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TAA-S03Ep04 – KATYA GORBACHEVA on Competing in Bodybuilding and Powerlifting & Why Women Should Lift

Ekaterina Gorbacheva — Thu, 21 Nov 2024 12:27:57 +0000

Episode Description

Today, we have an incredible guest with us who’s paving the way for strong, vegan women all around the world: Katya Gorbacheva! Katya is not just any powerlifter—she’s one of the strongest vegan women on the planet, a nationally qualified USAPL powerhouse, and an elite force in the USPA/IPL. Plus, she’s part of the PlantBuilt and Vegan Strong teams—the largest vegan athletic team out there! 🌱💪

In today’s episode, Katya dives deep into her transformative journey from the world of bodybuilding to powerlifting, why she’s left the bodybuilding stage behind, and the pivotal moment a surprising blood test result inspired her to try going plant-based and the subsequent effects on her follow up blood work. She’ll also share her experiences of being one of the few vegans when she heads back to Russia, and how she’s using her own journey to bridge the knowledge gap in nutrition and exercise for everyone she coaches.
But that’s not all! Katya gets real about the struggles she’s faced—yo-yo dieting, orthorexia, and finding a healthy relationship with food and her own body. Now, with a wealth of science-backed insights, she’s helping others achieve their health and fitness goals through intrinsic motivation and a love for their bodies.

And of course, we’ll hear about her favorite vegan eats, her future goals, and the unique approach she brings to her coaching. If you’ve ever wondered how strength and compassion can be combined into a powerful lifestyle, or how a tailored, plant-based approach can effect bloodwork, this is the episode for you!

Check out Katya on Instagram at @Gorbacheva and at totalbodylab.com for coaching and get ready for an inspiring conversation with the indomitable Katya Gorbacheva—without further adu, on with the show! 🎧

The post TAA-S03Ep04 – KATYA GORBACHEVA on Competing in Bodybuilding and Powerlifting & Why Women Should Lift appeared first on TotalBodyLab.

Whole Food Plant Based Seitan Recipe

Ekaterina Gorbacheva — Fri, 08 Nov 2024 11:24:29 +0000

If you’re a vegan athlete looking to keep your meals nutritious, packed with protein, and low in fat, homemade seitan is a game-changer. This recipe is perfect for bodybuilders and powerlifters who need a solid protein boost without added oils and fats. It’s also made with easy-to-find ingredients and straightforward steps, so you can whip it up at home. Let’s get cooking!

Home Made Seitan

This seitan recipe focuses on simple, whole-food, plant-based ingredients. It’s high in protein and low in fat, perfect for those prioritizing muscle gain and quick recovery. Note: I usually eyeball the measurements, but I’ve included approximate amounts here. Adjust as needed!

Dry Ingredients

Vital Wheat Gluten – 2 cups (this is the base for seitan and packs a protein punch)
Baking Soda – 0.5 tablespoons (helps with texture)
Nutritional Yeast – 8 tablespoons (for a cheesy, savory flavor)
Defatted Peanut Powder – 2-3 tablespoons
Seasonings – Paprika or any spices of your choice (to taste)

Wet Ingredients

Rice Vinegar – Use this for its slightly sweet flavor, though any vinegar works
Soy Sauce – 3 tablespoons (for umami flavor and extra protein)
Tomato Paste or Ketchup – 3 tablespoons
Small Onion – 1, roughly chopped
Garlic Cloves – 4, peeled
Dates – 3 large (for natural sweetness)
Any Plant Oil – 1 tablespoon (optional for texture)
Water – About 2 cups (adjust as needed)
Instructions:
Prepare the Dry Ingredients: In a large bowl, combine the wheat gluten, baking soda, nutritional yeast, peanut protein powder, and your favorite spices. Set aside.

Prepare the wet ingredients

In a blender, add the rice vinegar, soy sauce, tomato paste, onion, garlic, dates, and plant oil (if using) without the water. Blend until smooth. Add the baking soda to the blended mixture and blend again until slightly foamy—be careful, as it can create some fizz!

