Many bodybuilders find it hard to believe that such muscle can be built with Frank Medrano’s workout without working with iron and without eating meat. That’s it: Frank Medrano is a strict vegan, that is, he consumes only vegetable-based food. Of course, he was not like that since birth – like most people, he ate meat products until he was 30 years old. But now, for almost a decade since he seriously engaged in sports, he adheres to a purely vegetable diet.

Some online resources devoted to workouts say that Frank Medrano had likely used some anabolic steroids during his workouts (and the high chances it was this blend of testosterone or trenbolone). But one of the most amazing facts is that he still consumes only a Vegan diet during his cycles.

Interestingly, he became acquainted with vegetarian food through his friends who are Growth Hormone bodybuilders. Frank decided to abandon the meat, following their example, and soon he felt all the benefits of such a diet. First of all, according to him, he noticed a tremendous increase in energy and a reduction in recovery time, not to mention general recovery. Medrano was so impressed by the new food system that in just 3 months, he created the team Vegan Calisthen-X together with his friends.

frank medrano
Frank Medrano

What motivated Medrano to get in shape?

He started doing sports just six years before that. Frank recalls about that time: “I decided to put myself in order after I saw my terrible condition year after year. I was ashamed even to just take off my shirt. I was constantly tired, slow, weak, and my diet did not improve the situation. At some point, something clicked in my head. I was tired of being constantly tired, passive, and weak, and I wanted to become brave, fast, and strong”.

In order to develop these qualities, he chose calisthenics as a sport – a kind of gymnastics with the active use of the body’s weight. “It works all the muscles of the body, you can do it anywhere and anytime – both indoors and outdoors, both during the day and at night. No matter where you are, you can always train effectively”, says Frank. We also recommend that you learn the benefits of swimming.

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Frank Medrano workout

To achieve the same body shape as he has, you should train often and regularly, this is how his usual training works.

Frank Medrano’s workout

Monday
  • 30 pull-ups
  • 100 regular push-ups
  • Incline dumbbell presses – 4 sets of 10 reps
  • Dumbbell bench presses – 4 sets of 10 reps
  • Parallel bar dips – 5 sets of 20 reps
  • 200 normal push-ups
  • 50 push-ups when the arms are above the legs
  • 50 push-ups with a narrow grip
  • 50 push-ups when the legs are above the arms
  • 15 minutes of high-intensity interval training (HIIT)
  • 15 crunches – 15 side crunches
  • 15 leg lifts – 3 approaches

 

Tuesdaymedranos
  • 30 push-ups
  • 100 pull-ups
  • 4 sets of 10 reps of the dumbbell row
  • 4 sets of 10 reps of pull-overs
  • 50 chin-ups
  • 50 pull-ups
  • 10 push-ups
  • 15 minutes of HIIT
  • 15 crunches – 15 side crunches
  • 15 leg lifts – 3 approaches

 

Wednesday
  • 100 push-ups
  • 4 sets of 10 reps of standing dumbbell presses
  • 4 sets of 10 reps of standing side dumbbell lifts
  • 4 sets of 10 repetitions of seated side dumbbell lifts
  • 100 crunches
  • 50 crossovers
  • 50 intense crunches
  • 2 minutes of leg scissors (3 sets)
  • 60 seconds of static hold in a crunch position
  • 15 crunches – 15 side crunches
  • 15 leg lifts – 3 approaches
  • Training handstand until the point of exhaustion
  • 15 minutes of HIIT

 

Thursday
  • 30 push-ups
  • 50 chin-ups
  • Barbell biceps curl on the bench – 4 sets of 10 reps
  • Dumbbell hammer curls – 4 sets of 10 reps
  • Dumbbell hammer curls with reverse grip – 4 sets of 10 reps
  • 100 parallel bar dips
  • 100 push-ups
  • 4 sets of 10 repetitions of behind-the-neck curls
  • 4 sets of 10 of tricep pushdowns with a reverse grip
  • 20 slow pull-ups
  • 20 slow parallel bar dips
  • 15 minutes of HIIT

 

Friday

frank medrano

  • 4 sets of sit-ups with dumbbells
  • 4 sets of 20-yard lunges
  • 100 sit-ups
  • 4 sets of 10 reps of pistol squats
  • 4 sets of 10 reps of deadlift on straight legs
  • 4 sets of 10 reps of standing calf raises
  • 4 sets of 10 reps of seated calf raise
  • 100 standing calf raises
  • 15 minutes of HIIT

 

Saturday
  • 100 crunches
  • 8 100-meter sprints
  • 100 pull-ups
  • 100 push-ups
  • 100 parallel bar dips
  • 30 muscle-ups
  • 50 crossovers
  • 50 intense crunches
  • 2 minutes of lying leg scissors (3 sets)
  • 60 seconds of static hold in crunch position (3 sets)

 

Sunday – a rest

Rules of the Frank Medrano workout

    1. Consistency. The more consistent you are, the more and faster you will develop yourself on the way to your own goals.
    2. Diet and nutrition. No matter how long bicep vs short bicep hard you train, you will not be able to have a perfect body shape if you don’t follow the right and healthy diet. Frank is also convinced that the best food is vegan.
frank medrano workout
Frank Medrano during training
  1. HIIT. High-intensity interval training helps to train the heart, speed up metabolism, and burn fat.

