Raw Vegan Fitness with Dr. Graham
Published: Wed, 27 Feb 2013
As a proven fitness leader, Dr. Graham applies consistency and creativity to his workouts. There are several components to succeeding as a raw vegan. Fitness is primary. You simply must be fit enough to drive the calorie demand to consume the volume of food that will leave you both satisfied and well nourished. Here are a few of Dr. Graham's favorite exercises. Incorporate one or more into your fitness routine.
Disclaimer: Dr. Graham has spent decades as a competitive athlete, and has been 80/10/10 raw vegan for over 25 years. He has also focused more on strength training over the past few years. Any workout program has risks, especially one which involves lifting unbalanced stones which are close to your body weight.
Dr, Graham: I utilize a combination of traditional calisthenic movements with an understanding of body mechanics to create my unique fitness program. Most calisthenics are done in the particular way that they are, pushups for example, because that is the way that offer the most mechanical advantage to the performer. This means that the exercise, as traditionally performed, is the easiest, or at least the most mechanically streamlined option available. This article has examples of some of the exercises I've been doing in Costa Rica.
There are of course countless other options for performing variations of every exercise, some considerably easier and some massively more difficult than the standard calisthenic movements.
Pushups
For now, let's just continue to look at the pushup. The basic pushup is performed with the body in a plank position throughout the entire range of arm movement, in both the upward and downward phases. Body position can be adjusted, however, to suit the strength capabilities of the individual, the muscles one hopes to key in upon, and if necessary, for any disabilities one may have.
If the legs are wide apart, for instance, there is less stress on upper body strength. Putting all the weight on one leg or the other increases the load on specific core muscles.
Hips held extra high increases the load on triceps while also slightly changing the direction of the push to something that more closely simulates an overhead press.
Bringing the hands closer towards each other reduces the use of the pectoral muscles and increases reliance upon the triceps.
By placing the hands further from each other, pectoral muscles are used to a greater degree, and triceps load is reduced.
Slow the entire speed of movement, perhaps taking five seconds per repetition as opposed to one second, and all momentum and rebound is taken away, increasing reliance upon pure muscular strength.
Pushups for Muscular Endurance
Increasing the number of repetitions builds muscular endurance.
Pushups for Speed and Explosive Power
Coming off the floor with enough momentum to clap hands on each pushup adds an element of speed to the strength requirement, hence augmenting the generation of power.