Combine and Mix: Pour the wet mixture into the dry ingredients. Gradually add water to achieve the right dough consistency. If the dough feels too soft, add a bit more wheat gluten to firm it up.

Shape and Cook

Divide the dough into small balls or patties. Cook each piece in a non-stick pan over low heat for about 7 minutes on each side until they turn golden and firm up.

Serving Suggestions

Pair your seitan with steamed veggies and a side of quinoa or brown rice for a complete meal.

Slice it up for sandwiches or wraps, or add it to stir-fries for an extra protein boost.

This seitan recipe is an excellent addition to your meal prep as a vegan athlete. It’s loaded with protein, fiber, and essential nutrients, making it a satisfying, muscle-fueling meal. Plus, it’s easy to tweak by adding different spices or herbs to suit your taste. Enjoy your homemade seitan and keep fueling those gains!

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How I Prepare for Powerlifting Competitions

Ekaterina Gorbacheva — Mon, 29 Jan 2024 21:03:07 +0000

As one of the strongest vegans in the world and a member of VeganStrong PlantBuilt-one of the largest vegan athletic teams in the world-if anyone asked me what has been the most significant experience that has changed my life, hands down it’s competing in strength sports.

During my entire life, I thought “If I had a body like Jane Fonda, I’d be happy!” Then I competed in bodybuilding, the sport where
competitors are required to put on bedazzled suits, heels, fake tan and makeup-and are judged in real-time on which one looks the most attractive. It’s a muscular beauty pageant of sorts. After having won 7 awards in bodybuilding, I’d never felt more insecure about my body.

I had it all-a sculpted figure, muscle definition, long brown hair, but I wasn’t happy. When bodybuilders diet down for stage they get
weaker, and so did I. In order to win a competitive show, most women get so lean they don’t menstruate anymore. Neither did I.

Bodybuilding is not a sustainable sport for most people. So, I started working with Alexei Bakhirev, who is my coach to this day, and went back to lifting heavy. Since college, being in the gym brought me joy due to the performance aspect of the sport. I knew I was getting
stronger-it’s easy to tell when the weight on the barbell goes up. Unlike bodybuilding, powerlifting is an objective sport. I found it upsetting when women would say they wanted to look like the photos from my bodybuilding days. When I explained that’s not a
sustainable goal, most did not want to hear that until they tried to get that lean themselves.

Luckily, powerlifting is inching its way out of the niche sports into the mainstream. Women are taking space in the weight room. Women are starting to care about their STRENGTH. And this is only the beginning.

My training regimen preparing for powerlifting competition

I lift year-round (with the exception of a 1-2 week vacation once a year), so it’s pretty easy for me to pick a competition date 8-12 weeks out and step on the platform.

The key for me is working on weak spots during my off-season, which is usually winter, adding more volume for accessory lifts and eating a lot of calories and protein to make sure the vegan gains continue. Since I’ve been lifting for years now, unfortunately my
progress is excruciatingly slow. If I can gain 1-2 lb of muscle a year, it’s a success. Last year I added 22.5 kg /50 lb to my total which is awesome, but still half from the previous year’s 100 lb. Every year gains diminish to about half of the previous year till the lifter reaches their genetic potential.

Coach Alexei and I typically select a couple of competitions in the spring for me to sign up for and plan backward from that date. Recently PlantBuilt Vegan Strong team competition at Mr. America got added, so I’ll describe my prep for that meet in reverse order.

Powerlifting is an intense sport where you win by lifting the most weight in one of the three attempts for barbell back squat, bench press and deadlift (the big three). I typically train 3 days a week: bench 3 times, squat 1-2 times and deadlift once. Sometimes I deadlift even less than that. Each exercise is programmed separately and overlaid onto the calendar in a fashion that allows me to rest each body part and muscle group before I use it again to let my CNS recover well.

