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.

Variations

There are countless other ways to vary the basic pushup, and each of
these many variations can be applied to almost all calisthenic
movements.