting worked extremely hard, but I also feel it in the shoulders. The core is no problem for me at this time.

This exercise is making change happen in my body clearly because it’s so intense. I think for now 60 seconds is ok but might be just a touch aggressive. We’ll see how I progress in the next days and weeks.

Update: 5:14 PM: I got into it! I powered through it and all it took was a bit of time but I got energy. It’s a good rush from the intense exercises. I’m still feeling out the decline diamond pushup. To track any exercise, I need consistency of execution, such as height of the raised legs, what part of the leg goes on that, the position of the diamond, the duration of each movement including up-hold at top-down-hold at bottom. After this year, I will use a chair that has a different height. That could have a major impact on difficulty level.

This complexity occurs in several exercises. The Bulgarian split squat has the rear leg in a specific position on the cable bench in the hotel gym. The cable pulleys are a specific angle (both vertical and horizontal) and distance from the center line.

The only exercise I will have to adapt significantly when I change locations is the Bulgarian Split Squat. In the end, it’s important to have progressive overload, and although during the switchover the progression tracking is broken, the intensity can be retested in the new environment with new parameters. Working out hard and until near failure is one of the most important concepts in strength training, so I have to really be sure I’m at maximum intensity when I set the bar starting on in a new environment.

7:40 PM: Final exercises. I have 2 sets of Nordic curls to perform and may do my handstands also, which are due tomorrow. Then I have just two exercises and can experience a real rest day on Sunday.

Nordic curls: They are touted as a safe exercise and I have no doubt, but I worry. I have pulled my hamstring some I’ve been hesitant to put maximum effort. I eventually will be performing max effort but I just started so I’m easing my way into these. In the end, I’ll work as hard as anybody on this one…at least I intend. the Nordic curl has multiple benefits but a major one is muscle hypertrophy. If I can substantially grow my quads and glutes with the Bulgarian split squat, and then the hamstrings with the Nordic curls, that’s the dynamic duo of massive muscle growth. This will improve my metabolic profile. It is said that with increased muscle comes increased testosterone, too, so it will help future muscle growth.

I noticed that I am getting used to doing Bulgarian split squats with 15 lb cable weights in each hand in the gym. I thought maybe it’s too easy. The first set was pretty hard, but I think I’m getting used to it and more efficient.

I feel good now doing wall supported handstands for a total time more than 60 seconds. I must progress on it, and the way to do it is to increase the time at this point, the total time. Increasing total time is easier than increasing a single rep time. I pulled off 40 seconds but it was pushing it. Then, I fell the next day coming out of a 40 second hold so I backtracked to 60 seconds of total time, and doing 20-30 seconds per rep. However, that’s pretty easy but I don’t want to jump back up to 40 seconds just yet. So next: 90 seconds of total time, and ultimately 120 seconds of total time when I feel ready. Then, I can test a single rep time between 40 and 60 seconds.

In the same vein, I have multiple other exercises I should progress with. I’ve been doing this exercise routine for 3 weeks and I’m feeling good about all exercises.

Several key exercises I can improve with progression: face pulls: I did 35 lb. I can push up next time to 40 lb. I need to be able to do it controlled though for 4-8 reps. I can easily pull of 10 with 35 lb. I will continue to flex hard like Jeff Cavalier suggests in his video of face pull technique.

Decline pushups: The difference between elevated on knees and elevated on feet (unbent waist) is substantial I can fairly easily do 10 reps on the knees on the chair. I need to move to middle of the shins maybe.

Nordic curls: These are still too difficult to do without a bent waist, but I need to flex hard, and clinch my hands, as Jeff Nippard suggests, to encourage full muscle activation throughout the body on the movement.

The leg balance is going fairly well. I can exceed 30 seconds some times in a single try. There’s less calf fatigue, so I am progressing. I can, like the handstands, up the total time to 90 seconds, possibly.

I have been cooking whole wheat bread and I frequently will eat a surplus of calories when I do so. I use a bread maker and the recipe is normally: 600g of whole wheat flour, 500g of water, teaspoon or 1 packet of yeast, 20g of granulated sugar. A key in the whole food-plant based program is no oil.

This gives about 2200 calories of bread and sufficient calories for the day. Adding raw spinach and one will get almost all nutrients required, the only being calcium, a little less than I want my average to be (525 mg).

It is easier to cook my usual meal of pasta and black beans with spinach on the side. I can get my sugar fix from my cacao powder / sugar cube drink, and blueberries. I have in the past used fruit. All of these are very satiating: the reason they are so good when most others do not like is the acclimation to the amount of sugar by never eating the super rich foods.