On the next page is my exact training schedule for 4 weeks out of the Mr. America competition. Before copying another athlete’s training regimen just know that success comes from a routine that considers your unique physiology, training experience, lifestyle and other factors. If you have never trained with the barbell, it’d be wise to hire a coach to learn how to be productive with the variables you have at the moment. My best advice: find a few coaches you think you can trust and vibe with, then send them your videos of the squat bench and deadlift and ask for feedback. Filtering out the ones you trust should be easy based on their responses.

This table (above) does not include warm-up lifts, which usually start with the bar, and have 20 kg added each set for squat and deads, 10 kg for bench. Rest between sets is from 3 to 6 minutes. Weight is listed in kilograms. Powerlifters use kg, not lbs. You can easily convert these numbers into % 1 Rep Max based on my last competition performance (172.5 kg / 380 lb squat, 92.5 kg / 203 lb bench, 182.5kg / 402lb deadlift).

The reason you see bench presses almost every workout in my program is because I’m a relatively well-trained woman. Women are born with smaller upper bodies, so we typically need more of a stimulus for upper body exercises in order to progress and keep the momentum going. Beginner women also need more time to recover from lifts involving big upper body muscle groups, so I’m thrilled that now I can handle benching-and recovering from 3-4 bench press sessions a week.

Squats are taxing on the CNS, so I would not squat more than 1-2 times a week. The deadlift can be as rare as once in 10 days unless I’m doing a variation, such as block pulls, paused deadlift (when the barbell is elevated vs. being on the floor), or conventional deadlift
(since I pull sumo, that’s an accessory lift for me).

Does the lack of variety in my workouts shock you? I could share more of my program, but honestly, it’s not much different. Just the weights vary and the repetitions, but the exercises are always the main few. And it never gets boring! I get stronger, weights keep
going up, what could be more exciting than that?

An Approximate Plan Before Competitions

One week out, lifters normally try to relax their nervous system an extra bit. It’s called a “deload” or “taper” I’ll bench press 55-68% of my 1 RM then, deadlift and squat 50-60% 1RM just to keep blood flowing.

Eight to nine days to platform I normally test bench, 1.5 weeks-squat, 2 weeks-deadlift. Since the test is run after weeks of intensive training, I understand that the results are preliminary. These numbers help the coach and me determine how much to put on the barbell on the platform.

My coach and I have used many programming methodologies in the past. I liked undulating periodization and the conjugate method. In 2023, my program was linearly periodized for squats and deadlifts, a bunch of paused deadlifts and squats as well as cluster sets for bench press. Try those if your bench press has stalled.

Off Season Training Routine

Off-season training typically includes more exercise variation, accessories and conditioning. This block is 6 days a week, which is not typical for me. This routine has lower and upper body split though, so when one muscle group works another can recover.

Where do I get my protein?

Muscles are built out of amino acids, which come from protein. According to recent scientific literature, optimal protein intake is 0.73 to 1.10 g/lb of bodyweight. We don’t need as much protein as we think, but try to meet the minimum recommended standards based on

your lifestyle and goals, daily. Aim on the higher side if you work out more, or are dieting and want to lose body fat.

For example, I weigh 165 lbs so my range is 120-183 g protein daily.

If you ask me, a clear winner in the protein category is seitan (and other meat substitutes). Other plant-based options such as peanut butter and jelly is more of a carbohydrate than a protein source. Beans are 72% carbs and a great fibre source. Rice is basically all carbs.

Always check nutrition facts and calculate protein per calorie to see if a meal satisfies your needs.

Same deal with eggs or quinoa debate. Why choose between two poor options when you can make a tofu scramble and enjoy zero cholesterol, more protein and room for any carbs you prefer as a side? So what do I eat?

Here are two versions of ingredients I typically use for breakfast, lunch and dinner with a focus on protein.

Bodybuilders are used to meticulously selecting foods they are lower in fats and carbs while strength sports competitors have the luxury to enjoy more fun options like these. As long as food is tasty and offers a good variety of micro nutrients and a decent amount of protein, that works for me!

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