Vegan Calisthen-X Diet

Frank Medrano assigns a lot of importance to his diet and prefers to eat homemade food, since only in this case can he control exactly what he is eating.

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Frank Medrano

The basis of his diet is:

  • almond milk
  • peanut butter
  • oatmeal, whole wheat bread
  • pasta
  • nuts
  • lentils, quinoa, beans, mushrooms, spinach
  • olive and coconut oil
  • brown rice
  • vegetables and fruits.

Adapting a vegan diet for calisthenics

If you have decided to go Vegan, then you will know that all animal and animal-related products are to be eliminated. A vegan diet is typically based on vegetables, fruit, grains, beans/lentils, nuts/seeds.

Calisthenics is a form of training that relies heavily on muscular strength. As a result, it is imperative that you pay close attention to your diet. Building muscle and strength requires specific fuel and amino acids that all come from the food we eat.

Let’s consider some of the key components of the diet that should be focused on for a calisthenics athlete.

Key Components
  • Proteins are the building blocks of muscle. One of the greatest worries of people turning Vegan is where they will be able to get their protein from, as one of the most common sources of protein is meat and dairy. Luckily, this is not an issue at all if you know how to structure a proper diet plan (which we will be touching on later).
  • Carbohydrates will provide your muscles with the energy they need to work through a tiresome workout, as well as provide your body with the primary fuel it needs to perform all the things we take for granted.
  • Fats also provide the body with energy to perform everyday tasks, as well as provide some of the components involved with hormonal production and balance.
  • Calories are just the unit of measurement that is used to quantify how much energy a particular food has. Knowing how many calories you’re eating is especially important for the athletes who are interested in gaining considerable muscle mass and strength, or for those who are looking to reduce body fat.

How to make a vegan calisthenics diet

To make an optimal vegan calisthenics diet, all we have to do at this point is: using vegan foods, construct a diet that meets the protein, carbohydrate, fat, and calorie requirements of a calisthenics athlete.

Let’s talk about how we are going to use vegan foods to create a plan that is optimized for calisthenics training.

Protein

For the Vegan Calisthen-X program, some of the best sources of protein are:

  • Nuts and seeds (almonds, walnuts, peanuts, Brazil nuts, cashews, flaxseed, chia seed, etc.)
  • Vegan protein powders
  • Beans and legumes
  • Grains (rice, couscous, oats, wheat, quinoa, etc.)

If you want additional protein, then vegan protein shakes would be an ideal option. Some of the most common ones would be hemp protein, pea protein, and brown rice protein.

Carbohydrates

Since you will be eating a lot of grains, you will also be eating a good amount of carbohydrates.

So at this point, you can look to add in fruits and vegetables as a way to further increase your carbohydrates. They also provide lots of vital micronutrients which are crucial for overall health.

Some good examples would be bananas, oranges, apples, raisins, grapes, watermelon, melon; leafy greens (kale, spinach, lettuce, etc.), broccoli, green beans, cucumber, tomatoes, carrots, cabbage, and celery.

Fats

So far, you will have obtained a fair share of fats from grains and nuts/seeds. You can choose to add in some extra fats in the form of oils:

  • olive oil
  • coconut oil
  • avocado oil
Calories

Finally, the last thing that needs to be managed is overall calories. If your goal is to build muscle and strength, then you need a calorie surplus, eating more than your maintenance calories. Maintenance calories refer to the amount of calories you need on a daily basis to maintain your current body weight. So, you can add 10-15% onto your maintenance calories if you’re looking to go into a surplus.

We recommend that you get a calorie counting app, so you can get familiar with foods and their correlating calories.

What are the benefits of using this diet?

The biggest benefits of incorporating these foods into your diet are as follows:

  • Anti-aging of both your brain and your body.
  • Helping your brain get the nutrition it needs (this helps your brain function, limiting headaches, improves concentration, and helping you work better).
  • Helps increase your life and reduce illnesses (this is down to the Vegan Calisthen-X aspect of the diet where you cut out bad fats and sugars).
  • Helps you have high energy (once you eliminate the bad foods and replace them with good ones, your body will feel like a high-powered machine).
  • Sleep improvement (keeping a healthy diet with lots of organic vegetables and fruits helps balance out your hormone and chemical releases around your body. This improves sleep, brain function and reduces irritability).